Future of Marketing Summit Launches a 'Customer Equity' Movement

AARM's Future of Marketing Summit held in Toronto on November 14, 2006 provoked the thinking of the participants and engaged them in seeking solutions. According to, Robert T. Stacey, CEO of the Association for the Advancement of Relationship Marketing (AARM), the Future of Marketing Summit evolved from a growing need for marketers and business leaders to step back from day-to-day tasks and examine the inescapable challenges facing marketing today and in the future.

Toronto (PRWEB) November 28, 2006 -- On November 14, 2006 AARM's Future of Marketing Summit engaged an audience of business leaders in a lively debate about the challenges facing sales and marketing. Robert T. Stacey, CEO of the Association for the Advancement of Relationship Marketing (AARM), says that "The Summit evolved from a growing need for marketers and business leaders to step back from day-to-day responsibilities and examine the inescapable challenges facing marketing today. Participants walked away with new insights into these challenges and new strategies that turn these challenges into opportunities."

Stacey adds, "The Summit was intended to start a movement, one intended to help companies face up to the business issues brought on by change and innovation. AARM and its Customer Equity Initiative are designed to provide guidance and ongoing support as companies wrestle with the issues."

Five thought leaders provided insights into what it will take for companies to gain and sustain profitability and growth in today's business climate. While each presented a unique perspective they were united in arguing that in an era of abundance, overwhelming choice and rapid change, customer relationships, not product is the most important source of competitive advantage.

John I. Todor, Ph.D., managing partner of The Whetstone Edge, LLC and author of Addicted Customers: How to Get Them Hooked on Your Company. discussed "Today's Customers: What They Value and How They Make Decisions." According to Todor "Until you understand the psychology of the customer experience, how to measure it and how to build it into your offering, you will be forced to compete on price, convenience and incentives." He shared methodologies and strategies to win customer mindshare, loyal and the commitment of today's customers.

Linda Sharp, CEO of Religence Inc., stated that business leaders recognize that competitive advantage and profitability lie in customer relationships. She argued, "Most businesses have not been able to take full advantage of this insight because they lack a critical relationship metric. If you can't measure the customer interactions, the relationship is invisible." Sharp shared how Religence, Inc. offers a metric and methodology the allows marketers to measure cause and effect across the entire customer lifecycle and illustrated how this enables the real-time management and resource management required for sustainable profits and growth.

Ray Sheen, President and Founder of Product & Process Innovation, Inc. provided insights into "Engineering Lifetime Value into the Customer Experience." Sheen, an engineer, takes the following position "By definition, product development engineers are product-centric, and product development has become a well-honed process for delivering the next generation widget. But in most cases the product, per se, is no longer a sufficient differentiator. Marketers are increasingly concerned about customer lifetime value and see the customer experience as an essential vehicle. By working together, marketing and engineering can define a Product Relationship Road Map--a road map that engineers positive, reoccurring experiences into the use of products to continue to build customer relationships after purchase."

Pamela Swingley, President of Savvy Internet Marketing, LLC talked about how Online trends are transforming marketing. Swingley, a seasoned veteran of traditional marketing now argued that "fashioning effective marketing strategies requires insights into a host of new issues: How do customers search? How do you reach them? Why do online leads deliver a better ROI? What are the implications of greater corporate transparency?" Swingley is adamant. "Internet marketing is not just a new set of tools. It inescapably changes a company's relationship with its customers."
William Todor, Ph.D., Senior Partner of The Whetstone Edge, LLC discussed the importance of getting employees engaged in delivering compelling customer experiences and aligning corporate practices with this mission. According to Todor, "Companies must recognize that delivering compelling customer experiences requires fully engaged employees. While employees are physically present on the job, the majority are at least partially psychologically absent. While this has a detrimental impact on productivity it has a devastating impact on a company's ability to deliver an emotionally engaging customer experience." He discussed how the psycho-economic framework presented in the new Addicted Customers book could be used to get employees engaged in their job and enable win-win-win relationships between customers, companies and employees.

Stacey wrapped up the day by noting that all the thought leaders made the case that building strong customer relationships is a journey, not an event or campaign. He added that the goal of building customer relationships is to build customer equity, the intangible that leads to trust, commitment and a foundation for both parties to adapt to an ever changing business climate. "Building customer equity doesn't happen by chance" says Stacey, "Companies need to develop and implement deliberate practices to make this happen." He closed by saying the AARM's Customer Equity Initiative was designed to help companies as they embarked on the journey to building customer equity. Stacey invites forward thinking business leader join the movement by going to www.CustomerEquity.org.

Robert T. Stacey in the CEO of the Association for the Advancement of Relationship Marketing (AARM). AARM is a worldwide network of business associates and executives who are deeply involved in Marketing, CRM and related subject areas. AARM provides a worldwide forum for the development, understanding and communication of the principles CRM, CEM and other practices related to building Customer Equity. The AARM Community is comprised of over 5,000 individuals, the majority of whom are Senior Executives in retail, financial, manufacturing, technology, service industries.

# # #