ell, the Internet didn't change everything, but it did change marketing. Today, marketing is more of a conversation than a monologue. Customers want to be able to do business with you around-the-clock, and competitors are now just a click away.

The Internet gave marketers more tools and channels, but it also added new voices to the clammer. No matter how unique and micro-niche your product or service, your marketing is no longer the lone voice in the customer's ear. Plus, new online services allow customers and prospects to compare products and services side-by-side in seconds. And customers -- happy and unhappy ones -- have a bigger voice in the process. Gone are the days when it was said an unhappy customer will tell ten people; today, they will tell 10,000!

Yes, the Internet changed everything as far as Marketing is concerned. But it also galvanized and accelerated changes that were already underway.

With all these new digital tools and technologies, marketers now have to respond to new business imperatives of measurement, accountability, productivity, and return on investment (ROI). Smart marketers who are ahead of the change are using strategy, creativity, and technology to re-engineer their marketing process. Some are even beginning to invoke the methods of Business Process Improvement (BPI) and Six Sigma's DMAIC (Define - Measure - Analyze - Improve - Control).

Marketing is becoming more a science than an art.

Information Technologies have dramatically changed the marketing and sales toolbox. Now we have websites for round-the-clock marketing and selling ... and round-the-clock metrics. Sales force automation, contact managers and CRM systems have changed the level of measurement in the selling side of the business too. While email, voice mail, cell phone, and video conferencing have become part of mainstream business communications, contributing significant changes in the marketing landscape as they recalibrate customer expectations for response times, level of information and availability. And, this isn't even mentioned the new crop of technologies affecting the marketing universe.

Business-to-business marketing and selling used to focus on building relationships with key purchasing agents -- actual people you knew. Now, it's a lot more complicated, and the products are a lot more complicated too. Sound familiar? It's a whole new marketing and selling game!

This new way of marketing and selling is more technical and complex. But when you step away from the mechanics and look at it from a distance, it doesn't look all that new. It tends to look like marketing and selling in the old days: Customers would learn about products and services from trusted sources; they would expect sellers of these products and services to understand their business and know their unique situation, they would expect sellers to respond to their needs to explain, train and help them understand the benefits, and they would want personal service.

The customer was always in charge, only now they know it... and have a lot to say about it.

Even in traditional media and marketing, the trend is the same: people want to participate, to be interactive. And, interactive doesn't mean online. Talk radio, public opinion polling, cell phones, and reality television are all evidence of this shift. The customer is taking control.

One-way, mass commuication is a thing of the past. Customers want a dialog and a bigger role in the process... Unaccountable marketing and business communications is fading fast. Management wants measurements and return on investment... Could this be the beginning of a Quality Revolution in Marketing?

The Quality Movement is finally knocking on the marketing department door. Interactive, accountable and aligned with business: these are just some of the new marketing imperatives.