Winning your Customers- 1

Just a thought for my team in Dubai. I share it here.


Being a B2B salesperson it requires special set of skills to sell products in a market which is filled with the type of products that you sell.


In order to sell better you need to understand what kind of relation you need to keep with your customers as to maintain a long term business relation.

Here are three simple key ways:-

1. Minimize the risk of your customer. This is done by eliminating the fear from customers mind, fear about spending too much money or buying a product that will malfunction or that will have complaints. Spend time with them and make them feel confident about Milano, putting it as a problem free product.
2. Enhancing your customer’s competitive standing. Just like you even your customers want to move ahead in business. Make them believe that keeping Milano as a brand will make them look good in front of their competitor shops. This will defiantly make you strong when your customer bargains on price.
3. Help your customer Achieve their Goal. A salesperson that provides his customers with a solution that will increase his profits or decrease his costs will always be irreplaceable. Help your customer achieving his goals and dreams. So when you go next to your customer shop he won’t see you as a seller he will see you as his partner, as his adviser.
In all of the above you are building relationship to your customers and the outcome will be better sales.

With 38 SKUs Crest enjoyed 36% market share, with 50 SKUs it lost leadership to Colgate..know how

Crest is among many other brands who have fallen into the trap of brand extension. Power of brand is inversely proportional to its scope. As soon as a brand becomes successful, marketers tend to expand the brand in need of more sales. No doubt the brand expansion works to keep the counter clicking, but what happens to the brand in the long run? Does it keeps as strong as it was before it was expanded.

Once a market leader, Procter and Gamble’s Crest toothpaste lost its leadership to Colgate. With 38 SKUs only for Crest the toothpaste enjoyed 35% of the market share, when the number reached to more than 50 SKUs Crest slipped to 25% market share, weakening its self and giving a way to Colgate.

What Crest did in the toothpaste category, Chevrolet did with cars. Chevrolet was the leading selling brand in America. Soon the brand Chevrolet was put on to many car models, cheap, costly, small, big even truck. The brand became weak and the leader was replaced with Ford. Along with line extension marketers use various other methods to milk their brands and they are successful, but it only remains for short term In the long run brand expansion diminishes the brand power and weakens the brand image.
The answer to a healthy brand lives not in its extension but in narrowing. 

The Corporate Game

They are playing a game. They are playing at not playing a game. If I see they are, I shall break the rules and they will punish me. I must play the game, of not seeing I see the game.
by Kevin Kelly.

Positioning

Today companies are all fighting for a share in market. New brands take their share stealing from existing brands. So what are brands all about? Does two brands from two different companies are any different from each other in product features or superiority? The answer is no, its just they are positioned differently. Ask any smoker who is loyal towards Malboro he will say Malboro is different. Is it really different to other cigarettes? It is not if we take a blind test the smoker wont be able to make out any difference. So why Malboro loyalist has to say its different, it is only because of Position that Malboro has created in prospects minds.

Situation Analysis (5 'C)

In order to profitably satisfy customer needs, the firm first must understand its external and internal situation, including the customer, the market environment, and the firm's own capabilities. Furthermore, it needs to forecast trends in the dynamic environment in which it operates.

A useful framework for performing a situation analysis is the 5 C Analysis. The 5C analysis is an environmental scan on five key areas especially applicable to marketing decisions. It covers the internal, the micro-environmental, and the macro-environmental situation. The 5 C analysis is an extension of the 3 C analysis (company, customers, and competitors), to which some marketers added the 4th C of collaborators. The further addition of a macro-environmental analysis (climate) results in a 5 C analysis, some aspects of which are outlined below.

Company

• Product line
• Image in the market
• Technology and experience
• Culture
• Goals

Collaborators

• Distributors
• Suppliers
• Alliances

Customers

• Market size and growth
• Market segments
• Benefits that consumer is seeking, tangible and intangible.
• Motivation behind purchase; value drivers, benefits vs. costs
• Decision maker or decision-making unit
• Retail channel - where does the consumer actually purchase the product?
• Consumer information sources - where does the customer obtain information about the product?
• Buying process; e.g. impulse or careful comparison
• Frequency of purchase, seasonal factors
• Quantity purchased at a time
• Trends - how consumer needs and preferences change over time

Competitors

• Actual or potential
• Direct or indirect
• Products
• Positioning
• Market shares
• Strengths and weaknesses of competitors

Climate (or context)

The climate or macro-environmental factors are:

• Political & regulatory environment - governmental policies and regulations that affect the market
• Economic environment - business cycle, inflation rate, interest rates, and other macroeconomic issues
• Social/Cultural environment - society's trends and fashions
• Technological environment - new knowledge that makes possible new ways of satisfying needs; the impact of technology on the demand for existing products.

The analysis of the these four external "climate" factors often is referred to as a PEST analysis.

Information Sources

Customer and competitor information specifically oriented toward marketing decisions can be found in market research reports, which provide a market analysis for a particular industry. For foreign markets, country reports can be used as a general information source for the macro-environment. By combining the regional and market analysis with knowledge of the firm's own capabilities and partnerships, the firm can identify and select the more favorable opportunities to provide value to the customer.

Top 6 Social Media Marketing Goals

To begin an effective social media marketing campaign, you need to set some achievable goals.  And you have to know what you’re aiming for in order to know if you’re hitting the mark, right?  So, here’s some common goals for social media marketing:

1. Increased Brand Awareness.  Creating brand awareness is one of the most common social media goals and an important step in marketing a new product or service.  Social media can be used to spread the word about your new product or service offering, and improve public perception of your brand.
2. Reputation Management.  Ensure that your brand is not being bashed, but in the most favorable light as possible.  One negative review or comment could be enough to be disqualified from an opportunity.  
3. Engagement.  Creating a dialog between you and your audience that is engaging while staying top of mind is key.  
4. Improved Search Engine Rankings.  Social media can improve your natural search engine ranking building brand awareness and support multiple brand exposures.
5. Increased Relevant Visitor Traffic.  Engaged visitors that are familiar with or know your brand are generally more valuable that those that are not. 
6. Improved online conversion performance.  Whether your website conversion is defined as a lead, transaction or new account, social media can contribute to improved conversion performance.

Digital Marketing by two big brands.

Big names, branded merchandise, action figures and A-listers spread across TV, print, and perhaps even the drive-through window at a local fast food restaurant.

But what about online? Below are two brands that implemented targeted and integrated digital strategies, using social media, mobile advertising, search engine marketing and online video.

TOY STORY 3 Promotion. To launch the third installment of their successful Toy Story franchise, Pixar used a combination of online channels to encourage viral sharing and ultimately produce big numbers at the box office. They utilized promoted trending topics on Twitter.com/Disney Pixar and Google video ads featuring the movie trailer which linked to the movie’s facebook page. Customers were also invited to purchase tickets directly through custom applications on mobile and social media platforms.

OLD SPICE Commercial. A non-traditional summer blockbuster has been the re-emergence of Old Spice and the “Old Spice Guy”, Isaiah Mustafa. This campaign illustrates the perfect mix of humor and seasonal messaging in a targeted online video experiment, resulting in tremendous viral awareness. Old Spice capitalized on the campaign’s popularity by filming real time video responses to questions and comments posted on facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

 Blockbuster Marketing Lessons You Can Apply Today:

   1. Make it easy to view and share your content online.Pixar’s multichannel approach placed movie trailers within search ads on Google, promoted tweets, and facebook creating a large footprint reaching their target audience in relevant places online. Old Spice utilized YouTube as their video platform to leverage the many sharing options and widespread familiarity of the site to make it easy for viewers to share each video.
   2. Have a call-to-action. Pixar’s ticketing facebook application was the perfect opportunity to test whether facebook users would engage in purchase behavior when prompted and presented with a unique and well-executed call-to-action. Old Spice’s call-to-action invited consumers to submit questions to the “Old Spice Guy” via twitter resulting in recorded responses being published via YouTube, fueling further sharing and brand engagement.
   3. Match your message to the online medium. Old Spice considered the benefits that social networking provided and capitalized on them to engage customers and create brand loyalty in a whole new way. Their online content, messaging, and calls-to-action were unique and effective; while avoiding the common mistake of simply re-purposing tradtionial creative.

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I don’t think I am an actress.

I don’t think I am an actress. I think I’ve created a brand and a business.
Pamela Anderson.

Brands worth more money than Products

According to the American Marketing Association, a Brand is a name, term, sign, symbol or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service from those of other sellers. The word ‘brand’ comes from the Norwegian brandr meaning to burn, as in branding cattle.

                A product is something created by labour that can be marketed or sold as a commodity. A brand is created when you take that product and give it special meaning through names, logos or any form of identifi cation that separates one seller’s goods or services from their competition.
               Why do we create brands? Quite simply, we create them because brands are worth more money than products.

Role of Opinion leaders in making a Brand successful

A society will always have opinion leaders who are generally the fi rst to try new products, help set trends and be very valuable to brands trying to get established. Opinion leaders are often show-business idols, politicians
or sports stars. When Michael Jordan started wearing Nike, everyone started wearing Nike. 

                When Red Bull was fi rst introduced in the US, Red Bull refrigerators were taken to movie shoots and given away free to cast and crew for years before the fi rst consumer got the opportunity to have the energy drink. Once a generation of movie stars had adopted the beverage, there was no stopping Red Bull, the number one energy drink in America. 

              At the moment, the weight opinion leaders carry appears to be diminishing in the US (but certainly not disappearing). Consider fashion. What is in style today? The answer, probably for the fi rst time in history, is everything. Everything is in style right now. Whatever you want to wear is in style. Why? Because teens of today don’t feel the same overwhelming need to mimic others outside their peer group as they have in the past. Armed with YouTube and a host of ways to become famous themselves, these teens are confi dent enough in themselves to make their own rules and one of those rules is to not be manipulated by marketers or celebrities.

Price is the success factor for Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart: Price

Sam Walton went to work for the JC Penney company for $75 per month after graduating from college. After bouncing around the Midwest from retail job to retail job, he bought a small store in Bentonville, Arkansas, and opened Walton’s 5 & 10. By the end of his life in 1992, Wal-Mart would be the world’s largest retailer.

Single-minded focus on low prices

How did a simple man with vision go from being a low-level retail employee to one of the wealthiest and most successful men in the world? By keeping a very single-minded focus on offering the lowest prices in every category he sold. The result? Approximately 80% of disposable diapers sold in the US go through Wal-Mart. About 60% of shampoo and conditioners are sold through Wal-Mart. Quite simply, Walton kept prices low and customers rewarded him with their loyalty.

     But how could Wal-Mart sell for less than their competitors at K-Mart and Target stores? Location. While other stores were locating in the centre of large cities, Sam Walton built his stores out in the country between two small towns. The land was cheaper and his Wal-Mart stores could draw customers from both small towns. The result? Walton had as many or more potential customers and did so at a much lower cost than his competitors. Those savings were passed along to customers in the form of some of the lowest prices offered anywhere. The result of this? Very few stores could successfully compete with Walton’s prices and all the family retailers that make up a small town began closing up as they lost their customers to Wal-Mart. 

      As scanners and UPC codes expanded, suddenly Wal-Mart controlled a tremendous amount of information about the sales of every brand they handled. They knew better than anyone exactly what was selling minute by minute, category by category. Soon, they were telling manufacturers how much they were willing to pay for products. Manufacturers were then left trying to fi gure out how they could make the goods for the price Wal-Mart were willing to pay. This spurred the growth of offshore manufacturing closing thousands of factories in the US and Europe in favour of shipping manufacturing to less expensive manufacturing countries such as India and China.

     Wal-Mart is a controversial company to say the least. It’s also stunningly successful. As Sam Walton famously said to his critics, if he wouldn’t have done this, someone else would have. For Wal-Mart it’s all about low prices.

 

Giving chocolate to others is an intimate form of communication, a sharing of deep, dark secrets.

Consider the difference between a box of Godiva chocolates and a Mars bar. Both are chocolate, right?
If you invite me to dinner at your home and I show up with a box of Godiva chocolates, you are likely to be very happy you invited me. If I show up with a Mars bar; you might not invite me back. What’s the difference?
Remember, they are both chocolate. Right? Actually no. A Mars bar is an ‘everyday’ treat, while a box of Godiva chocolates is a selection of ‘premium’ handmade chocolates. A Mars bar tells the recipient I’m cheap. The box of Godiva tells the recipient I’m very happy to be there, and that they are worth ‘the best’ I can give. So how do Godiva communicate all this?

10 THINGS A Marketer SHOULDN’T DO

• Run a nationwide ad campaign without testing it.

• Be less than IOO% truthfull with customers.

• Refie to fix a customer problem because of store policy.

• Pull an ad campaign while it still producing.

• Ignore customer mail and phone calls.

• Focus on only mass media.

• Spend a dollar without having a marketing plan.

• Hesitate when asked to describe her marketing position  in two sentences.

• Be afraid to fail

Ideas for Market: How to solve cases.

Ideas for Market: How to solve cases.pdf file click here

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How to solve cases.

 Download in pdf format

5 Whys

Quickly Getting to the Root of a Problem

Why use the tool?

The 5 Whys is a simple problem-solving technique that helps users to get to the root of the problem quickly. Made popular in the 1970s by the Toyota Production System, the 5 Whys strategy involves looking at any problem and asking: "Why?" and "What caused this problem?"

Very often, the answer to the first "why" will prompt another "why" and the answer to the second "why" will prompt another and so on; hence the name the 5 Whys strategy.

Benefits of the 5 Whys include:

• It helps to quickly determine the root cause of a problem
• It is easy to learn and apply

How to use the tool:

When looking to solve a problem, start at the end result and work backward (toward the root cause), continually asking: "Why?" This will need to be repeated over and over until the root cause of the problem becomes apparent.

Example:

Following is an example of the 5 Whys analysis as an effective problem-solving technique:

1. Why is our client, Hinson Corp., unhappy? Because we did not deliver our services when we said we would.
   
2. Why were we unable to meet the agreed-upon timeline or schedule for delivery? The job took much longer than we thought it would.
   
   
3. Why did it take so much longer? Because we underestimated the complexity of the job.
   
   
4. Why did we underestimate the complexity of the job? Because we made a quick estimate of the time needed to complete it, and did not list the individual stages needed to complete the project.
   
   
5. Why didn't we do this? Because we were running behind on other projects. We clearly need to review our time estimation and specification procedures.

Key Points:

The 5 Whys strategy is an easy and often-effective tool for uncovering the root of a problem. Because it is so elementary in nature, it can be adapted quickly and applied to most any problem. Bear in mind, however, that if it doesn't prompt an intuitive answer, other problem-solving techniques may need to be applied.

 

problem solving

Appreciation

Extracting Maximum Information from Facts

Appreciation is a very simple but powerful technique for extracting the maximum amount of information from a simple fact.

How to Use the Tool:

Starting with a fact, ask the question 'So what?' i.e. what are the implications of that fact? Keep on asking that question until you have drawn all possible inferences.

Example:

Appreciation is a technique used by military planners, so we will take a military example:

Fact: It rained heavily last night

So What?

– The ground will be wet

So What?

– It will turn into mud quickly

So What?

– If many troops and vehicles pass over the same ground, movement will be progressively slower and more difficult as the ground gets muddier and more difficult.

So What?

– Where possible, stick to paved roads. Otherwise expect movement to be much slower than normal.

While it would be possible to reach this conclusion without the use of a formal technique, Appreciation provides a framework within which you can extract information quickly, effectively and reliably.

Key points:

Asking 'so what?' repeatedly helps you to extract all important information implied by a fact.

 

 

What is Marketing Concept

Goal-oriented, integrated philosophy practiced by producers of goods and services that focuses on satisfying the needs of consumers over the needs of the producing company. The marketing concept holds that the desires and needs of the target market must be determined and satisfied in order to successfully achieve the goals of the producer.

1. Idea or strategy for marketing a product or service.

2. Philosophy of marketing a product or service that is benefit oriented rather than product oriented. For example, a successful marketing concept in the perfume industry is that the industry is in the business of selling dreams, sex, and romance-that is, the benefits to be derived from perfume, but not the perfume itself.

 

The Marketing Mix and 4 Ps - Understanding how to position your market offering

The Marketing Mix and 4 Ps - Understanding how to position your market offering