Why Advertising Alone is Not Enough
Recently I was at the Cresta Hotel Msasa making a presentation to people from UNICEF.
I got this speaking invitation through a referral.
I did some work for a certain company and they told me I had done a marvellous job and they would refer me to their UNICEF friends.
That's how I got that amazing opportunity.
I had not put an advert in the newspaper to advertise my speaking and training services.
My previous work and million-dollar customer service was my advert.
Many people generally think businesses are made successful by advertising their products and services.
This is not true and I will show you why.
You see, the fundamental role of advertising is just in communicating a value proposition with a view of informing, reminding and attracting customers.
There are many channels of getting our value propositions known by the market and also to attract those customers to do business with us.
My worry is, while promotion matters in communicating the value proposition, it is just not sufficient to make a business successful!
After all the advertising and promotional efforts, my understanding is that when those customers come to deal with us, advertising ceases to matter and something else takes over in making sure customers get a good customer experience!
Promotion is actually key as it is a central variable in the marketing mix but it is not enough!
The inescapable truth is, the interface between customers and the company is not sustained by advertising but by million-dollar customer service.
Advertising attracts and draws the people to the company while customer service satisfies and retains them.
Promotion communicates the value proposition but customer service delivers that value proposition.
So there is something wrong with putting so much money in advertising while you put no meaningful resources in customer service.
In excellent customer service, that's where the money is and not in advertising!
Advertising is one important aspect but when the people then come to your company, how they are treated matters even more than those adverts!
In other words, the best advertising is memorable customer experience!
So next time, put more money in getting the people to be trained than that TV advert!
In marketing terms, when the customer does not get what he was expecting from company adverts, they call it a marketing disconnect.
In customer service, the term moment of truth is what describes what happens between what the company advertises and what the customer really experiences at the point of contact with its products and services.
PS: What are your thoughts on this? You can leave your comments in the comment section below.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Clemence Mutembo is the CEO of Zimbabwe's foremost and popular business forum called the Harare Business Forum. He is also a dynamic and top-flight Business Speaker, Trainer, Presenter, Facilitator, Consultant and Coach.
As a result of the strategic relevance of his messages, Clemence is being invited to speak at many events, organisations and companies.
His latest book is titled MILLION DOLLAR CUSTOMER SERVICE and is available for sale now! You can get a 10% discount by highlighting that you read this article on Zim Trending.
You can contact him on +263 735 686 603 (click to chat on WhatsApp
visit www.hararebusinessforum.co.zw
clemence@hararebusinessforum.co.zw
Join our WhatsApp broadcast list. Send the message ‘Add’ to +263 775 378 769. Remember to save our contact so you get notified every time we post new content.
