Developing Small Business Marketing Concept

In the context of small business marketing concept, Here are some specific ways in which the marketing concept 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.
To Developing Your Small Business Marketing Concept - Top
The market strategy 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 concept 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?

Reference: http://www.bizmove.com/marketing/m2d.htm.

MY OPINION.
There are two methods of managing small businesses.

1. Marketing Concept: In this process product is developed & produced based on needs & wants of customer and also focuses on profit.
2. Slaes Concept:In this approach product is developed and produced with out any research on customer needs & wants they only focus on maximizing sales volume of product..

To Developing Small Business Marketing Concept :
in developing a small business the marketing concept is a management plan that views all marketing components as part of a total system .It is based on the importance of customers to a firm and satisfying his needs and wants by offering high quality product as well as totally focus on profit of the firm.
the firm should select the type of business and nature of product they want to offer to particular segment(age, sex, income level) of the market.
They should use verious kind of strategies to attract customer .eg by offering USP .