Isnt the 'Proactive marketing approach' more of a disturbance to the customer? (Linked In)

My Answer:

I am not particularly in favour of using an adjective like Proactive. I am not sure as to how Marketing can be otherwise!!

The concept of disturbance again could be relative and diverse based on people, their background, culture likes and dislikes.

Typically any marketing approach and the particular activity undertaken will have to define customer touch points. So it could be an ad in the morning news paper sports section, a radio jingle in a particular program slot, a salesperson cold calling on and ringing your doorbell, an ad during Prime Time Friends, an email, an ad on a website and many more. Each of these again in many different ways.

Now any marketing approach must figure out the target segment and then decide how to reach them. An understanding of the segment that is being targeted is therefore of extreme importance. Understanding would be in terms of their social norms, behavior, culture and other attributes.

When you do all these and then carry out your marketing activities, that's what I would term as being proactive. This means that you try to understand a customer in terms of their thoughts, beliefs, feelings and needs.

Any marketing approach is intended to utilize those moments with the customer effectively. I reckon that if you are offensive or creating disturbance then you are not being effective and therefore you are not being proactive!!

An example:
It was 10.00 at night the other day when our doorbell rang. I live in an apartment in a typical residential high rise building Through the eye-hole I could see a lady and a gentleman. I opened the door with the door chain on, when the lady explained to me that they were doing some survey on tap water and wanted fifteen minutes of my time to conduct the experiment!! I mentioned that we do not consume tap water and then suggested to them they could conduct that experiment at the source itself and should rather contact the building supervisor instead of knocking apartments and that too in the night. She was awed by my suggestion but insisted that I should give in since it would hardly take a while. I immediately asked her if they were trying to sell a water purifier to me and she agreed. I told them I will not buy one and was polite with my 'thank you"!! She made a big face, rolled her eyes away, looked at her partner, shrugged, bid a rude "have a nice day" (@#$&**?) and waled off to next apartment.

This was surely disturbance!! I do not want to blame the salesperson right away here.

It is all a question of marketing approach and the right way of doing things. Some organizations do it well, while most do not. Many products sell in the market, but you would always like to remember and emulate people and organization who do the right thing, the right way and are friendly to the world and its inhabitants.

Marketing is surely about understanding consumer needs and then conceptualising, developing, promoting and delivering the product or service to fulfill those needs again and again. The marketing approach could be Push or Pull but I am quite clear that both approaches have to ensure that they are not offensive or causing disturbance. That's one facet of being proactive after all!! Sphere: Related Content