How to
Develop a Marketing Concept
Unfortunately, there is still a
misunderstanding about the word marketing. Many people, including top
executives, use it as a sophisticated term for selling. Marketing
representative is commonly used in ads to recruit salespeople. Actually,
marketing is a way of managing a business so that each critical business
decision is made with full knowledge of the impact it will have on the
customer.
Here are some specific ways in which the marketing approach differs
from the classic, or sales, approach to managing a business.
1. In the classic approach, engineers and designers create a product,
which is then given to salespeople who are told to find customers and sell
the product. In the marketing approach, the first step is to determine
what the customer needs or wants. That information is given to designers
who develop the product and finally to engineers who produce it. Thus, the
sales approach only ends with the customer, while the marketing approach
begins and ends with the customer.
2. The second major difference between the sales and marketing
approaches is the focus of management. The sales approach almost always
focuses on volume while the marketing approach focuses on profit.
In short, under the classic (sales) approach the customer exists for
the business, while under the marketing approach the business exists for
the customer.
The marketing concept is a management plan that views all marketing
components as part of a total system that requires effective planning,
organization, leadership and control. It is based on the importance of
customers to a firm, and states that:
- All company policies and activities should be aimed at satisfying
customer needs.
- Profitable sales volume is a better company goal than maximum sales
volume.
In order to conduct a successful marketing program you must be able to
answer the following questions:
1. What type of business are you in (manufacturing, merchandising or
service)?
2. What is the nature of your product(s) or service(s)?
3. What market segments do you intend to serve? (Describe the age, sex,
income level and life-style characteristics of each market segment.)
4. What strategies will you use to attract and keep customers?
- Product
- Price
- Place
- Promotion
- Persuasion (personal selling)
5. What is your unique selling proposition (USP)?
6. Who is your competition, and what will you do to control your share
of the market?
Food For Thought
Think about the incredible
series of coincidences that have led you to where you are today.
Chances are, there have been many moments, seemingly insignificant at
the time, that ended up altering the course of your life in a major
way. Perhaps it was someone you met, who introduced you to someone
else, through whom you met your spouse. Or perhaps it was a party you
attended, and someone you talked to, who knew someone else, who was
responsible for your current job.
You never know what will come your way, or how it will come. Things
happen in the most unexpected ways. People come into your life, and
lead you to other people, who lead you to others, and so on. That
person standing in line behind you at the bank might just hold your
future in his hands.
That's why it's so important to be open to new ideas, new people, and
new experiences. If you sit in front of the TV all the time,
life-changing opportunities will rarely come your way. Get yourself
out, circulating among people, doing things, exchanging ideas and
participating in life. Opportunities come in abundance each day when
you are open to them.
Recently, I heard a young boy on television make the comment that "If
I were President, I'd give everybody enough money to buy whatever they
want."
As wonderful as this might sound at first blush, such a policy would
be a complete disaster. If everyone could receive all the money they
needed, without working, then there would be nothing to buy with that
money. No one would work to produce the goods and services. Money
would be meaningless.
The value of money, or of anything else, depends on the effort that
must be expended to get it. A diamond and a pebble are both rocks, but
diamonds are much more valuable because they are so hard to find. If
diamonds were as plentiful as common pebbles, they would be virtually
worthless.
There simply are no shortcuts. It is the effort needed to acquire a
diamond that makes it so valuable. It is the work necessary to acquire
it that gives money its value.
Life itself is that way, too. It is only worth what you put into it. A
life of value and fulfillment is possible only you are willing to put
forth an effort and give of yourself.
Don't cheat yourself out of life by trying to get "something for
nothing." Your life is worth exactly what you put into it.
If you want something out of life, it is challenging. Once you accept
the fact that life is difficult, you begin to transcend it.
It takes courage to stand up and make a difference. Believe in
yourself. What you have, what you are, is a result of what you believe
you deserve.
Get in the habit of giving more than you're paid for. Go the extra
mile. Don't go where the path may lead, but go where there is no path,
and leave a trail. When you have your own vision, you don't have any
competitors. Be your best, do your best and don't worry about the
rest.
Make the commitment to work on yourself. Many people never realize
their greatness because they get sidetracked. You deserve to get some
prime time from yourself.
Focus on the things you love and on your talents. Develop your gifts.
We all need an area of life in which we have a special competence. It
will give you confidence, and a larger vision of yourself. It takes
work, focus and a determined effort to make the best of what you have.
The reward is that you'll accomplish great things, and you'll always
be in control of your destiny.
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