Marketing Management Paper Out-Line

1-Key Customer Markets2-Changings in Marketing Management 3-Tasks of Marketing Management 4-Evolution of Marketing Management ( Updating 4

P’s)5-Customer Experience Management6-Influence of Marketing Environment on Marketing

Decisions7-Marketing Plan8-New Product Development (NPD)9-Sales and Selling Techniques

10-Supply Chain Management (SCM)

Q#1

KEY CUSTOMER MARKETSConsider the following key

customer markets: consumer,business, global, and nonprofit.Consumer Markets Companies selling mass consumer goods and services such as juices,cosmetics, athletic shoes, and air travel spend a great deal of time establishing a strong brand image by developing a superior product and packaging, ensuring its availability, and backing it

with engaging communications and reliable service.Business Markets Companies selling business goods and services often face well-informedprofessional buyers skilled at evaluating competitive offerings. Business buyers buy goods to make or resell a product to others at a profit. Business marketers must demonstrate how their products will help achieve higher revenue or lower costs. Advertising can play a role, but the sales force, the price, and the company’s reputation may play a greater one.Global Markets Companies in the global marketplace must decide which countries to enter;how to enter each (as an exporter, licenser, joint venture partner, contract manufacturer, or solomanufacturer); how to adapt product and service features to each country; how to price productsin different countries; and how to design communications for different cultures. They face different requirements for buying and disposing of property; cultural, language, legal and political differences; and currency fluctuations. Yet, the payoff can be huge.Nonprofit and Governmental Markets Companies selling to nonprofit organizations with limited purchasing power such as churches, universities, charitable organizations, and government agencies need to price carefully. Lower selling prices affect the features and quality the seller can build into the offering. Much government purchasing calls for bids, and buyers often focus on practical solutions and favor the lowest bid in the absence of extenuating factors.15MARKETPLACES, MARKETSPACES, AND METAMARKETS The marketplace is physical,such as a store you shop in; the marketspace is digital, as when you shop on the Internet.16Northwestern University’s Mohan Sawhney has proposed the concept of a metamarket to describe a cluster of complementary products and services closely related in the minds of consumers, but spread across a diverse set of industries.Metamarkets are the result of marketers packaging a system that simplifies carrying out theserelated product/service activities. The automobile metamarket consists of automobile manufacturers, new and used car dealers, financing companies, insurance companies, mechanics, spare parts dealers, service shops, auto magazines, classified auto ads in newspapers, and auto sites on the Internet.A car buyer will engage many parts of this metamarket, creating an opportunity for metamediaries to assist him or her in moving seamlessly through them. Edmund’s (www.edmunds.com) lets a car buyer find the stated features and prices of different automobiles and easily click to other sites to search for the lowest-price dealer for financing, accessories, and used cars. Metamediaries also serve other metamarkets, such as home ownership, parenting and baby care, and weddings.17

Key Customer Markets

• Consumer markets• Business markets• Global markets• Nonprofit/Government markets

• Consumer Markets: Companies selling mass consumer goods andservices spend a great deal of time establishing a strong brand image by

developing a superior product and packaging, ensuring its availability, andbacking it with engaging communications and reliable service.• Business Markets: Companies selling business goods and services oftenface well-informed professional buyers skilled at evaluating competitiveofferings.• Global Markets: Companies in the global marketplace must decide whichcountries to enter; how to enter each (as an exporter, licenser, joint venturepartner, contract manufacturer, or solo manufacturer); how to adapt productand service features to each country; how to price products in differentcountries; and how to design communications for different cultures. Theyface different requirements for buying and disposing of property; cultural,language, legal and political differences; and currency fluctuations.• Nonprofit and Governmental Markets: Companies selling to nonprofitorganizations with limited purchasing power such as churches, universities,charitable organizations, and government agencies need to price carefully.

Q#2Changes in Marketing Managament

keep hearing about how the rules of marketing haven’t changed —- we’re just using new tools.  I think that’s hogwash. Marketing has changed in profound ways.

First of all, it’s no small matter that the tools have changed.  When we started using the phone instead of the letter, or mobile phone instead of the land line, our lives changed in significant ways.  New communication tools have meant lost industries and jobs as well as new opportunities. The same is and will be true in marketing so we should not deny the major changes that face us.

But when I say that marketing has changed, I’m talking about the outdated stuff that was in your marketing textbooks in college and what you learned in your first few jobs if you’ve been in this business for more than 5 or 10 years.  But, there is one exception that I’ll get to later.

At Shop.org this year, Arthur Kurzweil spoke about the pace of change in technology and how the pace is doubling each year.  He spoke of how computer storage and speed has changed exponentially and what this means for the possibility for artificial intelligence. It was a stunning presentation, yet I could hear people grumbling in the seats at his keynote, wondering what he was doing at an e-commerce summit.  It was an ironic moment to see people resisting the message of exponential change.   It may be hard to see change except in retrospect. But I, for one, did not imagine just two years ago that I would ask my phone, “Where’s the closest Thai restaurant with three stars closest to where I’m standing at that moment?” and get a better answer than I asked for.  That is one small example of how technological change effects marketing.

So, one important change in marketing is its intimate connection to technology which should make us question the status quo every day. And there are more:

1. Marketing and its tools change so quickly, that your marketing team needs to become a research department. You can’t simply attend a marketing conference once a year and expect to keep up. You really do need to find curators and be your own curator of what’s important in the cutting edge of marketing.  Are you aware of how platforms like  Pinterest or Vyou  could be used in your business? Do you know the research on how people actually use Facebook or any of the other platforms?  Are you aware of cutting edge developments and case studies on social media measurement?

2. The changing tools of marketing mean that your initiatives have to shift.  Video is one example. If you haven’t started to use your smartphone and inexpensive video cams to use video more this year to introduce your website, answer customer questions, and communicate one on one, you’re not even using the tools to their advantage. If your focus is totally on words, it’s as if you’re still sticking a stamp on all your letters and taking them to the post office. Here are eight inexpensive, highly effective ideas for using video to wow your readers that you can implement today.

3. Your entire business has to change to accommodate the use of social media.  Before marketing became social, the rest of the business didn’t have to revolve around what you were doing in your department.  Today, your company needs to be an open book.  It’s more important than ever to break down departmental silos because your customers don’t care and they are in control now.  I wrote about nine ways that the entire business needs to rethink its way of operating to become social a few months ago.  Here is one way to add to that list: having a flexible, open and entrepreneurial approach to business, no matter what your size.

4. Your marketing department needs to become a media and education department. Marketing has moved from creating punchy little messages to producing content that moves people over a period of time to make you their provider of choice. That means hiring differently, whether they are in house, freelance or consultants.  Some of these talents include video production, writing, editing of text and video, WordPress technical skills, analytical skills.

5. How you spend your marketing dollars is different. A Facebook business page is free. A Twitter profile is free.  How much extra do you need to spend on services, apps and design?  What agency is going to be able to help you make the right decisions at the most prudent cost? How much of the expertise should you bring in-house? Does social media demand more in-house expertise than broadcast media? The budgetary questions are more nuanced. It’s not a matter of buying time and space on someone else’s media.Some of the money that once went into traditional media will move into digital media.  Just a year or two ago, few companies had line items for app development, social media monitoring, or training or hiring staff in how to use the new tools. I may be raising more questions than answers here but they need to be asked.

6. Even the Four Ps of marketing have changed.  Brian Fetherstonhaugh of Ogilvy One has spoken and written about how marketing is no longer about Product,   Place, Price and Promotion but about Experience, Everyplace, Exchange and Evangelism.  Well, if the Four Ps of marketing have changed, then the textbooks need to be rewritten.

7. People have changed. You might think that  the basic rules of marketing don’t need to change because people don’t change.  But people have changed.  In three significant

ways, your potential customers are different.   First, they don’t see themselves as passive consumers. They don’t expect to call your toll free help line and be placed on hold forever.  They expect to get the attention of someone on Twitter or Facebook NOW. And if not, they will get the attention of plenty of others about their problems. Second, their attention spans are shorter.  Attention marketing is where there is hope.  You can’t just be providing a wonderful product anymore. You have to use your platform as a business to make their lives more meaningful.  That’s a tall order for the marketing department.Third, they don’t see themselves as the targets that marketing people have traditionally seen them as. They see themselves as people with innumerable options. They’ll call you when they decide.  Don’t call them.  This means you’ve got to be a great looking suitor with alluring content.

One thing has not changed: the importance of the Unique Selling Proposition. 

It’s more important than ever. What was true then is truer now.  Seth Godin has written over 30 books, thousands of blog posts and spoken hundreds of times on what is essentially this one topic. They all say the same thing.  Be extraordinary. I don’t mean this as a criticism because I’ve read every one of his books I’ve heard him speak five times.  Today this means being more meaningful, being better at whatever it is that you promise, and creating a better experience.  This one marketing principle has stood the test of time and technology because of the proliferation of choice and content and the loss of people’s attention span.  It’s a good place to focus as the ground shifts beneath us.

New-Product Development and Product Life-Cycle Strategies Learning key points:

1. New-Product Ideas2. New-Product Development Process

3. Stages of the product life cycle

4. Product development

o Introduction

o Growth

o Maturity

o Decline

5. Changes of marketing strategies during the product's life cycle

6. Summary of Product Life-Cycle Characteristics, Objectives, and Strategies

7. Product Life Cycle in Practice

8. Style, Fashion, and Fad Life Cycle

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A company’s current products face limited life spans and must be replaced by newer products. But new products can fail --the risks of innovation are as great as the rewards. The key to successful innovation lies in a total-company effort, strong planning, and a systematic new-product development process.

New-Product Ideas

Companies find and develop new-product ideas from a variety of sources.

Many new-product ideas stem from internal sources. Companies conduct formal research and development, pick the brains of their employees, and brainstorm at executive meetings.

Other ideas come from external sources. By conducting surveys and focus groups and analyzing customer questions and complaints, companies can generate new-product ideas that will meet specific consumer needs. Companies track competitors' offerings and inspect new products, dismantling them, analyzing their performance, and deciding whether to introduce a similar or improved produce Distributors and suppliers are close to the market and can pass along information about consumer problems and new product possibilities.

New-Product Development Process

Figure 8.1: Major Stages in New-Product Development

The new-product development process consists of eight sequential stages. The process starts with idea generation. Next comes idea screening, which reduces the number of ideas based on the company’s own criteria. Ideas that pass the screening stage continue through product-concept development, in which a detailed version of the new-product idea is stated in meaningful consumer terms. In the next stage, concept testing, new-product concepts are tested with a group of target consumers to determine whether the concepts have strong consumer appeal. Strong concepts proceed to marketing-strategy development, in which an initial marketing strategy for the new product is developed from the product concept. In the business-analysis stage, a review of me sales, costs, and profit projections for·a new product is conducted to determine whether the new product is likely to satisfy the company’s objectives. With positive results here, the ideas become more concrete through product development and test marketing and finally are launched during commercialization.

Stages of the product life cycle

Each product has a life cycle marked by a changing set of problems and opportunities. The sales of the typical product follow an S-shaped curve made up of five stages.

 

Figure 8.2 shows a typical product life cycle (PLC), the course that a product’s sales and profits take over its lifetime.

Product development

Product development begins when the company finds and develops a new product idea. During product development, sales are zero and the company's investment cost mount.

Introduction

Introduction is a period of slow sales growth as the product is introduced in the market. Profits are nonexistent in this stage because of the heavy expenses of product introduction.

Growth

Growth is a period of rapid market acceptance and increasing profits.

Maturity

Maturity is a period of slowdown in sales growth because the product has achieved acceptance by most potential buyers. Profits level off or decline because of increased marketing outlays to defend the product against competition.

Decline

Decline is the period when sales fall off and profits drop.

Changes of marketing strategies during the product's life cycle

In the introduction stage, the company must choose a launch strategy consistent with its intended product positioning. Much money is needed to attract distributors and build their inventories and to inform consumers of the new product and achieve trial.

In the growth stage, companies continue to educate potential consumers and distributors. In addition, the company works to stay ahead of the competition and sustain rapid market growth by improving· product quality, adding new product features and models, entering new market segment and distribution channels. , shifting advertising from building product awareness to building product conviction and purchase, and lowering prices at the right time to attract new buyers.

In the maturity stage, companies continue to invest in maturing products and consider modifying the market, the product, and the marketing mix. When modifying the market, the company attempts to increase the consumption of the current product. When modifying the product, the company changes some of the product’s characteristics such as quality, features, or style -- to attract new users or inspire more usage. When modifying the marketing mix, company works to improve sales by changing one or more of the marketing-mix elements.

Once the company recognizes that a product has entered the decline stage, management must decide whether to maintain the brand without change, hoping that competitors will drop out of the market; harvest the product, reducing cost and trying to maintain sales; or drop the product, selling it to another firm or liquidating it at salvage value.

Summary of Product Life-Cycle Characteristics, Objectives, and Strategies

Characteristics

Introduction Growth Maturity Decline

Sales Low sales Rapid sales Peak sales Declining sales

Costs High cost per customer

Average cost per customer

Lower cost per customer

Lower cost per customer

Profits Negative Rising profits High profits Declining profits

Customers Innovators Early adopters Middle majority

Laggards

Competitors Few Growing number

Stable number beginning to decline

Decline number

Marketing Objectives

Strategies Create product awareness and trial

Maximize market share

Maximize profit while defending market share

Reduce expenditure and milk the brand

Price Use cost-plus Price to penetrate market

Price to match or beat competitors

Cut price

Distribution Build selective distribution

Build intensive distribution

Build more intensive distribution

Go selective: Phase out unprofitable outlets

Advertising Build product awareness among early adopters and dealers

Build awareness and interest in the mass market

Stress brand differences and benefits

Reduce to level needed to retain hard-core loyals

Sale Promotion

Use heavy sales promotion to entice trial

Reduce to take advantage of heavy consumer demand

Increase to encourage brand switching

Reduce to minimal level

Source: Philip Kotler and Gary Armstrong, Marketing, an introduction, 8 th ed. (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Printice Hall, 2007), p.257

Product Life Cycle in Practice

Not all products follow this product life cycle. Some products are introduced and die quickly; others stay in the mature stage for a long, long time. Some enter the decline stage and are then cycled back into the growth stage through strong promotion or repositioning. As one analyst notes, “well-managed, a brand could live forever.

American Express, Budweiser, Coca-Cola, Gillette, Western Union, Wells-Fargo, and TABASCO, for instance, are still going strong in their respective categories after 100+ years. Even if a brand dies, it can rise again, though perhaps in more limited distribution.

Style, Fashion, and Fad Life Cycle

The PLC concept also can be applied to what are known as styles, fashions, and fads. Their special life cycles are shown in Figure 8. 3.

A style is a basic and distinctive mode of expression. For example, styles appear in homes (colonial, ranch, transitional), clothing (formal, casual), and art (realist,

surrealist, abstract). Once a style is invented, it may last for generations, passing in and out of vogue. A style has a cycle showing several periods of renewed interest.

A fashion is a currently, accepted or popular style in a given field. For example, the more formal “business attire” look of corporate dress of the 1980s and early 1990s gave way to the “business casual” look of today. Fashions tend to grow slowly, remain popular for a while, and then decline slowly.

Fads are temporary periods of unusually high sales driven by consumer enthusiasm and immediate product or brand popularity. A fad may be part of an otherwise normal lifecycle, as in the case of recent surges in the sales of scooters and yo-yos. Or the fad may comprise a brand’s or product’s entire lifecycle.

The Product Cycle (PLC) concept can describe a product class (gasoline-powered automobiles), a product form (SUVs), or a brand (the Ford Explorer). The PLC concept applies differently in each case. Product classes have longest life cycles -- the sales of many product classes stay in the nature stage for a long lime. Product forms, in contrast, tend to have the standard PLC shape. Product forms such as “dial telephones” and “cassette tapes” passed through a regular history of introduction, rapid growth, maturity, and decline.

A specific brand’s life cycle can change quickly because of changing competitive attacks and responses. For example, although laundry soaps (product class) and powdered detergent (product form) have enjoyed fairly long life cycles, the life cycles of specific brands haven tended to be much shorter. Today’s leading brands of powdered laundry soaps are Tide and Cheer; the leading brands 75 years ago were Fels Napha, Octagon, and Kirkman.

Marketing Plan

Now it is time to think about how you will market your products and/or services to your customers. Many companies with wonderful products and services have failed because they were unable to reach and sell to their target markets.

In this chapter, you will learn how to set the goals and objectives for your marketing strategy. You will then learn how to develop a marketing plan for your start-up

company that will help you reach those goals. Your marketing plan should have the following components:

Overview and Goals of Your Marketing Strategy

Market Analysis (Target Market, Competition, Market Trends, Research)

Packaging and Pricing

Sales Strategy (Online and Offline)

Advertising (Traditional and Web)

Publicity

Customer Service

Note: If your new business is larger and more complex, you may need a more detailed marketing plan. See our book “Anatomy of a Business Plan” for more marketing information.

Overview and Goals of Your Marketing Strategy

Your marketing strategy is the comprehensive approach your company will take to achieve its goals and objectives.

Definition of a Marketing Strategy

An effective marketing strategy integrates the activities involved in marketing, sales, advertising, public relations, and networking. Each of these components of your overall marketing strategy serves a unique purpose, offers specific benefits, and complements every other component. All components must work together to enhance your company image, reinforce your brand strength, and ensure that your company is distinct from your competitors.

The traditional (offline) and new media (online) components of your marketing strategy should all fit together. These components include promotion of your range of services and products, determination of your prices or rate structure, creation of

advertising and public relations plans, promotional campaigns, and multi-media endeavors. It is important to think through your strategy and gather information about your market and your competition before you set your price structure or book ad space. Trial-and-error marketing plans are too expensive.

Note: U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) District Offices and local Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) offer workshops on marketing, publications and reference materials at little or no cost to you. Both have consultants that are readily available to help you. Self-help business books are also available in abundance on every aspect of your marketing plan.

Goals of Your Marketing Strategy

What do you hope to accomplish through your marketing strategy? Market research, advertising campaigns, sales incentives, public relations efforts, and networking plans should all move your business in the direction of achieving your marketing goals. The best marketing plans are results-oriented; they define specific, realistic, measurable goals within time parameters. All sales, advertising, and public relations efforts are designed to work together to achieve these goals.

Goals of your marketing strategy, for example, could include creating a strong brand, building a strong customer base, and increasing product/service sales. Each goal should be explained in terms of what it means to your company? To illustrate, let’s examine three examples of goals:

Create a strong brand.. What is the current level of brand awareness for your company/product/service? Are you starting from scratch or building on a familiar name? What are the characteristics of this brand that you want to reinforce in the minds of consumers? What level of brand awareness do you hope to achieve?

Build a strong customer base. Who are your best customers? What customers are most likely to spend money, and return? What is the profile (demographics, psychographics) of your ideal customer? How can you reach this market, online and offline? What particular characteristics of your company/product/service are most likely to inspire loyalty in your ideal customers?

Increase product/service sales. How can you predict the future demand for your product/service? What new level of sales growth can your business handle? What quantities of your product can you produce/distribute? What level of service can you support through existing or additional staff?

Basic Marketing Questions

Five fundamental questions should be answered in order to identify your marketing goals: Who, what, where, when, and how? Specifically:

Who are your customers? Who are your competitors?

What are you selling? What quantities of your products will you sell and at what price?

Where is your target market located? Where can you reach your target market?

When are your customers most likely to buy? When are your busy seasons?

How will you reach your customers (stores, offices, web site, catalogs)?

Marketing Musts

Four activities will help you organize your marketing efforts in the most effective direction to achieve your goals. (See worksheets are at the end of this chapter.)

1. Sell selectively.

This will help you define your market niche. What will you offer that is distinctly different (better, less expensive, faster, higher quality, etc.) from your competitors? Why should anyone buy from you? What market share can you seek?

2. Know your niche.

What type of individuals and/or businesses do you plan to serve? Start by answering in general terms (professionals, service companies, manufacturing, retail, etc.), then try to be very specific. Spell out demographics first—age, sex, income, etc. Then you can move on to psychographics, or lifestyle considerations. When you clearly define the population you hope to sell to, you’ll have a better view of what products and services they require. Where do they spend their free time? What activities are they involved in? How do they spend their disposable income?

3. Create your pitch.

Define what “your product/service attributes” mean so that your product or service comes alive for your prospective clients. Make it so important that they will no longer want to live or work without it. Appeal to their individual needs.

4. Price for profits.

The goal of your business is to make a profit. Many start-up businesses fail to make a profit as early as projected because they didn’t price properly. Know what your competition charges, and determine if you should be less than, equal to or higher priced. Be sure for product pricing that you have covered your materials, labor and overhead costs. Service, like consulting, can be difficult to pinpoint. Some services will fall into an hourly rate structure; others are better-suited to a service fee. Pricing decisions will have to take into account what your market will bear.

Market Analysis

The Market Analysis section of your Marketing Plan contains information about your target market, competitors, and marketing trends. Market research methods and results are also delineated in this section.

Identify Target Markets

Who are you selling to? Who are your ideal customers? Your target market should be defined in terms of demographics, psychographics, and special characteristics of niche markets, if applicable. For research information about your target market, we have developed a special web page at www.business-plan.com/aybp/resources.html. You will be guided through a full listing of marketing research sites with hot links to each of the resources.

Demographics refers to the statistical data of a population, including average age, income, and education. Government census data is a common source of demographic information.

Psychographics uses demographics to determine the attitudes and tastes of a particular segment of a population. Psychographics examines lifestyles: where people spend their vacations, where they shop, how they spend their disposable income, what sports they participate in or watch, which clubs/organizations they join, and more.

Niche markets are a small segment of the population that shares common characteristics, interests, spending habits, etc. Successful niche marketing focuses on a small segment of a total market. Examples of niche markets include SOHOs (small office/home office), Generation X or Y, cultural niches, hip hop, to name a few. (The website www.nichemarkets.com offers a longer list.)

Research Your Competition

Who is competing with you? After you have identified your target market, it is important to discern what other companies are after the same market. What are their strengths and weaknesses relative to your business?

If you are not certain who your competitors are, use several search engines to see what company names are presented when you seek your own products and services online. Check trade associations, and manufacturing company listings, and other directories available in your library reference section if you want to do an offline search.

In researching your competitors, check out the general health of the business, their approach to marketing, and their financial information. In addition, specifically investigate the following:

Check out their websites

Investigate the prices of their products and services

Determine who their advertisers are

Asses Market Trends

Your marketing plan should reflect your observations and insight about trends in your industry and in your target market. Information about the general direction of the marketplace can help you target what people want. Futurist Faith Popcorn identified sixteen market trends in her book, Clicking (HarperCollins, 1996) that are still accurate today. She coined the phrase “cocooning” to describe the phenomenon of staying-at-home to relax and unwind. Dramatic increases in the sales of home theatre equipment, rentals of VHS/DVD movies, and take-out food are a testimonial to the longevity of this trend. What market trends will have an impact

on your business, influencing the demand for your products and services? Are you on-trend?

Industry trends influence almost every business within it segment. These are major trends such as the increase in service businesses in the U.S., the decline of manufacturing, and the precarious position of Internet pure-plays, to name a few.

Target market trends, like the events categorized by Faith Popcorn and other marketing gurus, have an impact on the direction of a smaller segment of the population or business community. Trends can be influenced by demographics, such as the aging of our population and huge number of baby-boomers reaching age 50 every minute, or by cultural and social influences outside the realm of demographics. Examples of market trends that evolve from demographic shifts include the increase in the number of assisted-living facilities, and the growth of innovative products and services designed for a more “youthful” retired population.

Conduct Market Research

Market research can prevent your company from making erroneous decisions that result in expensive design mistakes in new products, marketing campaigns, and more. Market research has traditionally been conducted through techniques such as questionnaires, polls, surveys, and focus groups. Today your business can take advantage of both online and offline market research techniques.

Methods of Research

Questionnaires can be administered by paper or by online surveys. In either case, questionnaires are more likely to be answered if there is an incentive for the consumer to respond (a reward, that is).

Focus Groups offer more insight regarding customer preferences and thought processes than questionnaires. In focus groups, small groups of consumers are brought together under the direction of a moderator. Their observations, responses, reactions, and comments are recorded. Focus groups can also be conducted online using an Internet chat room.

Surveys – Telephone surveys are the terror of many quiet dinners, and have become increasingly unpopular (and unreliable). Online surveys, on the other hand, meet with surprising success if presented positively. Websites can include several questions (un-intrusive, simple, quick to answer) in their format to elicit comments and suggestions from website visitors, particularly shoppers.

Database analysis

What kinds of information will you want to collect and store to help you make better executive decisions about your business? If you store information in a database for later analysis, it can help you identify trends within your company in sales, marketing, production, and finance. The sales and marketing data will be particularly useful for managing your marketing plan.

Contents of Your Marketing Strategy

In this part of your marketing plan, the contents shift to more detailed planning. You will describe your sales strategy, for example, and also elaborate on the materials you will produce and the campaigns you will organize. When you define your advertising strategy, you will need to identify how you will spend your money on each medium and in what markets.

Method of Sales and Distribution

How will your company reach your customers? Are your sales primarily handled by bricks (physical stores), clicks (website), catalogs (direct mail), or hybrid (multiple channels)? Do you have plans to expand your methods of sales/distribution as sales increase?

Packaging

If you provide a product, your packaging will be a crucial early consideration. If you are not a trained or talented designer, seek assistance for this. Packaging has a huge impact on the consumer’s decision to buy.

If you provide a service, the “package” is you. Your company image should be defined before you begin any other marketing efforts. The image of a professional such as a lawyer or accountant, for example, involves building a private practice that will be distinctly different from an advertising agency seeking clients in the fashion industry. Keep your message consistent and simple for your market. All of your online and offline marketing efforts, sales pitch, public relations activities, advertising, and promotional campaigns should be supportive of one another and of your image.

Pricing

How much flexibility is there in your pricing strategy? What is your price floor (the lowest price you can charge and still cover your costs) and what is your price ceiling (the highest price the market will bear)? Your marketing plan must address your pricing policy and how prices can be adjusted if necessary to increase demand or cover unanticipated revenue shortfalls.

• Price strategy

You may find that the range between your price floor (cost of delivering your product or service) and your price ceiling (what the market will bear) offers considerable leeway. Somewhere in this range is the right price point for your product or service. How do you find out what that point is? Through focus groups and surveys you can determine what the average customer is willing to pay.

• Competitive position

Should your prices be greater than, less than, or equal to your competitors? Do you need to adjust your prices when your competitors make a change? If you are claiming to offer the highest quality and most personalized service, you may be able

to justify charging more than your competitors. If you are appealing to a more “elite” clientele than your competitors, you will also be able to establish your pricing independently. If you hope to beat your competitors on price by going lower, you’ll have to be sensitive to your price floor—what you can truly afford to discount and still be a profitable business? If you want to remain equal to your competitors you’ll have to be extremely sensitive to any “value-added” offerings and special promotions they are offering.

Sales Strategies

This section of your marketing plan outlines your use of online and offline sales materials to reach your target market. Traditional (offline) sales involve the creation of printed materials to accompany your sales efforts. New media (online) sales involve refinement of your Web strategy in order to present your products and services in the best possible manner.

• Direct Sales

If you are a start-up company, you may find yourself working as both CEO and chief salesperson (not to mention, head of office maintenance…). Your marketing plan should identify how you plan to contact prospects, what materials you will send out or deliver, and what follow-up will occur. Your direct sales approach should combine both offline (personal) contact with prospective customers, and online sales through your Web site.

Offline sales

Require materials that can be sent to prospective customers and brought with a salesperson (or you) to presentations. Do you have to design new sales materials? What is required? Will you have to create a new logo and graphics for your material? Consider the traditional list of printed materials: brochures, pamphlets, flyers, stationery, business cards, catalog, promotional flyers, etc. Identify the specific materials that you will need to design and print for use in your sales campaign.

Online sales

Require a Web site that doubles as a marketing tool. In addition to the technological considerations of Web site design, special attention must be directed to engaging the site visitor and providing incentives to buy. Web sites that contain creative features that attract new visitors and encourage them to return to the site are called “sticky,” which refers to the ability of a site to bring visitors back for additional shopping. Your online “pitch” must be just as engaging and irresistible as your in-person sales appeal.

• Direct Mail

The cost of direct mail campaigns has been estimated to be about $1 to $2 per item.

As postage and paper costs escalate, direct mail becomes a less attractive sales option. Even with the best mailing list, be prepared for a low rate of return. Direct

mail coupled with incentive offerings can be slightly more effective.

• E-Mail Marketing

Compared to direct mail, e-mail marketing is a bargain at $.01 to $.25 per item. According to experts it is outpacing direct mail for good reasons. E-mail correspondence is more likely to be read than direct mail. It offers opportunities to send personalized offers, based on your understanding of your customers’ preferences.

• Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing engages the services of a virtually limitless sales force through some type of commission structure for sales, leads, or website visits. Affiliates are only paid for the actual sales, and their commission is a small percentage of the total sale. One of the most popular affiliate programs is run by Amazon.com (www.amazon.com). Affiliate programs can offer a creative strategy for service-based businesses to sell related products on their website without having to develop the products themselves.

• Reciprocal Marketing

Arrangements in which one company offers customers a discount for another company’s goods, either in their store or on their website, are examples of reciprocal marketing. Creative opportunities within local communities or online communities can make this a beneficial and inexpensive alternative to promote your company. Chambers of Commerce often extend these offers within their own circle of member businesses. Online opportunities can cross these geographic boundaries to offer virtually limitless possibilities among complementary companies.

• Viral Marketing

Viral marketing occurs when a company offers something that people find so intriguing that they spread the word on their own. In order to be effective, your company offering must be simple, entertaining, or engaging in some way. It also must include your company’s insignia or the whole point is missed. Viral marketing by word-of-mouth has been highly effective, but viral marketing by the Web has even greater impact. Word can spread more quickly, and to greater numbers of people, by e-mail and forwarded web links than by telephone calls. And when people see an e-mail from someone they know, they are most likely to read it.

Advertising Strategies

Advertising is the most potentially expensive investment of your marketing strategy. Because of the high costs involved, the efforts should be researched thoroughly before you begin. This is not an area for amateurs. If you hire no other consultants, and you know you need to advertise your business, hire someone with advertising expertise. The standards today are very high, even in the smallest local papers.

If you can pinpoint your target market in the finest detail, you can specify precisely where your ad campaign should be located. Size, timing, duration, frequency all come into play. Don’t try this by trial and error. Get guidance from an expert.

Traditional Advertising

Traditional media includes television, radio, print, and extreme advertising. Your investment in market research truly pays off when you begin to determine how to allocate your advertising budget. Only the venues that have an impact on your target market are worth your investment. What television shows do they watch? What radio programs do they listen to? What do they read for business and for entertainment? Where are they traveling and by what method of transportation? With accurate market research to guide you, you can avoid costly advertising mistakes.

• Television (network and cable).

Network television advertising remains the most costly advertising investment. Within this top tier, the highest price for commercial time is still the Super Bowl. Network prime time follows in rank-order, followed by non-prime time network buys. Network television advertising still has the power to create brands in a way that few other advertising alternatives can. Cable advertising, which is predicted to assume an increasing share of the total television advertising dollars, works at several levels. National cable advertising can be as costly as network television programming, but local cable television offers rates that may be affordable for even very small businesses.

• Radio.

Radio advertising offers small businesses an opportunity to reach a national or local audience with a rate schedule far below television advertising. Radio advertisements can reach your target market during business hours as well as personal time, during commute time, and mid-day programming.

• Print.

Market research should provide you with information about the newspapers, magazines, periodicals, and professional or trade journals that are of interest to your target market. Print ads are most effective when they have a single focal point, a distinctive picture, and an explicit headline message of nine words or less.

• Extreme Advertising.

Extreme advertising includes billboards, bus wraps, blimp, and any other form of oversize outdoor ads. Extreme advertising is most effective when the message is straightforward and simple, without complex graphics and extended narratives.

Web Advertising/New Media

Your online advertising dollars should be invested with the same care and precision as your investment in traditional media. Web advertising options include banner ads, PDA advertising, advertising on portals, and interactive television. Market research again serves as the foundation from which to build your campaign, directing your strategy to include the online options that are most visible to your target market. What Web sites do they visit? Where do they shop online? What portals do they use?

• Banner ads.

Banner ads have been widely criticized, but they are still a popular form of online advertising. New standards for online ads, which include a more advertiser-friendly format that closely resembles a traditional print ad and a new form of sidebar, have breathed new life into banner ads. Even critics agree that banner ads offer a method of headlining a brand name over and over again, building brand awareness, even if the “click through” rate is lower than five percent.

• PDA Advertising.

Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) advertising meets the unique space and size requirements of specific wireless devices. PDA advertising is most effective when it is specifically designed for these devices rather than personal computers. The best use of this form of advertising is to reach consumers on-the-go for things like travel arrangements, comparison pricing, auction bidding, hotel and entertainment plans, and stock activities.

• Portals.

Portals guarantee a tremendous number of viewers at an extremely high cost. Advertising on a portal is beyond the scope of most small businesses, but

placement in a marketplace on a portal may be a way to build online traffic. Amazon.com’s zShops, Shopping@Yahoo.com, iMall, and other similar locations offer the opportunity for broader exposure without the high price tag of a portal ad. Advertising on portals requires an understanding of consumer behavior in your target market to achieve the best results.

Long-term Sponsorships

Sponsorships can be designed to meet the marketing goals of any company. Long-term sponsorships offer the benefit of helping to strengthen brand awareness in niche markets. In both the online and offline areas, long-term sponsorships help to build strong relationships with a business or organization and it’s direct market, offering opportunities to co-brand multiple events, functions, advertisements, and more, providing high visibility for the advertiser. Co-branding can be set up as an exclusive arrangement or as a joint sponsorship among several complementary companies.

Public Relations

The primary difference between advertising and public relations is that you always pay for advertising space, while press coverage from your public relations efforts is “free” (aside from the fact that you may have paid to orchestrate the event that subsequently became newsworthy). Activities that demonstrate your strengths and the terrific qualities of your business in a newsworthy way can be of more value in the long run than the most expensive advertising campaign. Public relations campaigns strive to build credibility in the marketplace through routes that are more discreet than direct advertising.

• Building an Online Presence

Your web site offers a vehicle for public relations that companies without an online presence can’t imitate. Community groups or clubs, chat groups, and message boards offer incentives for people to return to your Web site more frequently. Community groups can be established on your Web site to allow individuals with common interests access to shared information. What community group and club activities can be included on your Web site? Chat groups facilitate dynamic

interaction among visitors to your Web site. Chat groups can be set up by topic according to a regular schedule for maximum effectiveness. Message boards encourage a running dialogue of questions and answers, and allow visitors to your Web site to exchange information or to request information from a subject expert on your site.

• Events (Online and Offline)

Can you create an event that will attract people to your Web site or to your physical store or office location? Grand openings, anniversary celebrations, celebrity visits, and other creative events serve a dual purpose. If they are done well, they will reinforce your relationship with existing customers and attract new business. If they are significant and newsworthy events, you may be fortunate enough to receive press coverage.

• Publicizing Your Efforts

Seek opportunities for press coverage of your work and your accomplishments whenever you can. The impact of public relations is cumulative. You won’t see immediate results in most cases, so consistency is critical.

• Press Releases

A simple press release, preferably one-page, accompanied by a photo, can gain more visibility for you than an advertisement if the newspapers pick it up. Press releases should be interesting, newsworthy, concise, and sent to the right person. Watch the newspapers carefully to determine who the correct contact for your press release is. The Business Editor generally receives huge numbers of releases. If a specific reporter tends to cover stories about your industry or interests, try addressing the release to that individual instead. The media brings you into the broader public view than your advertising can. It is your way to reach larger numbers in less time.

Send your press releases to:

1. Weekly newspapers – reporters are always looking for great new stories.

2. Daily newspapers – usually want only a local twist, so stay close to home, unless it’s a national story.

3. Wire Services – seek up-to-the-second news items, so move quickly if you have a hot item to report.

4. Magazines – offer a chance to look like an expert, but you will need longer lead time. Plan ahead.

5. Radio – attracts the attention of the mobile and the sedentary. A guest spot can boost you into a whole new spectrum.

6. Television – the most important medium to be prepared for. Take the time to learn how to present yourself on television. With television, you need to be concise and controlled, speaking in sound bites to be sure your point gets across the way you want it to and isn’t edited out.

• Press kits

Press kits can also be helpful. Prepare your own or hire a marketing consultant to

help you out. Your press kit should build your credibility as an expert in your field

or profession. Include:

1. Biography (short and directed to events that are significant today)

2. Photo (headshot, 8x10 or 5x7 black and white)

3. Brochure

4. Copies of articles that have quoted or featured you

Networking

Networking can mean the difference between isolation and involvement for any business owner. For home-based businesses networking takes on a particularly significant role. It replaces the water-cooler and coffee-pot contact that occurs daily in every corporate office. Networking is by definition a supportive system of sharing information and services among individuals and groups having a common interest. Networking will keep you in contact with the outside world, help you avoid isolation and stagnation, and build your business contacts for current and future plans.

Networking is a two-way street, an exchange of information. Real networking requires that you do more than reach out to give and receive business cards. Give a little information, and get a sincere grasp of what one another’s skills are. Then you’ve really reached out.

You will need to become involved in several levels of networks to provide contacts for you within:

• the business community at large

• your peer group of professionals

• your local community

• the community at-large.

Involvement in some organization at each of these levels of networks will provide public relations opportunities that will not develop from within your own home. Your degree of involvement in any organization should reflect its importance to your business success. The best use of your time, however, will be to find and focus on a few organizations that offer both business and personal satisfaction. Determine how you can volunteer your time in a way that also provides you with an opportunity to showcase your skills. Your talents will be most visible to the group if you share them and help the association accomplish its goals. In a position of leadership in any type of organization you will give the most time but will also gain the best contacts. You will get to know the most people. You will have the most opportunity for media exposure.

Customer Service

Consumer expectations of high quality service must be met if you want to keep your customers. Consumers expect to be able to contact a customer representative with questions,

• Description of Customer Service Activities

Will you offer 24/7 access to customer service representatives? Can your customers reach you by phone, fax, or e-mail at any time? As your business grows, you will

probably need to consider the addition of the services of a call center, which offers uninterrupted service for your customers. How will you deal with customer contact in the meantime?

• Expected Outcomes of Achieving Excellence

It’s an old marketing maxim that it is far less expensive to retain existing customers than to add new ones, so your business gains an immediate benefit from building a loyal customer base.

Assessment of Marketing Effectiveness

Once your marketing plan is implemented, you will need to assess your results. You will need to continuously monitor the effectiveness of each online and offline campaign.

• Are your Web site promotions reaching your target market?

• What online advertising methods are the most effective in driving traffic to your Web site?

• What is the cross-over from online promotions to offline sales, and from offline promotions to online sales?

• Should certain radio, print, or television advertisements be strengthened?

• Should any be abbreviated or eliminated?

Assessment of the effectiveness of your marketing plan provides the information you need to direct your future efforts and to make the wisest investment of your marketing dollars.

Marketing Plan Outline

I. OVERVIEW AND GOALS OF MARKETING STRATEGY

A. Overview of Marketing Strategy

B. Goals of Marketing Strategy

1. Creating a Strong Brand

2. Building a Strong Customer Base

3. Increasing Product/Service Sales

II. MARKET ANALYSIS

A. Target Market(s)

1. Demographics

2. Psychographics

3. Niche market specifics

B. Competition

1. Description of Major Competitors

2. Assessment of Their Strengths/Weaknesses

C. Market Trends

1. Industry Trends

2. Target Market Trends

D. Market Research

1. Methods of Research

2. Database Analysis

3. Summary of Results

III. MARKETING STRATEGY

A. General Description

1. Allocation of marketing efforts (% budget dedicated to online v. offline)

2. Expected return on investment from most significant components

B. Method of Sales and Distribution

1. Stores, offices, kiosks

2. Catalogs, direct mail

3. Website

C. Packaging

1. Quality Considerations

2. Packaging

D. Pricing

1. Price strategy

2. Competitive position

E. Branding

F. Database Marketing (Personalization)

G. Sales Strategies

1.  Direct Sales

2. Direct Mail

3. Email Marketing

4. Affiliate Marketing

5. Reciprocal Marketing

6. Viral Marketing

H. Sales Incentives/Promotions

1. Free Samples

2. Cash Back Coupons

3. Sweepstakes

4. Online Promotions

5. Add-ons

6. Rebates

7.  Other

I. Advertising Strategies

1. Traditional Advertising (TV, Radio, Print, Extreme)

2. Web Advertising/New Media (Banner Ads, PDA Advertising, Portals/Vortals, Interactive Television

3. Long-term Sponsorships

J. Public Relations

1. Building an Online Presence (Communities, Chats, Message Boards)

2. Events (online and offline)

3. Press releases (print, radio, television, online)

4. Interviews (online newsletters and websites, print, radio, television, chat rooms, online events)

K.   Networking (memberships and leadership positions)

IV. CUSTOMER SERVICE

A. Description of Customer Service Activities

B. Expected Outcomes of Achieving Excellence

V. IMPLEMENTATION OF MARKETING STRATEGY

A. In-House Responsibilities

B. Out-Sourced Functions

1. Advertising, Public Relations, Marketing Firms

2. Advertising Networks

3. Other

(OR ) Marketing Plan

To grow your business, you need a marketing plan. The right marketing plan identifies everything from 1) who your target customers are to 2) how you will reach them, to 3) how you will retain your customers so they repeatedly buy from you.

Section 1: Executive Summary = Complete your Executive Summary last, and, as the name implies, this section merely summarizes each of the other sections of your marketing plan.Your Executive Summary will be helpful in giving yourself and other constituents (e.g., employees, advisors, etc.) an overview of your plan.

Section 2: Target Customers = This section describes the customers you are targeting. It defines their demographic profile (e.g., age, gender), psychographic profile (e.g., their interests) and their precise wants and needs as they relate to the products and/or services you offer.

Being able to more clearly identify your target customers will help you both pinpoint your advertising (and get a higher return on investment) and better “speak the language” of prospective customers.

Section 3: Unique Selling Proposition (USP) = Having a strong unique selling proposition (USP) is of critical importance as it distinguishes your company from competitors.

The hallmark of several great companies is their USP. For example, FedEx’s USP of “When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight” is well-known and resonates strongly with customers who desire reliability and quick delivery.

Section 4: Pricing & Positioning Strategy = Your pricing and positioning strategy must be aligned. For example, if you want your company to be known as the premier brand in your industry, having too low a price might dissuade customers from purchasing.

In this section of your marketing plan, detail the positioning you desire and how your pricing will support it.

Section 5: Distribution Plan = Your distribution plan details how customers will buy from you. For example, will customers purchase directly from you on your website? Will they buy from distributors or other retailers? And so on.

Think through different ways in which you might be able to reach customers and document them in this section of your marketing plan.

Section 6: Your Offers = Offers are special deals you put together to secure more new customers and drive past customers back to you.

Offers may include free trials, money-back guarantees, packages (e.g., combining different products and/or services) and discount offers. While your business doesn’t necessarily require offers, using them will generally cause your customer base to grow more rapidly.

Section 7: Marketing Materials

Your marketing materials are the collateral you use to promote your business to current and prospective customers. Among others, they include your website, print brochures, business cards, and catalogs.

Identify which marketing materials you have completed and which you need created or re-done in this section of your plan.

Section 8: Promotions Strategy = The promotions section is one of the most important sections of your marketing plan and details how you will reach new customers.

There are numerous promotional tactics, such as television ads, trade show marketing, press releases, online advertising, and event marketing.

In this section of your marketing plan, consider each of these alternatives and decide which ones will most effectively allow you to reach your target customers.

Section 9: Online Marketing Strategy = Like it or not, most customers go online these days to find and/or review new products and/or services to purchase. As such, having the right online marketing strategy can help you secure new customers and gain competitive advantage.

The four key components to your online marketing strategy are as follows:

1. Keyword Strategy: identify what keywords you would like to optimize your website for.2. Search Engine Optimization Strategy: document updates you will make to your website so it

shows up more prominently for your top keywords.

3. Paid Online Advertising Strategy: write down the online advertising programs will you use to reach target customers.

4. Social Media Strategy: document how you will use social media websites to attract customers.

Section 10: Conversion Strategy = Conversion strategies refer to the techniques you employ to turn prospective customers into paying customers.

For example, improving your sales scripts can boost conversions. Likewise increasing your social proof (e.g., showing testimonials of past clients who were satisfied with your company) will nearly always boost conversions and sales.

In this section of your plan, document which conversion-boosting strategies you will use.

Section 11: Joint Ventures & Partnerships = Joint ventures and partnerships are agreements you forge with other organizations to help reach new customers or better monetize existing customers. For example, if you sold replacement guitar strings, it could be quite lucrative to partner with a guitar manufacturer who had a list of thousands of customers to whom it sold guitars (and who probably need replacement strings in the future).

Think about what customers buy before, during and/or after they buy from your company. Many of the companies who sell these products and/or services could be good partners. Document such companies in this section of your marketing plan and then reach out to try to secure them.

Section 12: Referral Strategy

A strong customer referral program could revolutionize your success. For example, if every one of your customers referred one new customer, your customer base would constantly grow.

However, rarely will you get such growth unless you have a formalized referral strategy. For example, you need to determine when you will ask customers for referrals, what if anything you will give them as a reward, etc. Think through the best referral strategy for your organization and document it.

Section 13: Strategy for Increasing Transaction Prices

While your primary goal when conversing with prospective customers is often to secure the sale, it is also important to pay attention to the transaction price.

The transaction price, or amount customers pay when they buy from you, can dictate your success. For example, if your average customer transaction is $100 but your competitor’s average customer transaction is $150, they will generate more revenues, and probably profits, per customer. As a result, they will be able to outspend you on advertising, and continue to gain market share at your expense.

In this section of your plan, think about ways to increase your transaction prices such as by increasing prices, creating product or service bundles/packages, and so on.

Section 14: Retention Strategy

Too many organizations spend too much time and energy trying to secure new customers versus investing in getting existing customers to buy more often.

By using retention strategies such as a monthly newsletter or customer loyalty program, you can increase revenues and profits by getting customers to purchase from you more frequently over time.

Identify and document ways you can better retain customers here.

Section 15: Financial Projections

The final part of your marketing plan is to create financial projections. In your projections, include all the information documented in your marketing plan.

For example, include the promotional expenses you expect to incur and what your expected results will be in terms of new customers, sales and profits. Likewise include your expected results from your new retention strategy. And so on.

While your financial projections will never be 100% accurate, use them to identify which promotional expenses and other strategies should give you the highest return on investment. Also, by completing your financial projections, you will set goals (e.g., your goals for your referral program) for which your company should strive.

Q#7

Influence of Marketing Environment on Marketing Decisions

The Impact Of Micro and Macro Environment Factors on Marketing

There are two kinds of external marketing environments; micro and macro. These environments’ factors are beyond the control of marketers but they still influence the decisions made when creating a strategic marketing strategy.

Micro Environment Factors

The suppliers: Suppliers can control the success of the business when they hold the power. The supplier holds the power when they are the only or the largest supplier of their goods; the buyer is not vital to the supplier’s business; the supplier’s product is a core part of the buyer’s finished product and/or business.

 

The resellers: If the product the organisation produces is taken to market by 3rd party resellers or market intermediaries such as retailers, wholesalers, etc. then the marketing success is impacted by those 3rd party resellers. For example, if a retail seller is a reputable name then this reputation can be leveraged in the marketing of the product.

 

The customers: Who the customers are (B2B or B2C, local or international, etc.) and their reasons for buying the product will play a large role in how you approach the marketing of your products and services to them.

 

The competition: Those who sell same or similar products and services as your organisation are your market competition, and they way they sell needs to be taken into account. How does their price and product differentiation impact you? How can you leverage this to reap better results and get ahead of them?

 

The general public: Your organisation has a duty to satisfy the public. Any actions of your company must be considered from the angle of the general public and how they are affected. The public have the power to help you reach your goals; just as they can also prevent you from achieving them.

 

Macro Environment Factors

Demographic forces: Different market segments are typically impacted by common demographic forces, including country/region; age; ethnicity; education level; household lifestyle; cultural characteristics and movements.

 

Economic factors: The economic environment can impact both the organisation’s production and the consumer’s decision making process.

 

Natural/physical forces: The Earth’s renewal of its natural resources such as forests, agricultural products, marine products, etc must be taken into account. There are also the natural non-renewable resources such as oil, coal, minerals, etc that may also impact the organisation’s production.

 

Technological factors: The skills and knowledge applied to the production, and the technology and materials needed for production of products and services can also impact the smooth running of the business and must be considered.

 

Political and legal forces: Sound marketing decisions should always take into account political and/or legal developments relating to the organisation and its markets.

 

Social and cultural forces: The impact the products and services your organisations brings to market have on society must be considered. Any elements of the production process or any products/services that are harmful to society should be eliminated to show your organisation is taking social responsibility. A recent example of this is the environment and how many sectors are being forced to review their products and services in order to become more environmentally friendly.

 

Micro and macro environments have a significant impact on the success of marketing campaigns, and therefore the factors of these environments should be considered in-depth during the decision making process of a strategic marketer. Considering these factors will improve the success of your organisation’s marketing campaign and the reputation of the brand in the long term.

There are two environment of marketing; the internal and external environments.

your job as a marketer is to create effective flow of goods and services from the point of production to your consumers despite various controllable and uncontrollable forces that do militate for or against you while making profit for your organization.

The external environment of marketing

  The external environment of marketing is comprises of those uncontrollable forces outside of your organization. These forces that can influence your business are uncontrollable because you do not have any control over them, but yet, you can respond and adapt to their treats and influences with your controllable mix element from your internal environment.

The uncontrollable forces in the external environment are:

         Competition         Government policies         Natural forces         social and cultural forces         Demographic factors         Technological changes

(1)   Competition: competition refers to the numbers of similar competitive product brands’ marketers in your industry, their size and market capitalizations. You as a marketer might not have direct influence on them, but it’s important that you monitor their activities, and then design effective strategies using your controllable variables.

(2)   Governmental policies: the government policies refers to the laws and legality that guilds the land, they go a long way to affect your business operations as a marketer. For instance, government restriction on the importation of a particular product might hinder the marketers playing in that particular field.

(3)   Natural forces: this refers to the physical environment, it comprises of the available or lacks of natural resources that can vacillated or hinder your production output.

(4)   social and cultural forces: the social and cultural forces refers to the structure and dynamics of individuals and groups and their behaviors, believes, thought patterns and lifestyles, friendship etc many of this trends goes a long way to affect your marketing operations.

(5)   Demographic factors: demography refers to study of people, such as their age, sex, marital status, occupation, family size etc. Though, demography is uncontrollable because you cannot control the sex, age, marital status in your external environment, but accurate forecast of it goes a long way to enabling you as a marketer forecast future trend and consumptions of your product.

(6)   Technological changes: technology post much challenges to marketers, it affects the kind of product that you as a marketer can offer, For instance, technology have changed products like typewriting machines into a more proficient computer systems. You cannot stop the advancement of technology, but you can learn to adapt to it changes.

However, it should be noted that while an external environmental force affect one business, it may create an opportunity to another business. So you as a marketer need be on a look out to forecasting possible changes in external environment so to also design effective strategies on how to adapt you business to it.

The internal environment of marketingThe internal environment is comprises of the activities inside of your marketing organization. In your internal environment, you have some variables to make decisions and influence your marketing efforts, such variables as in your 7Ps of marketing e.g. product, promotion, price, place, process, physical environment.

Q#8

SUPPLY-CHAIN MANAGEMENT

Supply-chain management is the process of managing the movement of raw materials, parts, work in progress, finished goods, and related information through all the organizations involved in the supply chain; managing the return of such goods if necessary; and recycling materials when appropriate. It coordinates inbound logistics, factory processes, materials handling, and outbound logistics.

Inbound logistics brings raw materials, packaging, other goods and services, and information from suppliers to producers.

Factory processes change raw materials and parts and other inputs into outputs, such as finished goods (e.g., shoes, cars, clothes).

Out-bound logistics manages the flow of finished products and information to business buyers and consumers like you and me.

The New Challenges in Supply-Chain Management

Outbound logistics has been the biggest problem for the new online retailers. Peapod Inc., for example, is an online merchant that sells and delivers groceries directly to consumers. It outsourced the delivery process to other companies because this seemed like the least expensive way to do business. What happened was that 8 to 10 percent of the grocery items ordered online by its customers weren't being shipped because outside vendors were out of stock. This is a typical but deadly problem for online retailers. Customers started dropping the service as a result. Peapod then built warehouses near Chicago, San Francisco, and New York City, and its out-of-stock rate fell to less than 2 percent. Despite all its efforts, however, Pea pod is stilling struggling to survive.

Other online vendors of groceries, such as 800.com and the Webvan Group, have also learned that they could not serve customers well enough without building their own facilities. But one of the main advantages of online dealers was that they avoided the need For costly stores and other facilities. They are losing that advantage as they spend more and more on warehouses and trucks and other distribution needs. As traditional retailers, such as Barnes & Noble and Sears go online, the competition becomes intense. And who will be the winners? The answer seems to be: Those who best manage the supply chain will have a real advantage.

Choosing The Right Distribution Mode And Storage Units

A primary concern of supply-chain managers is selecting a transportation mode that will minimize costs and ensure a certain level of service. The largest percentage of goods in the United States is shipped by rail. Railroad shipment is best for bulky items such as coal, wheat, automobiles, and heavy equipment. Figure 15.7 compares the various modes on several dimensions.

 

FIGURE 15.7: COMPARING TRANSPORTATION MODES

Combining trucks with railroads lowers cost and increases the number of locations reached. The same is true when combining trucks with ships. Combining trucks with airlines speeds goods over long distances and gets them to almost any location.

For the past 20 years or so, railroads have handled about 35 to 40 percent of the total volume of goods in the United States. As a result of practices such as piggyback shipments, railroads should continue to hold better than a 38 percent share of the market. (Piggyback means that a truck trailer is detached from the cab; loaded onto a railroad flatcar; and taken to a destination where it will be offloaded, attached to a truck, and driven to customers' plants.) Railroad shipment is a relatively energy-efficient way to move goods and could therefore experience significant gains if energy prices continue to climb.

The second largest surface transportation mode is motor vehicles (trucks, vans, and so forth). Such vehicles handle a little over 25 percent of the volume. As Figure 15.7 shows, trucks reach more locations than trains. Trucks can de deliver almost any commodity door-to-door.

Railroads have joined with trucking firms to further the process of piggybacking. The difference lately is that the new, 20-foot-high railroad cars, called double-stacks, can carry two truck trailers, one on top of the other.

Water transportation moves a greater volume of goods than you might expect. Over the past 20 years, water transportation has carried 15 to 17 percent of the total. If you live near the Mississippi River, you've likely seen towboats hauling as many as 30 barges at a time, with a cargo of up to 35,000 tons. On smaller livers, about eight barges can be hauled, carrying up to 20,000 tons-that's the equivalent of four 1 DO-car railroad trains. Thus, you can see the importance of river traffic. Add to that Great Lakes shipping, shipping from coast to coast and along the coasts, and international shipments, and water transportation takes on a new dimension as a key transportation mode. When truck trailers are placed on ships to travel long distances at lower rates, the process is called fishyback (see the explanation of piggyback). (When they are placed in airplanes, by the way, the process is called birdyback.)

One transportation mode that's not visible to the average consumer is movement by pipeline. About 21 percent of the total volume of goods moves this way. Pipelines are used primarily for transporting petroleum and petroleum products, but a lot more products than you may imagine may be sent by pipeline. One company, for example, sent coal by pipeline by first crushing it and mixing il with water.

Today, only a small part of shipping is done by ail: Nonetheless, air transportation is a critical factor in many industries. Airlines carry everything !Tom small packages to luxury cars and elephants, and 8l''C expanding to be a competitive mode for other goods. The primary benefit of air transpol1ation is speed. No fi tm knows this better than FedEx. As just one of several competitors vying for the fast delivery market, FedEx has used air transport to expand into global markets.

The air freight industry is starting to focus on global distribution. Emery has been an industry pioneer in establishing specialized sales and operations teams aimed at serving the distribution needs of specific industries. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has cargo/passenger planes that handle high-profit items such as diplomatic pouches and medical supplies. Specializing in such cargo has enabled KLM to compete with FedEx, TNT, and DHL, which carry bulk items.

Intermodal Shipping

Intermodal shipping uses multiple modes of transportation-highway, air, water, rail-to complete a single long-distance movement of freight. Services that specialize in intermodal shipping are known as intermodal marketing companies. While the United States has developed numerous intermodal shipping systems, Europe is catching up. Today railroads are merging with each other and with other transportation companies to offer intermodal distribution.

You can imagine such a system in action. Picture an automobile made in Japan for sale in the United States. It would be shipped by truck to a loading dock where it would be moved by ship to a port in the United States. It may be placed on another truck, taken to a railroad station for loading on a train that will take it across Country to again be loaded on a truck for delivery to a local dealer. No doubt you have seen automobiles being hauled across country by train and by truck. Now imagine that all of that movement was handled by one integrated shipping firm. That's what intermodal shipping is all about.

The Storage Function

About 25 to 30 percent of the total cost of physical distribution is for storage. This includes the cost of the warehouse and its operation plus movement of goods within the warehouse. There are two major kinds of warehouses: storage and distribution. A storage warehouse stores products for a relatively long time. Seasonal goods such as lawn mowers would be kept in such a warehouse.

Distribution warehouses are facilities used to gather and redistribute products. You can picture a distribution warehouse for FedEx or United Parcel Service handling thousands of packages for a very short time. General Electric's combination storage and distribution facility in San Gabriel Valley, California, gives you a feel for how large such buildings can be. At nearly a half mile long and 465 feet wide, it's big enough to hold three Statues of Liberty, two Queen Marys, and one Empire State Building.

Materials Handling

Materials handling is the movement of goods within a warehouse, factory, or store. The increased use of just-in-time inventory control is cutting back on

the significant costs associated with such movement. Many manufacturers have also installed robots and automated equipment to move goods efficiently within the firm. Nonetheless, materials handling can still be quite costly to some firms.

What All This Means to You

You now understand that the life or death of a film often depends on its ability to take orders, process them, keep the customer informed as to the progress of the order, get the goods out to customers quickly, handle returns, and manage any recycling issues. Some of the most exciting films in the stock market are those that assist in some aspect of supply-chain management. They include business-to-business films that supply Web-based catalogs and supply chain solutions such as Commerce One. Arriba develops software for online purchasing and teams up with companies like SAP, Oracle, and PeopleSoft to manage the rest of the supply chain.

UPS and DHL both sold new stock offerings to the public and were eagerly received, since people were not sure which Internet companies would succeed — but they knew [or sure that someone would have to deliver the goods — and UPS and DHL were among the best.

What all this means to you is that there are many new jobs becoming available in the exciting area of supply-chain management. These include jobs with the companies providing the various modes of distribution: trains, airplanes, trucks, ships, and pipelines. It also means new jobs handling information flows between and among companies (e.g., website development). But there are also jobs processing orders, keeping track of inventory, following the path of products as they move from seller to buyer and back, recycling goods and more-much more.

Summary

1. Explain the concept of marketing channels and the value of marketing intermediaries.A channel of distribution consists of marketing intermediaries, such as wholesalers and retailers, who join together to transport and store goods in their path (or channel) from producers to consumers.

      What are marketing intermediaries?Marketing intermediaries are organizations that assist in moving goods and services from producers to industrial and consumer users.

      Why do we need marketing intermediaries?

We need intermediaries when they perform marketing functions more effectively and efficiently than others can. Marketing intermediaries can be eliminated, but their activities can't. Intermediaries add costs to products, but these costs are usually more than offset by the values they create.

2. Give examples of how intermediaries perform the six marketing utilities.Utility is an economic term that refers to the value or wan t-satisfying ability that's added to goods or services by organizations because the products are made more useful or accessible to consumers.

      What different types of utilities do intermediaries add?Normally, marketing intermediaries perform the following utilities: form, time, place, possession, information, and service.

      How do intermediaries perform the six utilities?A retail grocer may cut or trim meat, providing some form utility. But marketers are more often responsible for the five other utilities. Time utility is provided by having goods available when people want them. Place utility is provided by having goods where people want them. Possession utility is provided by making it possible for people to own things by providing them with credit, delivery, installation, guarantees, and anything else that will help complete the sale. Marketers also inform consumers of the availability of goods and services with advertising, publicity, and other means. That provides information utility. Finally, marketers provide fast, friendly, and efficient service during and after the sale (service utility).

3. Describe the various wholesale organizations in the distribution system.A wholesaler is a marketing intermediaries that sells to organizations and individuals, but not to final consumers.

      What are some wholesale organizations that assist in the movement of goods from manufacturers to consumers?Merchant wholesalers are independently owned firms that take title to (own) goods that they handle. Rack jobbers furnish racks or shelves full of merchandise to retailers, display products, and sell on consignment. Cash-and-carry wholesalers serve mostly small retailers with a limited assortment or products. Drop shippers solicit orders from retailers and other wholesalers and have the merchandise shipped directly from a producer to a buyer. Freight forwarders consolidate small shipments into larger ones that can be shipped less expensively.

4 . Explain the ways in which retailers compete and the distribution strategies they use.A retailer is an organization that sells to ultimate consumers.

      How do retailers compete in today's market?There are five major ways of competing for the consumer's dollar today: price, service. location. selection, and entertainment.

      What are three distribution strategies retailers use?Retailers use three basic distribution strategies: Intensive (putting products in as many places as possible, selective (choosing only a few stores in a chosen market), and exclusive (using only one store in each market area).

5. Explain the various kinds of nonstore retailing.Retailing is evolving away from traditional stores to nonstore retailing.

      What is included in nonstore retailing?Nonstore retailing includes e-tailing (online marketing); telemarketing (marketing by phone); vending machines, kiosks, and carts (marketing by putting products in convenient locations, such as in the halls of shopping centers); direct selling (marketing by approaching consumers in their homes or places of work); multilevel marketing (marketing by setting up a system of salespeople who recruit other salespeople and help them to sell directly to customers); and direct marketing (direct mail and catalog sales). Telemarketing and online marketing are also forms of direct marketing.

      What's the difference between direct selling and direct marketing?Direct selling means that a salesperson will come to your home or office to make the sale. Direct marketing uses catalogs, the Internet, phone marketing, and other means to sell directly to customers without being physically present.

6. Discuss how a manufacturer con gel wholesalers and retailers in a channel system to cooperate by the formation of systems.One way of getting manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers to cooperate in distributing products is to form efficient distribution systems.

      What are the four types of distribution systems?The four distribution systems that tie firms together are: (1) corporate systems, in which all organizations in the channel are owned by one firm; (2) contractual systems, in which members are bound to cooperate through contractual agreements; (3) administered systems, in which all marketing functions at the retail level are managed by manufacturers; and (4) supply chains, in which the various firms in the supply chain are linked electronically to provide the most efficient movement of information and goods possible. Note that the supply chain system is longer because it includes organizations selling to manufacturers while the other systems only merge firms in the channel of distribution after a product is made.

7. Describe some supply· chain management problems and how they are solved.Supply chain management is the process of managing the movement of raw materials, parts, work in progress, finished goods, and related in formation through all the organizations involved in the supply chain in a timely manner; managing the return of such goods if necessary; and the recycling of materials when appropriate.

8. Review the various distribution modes and their benefits and how they tie in with the materials handling and storage functions.Distribution modes include ships (for slow, inexpensive movement of goods, often internationally), rail (for heavy shipments within the country or between bordering countries), trucks (for getting goods directly to consumers), airplanes (for shipping goods quickly), and pipelines (for moving water and oil and other such goods).

      How do these transportation modes fit in with materials handling and storage functions?Often goods must be stored in warehouses until they are needed on the factory floor or are purchased by consumers. Materials handling moves the goods within the firm (e.g., from the warehouse to the factory floor or from the receiving dock into the warehouse).

      Why should college students be interested in channel and supply chain management?Because there are many jobs available in these fields and because some of the fastest-growing firms (e.g., Internet firms) desperately need expertise in these areas if they want to compete in the long nm with traditional brick-and-mortar stores that have years of experience in these fields.

Q#9

Sales and Selling Techniques

Sales techniques

Before you start talking about your own product, it is crucial to ensure that the customer understands all of their needs and what would best solve them. "Make your customer verbalise their needs" advises Aston. "You know what problems your product will solve, so ask if they are experiencing these problems. Then explore the solutions that your product offers and how fixing problems would help their business. Only at that point can you get them to see, very clearly, that you have the solution."

Another important factor is to quantify the benefits you are offering, especially if you can tie this in with testimonials from satisfied customers. "Money talks," says Aston. "Quantifying the benefits of your service by using a satisfied-customer case study as evidence is incredibly powerful."

If you can prove that your roof insulation materials have saved a customer £600 on heating bills over two years, and they only cost them £200 to buy and fit, then potential customers are much more likely to listen to you.

any businesses owners and managers struggle with how to implement effective sales and marketing techniques, according to sales and marketing trainer Bob Leduc. While there is no one-size-fits-all solution to implementing effective sales and marketing techniques, you can take a number of steps as a business owner or manager to help the company meet its goals and objectives.

Step 1

Identify and promote the unique selling proposition. You may sell the same or a similar product or service as your competition, so you have to determine why customers should do business with your company instead of your competitors. What differentiates your business from another is called the unique selling proposition--showing customers the special benefits they receive from doing business with you.

Step 2

Encourage customers to become a cheering squad for your business. Gather testimonials from customers, and use these testimonials in your sales and marketing literature. Place video and text testimonials on your company website. Print the testimonials in your brochures; and include testimonials in your e-newsletters. Social media networks can bring current and potential customers together to create a cheerleading squad to promote your business. Prospective customers tend to believe what their peers say about a company more than what the company says about its own products and services.

Related Reading: Marketing Costs Vs. Sales Performance

Step 3

Ensure that all of your marketing and sales efforts include a call to action. A call to action is a statement that tells prospects and customers what they need to do next. For example, at the end of a brochure, you may include a statement that says, “Call 305-555-1111 today for your free consultation.” Never leave it to chance that customers know what they should do next. Decide what you want them to do, and then tell them.

Step 4

Emphasize benefits instead of features. Many companies make the mistake of promoting the features of a product or service, instead of how the product or service benefits the customers. Customers tend to be egocentric, so they are interested in knowing what’s in it for them. Tell them how your product or service benefits them, rather than focus on how it benefits you. Always include these benefits in your marketing and sales information.

Step 5

Add an irresistible offer. Give customers a reason to respond to your sales and marketing techniques by making them an offer they simply cannot refuse. An irresistible offer may include a free gift, a discount or bonus items.

Selling technique FAQs12 FAQs on sales technique.

1. Which customers should I concentrate on? 2. When is the best time to make a sales approach?

3. What is the best way to sell - over the phone, face to face or off the page?

4. Who should I approach?

5. How can I get past the receptionist or secretary?

6. Should I try to make a sale the first time I meet a prospect?

7. What should be in my sales proposition?

8. How can I get the customer involved?

9. Should I sell features or benefits?

10. What do I do if the customer raises an objection?

11. What do I do if the customer says no?

12. When I know a customer is interested, how do I close the deal?

1. Which customers should I concentrate on?

Normally, you should concentrate on the customers you expect to be worth the most to you. This depends on:

How likely you are to be successful in selling to the customer. How much the customer will buy.

How high your profit margin on sales will be.

It's almost always worth targeting repeat sales from existing customers. This is usually easier, and cheaper, than winning completely new business.

You may want to put less effort into less profitable customers: for example, customers who negotiate low prices, require extra customer service, or place small orders.

In terms of new customers, you can often categorise your targets into different groups: for example, by size of company or industry. One approach is to start by trying to sell to one or two different customers from each group. This lets you find out which type of customer you have the most success with, and then concentrate on similar customers.

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2. When is the best time to make a sales approach?

The best time to sell to customers is when they want to buy!

In some industries, this is seasonal. For example, gift manufacturers base their sales plans around meeting Christmas demand (though this means selling to retailers much earlier in the year).

If you sell to businesses, knowing what their budget year is can be important. They can be more receptive to a sales approach at the start of the budget year, when they have money available. Towards the end of the year, they may have spent their entire budget and be unable to place an order, even if they are interested in what you are offering.

For customers who hold (and use) a stock of your product, the best time to approach them is when stock is running low. You can simply call on a regular basis to see whether they need to reorder. With experience, you may be able to time your sales calls more accurately to suit their needs.

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3. What is the best way to sell - over the phone, face to face, off the page or over the internet?

The right sales method is often a trade-off between cost and effectiveness. It also depends on what you are selling.

The most effective approach can be a face-to-face meeting, but this is also the most time-consuming and expensive for you. Face-to-face meetings are often necessary for high-value or complex sales.

Face-to-face meetings can also be a good way of starting a relationship. Once you have made the first sale, you may be able to win repeat orders over the phone - with perhaps an occasional visit to maintain the personal relationship.

Selling "off the page" — for example, through advertisements, or by writing to the customer — can be cost-effective for relatively straightforward products or repeat sales. It may be necessary to provide a backup telephone (or email) service for customers who have questions.

Using your website, either directly selling with an ecommerce feature or indirectly through lead generation, pre or post support can be very cost effective. It works particularly well with commodity items that are easily understood or compared.

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4. Who should I approach?

If you are selling to other businesses, you want to reach the decision-maker. Ideally, this will be the person who both decides what product they should buy and has the authority to place the order.

In some cases, there may be other individuals who authorise the decision. For example, you might need to approach technical employees to convince them that you are offering a good product, and then the manager with authority.

In some businesses, you may need to make your way through one or more gatekeepers. In larger businesses, you may need to work your way up past one or more junior managers, winning their approval before you can get to the ultimate decision-maker.

Think of it as a decision-making unit, containing decision-makers, decision-influencers and order-placers. Try to work out the respective roles and adapt your approach accordingly.

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5. How can I get past the receptionist or secretary?

Be friendly and treat them with respect. Ask for their help, and explain why their boss will want to talk to you.

Explain if there is a particular reason for your call: for example, to follow up on a letter you sent, or because a friend of the person you want to speak to suggested you call. Be ready to explain why you need to talk to them, rather than just sending a letter.

If you are told that the boss is busy, ask when would be a good time to call back. Be persistent. Make a note of the secretary's name and use it the next time you call.

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6. Should I try to make a sale the first time I meet a prospect?

Before any meeting, decide what you want to achieve. For high-value, complex sales, it may be unrealistic to expect to make a sale at the first meeting. A major contract might take months to negotiate.

On the other hand, it may not be cost-effective to make repeated visits to a customer if you don't expect a particularly profitable outcome. If you can't make an immediate sale, you may want to establish how you can take the sales process forward without needing to visit again. For example, you might agree to send the customer the information they have asked for and then follow up by phone.

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7. What should be in my sales proposition?

A sales proposition usually starts with some form of introduction: explaining who you are and what the basis is for talking. For example, you might be following up on an earlier letter, or on a referral from a mutual contact.

It's a good idea to briefly outline the key benefit your product can offer the customer. This should help spark their interest. It'll also stop you wasting your time if what you are offering is simply not of interest to them.

A large part of the pitch should then be aimed at involving the customer and collecting information from them (see 8). Successful selling often relies most heavily on listening to the customer talk.

You'll also want to sell the benefits of what you are offering. This can include explaining your product's features and, more importantly, the benefits it offers the customer (see 9).

Finally, the sales pitch must include an active conclusion. In some cases, you may be able to close the sale (see 12). At a minimum, you want to finish the discussion with agreement on what the next action will be and when it will happen.

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8. How can I get the customer involved?

Start by asking a few questions where you know the answer will be yes. This helps to put the customer in a frame of mind where they want to answer your questions.

Then ask questions which help you learn more about the customer and what they want. Use 'open' questions (that cannot be answered with a simple yes or no) to encourage the customer to talk. Listen carefully to what they say. Where appropriate, make intelligent comments to show that you understand their situation and the business context they operate in.

Avoid delivering long set piece speeches without giving the customer the chance to get involved. As a minimum, regularly check that they understand what you are saying. Ask them if they have any questions or comments they would like to make.

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9. Should I sell features or benefits?

Describing features can be an easy way of explaining what you are offering, but it does not sell the product. Instead, you need to show the customer what's in it for them. Even if you tell customers about features, you should always translate those features into benefits.

For example, a feature of the frying pan you produce may be its Teflon coating. But customers don't buy the pan because of the coating — they buy it because it is non-stick and so easier to clean.

Remember too that the benefits can be specific to that particular customer: different customers may value different benefits. Part of your sales process should be finding out as much as possible about what the customer wants (see 8).

Benefit statements often include words like increase, improve, reduce, save, gain or protect. Although don't use all of them at once!

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10. What do I do if the customer raises an objection?

Acknowledge the objection to show that you are taking their concern seriously. Listen to what the customer is saying, and then check that you have understood what the objection is. If necessary, ask for clarification. For example, if a customer says they are not interested in your

product, ask why: is it something about your product, or the wrong time to approach them, or is it something else?

Test any objection. Ask whether, if you can overcome that problem, they will be happy to place an order. Then address the objection, from the customer's point of view. Don't simply restate your sales proposition.

For example, suppose a customer expresses concerns about the quality of your product. You could check what specifications the customer needs you to meet, and then explain that your product does in fact do so. You could also explain what quality control systems you have, what guarantees you can offer and so on.

Where possible, deal with any objection to the price last — confirm that there are no other sticking points first. Make sure you are clear what the customer's real concern is, and then choose the most appropriate response. Depending on the circumstances, you can:

Explain the value of your offer and what this means to the customer. Sell the benefit of all the extras that are included, like after-sales service.

Consider offering credit terms, or breaking the sale down into smaller 'affordable' deals.

Negotiate to include extras.

Trade a discount for something in return, such as larger volumes or a longer contract period.

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11. What do I do if the customer says no?

Find out why. Ask whether it would be worth trying again in future.

Being persistent can be an important part of effective selling, it helps demonstrate that you believe in what you're selling. At the same time, you have to know when to stop wasting your time.

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12. When I know a customer is interested, how do I close the deal?

The simplest way is often to just ask. Wait until the customer gives a buying signal: for example, asking how soon you would be able to deliver. Ask them: 'So, would you like to place the order now?' Then stop talking and wait for their response. Your silence encourages them to make a decision.

If the customer is undecided, you can try to create a sense of urgency. For example, by pointing out that if they place the order now, that will make it easier for them to meet their own deadlines.

Other tactics you can consider include:

Proposing alternatives. Ask the customer which product they want to order, not whether they want to place an order.

A 'conditional close'. When the customer raises an objection, ask if that's all that is stopping them from buying. Then deal with the objection and ask for the sale.

Once you have agreed the deal, make sure you both know what will happen next. Follow up with written confirmation, including timescales.

Q#10

Tasks of Marketing Management

we mentioned about five types of focus that companies may have towards marketing their goods and services. They were: product orientation, product orientation, selling orientation, marketing orientation and holistic (marketing) orientation.Considering the changes that take place in markets, customers and organizations, large number of marketers like to implement the holistic marketing.The tasks of marketing given below, therefore, relate to the requirements of holistic marketing approach.

Environment Analysis (MIS and Market Research)

There are two aspects of environment analysis: macro environment analysis and micro environment analysis.

Organization must institute MIS for marketing for getting information on both macro and micro factors regularly and frequently.

Macro environment includes: social, cultural, political, economic, legal, technological and demographic factors.

Micro environment includes: suppliers, company's internal functions, distributors, wholesalers, dealers, retailers, service organizations, customers and competitors.

In addition to MIS on marketing management to facilitate environment analysis, organizations can take help of market research studies to know on market demand in various market segments, existing competitors: their strengths and their share of business, supply-demand gaps, expected share of business, marketing activities required, marketing budgets required etc. Marketers may also like to know about their own organization's internal strengths and capabilities.

Formulation of Marketing Strategies Strategies to be formulated should aim at: short, medium and long term new product

development and introductions, customer segments, positioning, offers differentiation, product mixes, volumes of sales, market shares, prices, margins, revenue and profit earnings.

Marketing Planning and Implementation Within the framework of marketing strategies, the organization plans its marketing

activities which are basically outcome of market mix tools of McCarthy's four Ps of marketing

These four Ps are: product, price, promotion and place.

Product includes: product types, product models, product mix, product features including service aspects, brand, packaging, warranty etc.

Price includes: list price/price range, discounts, credit terms, finance arrangements etc.

Promotion includes: advertising, promotional campaigns, customer relations, sales staff etc

Place includes: locations, channels, transport, inventories etc

Having worked out the detailed plans of such activities, proper implementation of them is very important.

Marketing department will need to be organized according to plan and its implementation requirements.

Strengthening Customer Relationships 1) It has emerged as an important marketing management task. 2) It is about knowing your customers, understanding their requirements, providing them the best value, getting closer to them and developing long term relationships with them.Building Strong Brands

Brand is a name, term, design, logo/symbol or any other feature that distinguishes your products and services from those of competitors.

It creates certain images of the product in the minds of the customers.

With that favorable and strong image of the product, the customers are motivated to buy that particular product.

Marketing task is to create such favorable and strong image associated with the brand.

Communicating Value to Customers (Advertising, Product Promotion, Events etc) It is the value of the products and services that customers want and ultimately feel

satisfied with. Therefore, marketing management should communicate as to what kind of value

proposition they are offering to the customers via their products and services.

For this purpose this organization must devise an integrated marketing communication program.

The marketing communication program will be mass as well as personal communication by using judicious mix of advertising in various types of media, product promotion, events, exhibitions, fliers, direct mailers, Internet/emails, interactive marketing.

For this purpose the marketing function will have to partner with outside agencies as well as their internal resource personnel.

Delivering Value for Money (VFM) to Customers This marketing task aims at deciding and implementing the ways and means of delivering

the value of their products and services to the customers. It includes channels management.

The agencies through which the value will be delivered will include organizations own internal logistics resources and external distributors, wholesalers, dealers, retailers etc.

Market task will be to maximize value delivery to the customers using all of these resources.

Self Test by Marketers to Ensure That Their Marketing Tasks Are in Place

Check against each of the following items if you, as a marketer, have prepared yourself fully?1. New product development plans.2. Product differentiation ideas.3. Appropriate market/customer segments.4. Value for money (VFM) design of products in terms of quality, price, service levels, customer relations and delivery lead times.5. Value for money (VFM) delivery strategies.6. Value for money (VFM) customization for each type of buyer.7. Optimization of product mix offerings.8. Mass and personalized communication of product value to the customers.9. Optimization of distribution channels/logistics10. Optimization of sales volumes.11. Optimization of share of business.12. Optimization of revenue.13. Maximization of profits from sales.14. Long term customer relationships.15. Effective marketing management organization structure and competent people in place.

11- Evolution of Marketing Management ( Updating 4 P’s)

Marketing Theories – The Marketing Mix – From 4 P’s to 7 P’sMarketing is a continually evolving discipline and as such can be one that companies find themselves left very much behind the competition if they stand still for too long. One example of this evolution has been the fundamental changes to the basic Marketing mix. Where once there were 4 P’s to explain the mix, nowadays it is more commonly accepted that a more developed 7 P’s adds a much needed additional layer of depth to the Marketing Mix with some theorists going even going further.

Before we get carried away though what is the Marketing Mix and what is the original 4 P’s principle?

THE MARKETING MIX

Simply put the Marketing Mix is a tool used by businesses and Marketers to help determine a product or brands offering. The 4 P’s have been associated with the Marketing Mix since their creation by E. Jerome McCarthy in 1960 (You can see why there may have been some need to update the theory).

The Marketing Mix 4 P’s: Product - The Product should fit the task consumers want it for, it should work and it should be

what the consumers are expecting to get.

Place – The product should be available from where your target consumer finds it easiest to shop. This may be High Street, Mail Order or the more current option via e-commerce or an online shop.

Price – The Product should always be seen as representing good value for money. This does not necessarily mean it should be the cheapest available; one of the main tenets of the marketing concept is that customers are usually happy to pay a little more for something that works really well for them.

Promotion – Advertising, PR, Sales Promotion, Personal Selling and, in more recent times, Social Media are all key communication tools for an organisation. These tools should be used to put across the organisation’s message to the correct audiences in the manner they would most like to hear, whether it be informative or appealing to their emotions.

In the late 70’s it was widely acknowledged by Marketers that the Marketing Mix should be updated. This led to the creation of the Extended Marketing Mix in 1981 by Booms & Bitner which added 3 new elements to the 4 P’s Principle. This now allowed the extended Marketing Mix to include products that are services and not just physical things.

The extended 7 P’s: People – All companies are reliant on the people who run them from front line Sales staff to the

Managing Director. Having the right people is essential because they are as much a part of your business offering as the products/services you are offering.

Processes –The delivery of your service is usually done with the customer present so how the service is delivered is once again part of what the consumer is paying for.

Physical Evidence – Almost all services include some physical elements even if the bulk of what the consumer is paying for is intangible. For example a hair salon would provide their client with a completed hairdo and an insurance company would give their customers some form of printed material. Even if the material is not physically printed (in the case of PDF’s) they are still receiving a “physical product” by this definition.

Though in place since the 1980’s the 7 P’s are still widely taught due to their fundamental logic being sound in the marketing environment and marketers abilities to adapt the Marketing Mix to include changes in communications such as social media, updates in the places which you can sell a product/service or customers expectations in a constantly changing commercial environment.

Is there an 8th P?

In some spheres of thinking, there are 8 P’s in the Marketing Mix. The final P is Productivity and Quality. This came from the old Services Marketing Mix and is folded in to the Extended Marketing Mix by some marketers so what does it mean?

The 8th P of the Marketing Mix: Productivity & Quality - This P asks “is what you’re offering your customer a good deal?” This is

less about you as a business improving your own productivity for cost management, and more about how your company passes this onto its customers.

Customer Experience Management

Customer experience is defined as your customers’ perceptions – both conscious and subconscious – of their relationship with your brand resulting from all their interactions with your brand during the customer life cycle.

Customer experience management (CEM) is the collection of processes a company uses to track, oversee and organize every interaction between a customer and the organization throughout the customer lifecycle.

As for customer experience management, Gartner sums it up pretty well in its definition: “the practice of designing and reacting to customer interactions to meet or exceed customer expectations and, thus, increase customer satisfaction, loyalty and advocacy.”

Customer experience management is about more than serving your online customers. It’s about more than knowing where customers shop and what brand of dog food they buy. It's about knowing your customers so completely that you can create and deliver personalized experiences that will entice them to not only remain loyal to you, but also to evangelize to others about you – and that’s the most valuable form of advertising there is.

Gaining this depth of knowledge about customers isn't something that just happens. It comes from extracting insight from all customer touch points and channels across your entire organization. It's about harnessing mountains of customer data from online channels and beyond, and extracting valuable insight from that data with speed and precision.

Why customer experience management is important

The concept of customer experience may sound idealistic or touchy-feely, but anyone who dismisses it as such is woefully out of touch. In fact, customer experience has become a critical differentiator in today’s hyper-competitive, hyper-connected global marketplace. There’s tangible business value in managing the customer experience effectively. Good customer experience management can:

Strengthen brand preference through differentiated experiences. Boost revenue with incremental sales from existing customers and new sales from word of

mouth.

Improve customer loyalty (and create advocates) through valued and memorable customer interactions.

Lower costs by reducing customer churn.

Challenges marketers face Creating consistent brand experiences across channels. While customers may be willing to

accept different service levels from different channels, they expect your brand value proposition

to remain consistent. But channel proliferation makes it difficult to ensure such consistency across all channels.

Integrating channel and brand experiences. An integrated channel experience is highly desirable, but hard to achieve. Technology, legacy processes and organizational territorialism can all be barriers.

Consolidating data into a single view of the customer. Having a single view of the customer across interactions, channels, products and time would facilitate creating unified, coordinated customer communications. Departmental silos, fragmented data and inconsistent processes make this challenge seem insurmountable.

Three steps to getting customer experience management right

So many things can affect the customer experience, how do you know where to start? Here are three steps to successful customer experience management:

1. Create and maintain complete customer profiles.2. Personalize all customer interactions.

3. Get the right information to the right place at the right time – every time.

 Create and maintain complete customer profiles

To deliver a stellar customer experience, you have to know your customer better than ever before. That means creating and maintaining complete customer profiles that help you understand and measure your customers' journeys at every touch point across multiple channels. The more you know your customers, the more effective you’ll be at delivering relevant offers to them. The more relevant your offers are, the closer the relationship between your business and your customer becomes – driving metrics like loyalty and retention.

Historically, companies have used structured data – e.g., demographic, transactional and log data – to construct customer profiles. Today, you must include emerging types of data – social media, video, RFID, sensor, geolocation, etc. – tied together with cross-channel coordination. And add contact, response and transactional history interspersed throughout the customer life cycle, as well as customer value, profitability, behavioral analysis and propensity scores.

By analyzing traditional, structured data in conjunction with newer types of data, you can:

Learn how to improve the customer experience at specific touch points. Understand what your customers want and expect you to do for them.

Make better decisions faster.

Make it personal

Once you have a thorough understanding of the customer, you can use that knowledge to personalize every interaction. Remember to not only focus on the customer, but also on the context in which the customer operates. Your data can help you maintain that focus, particularly if you continue to enrich existing (core) data with new sources. By adding context to your customer focus, you can deliver relevant, insightful offers, recommendations, advice and service actions when a customer is most receptive.

Remember that customers have more presence, power and choice than ever before. If you don’t provide a personal, relevant, timely and insightful message, you will alienate them immediately. But if you do, you will drive brand loyalty.

Right message, right place, right time – every time

To deliver the most value at each customer touch point – and improve the customer experience – you need to map analytics to specific stages in the customer life cycle so you can deliver the right message to the right place at the right time. Each life cycle stage is important – from initial consideration, to active evaluation, to the moment of purchase and even to the post-purchase experience. Each stage is an opportunity to improve the customer experience. And each stage is an opportunity to gain more insight that you can feed back into your marketing processes to draw from the next time.