In conversation with Valeria Maltoni on Dell and building your brand

VentureOutsource.com: The process used by which a customer bases his or her decision to 'buy' something (whether the item purchased is a service or, a physical product) can be distilled to being either based on emotional or functional decision drivers. Having said this, companies can create an advantage over competitors if they can determine which drivers 'drive' the decision process of their customer base - to 'buy'. Generally speaking, how might a company's marketing or brand recognition approach differ when appealing to a customer's 'emotional' buy process? How about when appealing to a customer's 'functional' buy process.

Maltoni: I wrote a post last November about pushing the ‘buy' button that might be of interest, here.

We decide to purchase / buy on the basis of both inputs -- processing rational data plus emotions and feelings. To be most compelling, the message needs to focus on the reader or buyer. There's the famous example that we don't buy a drill, we buy a hole.

Think in terms of before and after. How can you help your customers visualize this? I also recommend the use of story, even if the story is a short paragraph with a visual that pulls at the emotional strings. Advertising should be your calling card while proof and depth can be in your Website and follow-through materials.

VentureOutsource.com: What are some of the things a company can do to help determine whether the purchasing decision process of its customer base, ultimately leading customers to make a 'buy' decision, is driven by emotions or functionality?

Maltoni: Use qualitative and quantitative research to test your value proposition(s). What statements resonate with customers? Would they ‘get' how your products and services are different from the ones offered by other companies jockeying for positioning? Where do they see your brand fitting in their context?

The action statement should be grounded on value propositions based on facts. Having said this, if your product and / or services need help, your energy should go to making these the best they can be while communicating / educating the public, as needed, to encourage use and recognize value.

Emotional resonance is also a product of superb delivery. Finding passionate internal and third party advocates can help the cause and raise this profile. People make connections with people.

VentureOutsource.com: What tools or methods can companies employ to obtain and leverage better customer or user insight so that they can then meet and better serve the needs of their customers?

Maltoni: Surveys and opportunities to provide feedback on a regular basis are helpful. Make sure to build in a mechanism to reflect the information back to your customers along with the steps you are taking to either correct something or deliver more.

Some practitioners talk about having a customer-driven approach. I would caution you on using customers that are the only metric to judge your success and develop new offerings. Your business would be well-served with a market-driven approach where customers are a large consideration, but they are not the only factor weighing in product development and company growth. The approach and answers you're looking for depend on the tools used to communicate.

If you're making use of social media, comments and involvement in the conversation as well as visits to your forum or Website can all be considered metrics. For the company Website, analyze stickiness, time per page, number of click-throughs, requests for more information. Once you open up to these types of conversations, make sure your customers are heard. It does no good to have a blog if commenting is not open to visitors. If you want to look at an example of a company doing this well, take a look at Dell with Direct2Dell.com and Ideastorm.

As I wrote at FastCompany.com, here, these corporate online destinations are literally using social media as a way to improve their business. At my blog, I discussed how they are still working on fixing their supply chain to shift to the retail model.

Some companies have cultures that are open to a customer advisory board. In both cases, make sure you are listening and letting your customers see what you're doing about their suggestions and advice. Going through the moves may be the most damaging thing you can do, so make sure you're ready to take all the steps necessary to have this type of conversation.

VentureOutsource.com, October 2007

Average rating

(0 votes)