Merry e-Christmas
Toby L. Bloomberg
Christmas 1947. Before sales automation, relationship building and consultative selling. The CEO of a major retail organization briefs the company’s advertising department. “No high pressuring and forcing the customer to take something he doesn’t want. We’ll be known as the helpful store. The friendly store. The store with a heart. The store that places public service ahead of profit. The plan sounds idiotic and impossible (but) ... consequently, we’ll make more profit than ever before.”
With those words Macy’s Department Store launched the most innovative sales program ever viewed—on the silver screen. It was Miracle on 34th Street.
Fast-forward 50 years. The Internet is one of the most intriguing sales strategies of the 20th century. High-pressure sales techniques don’t even enter into the picture. The customer alone drives the sales experience. Providing service is a core element to the success of a Web site. Nowhere else can each transaction, visit or sales call be customized to meet a specific customer’s need. Internet sites are becoming the most efficient method marketers can use to develop one-to-one customer relationships.
The plan sounds idiotic and impossible but, consequently, we’ll make more profit than ever before. As Year 2000 approaches, high-tech developments spin even faster, taking the possibilities of the Net into areas that were impossible in ’47 or’57 or even ’97. Computer-based sales automation turns from what was perceived as sophisticated database management, to real-time, “24/7” order-taking via the World Wide Web.
Imagine a site that holds current products and pricing and allows for on-line financing. Imagine a site where a mouse click sends an order into cyber space resulting in faster, cheaper and better processing. Imagine a site that matches products and services most likely to meet customer and prospect needs. The plan sounds idiotic and impossible but, consequently, we’ll make more profit than ever before.
It’s interesting to compare a 1940s film, where finding solutions to customers’ problems was perceived as unique, to a 1998 business development plan, where finding solutions to customers’ problems is considered ingenious. The techniques have changed, and new buzzwords and jargon have been added to the mix. The bells and whistles are a little louder and fancier. However, after all is said and done, the premise remains the same: Listen. Understand. Add value. Do what it takes to go the extra mile in delighting the customer. The plan sounds idiotic and impossible but, consequently, we’ll make more profit than ever before.
Toby L. Bloomberg is a consultant in Atlanta specializing in marketing plan development including strategies for Internet Web sites and Web-based sales and marketing programs.
© Bloomberg Marketing 1998
Reprinted with permission from American Marketing Association
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