You And Your Business Are Living Through Times Of Change
There is a POSITIVE side of CHANGE
Everywhere you turn, challenges abound as the old ways of doing business produce diminished results amidst redefined customer expectations, new marketing technologies and the constant formation of new social communities and networks. Old tools aren’t working like they used to: Traditional ‘mass’ marketing and advertising deliver less impact Websites fail to achieve their digital promise Messages fail to be relevant, pretty brochures don’t cut it We’re always playing ‘catch-up’ with the technologies we need to put us ahead. Expenses rises every time we re-invent the business wheel.
A New Level Of Results Can Be Achieved If You Embrace The Full Potential Of Your Prospect And Customer Relationships To gain competitive advantage, companies can now go ‘back to the future’, by using an expanding range of marketing, communications and experiential technologies to re-connect to customers and the larger untapped potential often missed by those who focus only on the immediate transaction. Business was always about knowing the customer and using that knowledge to drive and receive value. Customers were relationships, not isolated transactions. However with each new wave of automation and technology, it became more economic to focus on immediate sales to large audiences through mass marketing. Today, with a shift back to the human fundamentals of any business, we can use technologies to give us the best of both worlds: customer insight and relevance combined with scalability that allows you to reach diverse audiences with unique messages and ongoing commitment.
Relationships provide sustainable competitive advantage and real world opportunity for you and your business.
The Core Concept – The Critical Opportunity Instead of looking at branding, products, or people as separate business ‘components’, we believe marketing has to focus on the whole relationship that unifies these resources. By aligning all these resources more efficiently, you gain greater productivity and results at every touch point. The new bottom-line is about maximizing the overall return on relationship.
A Whole New Definition A great starting point for a relationship definition comes from a blog posting by Tom Peters, author of “In Search of Excellence,” in which he wrote:
“
A relationship is an ongoing conversation with a customer, in which the customer never thinks of you…without thinking of the two of you.
By focusing on the larger customer dimensions that make a sale something more for both buyer and seller, you can tap the larger potential for mutual value. With the right questions, and relevant answers, your marketing becomes a true dialogue over the lifetime of each customer. Creating real deliverables to your bottom line, including: lifetime value, up-sales and cross-sales, lower cost of sales and acquisition, greater referrals and word of mouth across social networks.
Relationing As new mediums and technologies continue to deluge businesses with marketing choices, it is clear we need an overarching discipline (a relationship architecture) that can mix and match these options into a customizable blend for each relationship category. A methodology that can help: Choose optimal tools adapted to each relationship Leverage customer insights and adapt your message Address the larger, ‘compounding’ opportunity across the whole relationship. Accelerate the growth of commitment, revenue and profit. Create real dialogue based on collaboration and trust. Put relationship ‘skin in the game’
Managing tools of connection – the same and yet fundamentally different Every touch point and marketing tool is changed when it aligns to each stage of this often hidden relationship potential. When this relationship management process is more closely aligned around the flow of trust and value that is exchanged, your business gains mutual commitment, growth and greater return on relationship. In short, you bring your customer effort closer to the customer.
Touchpoints From another viewpoint, relationships are nothing more than the touch points we have with each other
• • • • • • • • • • •
Personalized / digitalized print Listening and dialogue Exchange and collaboration In person experiences Digital experiences Advertising and Mass Media Retail Points of Sale Direct marketing Websites Content E-newsletters / e-mail
• • • • • • • • • •
Social networking sites Blogs and social media Video and multimedia Membership/ Loyalty programs News and Feeds Search and optimization Digital communications Word of Mouth and Viral Webinars and seminars pURLS
Relational Analysis. Create a foundation of knowledge about where you are, where they are and where you both have to go to arrive at your goals together. Strategy And Tactics. Walk the walk and hone strategies and tactics that drive relationship function at every touch-point. Build in tools of listening and agility. Planning And Mapping. Begin with a proactive relationship plan, steeped in insight and analysis and customized to the unique relational attributes and opportunities Design Architecture. Design an architecture built on delivering content, exchanging and sharing value and establishing an expanding conversation. Build Tools. Build the tools of connections and communications across all the dimensions of the entire relationship pathway. Tap Social Networks. Extend the relational processes into all the social networking and community touch-points as you engage influencers, followers and peers. Drive Internal Resources. Work the internal side of the relationship, within the company, manage and reward relationship owners and do the numbers to stay on top of relationship opportunity.
THIRD HORIZON PA RT N E R S
Third Horizon Partners is a full service relational marketing firm, delivering strategic analysis and planning, adaption of existing marketing tools and integrated relationship based marketing programs designed to drive greater performance out of any tactical marketing objective. From marketing management support to production, we offer answers that change the customer equation for your business. Services include: relationship marketing analysis, corporate and marketplace assessments, optimization programs, training and turnkey marketing, social media and relationship communication programs. We have a single mission: to provide clients with sustainable competitive advantage by helping them finally tap customer and stakeholder relationship potential.
We stand ready to offer advice, support, product solutions and complete programs for every business that has a unique story to tell and relationship audiences that they want to build dialogue with.
Relationship Solutions That Drive Growth and Profitability -- Relationship Audits -- Optimal Relationship Design -- Relationship Portfolio Management systems -- Internal Relationship Touch-Point Campaigns -- External Relationship Marketing Programs -- Product/Service Introduction -- Retention Programs -- Cross-Selling Programs -- Knowledge Sharing and Collaboration Design -- Development of Communities of Relationships
A Personal Call to Action Give us 45 minutes to talk about your places of greatest customer need and opportunity – We’ll come back to you with a strategic brief offering real-world strategies and tangible solutions. Whether our recommendations are simple projects, that fill gaps in marketing, or whole programs, designed to provide competitive advantage, we will give you fresh thinking from a perspective you probably haven’t seen before, the dynamic view that occurs when looking at your business from a relationship perspective.
THIRD HORIZON PA RT N E R S
Relationships Drive Results