Gone are the days when a CMO after
spending millions on an advert could spend peacefully knowing it would hit the
right audience and generate revenue. When a salesman would knock from door to door
in an effort to introduce company’s products to the prospects. This is the ‘Age of Customers’ where
customers are more empowered, more informed and more mobile than the past. This means even before a salesperson knock at
their door to educate them about the product, they have already researched
about it through internet or heard over social media. This has made marketing altogether complex and
integrated. It has now evolved from mere
mass marketing to relationship or social marketing.
According to a new definition of
marketing it is a process of creating, communicating and delivering set of
values to the customers while engaging in long term relationships with them. And
this value-delivery process cannot work unless all employees are on the same
page. Amid fierce competition, only those companies take lead where all
departments work cohesively towards value creation for the customers. This
means all employees are directly or indirectly involved in the marketing.
So the question is how can employees act as
marketers? Should an HR person be involved in selling of the products? Should
an accountant write copy for the ad campaigns? Definitely Not! Employee as a marketer implies
that he/she should be a part of customer acquisition and customer retention
cycle. Every time an accountant is making timely payments to the customers, he
is fulfilling company’s promise of superior customer service. Every time an
engineer is developing quality products, he is fulfilling a promise of
delivering quality products. An HR person act as a marketer by extending
company’s brand story to the current and prospective employees. Every time an
employee is saying something positive about the company, he is in fact doing the
marketing of a company.
Customers no longer demands products
alone from the company, they want a complete value package- a matchless experience
indeed!
So by putting clients’ needs ahead
of your needs, by adhering to the company’s mission and vision, by spreading
positive stories about the company, you perform the role of a marketer.
