notes and views on crm, social media, and the human side of information technology

No need to love the supplier of toilet paper

DOC SEARLS HAS FINALLY ANSWERED a question I’ve silently pondered for a long time: do I have to “have a relationship” with everybody I do business with?

Cluetrain is a “must read” (markets are conversations) but do I REALLY NEED a conversation with the supplier of toilet paper?
Unique products and services, but commodity items?

To which Doc says:

For businesses that require no live communication with customers in the course of everyday work, markets are conversations means simply that the company still shouldn’t isolate itself either from talk within their marketplace or from talk with customers when the need arises. In other words, it should still be ready to Get Real when the time comes for real conversation.

And he provides a nice illustration.

How to “Get Real” when you, as a company, don’t have a vast number of super-engaged fanboys? I suppose toilet paper suppliers don’t often deal with the end-users of their product. And a blog about toilet paper wouldn’t probably have a huge following… or would it? Hey, there’s a niche for everybody on the net. If it were Engadget-style, who knows.

But conversations aren’t only about blogs, and I often forget that. The one thing any company, including the “boring” ones, can do is to humanize all their interactions with the outside world. And inside, too: employees are the most ignored group in CRM initiatives.

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March 27, 2007 | Filed Under CRM 

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