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As mentioned earlier (demand or offering-centric marketing chapter.
See page 2), Desmarest & Krycève’s methodological approach
is particularly apt for the development of new ICT products and
services. I have translated their method (aka reengineering marketing)
in Figure 26. This
different approach to marketing is very useful when addressing
innovation product development issues where target audiences have
little or no understanding of the context surrounding the new
product. As pointed out by Desmarets &Krycève: “it is easier
to measure how dissatisfied clients are than to assess the requirements
for an unknown object”. Using this assumption as a basis, they
recommend a method whereby the innovative product is actually
sold, which makes it possible for the measurement of clients’
dissatisfaction. In this case they tend to oppose the generally
accepted idea whereby one should ask people what they consciously
think their needs are, even though they might not even have a
vague idea of what the interviewer is talking about.
Asking people point blank what they think about such and such
technology they do not know will inevitably trigger responses
from them, aimed at covering their ignorance (for fear of sounding
stupid). We will expand on this method in the “a few examples”
chapter. (see page
Markets are
conversations
One of the most useful of these marketing tips and tricks is
the cluetrain manifesto. The authors of this manifesto remind us
of a few home truths about doing business in general. Indeed,
business is not just about filling in your database with as much
data as possible about your client. Similarly, business is not
about developing or even awning a nice piece of software, let
alone a nice looking website. What the authors are hammering in
this manifesto borders on the obvious. Still, 30% of most e-mails
sent to professional websites are left unanswered. And this is
not getting any better over the years. Once again Amazon has set the standards
for online customer service. When a client receives a damaged
CD for instance, he or she will be able to resend it to Amazon
free of charge and a new copy of the CD will be sent to him or
her immediately. Amazon not only managed to create one of the
most amazing web-based businesses in terms of quality of service
and ease of use, not to mention their nearly exhaustive catalogue;
they mostly succeeded in positioning their brand around their
second-to-none customer service. Their e-mails responses are to
the point and swift, quality-driven and always aimed at keeping
their clients satisfied. Besides, they truly managed to maintain
that quality of service across continents and countries. Since
1995 they have been at the forefront of all technologies
aimed at increasing and maintaining customer satisfaction. Tools
like ‘the Page you made’ or the list of recommended items based
on your previous purchases or even the books and records you own
and like enable you not just to buy new stuff but to discover
new artists based on your tastes and feedback. This is probably
the best achievement ever made in the field of personalisation.
One can venture to say that Amazon’s Jeff Bezos most certainly
followed the advice of the cluetrain manifesto himself.
On the other hand I have witnessed many an online bank
where it takes two days to respond to client’s requests, despite
the fact that the main channel of communications for online banks
is bound to be e-mail. With these few examples, it now seems obvious
that communication has not much to do with technology, but when
technology enhances communication, then and only then, great shopping
experience is the reward.
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