I want to see some job postings out there, offering positions at community banks and credit unions–not as a sign of our industry’s stability, but as a sign of a new way of thinking. These job postings will have a new kind of job description: no B2B or B2C experience required. In fact, none wanted.
Why? Because there’s an entirely different type of experience this new position requires: C2C.
C2C is consumer-to-consumer…also known as word of mouth. And it’s a completely different skill set. Instead of asking the traditional B2B/B2C question “how can we persuade the buyer to engage with us,” C2C asks, “how can we get the consumers to engage with each other…and give them something to talk about.”
So get that job posting out there. Put it on craigslist. Put it on industry job boards. Or better yet, take this opportunity to practice what you’re hiring someone to do. Ask yourself, “what would make candidates want to talk to each other about this job?”
Absolutely spot-on. What you’ve articulated is something simple but also profound — take your business out of the equation. B2B and B2C make a basic assumption that your business is central to the conversation. C2C puts the focus where it needs to be — on the customer.
At your service,
Michael
– Michael E. Rubin, Social Media Strategist, Fifth Third Bank
Disclosure: I work for Fifth Third Bank, but this is my own opinion.
Michael, thank you for your comment…and for articulating this premise in such a nice, concise way: “B2B and B2C make a basic assumption that your business is central to the conversation.” I think that is probably the best way I’ve heard it stated…so I hope you don’t mind if we borrow that now and again.
Not to take too much of a philosophical tangent, but we believe much of the banking industry’s limitations are due in large part to making basic assumptions about “how banks work,” which really constrains their thinking. As you’ve pointed out, B2B and B2C marketing are just another example of that constrained thinking based on assumptions. I believe that if the banking industry wants to move forward, it must develop the ability to un-learn all its assumptions. And what better place to start than un-learning the assumption that marketing has to involve the bank/credit union itself as the centerpiece of the conversation. Thanks again for contributing a very helpful perspective!