LAS VEGAS — Successful companies will be those that give up control and give the consumer what she wants, said Bruce Schnitzer, chairman of Wand Partners, a New York-based investment firm that specializes in investments in established businesses in his keynote speech here yesterday at the 25th National Center for Database Marketing Conference and Exhibition.
Companies that take this approach “will be rewarded with profitable relationships” said Wand. “The economics of e-commerce and integrated commerce are defined by nothing more or less than the lifetime value of individual customer relationships.”
However, he said, that so far consumers are not “very happy with what
we’ve been offering them.” He cited telemarketers, and how most consumers find them annoying, as an example of this.
In addition, he said that privacy concerns, which have spread rapidly over the past few years by consumers, are a “symbolic message for consumer control.”
These concerns, he said “should be a wake-up call for everyone.” Companies should examine what they are offering their customers in terms of marketing, and make sure that it is favorable to them.
However, he said this is a difficult task, because customers are complex, and “a desire to maintain privacy does not mean they don't want
personalization. They won’t both.”
Smart companies, he said will facilitate consumer control, “which in our opinion is just good business…Companies that do this will be able to establish trust and as a result establish long-term, profitable relationships.”
