The disposable economy. Sebastiaan de Ruiter just can't get used to it. And he is not just talking about that pair of shoes that disappears into the trash before it has ever even seen a shoemaker up close. In this case, he is mainly talking about the ease with which a partnership of years is terminated with one e-mail.

Hard gelag

It happened to me the other day. I received an email, followed by a brief phone call, from a client with whom we had worked pleasantly for years. A cancellation email, that is. I dare tell you I was devastated. That a customer leaves, that can happen. But if you have never had one serious complaint, not one sign that something in the cooperation is not going well, then I find that a hardship. After all that energy you put into building a relationship, you are discarded with an e-mail. That stings.

Investing in relationships

I've written a blog before about how important we as Comrads think it is to invest in relationships with our clients and what the value can be. For us and for our clients. We help our clients optimize their customer journey, strengthen their brand. That's where our added value is. We help our clients to quickly create a turn-key application that fits their organization. That is important to us and we will always continue to do so, even if we get a raw deal.

Tough world

Of course I considered whether we as a supplier should not change. The world has gotten tougher, should we go along with that? And how important is it to know the person behind your marketing automation platform? I've been using LinkedIn for years and have never met anyone on the LinkedIn team either. Is that such a bad thing? Maybe not in the case of LinkedIn, but when it comes to software that is fully tuned to optimize your marketing process, I do think it's important. And yes, I believe in healthy competition, it keeps us on our toes and there's nothing wrong with that. But if you're not satisfied, get in touch.

Also look behind

Brand awareness is a total experience, a two-way process: to your customers, but also to your suppliers. After all, you exist as an extension of each other. If you don't have a raw material - whatever that raw material is - you can't deliver. If your supplier supplies you with something of poor quality, that in turn affects the product or service you are marketing. Many business owners tend to always look forward when it comes to brand awareness, but look backward as well. Because a good partnership with your supplier, also brings you a lot of good in the relationship with your customer. And let's not forget, at the end of the day, your suppliers are also consumers again.

Curious?

Are you looking for a vendor who believes in the power of collaboration? Would you like to talk further about what our DAM system or any of our other modules can do for your organization today? Feel free to contact us or request a free demo right away. We like to think along with you. Now and in the future.