Sometimes, blogs are like relationships. You become comfortable with one another even if you don't say much. Hence, I apologize but I really haven't said much lately. It's not because I don't value your readership, it's simply that I trust the relationship we've developed. How's that for personal.

So, with that as the catalyst, allow me to ask this question of you. How comfortable has the relationship become with you and your customers? In my case, when I don't talk to my wife, I think I'm behaving like a typical man and am merely conveying that everything is alright between us and that there isn't much to say. She, like many females, will view the situation differently. She will feel that something is wrong, obviously, because I'm not talking to her anymore. If I continue to not talk to her then I run the risk that she will become irritated with me Guess what? Your customers and you have the same dynamic. Just don't ask me who is the male and who is the female in that relationship.

So why do we want to have a relationship with our customers? Obviously there are many reasons but lets review a few of them:

• to ensure they are happy
• to see if they want to buy more stuff from you
• to understand how they use the products or solutions you sell
• to understand what pains and problems they still have which may be an opportunity for you
• to develop a new product, a market, or to extend your current offering
• to learn how they select solutions like the one you offer so that you can better target your marketing activities
• to discover what associations, standards bodies, or networking groups they associate with so that you can become active in them and be perceived as a thought leader by all who might purchase your solution
• to have them identify how your solution has operationally or financially benefited them
• to help you understand why you won, or lost, a deal against your competition
• to see if they'll share with you anything your competitor is telling them
• to utilize them promotionally for such things as press releases, case studies, whitepapers, presentations, quotes or testimonials
• to have them participate in any beta trials of your solutions in real-world scenarios and provide you the feedback
• to have them introduce you to other potential customers

As you can see, the list goes on and on. Your customers are your biggest asset. Bigger than any one employee. That's why, in my "What I Do" section on my website, I state that one of the three strategic roles for Marketing is "Increase the value of the brand, goodwill and customer annuity assets".

So what does that mean? Brand? Goodwill? Customer Annuity? Most people don't get it. Let's see if I can explain it better.

Are you willing to pay more money for a shirt with ten cents worth of thread on the chest that forms the shape of a horse, verses a shirt that doesn't have that ten cents worth of thread? If so, that's because you value more the 'brand' of the shirt with the ten cents worth of thread. That brand was developed by associating an image with the manufacturer. In this case, the image is one of affluence, style, and success. You want to identify yourself with that brand and you'll pay handsomely for that ten cents of thread. If you're paying handsomely, then the company selling you the shirt has invested in promoting an image with their name and as a result they can charge a premium. That premium means their average selling price is higher than the industry average, as is their profit margin. By default, you can assume their revenue per employee is much higher than the industry norm as well. If that's the case, they can probably raise additional funds for new or future investments quite easily because of the 'goodwill' associated with their corporate identity. There's the term again - goodwill. If you go to dictionary.com, you'll see goodwill defined as

1. The amount above the fair net book value (adjusted for assumed debt) paid for an acquisition. Goodwill appears as an asset on the balance sheet of the acquiring firm and must be reduced in the event the value is impaired.
2. The discounted value of a larger-than-normal return on tangible assets. A business may build goodwill over time as loyalty builds among its customer base.

Said another way, the company or product with the great brand will command a higher-than-normal sale price if it was sold simply as a result of the brand equity. Suddenly, growing customers to develop brand can result in excessive goodwill? Is Marketing sounding like a profit center to you? Is it possible? Wait - it gets worse. Did you know that if your customers like you, feel like you understand them, that you engage them, and that you create solutions that they have participated in the development of, they will then continue to buy from you. Worse yet, they'll endorse you via word-of-mouth referrals. Isn't that crazy? Guess what? If they do, because you did a great job at communicating to them and with them, then what you've done is created an ongoing financial Customer Annuity. Said another way, the customer brings you money year after year after year because they value your brand.

Don't get me wrong. It takes great products, and great customer service and support to ensure the brand identity is upheld. However, if you do it properly, you'll have inputs all along the way from the customer to you as they touch your company (or your brand) at each of these touch points.

That's Marketing's job. To communicate with customers. Marketing is here to ensure the company makes money. And it is also here to ensure the processes and IT infrastructure are in place to ensure an amazing customer experience. Press releases alone won't do the job of communication. Nor will brochures or collateral. Communication is a completely integrated strategy.

One more point - strategy without execution is a recipe for failure. I'm counting on you to be a success so that your customers will make your company a success so that you can then share the financial rewards with me. After all, I gotta family to feed too.