🖋️ What Are These 'Systems of Engagement' Of Which You Speak?

For sixty years we have been building systems to manage what we know.

History - specific rules, behind firewalls, command and control thinking, dashboards, sales playbooks ... and do not get me started on the ‘sales methodology’ industry.

The world changed. Slowly. Then all at once.

Now we (they?) all talk about transparency, trust, openness, sharing, engagement …

All talk. No trousers - because even with all the talk there is little to no help with any systems needed to navigate this new landscape.

"But we do," I hear you say: support systems, ticketing, wikis, community spaces, websites, CRM, newsletters ....

"No we don't." you might hear me reply. If you are still reading. They are still all about history.

Take the CRM. Please. It's not a Customer Relationship Management system. It's a Customer Records Management system.

We say our customers are our most important relationships. And then we put targets on their backs (and fronts).

Language Leaks has been tenet of mine for over a decade ( 🖇️ me in pre covid days on the topic ) - the sales and marketing world is full of these problems.

Dominate the market, take the hill. Maximise share of wallet. Push leads through the funnel.

AND - the sales funnel is not the buyer's journey. We built it for us, not for them. And still act surprised when it doesn't work.

Even the 4Ps - and yes they are still referenced ... Price, Place, Product, Promotion - are a framework built for a world that no longer exists. Designed to broadcast at people. In an age when people talk back. (But do we listen?)

We have sixty years of infrastructure for a conversation that only went one way. It's hard to change. But chnage we must - in talk and action. Important distinction - because I hear the words from leadership - i don't see the change in their methods.

Don't believe me? Look at your last 'customer communication'. Be hnest as ask your self

was it too long? was it interesting - not to you. To the recipient. was it sent as part of a mass blast. how east is it for the recipient to get off that list - or to tune what kind of emails they want.

Whats To Be Done?

We don't just replace the 4Ps with four new words and call it done. We replace the thinking behind them. In case you are wondering ...

• Essence. Not Product. Who you are and why you matter — before you say a word about what you sell.
• Exchange. Not Price. The mutual value in every interaction — not just money, but time, trust, and attention. Given and received.
• Ease. Not Place. How frictionless it is to find you, choose you, stay with you. Friction is where customers quietly disappear.
• Experience. Not Promotion. Every touchpoint, every interaction, every moment that either builds the relationship or erodes it.

The 4Es are not new systems. You don't need to rip anything out.

You need to look at what you already have - your CRM, your website, your support desk, your sales process — and ask a different question and listen to the different answers.

Not "what does this system record?"

But "what does this system enable?"

The infrastructure is not the problem. The thinking is. Change the thinking and the systems you already have start working differently.

That's the shift. Sixty years of recording. Now we learn to engage.