The world got out of sync for a while. For thousands of years, buyers bought from those in their neighborhood. The buyer would talk about needing a table to seat 7, and a craftsman would make it.
Someone would need a cabin, a plow, crib or a large side of lamb, and the seller would listen, confirm, solidify what was possible for what payment and then come to agreement – a bargain was struck.
The buyer and seller each were knowledgeable about the other. The buyer opted in, the seller made sure the conversation clarified, defined and solidified everything important from their role, and the buyer did the same.
This was the process from the time of the Mesopotamia Era until the 20th Century. Then the 20th Century driven by technology, mass manufacturing, falling prices, increased wages, distribution and ADVERTISING changed at least for a while how the world did business.
At the start of the 20th Century, no one had a home radio, a TV, a computer, washer, dryer, freezer or any of those things we believe are REQUIRED today. Almost no one had a car, a tractor (the word was created in 1901), there were no airplanes and few boats without sails, steam or oars.
Mass production created a demand that lasted 100 years. Humans and companies were buying everything they were told they needed and in many cases, lots of them.
The manufacturers knew every single unit of production would be claimed by someone who was waiting (often not patiently) and who was willing to pay a premium for any product “good enough” or even “almost good enough.”
This 100-year run made manufacturers and distributors believe that they were there to fulfill. The manufacturers and distributors studied how to build and ship more and more and more stuff since there were more and more and more buyers.
Then one day people woke up and realized they had more cars and vehicles then drivers. They had more TVs than rooms and a drawer or two full of cell phones (all of which work). THE MARKET HAS BEEN FULFILLED!!!!!
Now that the world is fulfilled, the relationship between those who create products and services with those who buy them has changed. The buyer is in charge. There are lots of sellers with lots of products (all good enough) at a range of prices with many feature choices. The buyer knows if they just wait a few weeks or months there will be even more, even better and even cheaper things to buy.
Things are back at the Mesopotamia Era where there was more than one blacksmith, silversmith, carpenter and laborer. In the Mesopotamia Era, buyers and sellers came together in the bazaar / market and compared notes, the buyer about what they wanted, and the seller about how they would make what the buyer wanted WONDERFUL. The seller cared about delivering real value to the buyer based on each understanding the other. Both took pride in the communication, the clarification and the solidification of what could and would change hands.
Today the Mesopotamia Era is alive in your neighborhood. The fulfillment bubble has burst, and advertising is being replaced by value-added content because the internet has become our virtual bazaar / market place -your 21st Century neighborhood.
There is not only no reason not to have a conversation (it maybe digital and /or virtual) but the buyers are starting to DEMAND a conversation since most things are or soon will be replaceable by a newer and cheaper something.
Only one thing stops everything from being a price-driven commodity, and that is the value the seller brings to the engagement based on creativity born from the seller’s experience and the buyer’s dreams.
Today the conversation is where the value is added for the buyer and the seller, so get really good at it (in person or in a digital / virtual world or probably both), because the 20th Century fulfillment bubble has burst.