One of the great shifts and detriments of our new information age is that access has been increased in unprecedented ways. If you want something, you don’t have to go through gatekeepers such as those with tenure or a lockbox to information. You can learn what you want at your fingertips.
If you want to learn how to code, then you can start researching and get coding. The same is true for cooking, car repair and fitness.
What about marketing? You have access to plenty of tools. You also have access to all the gimmicks your heart can get lulled into with SEO “experts” and marketing software available. As shiny and attractive as this all can be, the bottom line comes down to one question – Does it help you sell more? If you are not, here’s why:
- You still need ideas. Ideas will never be a commodity. Great ideas originate from talented people that have insight and understand how to put the pieces together to make something happen.
- Connection is human, not algorithmic. There is not a formula to make true connection happen. Getting attention, showing care and conveying your expertise happens in such nuanced and intimate fashions. The difference between good and great is pivotal. The former is ignored while the latter gets results.
- You miss the timing and steps. Courting a customer is a process. If you don’t have a process or it is not engaging then this can quickly dissuade an otherwise eager prospect. You are either easy or clumsy to do business with based on how you walk the buying process with your customer.
We can quickly see the difference between professionals and amateurs. If you watch world-class performances in sports or music and then watch a high schooler attempt similar feats, you can notice the stark contrasts. Mastery shows fluidity and assimilation of the fine points that shadow lesser attempts at a craft.
When it comes to your marketing, just because you have access and the illusion of power with such access, ask yourself if you see the results and sell more? There is a real price to pay in a world full of imitations and noise.
Very good post as always. I am a software salesman and I have been reading your blog now for a year perhaps and always appreciate your lucid insights. We live in a time of tremendous change with so many old bottlenecks going away and becoming cheap or free. So now we have to deal with new bottlenecks that cannot be eliminated through technology application – human interactions, generating real ideas i.e., “courting the customer.” Although I agree with all that you write (mostly) it is very hard to get my management to be patient enough for the harvest. Thanks for your postings and all the best to you in 2013.
Thanks for the comments and kind words, Sriram, Yes, that tension between immediate results and the reality of how and why people buy can be difficult, especially within a team.
Managers without ideas can easily insulate themselves and demand results, exert control and remain aloof. I think it is pretty common behavior. Are you able to show conversion metrics at all the key points and include them in the problem definition? They would have to argue with facts and provide ideas if you can lead them through it.
Thanks for reading.