Marketing productivity has significantly decreased for TV, newspapers, magazines, catalogues, direct mail, telemarketing, e-mail, website pop-up ads, and even your own client and prospect lists. What’s driving this trend? People have an attitude…an anti-marketing attitude.

Their attitude, formed by exposure to 3,000 to 5,000 ads a day, is that they already have enough “stuff” are getting too much “unwanted information,” and have too little time. Even those wanting to shop and spend more will stop doing business with companies they feel intrude on their busy lives.

The concept of customer relationship management has been around a long time and is based on the idea that consumers prefer marketing that caters to their individual tastes and interests. This means that all MPI providers and suppliers need detailed knowledge about individual prospects and clients.

The concept of customer relationship management has been around a long time and is based on the idea that consumers prefer marketing that caters to their individual tastes and interests. This means that all MPI providers and suppliers need detailed knowledge about individual prospects and clients.

But peo¬ple are very reluctant to give out personal information. Those that do, in exchange for some benefit, feel abused when that information is used for even more marketing. The result can create even more marketing resistance.

This presents a huge challenge that is not easy to overcome because for today’s marketing to work it must be relevant and targeted to the attitude of the specific customer. The problem is every customer is different and can’t be put in a general category. Each has a different attitude and comes from different backgrounds and cultures.

Consider the growing Hispanic family market which now makes up 30% of the US population. Within that market we have people from every South and Central American country, Mexicans, Cubans, Puerto Ricans and from Spain. Some are traditional two parent households, some single parent women and still others are single parent men. Each has a different attitude and culture.

Mass marketing is long dead and must be replaced with much smaller segments governed by individual attitudes and interest. While it is generally true that both men and women may go thru a mid-life-crisis, each one does not want to get back in shape or buy a red sports car convertible. Knowing which “mid-lifers” have an attitude of youthfulness would be a great advantage.

Wouldn’t it be a great advantage to know what the specific attitudes of your clients and prospects are about your product or service and how you deliver it? Wouldn’t it be exciting to know exactly what they want and how they desire to be marketed to and sold?

MPI members must survey their customers and prospects to determine their attitudes about lifestyle. What are their ambitions, aspirations, values, and desires? What are their individual shopping and marketing preferences? What magazines, web sites and TV programming do they like? What kind of marketing have they enjoyed and previously responded to…and why?

According to authors Smith, Clurman and Wood in Coming to Concurrence, marketing must be targeted to people who are already interested in a particular product or service instead of to a demographic group where some people are certain not to be interested.

People hang out with other people who have similar attitudes and interest. MindBase, found at www.yankelovich.com is a marketing tool that identifies consumer attitudes. To be successful in marketing today MPI members must know their prospect and client, what they want, what problems they face, how what you offer is a superior solution to their problems, how they want to be marketed to and what their values are.

By understanding the attitudes and problems of your targeted buyers and sellers, how you can help them with a superior solution and marketing to them “their way” you won’t have to sell your services because…all people still love to buy.

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