Unselling

Unselling

Americans. No nation has studied, dissected, examined, quantified, theorised, and codified marketing to the same degree. Yet, with so much written about marketing by our American cousins every year, who is ready to remind marketers what really matters, when all is said and done? Two Canadians, Scott Stratten and his partner Alison Kramer, that's who.

Stratten has previously released three entertaining books on marketing, although in reality, the books appear to have been primarily written by Kramer, based on central ideas agreed upon by both. The book preceding ‘Unselling’, entitled ‘QR Codes Kill Kittens’, uses examples of poor marketing execution to put the lie to the idea that marketers use QR codes because consumers want them, rather than marketers using QR codes because they want consumers to want them.

If Kevin Smith is the counterculture movie director, then Scott Stratten is the counterculture marketing director. Stratten’s keynote speeches, in which he preaches the value of being ‘awesome’, may not be to everyone’s liking, but he electrifies audiences with his brutal honesty, unwavering passion and good humour. Scott is not afraid to call out bad practice when he sees it - freedom he gained from his decision to refuse corporate consulting projects some years ago.

The central theme of ‘Unselling’ is that many companies, in practice, if not in principle, only really care about consumers at the point of sale. The authors argue that companies that wish to have a profitable, ongoing relationship with consumers need to earn that right anew every single day, which is achieved by best serving the needs of each customer, in turn, as if no-one was watching.

Much of the material in ‘Unselling’ originates from the very popular ‘Unmarketing’ podcasts, tied together with some central observations; satisfied customers make repeat purchases and share their experiences with each other both online and offline; social media does not conform to a last-click attribution model; value your people; and focus on creating great products, services and content first.

One simple yet effective concept introduced in the book is the idea that the relationship between a brand and a consumer can be compared to a continually moving line graph - or ‘pulse’. Each interaction with the brand, or the wider world, including competitors, changes the course of the line, either upwards towards ecstasy, or downwards, making the consumer more vulnerable to attack by a rival brand. The key here is that the relationship is never at rest. It is a frightening concept for already hard-pressed and under-resourced marketers to grasp, and in some categories, especially with distress or infrequently-purchased products, I suspect the pulse may not move as often, or may fade in and out, strong to faint, from time-to-time.  

Stratten has become a lightning rod for consumers angry with the poor customer service they have received, and he claims he is contacted almost daily by Twitter users with various stories to recite. As he writes in the book, 'extreme circumstances, both good and bad, are always shared the most online'. This has given Stratten a wealth of examples to draw upon.

Predictably, a number of the examples of poor practice come from the service industries. Hotels and airlines come in for particular scrutiny - both good (Ritz-Carlton’s fun handling of a child’s lost toy) and bad (the author’s own experiences with Air Canada). These industries rely heavily on their people to survive, and the problem, as the authors see it, is that 'frontline workers are your most valuable and usually your most unvalued employees'. That description can certainly be extended to other industries too, including the entertainment, retail, and most especially, finance sectors.

What’s refreshing is that most of the examples featured in ‘Unselling’ have made print for the very first time. If unfamiliar case studies are, to some people at least, a form of currency, then this book is worth its weight in - well, at the very least, paper.

However, there are downsides to this approach. One of the chapters included is concerned with the process of crowdfunding. Although interesting, it doesn't seem to sit well with the overall theme of the book, and its inclusion is most likely because crowdfunding was featured during week 26 of their podcast. Nonetheless, this is likely to be more noticeable to regular listeners rather than to the casual reader. Given that their excellent podcasts are given away free-of-charge, buying this book presents an opportunity for fans to recognise the authors’ efforts - and yes, although I didn’t pay for my hardback review copy, I did buy ‘Unselling’ for my Kindle.

For all but the most hardcore Stratten fan then, who would still buy the book anyway; ‘Unselling’ provides brand-new examples of what to do, and what not to do, when servicing customers. What is remarkable in 2015 is that this book is still required, yet according to the examples given, this is demonstrably true. Thankfully, the friendly tone of voice and self-effacing humour employed throughout endears both authors to the reader, and makes ‘Unselling’ an easy and interesting read. Who said reading marketing books couldn't be fun? Not Scott Stratten or Alison Kramer, that's for sure.


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