Know-How Exchange : Other

I've run several marketing departments and started some from scratch. I can at least tell you what worked for me.

Start with a marketing plan that is rooted in your company's business plan goals. This is a down-and-dirty plan, not a beautiful, expensive, fancy plan. This is a plan that is going to be your road map for everything you do--and tell you what skills you need to hire. Every business goal should be linked to a specific target audience. Describe the target audiences in as great detail as you have information to do so. Make sure you understand what pain or problem creates the need that your company can solve.

Now make sure that every dollar, every effort, and every message is linked to solving the need of one of your target audiences in a way that supports your business plan goals. This will help to keep you on track.

Now look at your goals, audiences and the audience's needs. What actions do you need to take to reach the audiences with the message that you can solve their problem? (Hint: web site, newsletter, blog, trade show plan are some ideas). Decide on your top 3 activities--you can add more later.

What skills will you need to execute those activities? The core team skills usually include a graphic/web designer and a writer, but they can also include an events coordinator, editor and publicist. Whomever you hire, create job descriptions that link their actions to solving your your audiences' problem through their contribution and using their skills to reach specific business goals.

I'd start by interviewing your top sales people, and finding out what approaches has worked for them. They no doubt understand the competition, what the prospect is looking for, etc.

I'd next study your competitors (SWOT analysis) to find out how your company stacks up.

Your marketing strategy would start by targeting under-served prospects with something unique. Perhaps it's an energy audit/guarantee. Or a free mold check. Or an annual maintenance program.

The full plan would include how to reach your prospects, measuring plan effectiveness, etc.

I’d be inclined to get the CEO to define exactly what he means by a marketing led Business” and why he also thinks that it is sales led at the moment-discounts and mates on the golf course do not add up to being sales led.

The classical position of marketing in a company hierarchy can be one where it has oversight of the sales functions (Though not necessarily the management of the sales team) and also has the most significant input into product development and cost engineering. The main types of company are sales led, marketing led, engineering led and bean-counter led (Sorry, finance led!)

Truly marketing led organisations set the plans for products, secure development time, manage product margins, set sales targets and pricing and if the sales people are to believe in the credibility of what you do, must be able to explain how those responsible for making the numbers on the ground (sales people usually) will achieve their targets and what you will do to make the sales process more efficient and effective.

That means taking the marketing planning and analysis mentioned by my colleagues and translating it into actions on the ground. For example, the closing rate of your sales people can be improved if you supply them with hot, qualified leads rather than having them spend their time on unknown cold-prospects. Any field person’s sales will be proportional to the number of calls they make, the quality of the leads supplied to generate the calls and the skill with which they close the business. You will be both setting these targets and monitoring them, if you are to be marketing led.

You can maximize the quality of prospect and the quantity of prospects but it is still up to sales management to provide the quality of professional sales skills, including, surprise, surprise, using the tools you give them!

Sales led companies tend to generate business by the sheer effort and skill of a sales force. They rarely object to you making this process easier, but there should be a quid-pro-quo in that if you double or treble the number of viable enquiries they get , then their targets will of necessity rise, both to cover the cost of lead generation and to reflect the fact that their working day is that much more efficient. They and their sales manager’s won’t necessarily like this, but if you have done your marketing plans and set the margin you wish to achieve, then you can afford to reward them for improved performance. Personally I always responded well to a raised target when I was given to tools to exceed it and could buy a new Porsche with the proceeds.

Another mark of a sales led company is that the easiest way to conclude a given sale is to be able to supply exactly what the customer wants. You have mentioned discounting, but this is an equal problem. This usually involves a level of customisation, cost and added support overheads. Sales people should be taught how to sell standard and close of the fact that most of the customers needs are satisfied and it is marketing’s job to provide enough enquiries who will convert, say, 80% of their wish list at a reasonable price and roll-out schedule whilst accumulating the other 20% of features you might want to add to the product through considered design and development.

Just in case you were wondering, engineering led firms sometimes succeed, but the usual result is something which is too complex for a non-graduate to understand at a cost to build that would frighten NASA.

To an extent, setting up a marketing department to promulgate these ideals is a matter of codification, publishing you plans, sharing ideas, setting goals and monitoring progress towards the goals. How you achieve that lot will depend on temperament and the people involved, but it seems that you’ve got some good starting advice here.

Best wishes

Steve Alker
Xspirt.com