Ralph Crosby's
Lessons Learned In A Lifetime Of Marketing
About
Ralph W. Crosby
Wanting to earn money as a youngster, Ralph Crosby took jobs that early on taught him the value of customer loyalty. In his first adult career, as a journalist writing for daily newspapers and national magazines, he learned how to communicate with another type of customer — the reader. It was when he changed careers from journalist to business marketer, through hands-on experience and the teachings of such experts as management guru Peter Drucker, he learned that the end result of business — both for profit or nonprofit organizations — should not be viewed from an internal perspective but from the point of view of the customer.
In his newly published book, “It’s The Customer, Stupid! Lessons Learned in a Lifetime of Marketing,” he documents his education as a marketer and explains the critical nature of the customer-centric approach in today’s unique marketing environment.
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A Lesson From The Penn State Scandal – Be Prepared
Many in the media have labeled the sex abuse scandal at Penn State a “public relations disaster.” In one sense, because of its impact on Penn State’s reputation, this human tragedy can be viewed through the prism of public relations. But PR cannot fix the reputations ruined by moral failure or deviant behavior.
However, there is a lesson for marketing pros in this tragedy. That is―be prepared for a PR crisis before it occurs. Penn State leadership could have handled the situation much better if its crisis management plan had been properly prepared and used–especially since it appears these leaders had advance warning of the pending charges.
For instance, the crisis management team could have informed the university’s constituents―from the faculty, to students, to parents―earlier on its website, rather than most of these groups hearing about the allegations and actions in the media. It could have found a better way to fire a demigod like Joe Paterno than with a phone call; and it could have crafted a less insensitive and apparently shoot-from-the-hip statement from the university’s president.
Therein lies the lesson. Make sure those you advise have a crisis management program in place. Penn State may not have foreseen such a reputation crisis, but it undoubtedly could have been better prepared when the crisis occurred.
I suggest clients start with “issues management,” which means anticipating and identifying issues and attempting to resolve them before they reach crisis levels. By managing your response, issues can be kept from erupting into crises and, if a crisis does ensue, its adverse effects can be minimized. An “issue” is defined as a matter in dispute. For example, a patient doesn’t like a particular hospital’s treatment and is threatening a law suit. These activities, either directly or indirectly, can generate media attention. And media attention can turn an issue into a crisis.
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August 10, 2011
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About
Ralph's Book
Businesses often are started by entrepreneurs with an idea, a product or service, or an expertise. Many of them fail, not because the idea or product isn’t good, but because their attention is overwhelmingly directed internally – e.g., what goes into the product – when they should focus externally, always reminding themselves:
“It’s The Customer, Stupid!”
That’s the premise of Ralph Crosby’s new book, “It’s The Customer, Stupid! Lessons Learned in a Lifetime of Marketing.”
Book Reviews
In his new book, “It’s the Customer, Stupid!” Ralph Crosby, founder of Crosby Marketing Communications located in Annapolis, discusses how the Internet and social media are changing the game. One thing, he says, will remain a constant: Keeping the focus on the customer rather than the product, service or organization.
In “It’s the Customer, Stupid!” Crosby reinforces what he calls an old idea — customer-centric marketing — and explains why focusing on the consumer is even more pertinent now than it was decades ago. “It’s the customer who drives the purchasing decision, particularly now in the computer age, when a customer can go online and find out anything about products or services or organizations by simply clicking the mouse,” he said.
Elisha Sauers
The Capital Newspaper
