Within Chapter 14 of
David Meerman Scott's "Real-Time Marketing & PR," he goes in-depth
on the topic of responding to inquires in the now. For the longest time I could never figure out how a
sales representative got back to me in such a quick manner when I only sent in
my information minutes prior. I always assumed the company was not busy so I
became a top priority. After reading the chapter, I came to conclusion that what I was assuming was rarely
the case; rather it was because of automation.
So to skip all of the
technical terms and mumbo jumbo, I will explain what it is in terms of what my
fourth grade mind believes it to
be. The process starts when the client fills out and submits an inquiry within
a company’s website or platform. The information would include where the client
originally expressed interest through (one website verse another) and the
nature which the client is interested. The inquiry is then forward to a sales
representative who can immediately contact said client in real-time.
I am surprised I never
connected the dots before reading this chapter.
David defines the moment which the client submits the inquiry as a
"trigger point" which is "the point at which somebody actually
raises his or her hand by filling out a contact form or responding to an
offer." I thought the way he phrased that is key for a person like me with
a simple mind to understand. It really is like "raising his or her
hand" because once the sales representative notices the "hand is
raised" then he or she can focus on communicating with the client. David
Meerman Scott does an excellent job on explaining the automation process and
how it can help a company respond in the now even faster than ever before.
Until next time,
Matt
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMatt,
ReplyDeleteI think the process of automation is really neat. I'd have to agree with you about not connecting the dots. I had never really thought about how it works, but it makes complete sense. Companies would have to go to so much more trouble if they didn't use this. As we've talked about so many times in class, speed and agility are extremely important in the world of real-time marketing. If a company is not using automation, then they are missing out on potential customers and numerous sales. In this now real-time world customers want that instant return, because if a company waits too long, customers can lose interest.