Author – McKinsey & Co.
Curator – David Edelman
Medium: Slideshare

I like this is a very short but extremely practical guide to understanding the value of marketing to B2B businesses who may tend to neglect this. In fact, the article draws a connection between B2B and B2C marketing – showing how brand strength on the consumer level significantly impacts B2B sales.

The real gold in this preso can be found in this picture below, showing the difference between a two way relationship vs a one way transmission

I saw a similar disconnect with Toronto Dominion Bank in a presentation they made 18 years ago when I was in Boston. They, however, looked at the disconnect between themselves and their customers (Bank good at ATMs, transactions while customers wanted advice where the bank was either not proficient or shying away from this due to legal risk).

Ultimately, the bank decided to acknowledge a very wealthy aging segment that was willing to pay a premium for advisory services, opening up a profitable new profit center worth a very significant new chunk of their portfolio. All this because they decided to listen AND respond to their customer. The delivery of the new service and subsequent take up by the customer affirms the merits of two way dialogue.

I may do a preso that talks about how businesses succumb to “selective listening” – of particular concern now that there are infinitely more NEW and varied mechanisms to understand the customer (Social Media, web analytics, online surveys, call centers, reviews, etc) yet the same mistakes are made over and over.

Nothing is older than saying something is new – Thomas Sowell

The next step is delving into why “selective listening” occurs and I would welcome others to fill in the rest of this picture with their own experiences. Perhaps there are ideas to help others overcome this business ailment 😉
Cheers,
Rick – MyCMO