In the post-vaccination world, there are already plenty of niches and opportunities for new success stories.
In my three-part blog series, I discuss marketing and sales trends. The first post looked at the external drivers of change. The second focused on the internal pressures for change in marketing and sales. In this, my third post, I try to lay out a roadmap for the future.
Megadriver 1. The assumption of immediate performance takes precedence over other needs
Consequence: the purchase-time window narrows.
We know that buying progresses in stages from the emergence of the need to deliberation, from the identification of opportunities to the selection, and ultimately to the emergence of a purchase decision. The Internet created new needs and revolutionized the mapping of opportunities. However, the biggest change lay in the time window of a purchase: after selection, the purchase transaction happens immediately and the delivery of the purchased asset is also expected almost immediately. There’s no need to call anywhere or send emails. The winner is the one who delivers the product to the door the fastest.
The result: machines must be given more and more power to make marketing decisions.
The buyer is active in many different channels and obtains information to support decision-making in many different ways – s/he reads a magazine, watches the news, digs on the Internet, visits social channels, asks friends, goes to a store or trade show, buys, uses, maintains. No human can track all of this traffic and build a 360-degree customer view from it. Therefore, we must help the machine to make fast solutions, down to nanoseconds.
Consequence: campaigns will never be over.
Nothing will ever be complete when it is done. There is always room for improvement, especially in marketing. Marketing and sales will work more closely together in the future and campaigns are operational processes that are continually refined through optimization and enrichment.
Megadriver 2. Sociality and cooperation are diversifying and enriching
Consequence: The Teams/Zoom era is teaching us a new way of working together.
Corona will not permanently banish the trade show from the earth. Seminar trips and other in-person events will return, yes, but in a manner different from what we have been used to so far. Now, even those who can’t either afford or have the opportunity to attend in person can attend events virtually. Teams don’t have to be built from people who live within a 20-mile radius; we can leverage experts on the other side of the world. As a word, the meaning of “workplace” has changed. It’s taken on a new dimension that creates competitiveness and improves job satisfaction and productivity.
Consequence: individual performances can only be accomplished in a team environment.
The previous mega-driver brought the machines we use to the playing field and gave them a central role. The game strategy of the new age is not to remove people from the team. Everyone has their own, important role in the struggle for the soul and the money of the client. It is becoming increasingly certain that marketing and sales are no longer individual species. Team play must be fast and flexible – all teams must aim in unison for the same goal. Organizational silos slow down work; they need to be abandoned.
The result: virtual sociality is no substitute for genuine interaction.
The ability to interact socially has ensured human success in evolution. Teams are no substitute for sitting by the campfire, sharing beers after work, or those famous little company Christmas parties. How do you create team spirit when team members operate on five different continents? Will the old skill of storytelling, the talk that buoys the workplace and the moments of fear and joy shared disappear? We will see.