Valeria Maltoni, a smart marketer who gets it, recently penned a post called How Big Brands can Start Testing Social Media. The sentences that carry the most cache for me are these: “You probably read it in many of my posts – we’re tired of being sold to, but we do like to buy. It’s the push/pull tension. Social media, when executed well, is perfect for what marketers term inbound.”
I commented:
“I have been screaming to the hills with very few echoes returned: In today’s world, we marketers should be placing most of our efforts and our budgets on Inbound Marketing. But first we need to fix corporate cultures.
“According to just-released CMO Council data, “83 percent of marketers say they face change-resistant corporate cultures, conflicts and competition between internal constituencies, and a resistance to operational accountability, visibility and measurement.” And that is a problem.
“Until alignment of customer touchpoints and accountability plus measurement become top priorities, no strategies or tools will be effective or efficient. Keep up the great thinking Valeria.”
And that’s the bottom line. It doesn’t really matter how we approach marketing. Until we align the data, analyze it and use it to predict consumer behavior, Inbound Marketing can only deliver mediocre results. Apparently, those of us criticizing CMOs for not getting it owe 83 percent of them an apology. They do get it. Silos exists primarily because of the “change-resistant corporate cultures, conflicts and competition between internal constituencies, and a resistance to operational accountability, visibility and measurement.” Those were the reason 30 years ago when I first entered the corporate world, 11 years back when I left it, and today as I attempt to serve it as a consultant.
CMOs and their current marketing operational models face “significant challenges from entrenched corporate cultures, inter-departmental politics, and a lack of adequate data and information systems,”
The research, entitled Calibrate How You Operate, tells us that marketers face “a lack of corporate mandate for alignment and integration.” Forty-one percent of the 400-plus marketers audited “point to siloed data and limited cross-functional feedback loops as major internal challenges subverting the marketing operational process.” The CMO Council believes that “The study underscores the critical need for marketing to drive operational effectiveness and optimally structure, resource, and run today’s digitally driven, customer-centric, and globally distributed marketing organizations.”
Can cultures be changed? Not easily and not quickly. And the change can’t happen at all without the leadership of the President, CEO, COO, CFO and the Executive Leadership Committee. That’s too bad, because external marketing at it currently is practiced is going the way of the dinosaur; it is becoming extinct, although it is fighting to hang on. Inbound Marketing will eventually save the day because it is cost-effective and customer-driven. And when that day comes, social media will have a seat at the table alongside the CMO. Meanwhile, all this talk about social media’s value isn’t worth much when it is placed within a contextual vacuum. Instead, social media must be discussed within the context of Inbound Marketing, which as Valeria correctly says is about the simple fact that “we’re tired of being sold to, but we do like to buy.”

Like many of you, I’ve had my share of lousy customer service. In the smaller B2B world however, poor service can mean a lost customer and the spread of negative word-of-mouth. Especially in a local market, that’s not a good thing.
Enter the CEO of a local printing company I approached when looking for a quote on an upcoming print run. Here’s what CEO Craig Hauer wrote:

I want to thank you for allowing United Printing & Mailing the opportunity to bid on your upcoming direct mail campaign. It is our belief you will find direct mail the most cost effective advertising medium to reach your target audience, we are hopeful it yields you the success you are looking for.
It is important to me that your questions were handled knowledgeably, professionally and efficiently. Were the estimates you received from us easy to understand? Were they prepared for you in a timely fashion? If you have concerns on any of the above please don’t hesitate to share them with me.

That’s the first time a CEO followed up this way after the account exec sent over the quotation. Very good first impression.
So, I took him to task and told Craig that the quote was presented in a timely fashion but that pricing was higher than my previous suppliers. In his next e-mail he thanked me for letting him know. Last year, he had upgraded a piece of equipment to be more competitive on smaller print runs and “would watch pricing over the next months to come and make modifications as we felt were necessary.”
Now, get a hold of this: “You have brought to the surface and confirmed a weak spot on my pricing.”
How many companies or CEO’s use this kind of language? Honesty. It’s refreshing isn’t it?
Then, here’s the big close: “I will be reconfiguring the pricing model upon my return in September. Maybe you can give us another try come October?”
I was so impressed with this attention to detail and level of communication, that of course, I said yes. I value business owners or CEO’s who take the time to earn every customer. One never knows… the small-volume customer today may turn into the larger-volume one of tomorrow. Way to go United. I’m waiting for October.
Anyone else have similar experiences lately? Let’s share.