The aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous. ~ Peter Drucker
Can you imagine what your business would look like if marketing worked in a way to keep a continuous pipeline of business flowing? It would indeed make selling superfluous. Your products or services would be bought not sold.
This is a reality for businesses that have worked hard to put in the systems, processes and alignment with their buyers in mind. To get to this goal of marketing, everything you do has to be focused on building relationships early and ongoing with your potential buyers. Companies that just want to interrupt people and try and close them quickly will find it difficult to court and convert a buyer that has many options from a mere mouse-click.
Building relationships goes beyond having a Twitter or Facebook page up. Social media is becoming overly saturated and pretty boring in and of itself. However, if it is tied to an overall marketing strategy which is focused on building relationships with your customers then it would have the following effects:
- Prospective customers feel like they are getting to know you personally
- Sideline watchers can see how your personality
- Your work and results come forth in interactions with your current customers
- The risk of doing business with you lessens over time
- You become memorable and are in the buyer’s thoughts
- Fresh and rich content provides answers that make an impact for buyers
By the time an event occurs for the buyer, namely the pain is too high or their problems are timely, they trust you and think of you. This happens on their timetable when their comfort with you is high from the relationship you built whether interactively or unbeknownst to you.
When you are examining your approach to marketing, how much of it is mere throwaway? How could you convert how you market to become assets which last and build relationships?
