Know-How Exchange : Strategy

Hello again, Jennifer,
Think of your role there as a "Business Develop Manager" and this entails two areas: 1) Define the market - e.g. do a marketing plan, and 2) Develop accountstrategies.

For the marketing plan, here are the steps:

Start with doing your marketing!

Understand the market

• How big is the market (revenue, units, average selling price)?


• Who are the customers?


• What are their needs?


• How can you segment these customers by needs and/or demograhics and how big is each segment?


• How can you best reach these customers (what media, what message, etc)?


• What are the best sales channels to use to reach these customers - retailers, wholesalers, distributors? Map this out

Understand the competition

• Who are the competitors?


• What share does each of the competitors have or what segments


• What are the strengths and weaknesses of each competitor?


• How well does each of the competitors meet the needs of the customers (by segment)

Understand your company

• Conduct a SWOT - strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for your company


• Comparing your SWOT versus the competitive analysis, how can you use your strengths to attack the competitors' weaknesses, how can you turn your weaknesses into strengths, how can you take advantage of the opportunities, and how can you avoid the threats?


• How can you position your product/service to better meet the customers needs versus the competition?


• For which segments do you have the best compelling unique selling point? Also, what are the pricing needs for each based on the value you bring to the customers?

Now, it's time to put together a plan to reach these customers with a message that will influence them to understand how your company can serve their needs better than the competition. This involves advertising, press releases, preparing collateral material, training salesmen (if you have them), etc. The plans should take into account different approaches for different segments. The ideal first segment in which to start would be one that leads easily to another segment because this set of customers influences another set. When you're done planning how to attack that segment, plan the next and the next.

Account Strategies
The next phase is develop account strategies for the major accounts in each of the segments you have selected. This process involves researching the account and finding out their specific needs, corporate direction, their competition, and who the decision makers and influencers are. Plan what product to start with, where to make contact, which pieces of marketing collateral to use (make a folder specifically for that customer), when to introduce your management to further the B2B relationship, forecast sales expectations, etc. Do this with any responsible sales personnel to get their input and buy-in. Use your network to find those key decision makers and information on what influences them.

Hope this helps!

Wayde