Peter Drucker quotes prove he is the most enduring marketing guru of them all. His quotes and their wisdom are as relevant and applicable today as they were decades earlier when he first said them.

Peter Drucker (1909-2005) was the author of more than three dozen books, translated into almost as many languages.
McKinsey Quarterly said: “In the world of management gurus, there is no debate. Peter Drucker is the one guru to whom other gurus kowtow.”

Drucker saw marketing as a core responsibility of management.
He said:
“Marketing is so basic that it is not just enough to have a strong sales department and to entrust marketing to it.
Marketing is not only much broader than selling; it is not a specialized activity at all.
It encompasses the entire business. Concern and responsibility for marketing must therefore permeate all areas of the enterprise.
Marketing is not a function, it is the whole business seen from a customer's point of view.”

Some interesting links:

• The Peter Druker Institue , the best platform to understand and learn from Peter Drucker.
• Even in the excellent Harvard Business Review.
• In Business.com "The management theory of Peter Drucker.
• On amazon the list of books available.

 

How do you know what your really customers want?
Sales, quality products and services, good customer service–sure.
But what happens when you think you’re offering your customers the moon (and more) but they still shop with your competitors?

The best way to figure out what you’re lacking is to step out of your business briefs and into the customer’s shoes to get into the customer mindset. You’re going on a journey. A customer journey, that is.

Two questions to answer first:

• Who is your customer?
• What is his journey - How does it starts and when does it end?

How to map the customer journey and to jump into the customer's shoes?
The best way is to ask your customers!
Focus groups, face 2 face interviews, online surveys... whatever, as long as you ask the customer the right questions to better understand him or her.
The biggest mistkae is not to listen to the customers and bring your own opinion.

The map will be segmented into phases and each phase into steps.
You must identify the moment of truth - MOT - which is the critical moment. If you miss this MOT, you will probably miss the sale!

Some interesting links:

• Sailthru an innovative platform for email, web, and mobile. With an interesting blog.
• Obviously the excellent Harvard Business Review.
• EConsultancy have some interesting discussions about the CJ.
• HubSpot is a very interesting and educative blog.

 

The best way to know and understand your customers is to ask them the right questions.
A focus group is a gathering of deliberately selected people who participate in a planned discussion about a particular topic or area of interest in an environment that is interactive and receptive.

The process:

• An interview conducted by a trained moderator among a small group of respondents - 6 to 15 max, ideally 8 to 10.
• The interview is conducted in an informal and natural way where respondents are free to give views from any aspect. Focus groups are similar to, but should not be confused with in-depth interviews.
• The moderator uses a discussion guide that has been prepared in advance of the focus group to guide the discussion. Generally the discussion goes from overall impressions of a brand or product category and becomes more specific as the discussion progresses.

The purpose of a focus group is not to arrive at a consensus, some level of agreement, or to decide what to do about something.
Focus groups are designed to identify the feelings, perceptions, and thinking of consumers about a particular product, service, or solution.
It does that very well, in part, because focus groups utilize qualitative data collection methods. Just as in the dynamics of real life, the participants are able to interact, influence, and be influenced.

Some interesting links:

• The Balance small business propose very interesting explanations and go deep into the details.
• Obviously Wikipedia is always a good source of information.
• Shopify a very interesting ecommerce platform that provides good support to their users to help them to be successful.
• Business Dictionary proposes interesting and simple definition.

 

What is UX - User Experience?

The exact definition, as outlined by the International Organization for Standardization, is a “person’s perceptions and responses resulting from the use and or anticipated use of a product, system or service.”

Why is it so important to focus on UX?

According to Marketers, by 2020 UX will be more important than product or price as brand differentiator.
This is already extremely strong for B2C customers. It is also becoming true for B2B customers as they are increasingly expecting the same service levels they experience with online B2C sales at home.

When talking about UX, most of the people are thinking and talking about UX design on the Web.
This approach is way too narrow!
UX encompasses all aspects of the end-user's interaction with the company, its services, and its products.

Some interesting links:

• A very interesting and informative post on User Testing.
• Peter Morville on Semantic Studio explains the evolution of UX and this is extremely well done.
• Nielsen Norman Group is a reference in understanding customers, user experience.
• Usability.gov describes the factors that influence UX.
• Steve Dore from MIV published a very interesting post on LinkedIn.

 

What is MOT - Moment Of Truth?

Jan Carlzon, president of Scandinavian Airlines, defined the ‘Moment of Truth’ in business with this statement:
“Any time a customer comes into contact with a business, however remote, they have an opportunity to form an impression.”
The MOT is the most important step to identify in the Customer Journey.

Four Moment Of Truth

According to Marketers, we can identofy 4 MOT:

• ZMOT: Zero Moment Of Truth

  This is the first possible moment of contact between a brand or product and the customer. It’s when a problem/desire arises in the customer’s mind. They decide to get online and go hunting/investigating for the possible solutions.

• First Moment Of Truth

  This occurs the first time a potential client comes into contact with your brand/products.
  It’s the impression that they form when they see the product/brand for the first time and begin learning about it.
  Proctor and Gamble say that this is the moment that marketers should concentrate their efforts on to turn potential customers into actual customers.

• Second Moment Of Truth

  The Second Moment Of Truth is the ongoing relationship with a product/brand. The things your customers think, see, here, touch, smell, etc. about the product and the brand over the lifetime of the relationship.

• Ultimate Moment Of Truth

  The stage when the user or customer begins to share their experiences with others and thus creates many more zero moments of truth.
  It is about transforming customers into BRand Advbocates.

Some interesting links:

• A very interesting and informative post on MOT on the Interaction Design Foundation.
• The Magazine Forbes goes from MOT to Moment of Magic!
• A very interesting post on the Harvard Business Review.
• DCKAP propose a very good contribution to the understanding of the MOT.