by Mark Pierce, Senior Director, Sales
Everywhere you look, digital communication is exploding. Baby Boomers and Generation Xers must adapt to how Millennials — our first generation of digital natives — are changing the way we live and work.
According to Pew Research, 56 percent of American adults now own smartphones. Mind-blowing factoid: A recent United Nations study reported in TIME found that while more than 6 billion people (85 percent of the world’s population) have cell phones, only 4.5 billion have access to working toilets!
Because of their time constraints and work demands, we often find that our customers are more comfortable using email, text, or social media. Digital communications offers us new ways to build direct relationships with our wired and educated customers and give them the tools to be advocates for our brand. Their input through digital channels also offers an important feedback loop for product development.
But in our quest to speed up the process, are we dropping the ball? Author-entrepreneur Austin Allison thinks so. In his words, “Physically connecting with another individual creates the ability to sell without using a machine as the mediator.” His new book talks about how we need to juxtapose traditional face-to-face interactions with digital communication that makes sense.
Our customers must feel confident that ebm-papst will support them through both good times and tough situations.
So while we’re adept at communicating through digital, we also know that sometimes it is more important to pick up the phone, get in the car, or jump on a plane to make the personal connections and have detailed conversations.
Strengthening relationships with our customers is one of the most important responsibilities of our sales team, and communicating effectively is a key ingredient. We continually strive to build the trust that leads to great products and excellent service.
About Mark Pierce
ebm-papst Senior Director of Sales Mark Pierce thinks like a customer because he’s worn that hat. Before joining ebm-papst in 2000, he served as a purchasing/operations manager for an international refrigeration compressor manufacturer. With a B.A. in Business Administration from Mercer University in Atlanta, Mark enjoys working with ebm-papst customers to solve their thermal challenges and provide solutions for their applications. In his free time, Mark and his wife keep busy with their four children’s many activities.