Peter Vandenabeele
What could be better than advertising ?
This is a really insightful article by Doc Searls : What could be better than advertising?. This quote is heavenly:
"... The problem we still have is a conceptual default. We think, talk and design "solutions" that work entirely on the sell side. We have CRM (customer relationship management) systems that are less about helping real customers than about "managing" them. What we need is VRM (vendor relationship management), by which customers get to manage vendors as well. With CRM+VRM, both sides can truly relate on mutually beneficial terms."
Combine this with how I see the message of Gitomer: "selling is about enticing the customer to buy and not about getting the salesman to sell".
This is how Social Networks can turn the sales cycle upside down. Some form of advertisement or sponsorship is still needed for now (although wikipedia has a different view on this), but the users start to have more control of the process. That is where I want to help.