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  • A Quick Thought on Purpose, Not Profit

    Posted on August 12th, 2010 by Eric Dodds and currently 9 commenting.
    Cash money

    Dodds showing off some plastic. Photo via the new intern, Suggs.

    The other night I had a conversation with a friend about marketing, and he asked me a really good question.

    “It seems like there are so many companies out there just trying to peddle me a product – so how do you explain how what you do is different from what they do?”

    A great question, and more challenging from a non-marketer with little frame of reference for the industry. After a few minutes of hard thinking, here’s where I ended up:

    “At its fundamental level, my job at Brains on Fire is to develop meaningful relationships between companies, their employees and their customers.

    There are lots of marketers out there who do simply pedal products, and that’s why you see endless new waves of advertising and other promotions – they have to keep  providing cheap entertainment for their customers to retain interest.

    And that’s the easy route – it’s easy to have a one night stand – but anyone who’s ever been in a committed, long-lasting relationship knows that it takes lots of time and hard work, and that the payout isn’t necessarily immediate.

    It’s no different for companies: long lasting relationships with customers takes time and hard work.

    So, I submit that the reason you feel like so many companies are peddling you a product is because they are. They are more interested in the short term reward of your wallet than they are in the work of an actual relationship with you.”

    Today, I’m thankful to work with a group of people who value the purpose of building relationships over entertaining for short-term profit.

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  • http://www.abundatrade.com Tracy

    There are so many companies look past the need to build relationships with their customers and focus on the prospect of making a single sale. The development of customer relationships is something that many companies acknowledge, but never take the time to nurture into existence. While the single sale method may work for making short-term gains, it does absolutely nothing to ensure a company’s future. Companies that actually care about their customers generally have much more substantial track records because their customers, in return, care about them.

  • http://brainsonfire.com Eric Dodds

    Tracy,

    Well said. I think the scary element can be – and it is a real risk – forgoing the short-term gain, especially for companies with quarterly number reviews. But you’re right – if you want to be cared for in return, you have to ‘take the time to nurture.’ Thanks for the thoughts.

    –Eric

  • W

    Dodds, I think you mean peddle. Great post otherwise. To your non-marketing friend, it’s easy to focus on the infomercials and sleazy used car sellers because they are always in your face. Jerry Springer doesn’t have people in normal, healthy relationships on his show – no one would pay attention. To the uninitiated, it’s harder to notice the companies that put customers before profits. And not because it’s rare; relationship marketing is much more subtle.

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  • http://buildingrecruit.com Chadwick Berlanga

    Engineering Jobs in todays economy are hard to come by and this is made even more difficult given that future employers are becoming increasingly difficult to satisfy. Personally, I think that the world markets should see vast improvements within the next twelveyears and this should make everyones financial position easier to handle.

  • http://brainsonfire.com Eric Dodds

    W,

    Whoops. A little embarrassed on that one :) Thanks for the catch.

    Your point about the subtlety of relationship marketing is a good one. It’s so much less abrasive that it can seem to ‘hide behind’ other louder methods. Great, great thoughts.

    –Eric

  • http://brainsonfire.com Eric Dodds

    Chadwick,

    We hope so, sir, and we’re doing what we can to help. Thanks for the read and the thoughts.

    –Eric

  • http://www.linkedin.com/pub/jonathan-tamblyn/10/340/90b Jonathan T

    I work for a consulting firm and one of the biggest selling points of our services is our long-lasting partnership and commitment to our clients’ results, as if they were our own. However, while in a sales/nurturing conversation, its been a BIG challenge for us to maintain that same perspective, especially when the sales process can often take over a year.

    I’m wondering if our “long-lasting partner” approach actually makes our sales cycle longer, or stops it altogether.

    -Jonathan