The history of successful companies was initially linked to the development of a product that was either new or had comparative advantages with other existing products. Hence the importance of focusing on the Production area that organizations of that time had. The most important positions in companies, the “most populated” departments, the managers with bigger budgets and even the books on business administration dedicated more material and pages to this area.
This multiplier effect went beyond the traditional disciplines and sciences as well as the areas of "Best Practices"; Industrial psychologists had large batteries of tests related to the skills, competencies, skills and knowledge of workers and workers.
Over time, with the improvements that accompanied citizens, with the orientation towards more participatory systems between individuals and the different organizational arrangements, added to the increasing knowledge about the behavioral sciences (Behavioral Sciences), we began to privilege the importance of the “other” who, under the initial scheme of focus on production, was a rather passive participant who “had to have in mind what existed and was manufactured”.
From that moment - for which there is no discovery or initiation date - the validity of a business function is generated that begins to take on more and more importance every day. Take for example a particular product: the phone. The telephone has existence from the moment it is used to communicate with the "other" since it makes little sense to "call us to speak to ourselves". As Sara Pían pointed out: "… those… people who call themselves only find emptiness, monotonous, metallic, and inhuman busy tone." In fact, from this metaphor The Organization Development Institute International, Latin America, is where it begins to work with its Clients in developing a superior state based on privileging the interest of "others" (V. de S.: vocation of service).
In the organizational world we can say that this particular vision is framed within the phenomenon that we call "mirror". As persons, employees of a company, suppliers or Clients, all of us “are” from the “other”, we exist and we are constituted from the “other”. All men who shave in the morning daily do so in front of a mirror, and we are nothing other than the image that mirror itself conveys. We continue to shave - or stop shaving - based on what that mirror tells us: we are not clean shaved in the first case and in the second we are clean shaved. In conclusion, it is that "other" that appears in the mirror - and that paradoxically is our image - who tells us what we are and perhaps also how we are. That tremendous transformational power is what gives life to living beings,for all existing units of analysis: the individual, the groups, or the organizations.
From this perspective, marketing emerges, but like most inventions and developments, it does not follow from the previous stage. But that does take a very important step. With the irruption of marketing and its association with the “previous stage” where production is privileged as an initial and driving phase, it is about taking the target market as if it were a battle, hence the selection of the word warrior. And to take a market there is nothing better than taking as much of it as possible, regardless of its needs.
And in this primitive desire to "take the market" you begin to learn that there are at least three phases that are important to consider in marketing: 1. needs; 2. desires, and 3. differentiation. It should be noted that most of the authors mention the first two of them and that they also generally agree that the third phase is what they call "enjoyment or pleasure." These authors exemplify it by mentioning that, in the case of thirst, in the first phase it would be satisfied through water; in the second phase satisfaction would be obtained as a consequence of a carbonated drink and that the third phase would be satisfied for example through an alcoholic drink.
Our experiences (Eric Gaynor Butterfield; Michigan State University - 1975) suggest that we replace the third phase, which most authors call “enjoyment or pleasure”, with the “differentiation” phase that is present in all evolutionary social theory in the humanity. And so we have become pioneers since it was only in the 90s of the last century when speaking of CRM that the word differentiation was introduced for the first time by those who are considered gurus (Don Peppers and Martha Rogers).
We have moved away from the concept of mere "enjoyment or pleasure" and prefer to call the third phase as "differentiation", since we show certain coincidences at the level of values with John Kenneth Galbraith when he questions the "affluent society". The development of the “Eric window” by The Organization Development Institute International privileges focusing on needs, something that many organizations, based on the advice of marketing experts, have given little importance and left aside. With this, these expert consultants have ensured that a very small proportion of people in the total universe can satisfy their vital needs largely because another small proportion of people in the total universe strive to privilege enjoyment and pleasure, above the needs.
Taking into account the increasing importance that values have every day in the results of corporations, and especially those that expect to have a continued and sustained growth over the short-term advantages, we are going to copy textually a paragraph of Galbraith: “If it happened that a man, when he woke up every morning, was assaulted by a legion of demons that sometimes inspired him with a passion for silk shirts, other times, great desires for kitchen batteries, large pots or oranges There would be full reason to applaud the efforts made to find the goods that whatever their peculiar characteristics might appease this internal fire.But if that passion is the result of having first attracted demons and it happens that efforts to appease them excite them to ever-increasing activity, it is logical to question the sanity of the solution that is applied to evil. Even if the conventional attitude is against it, you might well ask yourself whether the solution is to obtain a greater quantity of goods or to decrease the number of demons. ”
Therefore Marketing - when it is not put at the service of others - and moves away from the needs of the Clients has a limited, short-term life, like all predatory activity. Many consultants in their professional services have used definitions regarding different “profiles” that “their Clients” could adopt, including: l. Leader; 2. Defiant; 3. Follower; Boxed. For example Alberto Wilensky, 1997: "Strategic Marketing" defines different competitive structures based on "Theater of Operations" where the actors would take one of the four roles mentioned above. In turn, each of these profiles would assume different positions of "War". For the leader it would be defensive; for the defiant it would be offensive; for the follower it would be flanking; and for the boxer it would be guerrilla.In turn, each profile would make use of particular "maneuvers". Self-attack and blocking by the leader; direct attack and harassment by the defiant; surprise and constancy as well as attack from uncontested areas by the follower; and focused attack with a quick fold by the profile characterized as boxed.
The work and contributions of academics and researchers in the behavioral sciences began to be taken into account when both entrepreneurs and their advisers and consultants did not obtain any reasonable explanation for disparate results in the face of similar consequences, or similar results in the face of different stimuli, making use of of the military approach described in the previous paragraph.
Bill Clinton's famous phrase "The economy is stupid" with its significant impact on the electoral process in the United States of America, parallels what researchers and practitioners in the Organizational Development area of The Organization Development Institute had once discovered back: "It's the people… wake up"
This movement focused on the individual - and with what people have each of them in their head (the appropriate term is in their minds, but historically we have used the other phrase) - began to take into account more and more by business and organizational leaders. The problem was that - even if one wanted to change towards this approach of prioritizing the individual, the Client - the conflict arose in the fact that there was not enough support both in the field of computer technology and in that of communications. But man seems to get along very well with technological developments and during the end of the last century the solution in the field of communications and computer technology was available.
Now it was possible to talk about the birth of ONE-TO-ONE MARKETING since today a powerful technology and methodology was also ALSO available to sustain business and organizational growth in a continuous and sustained way: CRM. This acronym corresponds to Customer Relationship Management and generally in the literature it has been translated as Managing Customer Relations.
MARKETING ONE-TO-ONE features:
- It is more customer-oriented than product-oriented. It moves away from "standard" products and closer to "custom-made" products. It is product-oriented in what we call the "second (or third) cycle. It interacts more through the individual relationship with Clients than through advertising and mass media. Try to learn about the different levels of Client dissatisfaction, among others: completely dissatisfied, dissatisfied, neutral, satisfied, and completely satisfied. to learn what actions must be taken for each of the levels of Customer dissatisfaction, such as: change in product or service development, creation and implementation of a complaint resolution system, management control by management, etc. try to work two-dimensionally;focusing on the interaction with people and also on the level of customization. It replaces the traditional approach of focusing only on call centers, web and datawarehouses by focusing only on the interaction dimension (database marketing). It replaces the traditional approach of focusing In a niche by concentrating solely on the dimension of customization (niche marketing), there is an answer to the question on which dimension to work first: interaction dimension. The interaction dimension allows to fulfill two of the most important stages of one-to-one Marketing: identify, differentiate and interact with the Client.shows that starting from the customization dimension under either of its two options (standard products or customized products) it is very difficult to reach one-to-one marketing) it shows that starting from the interaction dimension it is easier to reach one-to-one marketing one.It differs from the segmentation on the fact that the feedback and information we receive FROM a Client will Change HOW from there on we will treat THAT particular Client for a specific Need. make it clear that it is not a question of analyze, decide and give instructions.makes it clear that it is not a matter of analyzing, deciding and giving instructions.makes it clear that it is not a matter of analyzing, deciding and giving instructions.
Analytical skills are necessary to identify and differentiate, but then you need to take action (something marketers believed was OTHERS 'work). The main actions are to interact and customize.
- It helps companies to self-evaluate in several dimensions: a. Are you in a position to customize products and services continuously?; b. Are you in a position to increase interactivity with Clients ?; c. Are you in a position to encourage those people who privilege relationships with Clients ?; d. Are you in a position to appreciate the value of your Clients and measure their value ?; and. Are you in a position to know who you want to retain; Who do you want to “enlarge” ?; Are you in the mood to transform a complaint into an opportunity for improvement? "Each" Client is unique and unrepeatable and they customize (tailor) products and services to the fullest extent of the conversation with the Client and their feedback results in the creation of the business.The importance of speaking WITH the Client (and not IN his office or IN our company) makes him see that a very important competitive advantage lies in knowing something about a Client that the competitor does not yet know. One detail: it is important that this information is provided directly by the Client. It makes the dimension of "number of Clients" on the X axis rise on the Y axis where the "number of satisfied Clients" is measured. that attracting, retaining, and enlarging Clients has less to do with products and services and much more to HOW it is done. expect to answer the question of who are my Clients. hope to answer the question of who are no longer my Clients. Expect to answer about the needs of Clients. Expect to answer about which Clients are most valuable.Expects to answer the question of which Clients have the greatest potential. Expects that both the back-office and the front-office have the same history of Clients 'information. It shows that Clients' needs do not always arise from transactions; they have to be discovered through conversation. points a way to the most efficient marketing model and practice: identifying, differentiating, interacting and customizing. one-to-one marketing shows that it's not just about using new tools with the same old and outdated strategy. treat different people differently for different "situations". set up a whole mechanism of information distribution through the company that breaks all ties with the traditional hierarchical organization.It is strengthened as a result of previous implementations in other "Best Practices" such as: re-engineering, quality assurance, project management, total quality, empowerment, command board, among others. It allows a greater number of options regarding our ability to dialogue with Customers, and goes far beyond the internet or email. Both “touch-tone” responses during teleconferences and retail business membership cards represent an additional new option with respect to learning about the expected behavior of Clients. It represents the best “Best Practice” in these moments where differentiation by Price is tending to decrease more and more. It allows to enlarge the Client through the satisfaction of new and growing needs.It represents a powerful tool to appreciate when we as a company are wrong, Saying that we care about the Client, when in reality we show him that we know little or nothing about him (such as when we ask him for information that the Client ALREADY provided us previously). for the first time in many years we stopped focusing solely on continuous product improvement; One-to-one marketing gives us the opportunity to learn that we do not need a partially modified or altered product, but a totally new product. It suggests that we think beyond the simple "evaluation of a project" where we applied formulas to appreciate the value of business, since in one-to-one marketing we seek to identify the value of each Client (including the future) and its usefulness.It allows us to learn about the enriching concept of “diversity”, and its multiple advantages over massive standardization. It predisposes the entrepreneur and the company manager to think more about HOW the service is provided than the service itself. a very particular facet that has both positive and negative aspects: the entrepreneur and company manager does NOT have much time to learn why he is doing well and why he is doing badly. As a leading businessman in the financial sector told us: "When we realized what was happening, it was too late." It gave companies and their managers the beautiful opportunity to differentiate themselves by their dedication to service. As demonstrated by various works by The Organization Development Institute in various sectors,the relationship is a necessary but not sufficient phase. Only when we are able to become intimate and after getting our Clients to trust us, only there can we say that we are a company with V. De S. (1)
(1) Many of the pioneering research work of the pioneers in Organizational Development was carried out in non-profit organizations. Private entrepreneurs, amazed at the "compliance", "commitment" and "motivation" that was obtained from the organizational participants in these non-profit institutions, wanted to learn and transfer this knowledge and practices to their business world some time later.
- It allows to develop a step-by-step plan, where at first you have to identify them and then differentiate them. It focuses on differentiating the value of the Clients and thus determining all those Clients that the company cannot lose. One-to-one marketing not only suggests having a specialized service for receiving and attending complaints, but rather considers it as an indispensable mechanism for continuous learning. It shows how each member of the organization passes from responsibility to responsibility. Many companies and organizations (such as banks and others financial entities) have a unique opportunity to implement CRM (or some of its tools such as website development or sales training) for their Clients at a very low cost and with extraordinary advantages.In a few words, we will learn that we should not appreciate what we can take the Client out of their wallet, but that a series of opportunities will be in view of everything we can give our Clients so that they can do much better.
The organization may be able to implement one-to-one Marketing through effective CRM using both significant internal and external resources. Now, if the Client tells them what they really WANT and then “NOTHING CHANGES” (that is, the company does nothing about it), then it is better for the company to save the money to spend on CRM.
This is a marked difference between Database Marketing and ONE-TO-ONE MARKETING. Everything is in your hands and whenever you want THINGS TO CHANGE FOR THE BEST
And always remember one of our MARKETING ONE-TO-ONE slogan: “not only do children not like parents to repeat what they should do… Customers also do not like to say twice what they want, let alone give data and information… that they have already delivered before (attention: Banks and financial entities that always request the same data from their clients even though they already have them stored in their files) ”- Eric Gaynor, 2003.
