Is it that “traditional” sales and marketing are dead, but haven’t fallen down yet? Shel Holtz covers the topic eloquently:
“If we’ve learned anything over the last several years, it’s that all new media and communication channels are additive. I would defy you to name one—ONE—new medium that has outright replaced an older one. These predictions have always accompanied the introduction of a new channel. Radio was supposed to replace print. Television was supposed to replace radio. Now blogs are supposed to replace Web sites.”
You’ll find no bigger advocate for the social customer (ed. — heh.), the business/audience conversation, and the value of new communication channels than me. To achieve genuine and meaningful business results, however, it’s important to temper enthusiasm with practicality. Blogs, RSS, podcasts, and wikis are exciting and important and transformational, but they are a part of a larger communication landscape. Communications that integrate them will be far more successful than those that rely solely on them.”
Net: Depending on the customer’s need, and mindset, and way of doing business, he or she may want to use any (or all) of those channels to connect. A customer who knows exactly what she wants (having done a ton or research, or perhaps being an industry expert already) will have very different needs then someone who is new to a topic area who requires and desires education and interaction.
As service providers, we need to be flexible, and leave the options open. There will be different customers with different needs at different stages of the uptake curve. The organizations that can put the right mechanisms in place to connect cost-effectively with the most constituencies over time, meet those constituencies’ expectations, and develop ongoing relationships with the individuals in them will be the ones who do very well indeed.