The hot topics in marketing today are branding, blogging, social media, and the like. However, ask any baby boomer still in sales if they have a blog, a twitter account, or a Facebook page for their business and they are fifty percent likely to say no. That’s because a lot of what social media tries to accomplish seems weird and inappropriate to old school marketing and sales professionals. Here is why.

The first commandment in old school sales is that in order to sell, you must build relationships. It’s not the brand of widget that your customer is buying. They’re not buying it because it is the best widget. They’re buying it because you’re the one selling it. How the heck do you build that relationship on „the Twitter?“ You have to be out there, meeting people face to face, having lunch with them, and playing golf on the weekends.

To some degree, this is still true. While your Dad’s marketing and sales strategy includes a country club membership and clocking lots of miles on the Crown Victoria, your marketing and sales strategy means joining a social media organization and making sure you’re at the right happy hour. What is the difference between the two? It’s simply a matter of your target audience. If you’re a thirty-something sales or marketing rep trying to service a sixty-year old customer, it’s probably best not to tell them to „Facebook“ you. They might be hip, sure, but they are not going to appreciate your invitation to Facebook like they would that round of golf at the club. It’s not an ageist or sexist statement. It’s the truth.

The flip side exists as well. If you’re a baby boomer real estate agent, and you’re trying to sell home to first-time homebuyers, you best make sure you’re on Twitter, Facebook, and maybe even 4Square. If your target demographic is of the social media age and mindset, you have to use those tools to put yourself ahead of the competition. Don’t, however, use social media if you don’t know what you’re doing.

The bottom line is that sales and marketing are still about relationships, but based on the industry and the people you’re dealing with, you have to be smart about how you develop those relationships, and how you maintain them. What works for your Dad may not work for you, and vice versa, whereas what works for Pops might work for you better than you think, and vice versa. It’s all about knowing your demographic, and knowing what your customers and potential customers expect and want from you.

Gone are the days of „hanging out a shingle.“ Today we hang banners all over the internet, shout from the proverbial rooftops, and do pretty much anything to keep existing business and acquire new business. Perhaps it is a mixture of „old school“ and „new school“ that will do the trick. Less golf, less twitter, more lunches, and more good old fashioned superior customer service. If you are the best at what you do, your business will reflect that.

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