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Finishing School Course Plan ACD

2511: Marketing & Selling Skills

BizMentors Pvt. Ltd.

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The Objectives of This Session

To provide insights to the participants, about the supreme role of
Marketing & Selling for success in any business or profession.
To expose participants to likely challenges of Marketing & Selling,
and help them develop their own strategies for marketing
themselves effectively.
To thereby help participants develop convictions about the
importance of developing into good marketers for success.

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Marketing Management
Marketing Management Estimating Business Potential
and its challenges

Understanding market needs

Market sizing.
Market segmentation
Product differentiation
Branding: Advertising and Communication Management.

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Understanding the customer: Market

Research
The work of understanding the customer is foundational
for the venture.
Understanding customer needs and preferences is the
basis for deciding whether the venture is worth
undertaking at all.
The quantitative understanding defines the scale and
scope of the venture.
Understanding customer processes dictates the selling
and sales fulfillment plans of the venture.
Understanding customer decision making is the
foundation for the marketing activities of the venture.
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Market Sizing & Forecasting

Key issues that should be considered include:

Identifying current & potential customers by company size & type
Identifying competing offerings and how they may impact your own
market
Placing specific offerings at the appropriate place along their life
cycle curve, and identifying the structure (i.e. how quickly do similar
products ramp up? how long do they sustain high growth rates?)
and time span of the curve
Identifying specific obstacles to success (usually related to specific
customer categories) that will or may limit the market potential
Considering bandwidth or resource issues such as too few
distributors or an insufficient number of salespeople

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Market segmentation

The process of splitting customers, or potential customers, in a

market into different groups, or segments, within which customers
share a similar level of interest in the same or comparable set of
needs satisfied by a distinct marketing proposition
A customer's view of segmentation meet my needs!
When choosing between competing products and services,
customers select the proposition that meets their needs better than
any other. To win market share, therefore, a company must ensure
that their offers meet these needs better than any other at a price
they perceive as providing superior value for money (which does not
necessarily mean it has to be the cheapest). As this is how
customers operate in a market, then a segmentation project should
have these as its segmentation criteria.

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Product Differentiation

The process of segmentation leads us to the next mandatory step

Differentiation.
Unless our product / service is clearly differentiated, its presence will
be lost in the chaos of the market place with so many competing
offers.
The basis of differentiation lies in what is known as its USP (Unique
Selling Proposition).
The USP consists of those set of features or properties of our
solution that sets it apart from the competition.
Usually the USP is based on technology or unique insights into
customer usage behavior that is unique.
However, given the quick rise of ME-TOO solutions in a
competitive market, the USP needs to keep continuously changing /
improving to keep ahead of the competition.

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Branding Advertizing & Communication - 1

Today's customers aren't just buying what you are
selling; they are buying who you are. -- Michael Drew
The purchase decisions of customers are heavily
influenced by their perception of the BRAND of product /
service.
Brand building therefore becomes the foremost
determinant of marketing success.
The Brand then embodies all the promises made to the
customer, and the expectations generated in the
customers mind which must necessarily be satisfied by
the product / service offered.
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Branding Advertizing & Communication - 2

The Brand is a personality generated by advertisement
and marketing communication.
The latter therefore need to be designed with adequate
preparation, so as to ensure
That the Brand characteristics match the solution offered.
There is no over- or under-promise, and that expectations
generated are exactly met by the solution offered.
The process of communication over time generates a clear
brand image in the minds of consumers which gives it a unique
and unassailable position in the market and differentiates it form
the competing offers in the market.

The Brand thus determines the longevity of the product /

service in the market.
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Sales Management
Sales Management Business Acquisition and its
challenges

The 4 Ps of Sales Management.

Innovative salesmanship.
Pricing Power.
Promotional tactics.
Distribution Management.

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The 4 Ps of Sales Management.

The 4Ps are:

Product (or Service)

Place
Price
Promotion

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Innovative Salesmanship.

Perception is everything.
Tell a compelling story.
Create more value than you capture.
Everyone has one goal growth
Content is king for creativity.
Be gentle and constructive with your feedback.
Help others create meaning.

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Pricing Power.
Define your positioning
Match your pricing strategy
value proposition
Understand your cost structure
profitability goals.
Analyze your competitors prices
Determine price sensitivity
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Promotional tactics.
Promotional Offers: Discounts, Freebies, Interest
Waivers, etc.
Point of Purchase Communications (POP): Placards,
Cut-Outs, Banners, Videos, Events, etc.
Promotional Events: Sponsored Movie shows, Musical
Shows, Demos, Free Service Camps, etc.
Public Relations initiatives: Endorsements by Famous
personalities, TV Shows, Press Meets, Product
Launches, Deployment of any mass media channel for
getting the attention of wide range of public.

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Distribution Management - 1
The focus here is the 4th P - Place.
It is all about making the product / service available with in
easy reach of customers.
It is obvious that customers can never buy something that is
not available for purchase.
The key to this is to have a wide network of distributors /
sales agents who will stock your product and display it well
for customers to see and buy, or deploy the people with the
necessary skills to deliver the service within quick time to
the customer.

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Distribution Management - 2
The network of such distributors then have to be constantly
monitored and supplied with the necessary inputs to enable
sales of the solution from their counters.
The focus of this activity is therefore Efficient Supply
Logistics, Effective Inventory Management and Constant
Monitoring of the Sales at the counters.

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Exercise.

Make one min commercial about yourself?

What is the purpose?
What is the Business opportunity?
Where do you have occasion?
How will you ensure effective solution
delivery and satisfaction of the target
customers? (Use the 4P approach).

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