Now matter how evil the swill, the first beer one drinks usually holds a warm place in one’s heart. For me, that beer was Miller Genuine Draft, which I first tasted at the tender age of illegalteen.
Apparently, the same holds true for database and campaign management systems. I recently spoke with a database manager who steered a multi-million dollar investment to a firm that manufactured the system she had worked with in graduate school.
This was a happy accident for the vendor. But it didn’t have to be. Much like first beers, first systems stick with folks. I remember how to use the first (DOS-based!) word-processing program I ever typed on.
The question that arises is, how can a company engineer more of these happy accidents? Well, based on a list of qualified majors — both at the undergraduate and graduate level — companies should be able to identify lists of students in concentrations that benefit from analytics and CRM products. Students so recognized can be invited to trade shows, as well as sent trackable cards to bring in.
In my mind’s ear, I can already hear salespeople moans. (This is why few people talk about having a mind’s ear.) Rare is the salesperson who will readily maintain a file on a prospect with a multi-year lead time — before the need for a system is even realized. And rarer still is the salesperson who will spend time at a trade show talking to students, as opposed to folks who can fatten tomorrow’s commission checks.
Unless, of course, a company is willing to reward its salespeople for taking time, during a trade show, for speaking to a handful of these folks — and then presenting those aforementioned cards to management as proof. And as a very long-term project, given turnover among salespeople, such a program should be closely supervised by management.
Will this require top marketing executives to track these students? Sure, but asking for a graduation date isn’t the same as asking for, say, a birth date. And if the company is careful to collect a home address, instead of a campus post office box, there is no reason why these students shouldn’t receive a congratulatory note — as well as an offer to speak further with a vendor rep as they move into the corporate sector.
As for the students, to my mind, this knowledge makes them more attractive employment candidates. Students win, potential employers win, and vendors win. Anyone see a downside?
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