MAIN INSIGHT 14
Vladimirs Polakovs
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
In your opinion, how did the pandemic affect buyer attitudes and what should organisations do to adapt to these changes in the post-pandemic period?
During the pandemic, businesses got used to operating in a highly unpredictable environment. I believe that now, in the post-pandemic period, they’re more secure and have adapted to new market conditions. I also believe that those B2B service providers who nurtured and maintained existing relationships and utilised that human factor, are the ones that are going to rise to the top. The key is for organisations to identify the ways to mitigate the complexities that buyers face as a result of the pandemic.
Do you believe that the human factor plays a role in customer acquisition as well?
Despite the growing amount of automation of various processes, people still need to talk to people. In regard to customer acquisitions, the best approach is to combine the best out of both worlds–automating certain processes which in return, allow salespeople to interact more with businesses that they're working with.
Lately there's a tendency for organisations to personalise their brand name–this is to build trust. Organisations want to associate themselves with things people can relate to and understand. This is why we see organisations putting pictures of their employees on their website–they want to demonstrate that they're also people and appreciate the human factor.
The best approach is to combine the best out of both worlds–automating certain processes which in return, allow salespeople to interact more with businesses that they're working with.
I don’t think it’s about telemarketing vs digital marketing–it’s about the new form of digital marketing.
Can you share your thoughts on the future balance of digital marketing versus telemarketing?
When you think about it, people today don't really use phones to communicate. We tend to use Zoom, Google Meets and similar platforms, and even when we do communicate over the phone it’s mostly through different apps rather than the actual mobile service provider. So, I believe telemarketing is probably getting closer to the end.
At the same time, all the available tools that we have today are reshaping digital marketing. From the lead generation process to doing massive marketing campaigns, everything is much easier today. I don’t think it’s about telemarketing vs digital marketing–it’s about the new form of digital marketing.
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