Last week I received an email from a manufacturer of car racks. (I had purchased one of their products last year.) The email invited me to participate in a customer survey. I figured, “Hey, why not?” So I clicked on the link and started the survey. What an embarrassment! (more…)
In an earlier post, I discussed the progressive stages of communication that are required to bring a prospect to a buying decision.
The first stage was concerned with establishing one or more fundamental premises — that is, concepts or assertions that are critical to a customer seeing value in your offering. For example, a prospect will not be interested in a hybrid car until they believe that hybrid technology can save them money while still providing convenient transportation.
Communicating a fundamental premise is not about competition. In fact, competitors will often join together in this phase of the establishment of a new segment. Experienced marketing folks understand that it is pointless to move ahead to competitive messages before the necessary fundamental premises have been accepted by the marketplace. (more…)