More Good Technology But Bad Marketing

After posting my last article, I experienced a perfect example of "good technology/bad marketing." I sent an email to the Human Resources Department of a company. It was a question that only required a one or two sentence answer.

Instead of the brief answer I expected, I received an AUTOMATED REPLY. Just think about that for a minute - an AUTOMATED reply from the HUMAN Resources Department. Maybe they use the initials (HR) so much that the people in the department don't know what the "H" stands for.

The automated response told me that I should go to a specific site and "answer questions about my inquiry." Then the HR department would know who to route my question to so I could get a proper and quick response. How's that for good technology but bad marketing? If I were a betting person, I would be willing to wager a large sum of money that the people in the HR department don't consider themselves to be responsible for marketing. Nowhere in the job descriptions of anyone in that department does it say that they are responsible for selling or marketing. Thus, they don't believe they represent the company to customers, potential customers or referral sources. Obviously, they have not read my previous postings. They don't realize that marketing is EVERYTHING a person sees, hears, feels touches and smells that comes from or is about your company. In addition, they don't realize that they must make it easy for me to do business with them.

From this experience, I have decided that I do not want to do business with them because it is not easy to do business with them. As a referral source, I will tell others that it is not easy to do business with them. They have good technology, but bad marketing. Over the years, I have had similar experiences. And keep in mind, it just doesn't have to be computer-related technology. It can be any type of system or procedure that your business has.

Once again, I strongly suggest you look at every way your company interfaces and communicates with the general public. Do your employees who are "not in the marketing department" know how to represent your company? Have your systems, procedures and technology made it more difficult for people to do business with you? If you want more business, you have to make it easy for people to do business with your company. Keep in mind what I said in my last posting. People are like water. They take the path of least resistance.