He gets straight to the point.
That was my observation when he served a panelist on marketing panel I put together and moderated last June on the role of modern marketing. His succinct perspective is refreshing in this era marketing where everyone, including me, seems to have something long to say.
So, I invited him back as the 34th interviewee for this Q&A series. He is Mike Mitchell and he’s my guest for this edition of Off Script.
1) Marketing seems to be tasked with a growing list of responsibilities – traditionally with things like awareness, leads, brand, voice of the customer, and more recently with data, analytics, technology and CX – what is the role of marketing in this modern environment?
MM: I still contend that the role of marketing is to create demand among qualified prospects in the target market and drive them to the appropriate sales channel.
2) From your vantage point, what are the top challenges in marketing and how do you go about solving them?
MM: Cutting through the noise. Everyone is competing for the attention of a prospective buyer; they’re inundated with email, phone calls, etc.
Overcoming this challenge requires a bit of creativity and also requires clarifying your message so that it’s easy for prospects to see how you can help them thrive and survive.
3) Do you think customer experience has become more emphasized in the last few years?
MM: Absolutely. We live in a day an age where consumers can share their delight or dissatisfaction instantly to a wide audience. The leading companies listen to their customers, take stock in their feedback, and are continually trying to improve their customer experience.
See these related interviews:
Marketing Automation Only Does What You Tell It To; Off Script No. 33: Bryan Young
Managing Media Relations for a Publisher; Off Script No. 32: Rachael Wolensky of ALM
PR Prepared Her for a Role as a Martech CMO; Off Script No. 31: Nicole Wojno of UserIQ
4) What is the role of marketing in customer experience?
MM: Marketing should amplify the customer experience by ensuring that a company has a positive online reputation that will attract new customers.
5) You’re employer, Listen360, in the business of customer engagement. Tell us briefly what Listen360 does.
MM: It’s extremely difficult to grow your business and listen to all of your customers at the same time. Listen360’s software compiles customer feedback in real time and in one place, so you can address complaints quickly, keep existing customers happy, and win more referrals for your business.
6) What are some fundamentals of customer engagement that most businesses should have in place?
MM: Here are some best practices:
a) Ask, listen, follow up – It’s important to be proactive and ask for honest, candid feedback.
b) Engage swiftly with detractors – Today, an unhappy customer can tell thousands of people via review sites and social media rather quickly…and once it’s out there, it isn’t always easy to pull it back.
c) Empower promoters to recommend you – When you provide great service and delight your customers, they are likely to share their positive experience with others. So, just as important as it is to engage quickly with unhappy customers before they post a negative review, encourage your happy delighted customers to post a positive review about your company. You need to make this easy for them.
d) Use insights to take action – Use your feedback to improve the areas of your operation that are leading to dissatisfaction and double down on the areas that are delighting customers.
7) Just for fun: in just a word or a phrase, fill in the blank:
- One person you recommend following on Twitter is…Seth Godin.
- One publication or blog you read regularly is…Hubspot, Engagio, Terminus all have good material related to ABM.
- If you weren’t doing what you do now you’d be…A filmmaker.
- If you suddenly got 10% more marketing budget you’d spend it on…direct mail and PPC.
* * *
You can find Mike on LinkedIn and he’s previously penned a piece for the Listen360 blog: What is Net Promoter Score?
Want to be interviewed for the Off Script series?
We are always looking for smart people working in
PR, marketing, sales and journalism.
Contact us here!
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Photo credit: Pixabay
