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Number
51: May 5, 2004
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This week in Katydid:
Marketing
in The Accountable Organization (part two)
This week we continue our
interview with John
Marchica, founder of FaxWatch,
Inc. (FWI), a medical information services provider based here in
Scottsdale, Arizona. He has just published a book titled The
Accountable Organization: Reclaiming Integrity, Restoring Trust,
which gives the reader methods to build integrity, trust, and
accountability in their business.
Last
week, we began to define accountable and trust-based marketing. This
week we talk about some of the challenges:
KTD: You write that communications must have three properties:
clarity, consistency, and compassion. I think most would agree that
clarity and consistency will foster trust; but how does someone outside
the healthcare field demonstrate compassion in marketing?
JM: I use the word "compassion" as shorthand for
both empathy and compassionate honesty. For marketers, it means having
some deeper level of understanding and connection with your customers.
As the saying goes, walk a mile in someone else's shoes.
In the marketing context, empathy is best understood with verbal
communications: how you sell, how you service your customers, etc. At
any time when you meet the customer or prospect, it's critical to reach
that deeper level, to connect with people. The best way to accomplish
this is by being empathetic to their needs – and putting those needs
ahead of your own self-interest.
Or, to use another trite but useful saying, put your customer first.
You may not always get the sale, but you'll set the foundation for a
longer-term relationship. And of course, build trust in the process.
This is true whether you're selling cars or car washes, lumber or
houses, computers or Internet services.
One caveat: you can't force "empathy" on your sales reps
and customer service professionals. They have to believe in the
principle; it must be a reflection of the company's core values. If
connecting with customers isn't valued by the company's leadership or
stakeholders, it won't be practiced in the field.
Remember, customers are people. And people can smell it when someone
isn't being genuine. You must truly want to walk a mile in your
customer's shoes for this principle to work.
KTD: Do you think it's asking too much of marketers to concern
themselves also with the deeper issues of whether they should be
marketing certain products to certain audiences? For example, beer
commercials promote a lifestyle of moral abandonment and then add
disclaimers to "Please, drink responsibly."
JM: Do organizations have a responsibility to make products
that are beneficial – or at least, not harmful – to society? For
example, should tobacco companies be allowed to exist? If we were to
remove the historical context from the question, all the interest groups
and money behind tobacco, etc. and looked at the industry objectively,
I'd say no. Imagine a new product coming to market today that was known
to kill people. FDA or other governing bodies wouldn't allow it. Plenty
of smokers might have my head for saying that, but tobacco isn't going
anywhere soon. Too much momentum behind the industry.
Given that we have morally objectionable industries, the question you
ask of marketers gets to the heart of a recurring theme in The
Accountable Organization. That is, do you have a responsibility
to market your products in moral and ethical ways? Well, it's true that
may be a matter of individual choice; I believe that companies who take
the high road will, in the long run, have a sustainable competitive
advantage over companies who don't.
Why? People buy from people, and companies they trust. Companies
without a strong ethical fiber find themselves competing for
fair-weather customers, thus having higher customer acquisition costs
and higher customer retention costs. High quality people won't put up
working for unscrupulous companies, so hiring costs and salaries paid
are higher. Product turnover and inventory costs may be higher, too. And
so on.
Having said that, I believe that most companies market their products
ethically and responsibly. However, the question remains; what if your
own specific values and beliefs aren't consistent with a company's
marketing practices? As a marketer, do you continue to toe the party
line, or do you ask yourself the hard questions?
Look, you won't be successful if you don't believe in your product or
how it is marketed, and you won't be happy working for a company that
has an opposing set of values and ethics. When this conflict arises, you
must choose to make the changes within the organization – otherwise
choose to leave the organization. I don't think anyone can live with the
uncomfortable middle position for long.
KTD: The pharmaceutical industry has the most restrictions for
marketing, and, in many ways, is trying to repair its reputation. Do you
think that reputation was deserved? And what should other industries
learn from those mistakes?
JM: Full disclosure – FWI earns much of its revenue from
educational grants provided by the pharmaceutical industry.
That said, the biggest mistake Big Pharma has made has been its
failure to communicate the value of its products. There are many reasons
for the industry's political unpopularity – a subject for another
interview, perhaps – but it all comes down to perceived value for the
money spent.
For example, a popular antibiotic treats many types of infections.
The prescribed course of therapy is one tablet a day for five days. Now,
when you find out at the pharmacy counter that your prescription costs
fifty dollars, your immediate question is, "Ten bucks a pill? Are
you kidding me?"
The calculus that people don't make is this: your alternative
[antibiotic] is three pills a day for 10 days, which will assuredly
upset your stomach and might not kill the bug that's making you sick. (A
third alternative is to refuse to take anything – hoping that your body
will heal itself or that a virus, not a bacteria, is causing your
infection.)
You're paying fifty dollars for better technology, better efficacy,
and fewer side effects. Because the industry hasn't communicated these
advancements in technology – and the fact people are living longer and
with a higher quality of life – many of us focus on rising drug prices.
It doesn't help that industry began advertising to consumers in the
1990s. While this advertising made Viagra a household name, survey after
survey shows that doctors and patients wish that Big Pharma would kill
the commercials. It just somehow seems, well, inappropriate. Nor does it
help when you're in the waiting room feeling crummy and you see five
drug reps sitting next to you.
Pharma has a long way to go in communicating its value to the world.
If that value were established, it wouldn't matter if they advertised
their products or had armies of sales reps. But for now, the consumer
perception – whether true or not – is that the price of aggressive,
visible marketing and promotion is borne out in the cost of the product.
I haven't seen any signs that companies have figured out how to fix this
problem.
KTD: Since you finished writing The Accountable
Organization, what have you discovered about accountability? Have
you seen other examples that you would have liked to write about?
JM: I'm constantly reminded that becoming an accountable
organization is an ongoing process. At FWI, our ethics will always be
challenged, our integrity is always on the line, and there are constant
assaults on the trust that we've built in our brand. No difficult
decision is ever black and white; it's how we manage the gray areas that
are true measures of who we are.
While I wish that The Accountable Organization had provided a
cure-all for businesses, I recognize this impossibility. The pursuit of
the ideal is what matters anyway.
KTD: I want to thank you again for taking time out of your
schedule to talk with us. I'd like to give you an opportunity to have
the last word. If you had one piece of advice for the marketers out
there struggling in organizations that may be less than accountable,
what would you offer?
JM: In my view, accountability means ownership; owning and
accepting the choices you make in life. While sometimes those choices
may lead to unpleasant consequences, you still have choices. If you are
struggling with your company's marketing practices, make the choice to
change them for the better. You may have more influence than you think.
In my previous career within corporate America, every major victory
followed a risky decision, or entailed an approach that went against the
grain.
And if you can't effect change within the context of your firm, well,
there are plenty of companies who would appreciate your contribution.
There are differences in viewpoints that are irreconcilable, no matter
what you do. Sometimes, you're better off saying, "No,
thanks."
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