Saturday, December 26, 2009

Design thinking

Design thinking


  • Seeks to bring creativity and informed intuition back into management
  • Innovation is a by-product of design thinking
  • Helps enable innovations to make it to market


Design thinking attributes


· Collaborative

· Holistic

· Creative

· Insightful

· Innovative

· Iterative

· Customer centered

· Outcome oriented



These were some important points which were told by our guest speaker in his address.

Benefits of paying attenton to Bus Hawkers.

Guys last time i was travelling by a bus . And i found a person who was selling Perfumes of XYZ Co. I dont know whethere that was legel or illegel Co. But i was just focusing on his presenetion skills, that person might not be well educated but his dress code, and fluencey in spekaing was very attrecticve. he just entered in the bus. And he got the attention of the people by saying salaam and by speaking some famous 1 or 2 qoutes. And then he start introducing the features of his product. At that point o f time there was a pin drop silence in the bus and all people start listening to him. when he ended at least 25 out of 40 people bought that product.

I dont think so that his product was as good. But the way he present the product was mind blowing. I wasn't excpecting that the people might bought that product open heartedly. Just because of his Presntation and marketing skills people bought a lot more then my expectation.

The point is if u want to be good at ur presentation skills u should be foucused on ur sarroundings, just see how people catch others attention. and sells their Products. Specially Transport hawkers.. Believe me they have excellent skills. If u will compare ur skills with them, i can gurantree u will learn a lot.

So don't avoide those hawkers. If u dont want to bought from them. its an other issue but pay attention to them. You will gain a lot lot from them.

4 Dynamic Marketing Tactics

1. Focus on Your Best Prospects Imagine how profitable your business would be if more of your new customers were like the best customers you have now. Here's how you can make that happen...
Take some time to analyze your current customers to determine what key traits they share - and why those traits make them ideal customers for you. Then revise your sales message to appeal specifically to them.
This will increase both the number of new sales you get and the profitability of each new customer.
2. Pile on the Benefits Customers usually buy something to save time or to save money. Offer them an opportunity to do both and you will boost your sales. But offer them multiple opportunities to do both and you will cause your sales to soar dramatically.

For example, structure your sales message to stress both the time saving and money saving benefits of your product or service. Then include a discount price offer if they buy before a certain deadline (more money saved). Finally, figure out how you can deliver all or some of what they are buying immediately (more time saved).
Tip: If you cannot deliver all or part of your product immediately, add something to the purchase that you can deliver immediately. It can be as simple as a series of helpful tips related to your product posted on your web site ..but available only to new customers.
3. Make Buying Easy Make it easy for potential customers to buy from you and more will buy. Look for ways you can make your buying process easier - and faster.
For example, design your selling procedure so prospects do not have to make unnecessary decisions. Every decision they have to make interrupts the buying process ...and diverts their attention away from completing the sale.
Tip: Don't ask for unnecessary information during the ordering process. Instead, follow up after the sale with a personalized "thank you" message - and include a brief request for the information.
4. Follow Up - Again and Again Selling is not a one step process. Most people do not buy something the first time the see or hear about it. You can salvage many of these potential customers with an effective follow up system.
Your follow up can be as simple as contacting these prospects periodically with a new offer. Or, better yet, follow up periodically with some useful information ...and don't charge them for it. You'll build a supportive relationship that gains their trust - and eventually the sale.
Tip: Make sure you have a way to get the email addresses of visitors to your web site. You need it to follow up with them. For example, offer them a complimentary special report or other useful information ...delivered only by email.
Each of these 4 dynamic marketing tactics provides a simple way for you to boost your sales and profits quickly. They are simple to use, highly effective and require very little if any new expense.
http://www.businessknowhow.com/MARKETING/dynamic.htm

MY OPINION>>
These are the 4 Dynamic Marketing Tactics which will often produces the profitable results and highly effective for businesses.Firstly the marketing manager should analyze their current customer’s response towards the product and go through their personality traits. So that they can understand customer needs and wants..Offer them multiple opportunities like discounts, free delivery and buy 1 get 1 free offer to attract customers. M manager should make the selling procedure easier and faster. it leads towards potential customers to buy from you and more will buy. we can salvage many of potential customers by providing useful & proper information about the product and don't charge them for it we'll build a supportive relationship that gains their trust - and eventually the sale. each of these 4 dynamic marketing tactics provides a simple way for you to boost your sales and profits quickly. They are simple to use, highly effective and require very little if any new expense.

Want feed-back: A 'promotion' slogan

Hi all, how are you not? Well, I'm blogging, at this late hour, to take your op on a 'serious' matter.

I have a blog, called Umer Toor Blog: 'On the Sickness of Age'. (Just say 'yea', and click on it.) I've developed a slogan to promote it on campus. As blooming marketers, give your say on it, thanks:

"Vincit Omnia Veritas": Truth Conquers All
With, http://www.umertoor.blogspot.com. (Should add a smiley? be it odd or even?)

Political Environment and its impact on businesses

Every business is affected by its micro and macro-environments. The macro-environment of a business includes all those societal forces which affect the micro-environment of the business for example the economic and the political environment. In the political environment, a government can pass some rules and regulations which may affect a business profoundly. For example, recently Ottawa has shot down a ruling by Canada's telecoms regulator, opening the door for a fourth national mobile-phone operator to roll out its service in Canada. This decision will increase competition in the telecom sector and it may adversely affect the structural attractiveness of the sector. Check out this article relating to this move by Canada and do give feedback.

http://viewswire.eiu.com/index.asp?layout=ib3Article&article_id=865078071&pubtypeid=1162462501&country_id=1490000149&fs=true&rf=0

Economic Situation and Consumer Spending

Many factors affect the consumer buying behavior such as the cultural, social, personal and psychological factors. In personal factors, the economic situation of the country holds great importance in the world of today. If there is a boom going on, people spend a lot. However, if there is a recession, people may cut back on their spending as it is happening this Christmas in America. American consumers are looking out for good bargains and they are planning their shopping budgets more than ever before because of the recession in America. American businesses have also responded to the price sensitiveness of the consumers by cutting their prices and by offering good bargains to the consumers. Thus, in the long run only those businesses will prosper which will satisfy the needs and wants of the consumers. Guys, check out this article about Christmas sales in America and do give feedback.

http://www.forbes.com/2009/12/16/holiday-season-shopping-economics-opinions-contributors-john-zogby.html?partner=contextstory

Department stores decide to take on the Discount stores



As we all know that department stores are those which have a wide product line and each product line is operated like a different department. However, in recent years, these department store have been hit hard by the discount stores which offer merchandise at lower prices. Now, the department stores have finally come up with a strategy in order to counter the threat of the discount stores. After Christmas, these department stores like Macy's and JC Penney are going to start a promotion campaign in which they will offer big discounts in order to increase their sales and their market share too. Check out this article about how will these department stores will implement their strategy and do give feedback.


http://www.forbes.com/2009/12/17/after-christmas-deals-business-retail-shopping.html?partner=popstories

Partners which enhance your competitive advantage

Every business tries to capture as many customers it can. It can do this providing the customer with a greater value which may be in the form of lower prices or higher quality of the product etc. Similarly, in variety seeking buying behavior, businesses also try to persuade the consumer to try a new product. If the product is found suitable to the consumer, he/she may adopt the product. This is also the case with business to business marketers. Businesses selling goods or services to other businesses may also try to convince their customers that they are offering the better deal compared to their customers. Businesses may also choose those partners which may enhance the competitive advantage of the business. For example, there are news coming in the media that Japan Airlines Corp. is likely to choose Delta Air Lines as its overseas partner, ending its ties with American Airline and the Oneworld alliance group. Japan Airlines, Asia's largest airline by revenue, has decided that moving to the Delta Airlines would come with more benefits for its restructuring and future growth prospects. In short, in order to create the maximum value for their customers, businesses partner with those businesses which may allow them to satisfy the wants of their customers in a better compared to their competitors. Guys, check out this article about Japan Airlines and do give feedback.

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/reuters/2009/12/18/2009-12-18T085630Z_01_TOE5BH08D_RTRIDST_0_JAL-UPDATE-1.html

Interesting stories behind some of the greatest logos in the world

please visit the site http://jazarah.net/blog/interesting-stories-behind-some-of-the-greatest-logos-in-the-world/ as it has interesting information on how some businesses chose their logos. A logo is usually the first thing that gains a consumers attention and especially plays an important role in brand loyalty and brand identification.
Marketing Intermediaries
Independent firms which assist in the flow of goods and services from producers to end-user; they include agents, wholesalers and retailers; marketing services agencies; physical distribution companies.
Some of which are described briefly below:
Retailers
Retailers operate outlets that trade directly with household customers. Retailers can be classified in several ways:
• Type of goods being sold( e.g. clothes, grocery, furniture) • Type of service (e.g. self-service, counter-service) • Size (e.g. corner shop; superstore) • Ownership (e.g. privately-owned independent; public-quoted retail group • Location (e.g. rural, city-centre, out-of-town) • Brand (e.g. nationwide retail brands; local one-shop name)
Wholesalers
Wholesalers stock a range of products from several producers. The role of the wholesaler is to sell onto retailers. Wholesalers usually specialize in particular products.
Distributors and dealers
Distributors or dealers have a similar role to wholesalers - that of taking products from producers and selling them on. However, they often sell onto the end customer rather than a retailer. They also usually have a much narrower product range. Distributors and dealers are often involved in providing after-sales service.
Franchises
Franchises are independent businesses that operate a branded product (usually a service) in exchange for a license fee and a share of sales.
Agents
Agents sell the products and services of producers in return for a commission (a percentage of the sales revenues)




Reference: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_%27marketing_intermediaries%27


My opinion: The intermediary are very important for every company specially manufacturing because it adds value to the marketing of the product by bringing in specialization, marketing knowledge, capacity to segment the market, and selling skills which help marketers to implement their marketing strategies effectively. They also increases convenience to both the producer and the consumer by offering effective delivery and pre and post-purchase customer service as well as facilitating manufacturer services.

ROI

Return on marketing investment (ROMI)

Return on marketing investment (ROMI) is a metric used to measure the overall effectiveness of a marketing campaign to help marketers make better decisions about allocating future investments. ROMI is usually used in online marketing, though integrated campaigns that span print, broadcast and social media may also rely on it for determining overall success. ROMI is a subset of ROI (return on investment).
In the simplest sense, ROMI is measured by comparing revenue gains against marketing investment. This calculation, however, reflects only the direct impact of marketing investment on a business's revenue. As a result, many digital marketers include dwell time or brand awareness in their ROMI metrics in an effort to quantify less tangible benefits and target future campaigns more effectively. According to ROMI expert Gary R. Powell, with the right data and analytics, marketers can deliver between 8% - 15% increased revenue, profit and market share to the client without any increase in marketing investment.
Return on marketing opportunity (ROMO) is a similar metric used by digital marketers that focused on the wider influence of a campaign. Both terms are part of a wider attempt in the industry to measure impact-based advertising.

Reference: http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/return-on-marketing-investment--romi-.html

My opinion: Return on Marketing Investment is a tool for any business to improve their ability to produce real results in revenue growth. Marketing ROI is important for every organization. Without a significant return on marketing investment the company won't meet its' objectives. Therefore it is important for every marketing manager to design such marketing strategies through which company creates good retunes.

Marketing Control


Marketing Control
There is no planning without control. Marketing control is the process of monitoring the proposed plans as they proceed and adjusting where necessary. If an objective states where you want to be and the plan sets out a road map to your destination, then control tells you if you are on the right route or if you have arrived at your destination.

Control involves measurement, evaluation, and monitoring. Resources are scarce and costly so it is important to control marketing plans. Control involves setting standards. The marketing manager will than compare actual progress against the standards. Corrective action (if any) is then taken. If corrective action is taken, an investigation will also need to be undertaken to establish precisely why the difference occurred.

There are many approaches to control:
Market share analysis.
Sales analysis.
Quality controls.
Ratio analysis.
Feedback from customers satisfaction surveys.
Cash flow statements.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems.
Sales per thousand customers, per factory, by segment.
Location of buyers and potential buyers.
Activities of competitors to aspects of your plan.
Distributor support.
Performance of any promotional activities.
Market reaction/acceptance to pricing polices.
Service levels.

Reference: http://www.marketingteacher.com/Lessons/lesson_control.htm

My opinion: Marketing control is simply an activity through which marketing manager’s checks that marketing plans are producing the desired results or not. It helps to evaluate actual performance, and able managers to reduce the differences between desired and actual performance.
Google's innovation culture

i saw a documentary on tv about Google's innovation culture and i found it really interesting. i was not able to find that particular documentary on youtube, but i found a presentation similar to that on http://www.slideshare.net/chanezon/google-innovation-culture.

what makes a design 'Googley?'

  1. focus on people- their lives, their work, their dreams
  2. every millisecond counts
  3. simplicity is powerful
  4. engage beginners and attract experts
  5. dare to innovate
  6. design for the world
  7. plan for today's and tomorrow's business
  8. delight the eye without distracting the mind
  9. be worthy of people's trust
  10. add a human touch
Fail often, fall quickly and learn

Don't run from failure-fail often, fall quickly and learn. Cherish your history,both the successes and mistakes. All of these behaviors are the way to get better at programming.
If you don't follow them, you're cheating your own personal development.


The Product Life Cycle

http://www.quickmba.com/marketing/product/lifecycle/

Product life cycle the course that a product sales and profit take over its lifetime. A new product progresses through different stages which are introduction, growth, maturity and decline.After making new product idea sales are zero because firm haven't lauch this product to market so after developing prouct firm first stage is introducing this product to market so prople get aware of it then second stage is growth in this firm try to increase its market shares and at maturity level firm slowdown its growth because it has achieve many buyers and last stage is decline in this sales fall off.

Level Of Product

http://www.learnmarketing.net/threelevelsofaproduct.htm

There are three levels of product the core product, actual product and augmented product. This article explains the level of product by example of camera means why people buy camera? what is core benefit of camera i think by taking picture people can save there pleasant moment. So for this actual product is camera and augmented  product is that not only taking picture now through camera we can make videos.

BCG Growth Share Matrix


The BCG growth share matrix is a chart that is created by Bruce Henderson of the Boston Consulting Group in 1968. The BCG growth share matrix displays the various business units on a graph of the market growth rate vs market share relative to competitors. It provides a useful way of looking at the opportunities open to you and helps you to analyze which segments of your business are in a good position and which are not. So that you can decide on the most appropriate investment strategy for your business in the future. This model also provides guidance for resource allocation. It has four categories.

1: Stars:
It means high growth and high market share. For example, Apple Computer has a large share in the rapidly growing market for portable digital music players.

2: Cash cows:
It means low growth and high market share. A dairy cow is an example of a cash cow. As after the initial capital outlay has been paid off, the animal continues to produce milk for many years.

3: Dogs:
It means low growth and low market share. For example, Amarat cola.

4: Question mark:
It means high growth and low market share. Consider Hewlett-Packard’s small share of the digital camera market, behind industry leader Canon’s 21% (Canon 2006). However, this is a rapidly growing market.
Reference:
http://www.coursework4you.co.uk/essays-and-dissertations/bcg-growth-sharemarket.php
and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Growth-share_matrix

Friday, December 25, 2009

The Marketing Mix


The Marketing Mix(The 4 P's of Marketing)
Marketing decisions generally fall into the following four controllable categories:
Product
Price
Place (distribution)
Promotion
The term "marketing mix" became popularized after Neil H. Borden published his 1964 article, The Concept of the Marketing Mix. Borden began using the term in his teaching in the late 1940's after James Culliton had described the marketing manager as a "mixer of ingredients". The ingredients in Borden's marketing mix included product planning, pricing, branding, distribution channels, personal selling, advertising, promotions, packaging, display, servicing, physical handling, and fact finding and analysis. E. Jerome McCarthy later grouped these ingredients into the four categories that today are known as the 4 P's of marketing, depicted below:
The Marketing
These four P's are the parameters that the marketing manager can control, subject to the internal and external constraints of the marketing environment. The goal is to make decisions that center the four P's on the customers in the target market in order to create perceived value and generate a positive response.
Product Decisions
The term "product" refers to tangible, physical products as well as services. Here are some examples of the product decisions to be made:
Brand name
Functionality
Styling
Quality
Safety
Packaging
Repairs and Support
Warranty
Accessories and services
Price Decisions
Some examples of pricing decisions to be made include:
Pricing strategy (skim, penetration, etc.)
Suggested retail price
Volume discounts and wholesale pricing
Cash and early payment discounts
Seasonal pricing
Bundling
Price flexibility
Price discrimination
Distribution (Place) Decisions
Distribution is about getting the products to the customer. Some examples of distribution decisions include:
Distribution channels
Market coverage (inclusive, selective, or exclusive distribution)
Specific channel members
Inventory management
Warehousing
Distribution centers
Order processing
Transportation
Reverse logistics
Promotion Decisions
In the context of the marketing mix, promotion represents the various aspects of marketing communication, that is, the communication of information about the product with the goal of generating a positive customer response. Marketing communication decisions include:
Promotional strategy (push, pull, etc.)
Advertising
Personal selling & sales force
Sales promotions
Public relations & publicity
Marketing communications budget
Limitations of the Marketing Mix Framework
The marketing mix framework was particularly useful in the early days of the marketing concept when physical products represented a larger portion of the economy. Today, with marketing more integrated into organizations and with a wider variety of products and markets, some authors have attempted to extend its usefulness by proposing a fifth P, such as packaging, people, process, etc. Today however, the marketing mix most commonly remains based on the 4 P's. Despite its limitations and perhaps because of its simplicity, the use of this framework remains strong and many marketing textbooks have been organized around it.



MY OPINION:

The marketing mix principles (also known as the 4 p’s.) are used by business as tools to assist them in achieving their objectives. The marketing mix principles are controllable variables, which have to be carefully managed and must meet the needs of the defined target group. it also leads the company towards the growth and maximize the performance effectively.
The 4 Ps explains the company’s marketing strategy in the following manners.
· How will you design, package and add value to the product. Product strategies.
· What pricing strategy is appropriate to use Price strategies.
· Where will the firm locate? Place strategies.
· How will the firm promote its product Promotion strategies?

Types of Marketing

Types of Marketing

This is an excerpt from the paper... There are two broad types of markets in the marketing environment·consumer markets and organizational markets. Consumer markets are those wherein the products and services sold are consumed by the purchasers. Organizational markets are those wherein the products and services sold are resold to consumers, processed in the creation of other products and services, or consumed by the purchaser as a part of the process of serving a consumer clientele.
Within the organizational markets classification, there are industrial markets, institutional markets, reseller markets, and government markets. With respect to business-to-business marketing, the relevant sub-classifications in the organizational markets classification are the industrial market and the reseller market. The industrial market is that in which the products and services sold are used by the buyers in the creation of other products and services, while the reseller market is that in which the buyers of products and services resell those products and services to other buyers.
In the reseller market, retailers resell the products and services directly to consumers, while wholesalers and distributors resell the products and services to either retailers or to firms in the industrial market. Wholesalers and distributors are a part of the business-to-business market. The industrial market is also a part of the business-to-business market.
A business-to-business marketing organization's external environment has
. . .r smaller families, and a growing preoccupation with personal health and fitness both created and ended strategic opportunities for some marketing organizations. Shifting societal attitudes toward work also affects strategic planning. The list of such factors is extensive, as are the changes in the significance of the factors over time. The very uncertainty of such factors causes many managers to attempt to ignore them in the strategic marketing planning process. Such managers tend to have little tolerance for ambiguity, and, thus, they often do not appreciate the necessity to deal with uncertainty in the strategic marketing planning for their organizations. A marketing organization's external environment, thus, is composed of an incredibly complex and diverse array of factors. These factors are generally related to (1) the economy, (2) governments, (3) markets, (4) technology, (5) geography, and (6) society. Unfortunately, all of these factors have a dynamic characteristic. The one thing that strategic planners can usually count on is that the inputs on which they rely will not likely remain stable for very long; over the short-term, perhaps, but over the long-term, probably not. There are several different concepts up . . .

REFERENCE:http://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1696477.html

MY Opinion: Types of Marketing
There are two types of markets in the marketing environment consumer markets (where the products and services sold are consumed by the buyer) and organizational markets.(wherein the products and services sold are resold to consumers, or they are used in production process as raw material)
Organizational markets have been further classified as industrial markets, (in which the products and services sold are used by the buyers as raw material in producing other good & services), institutional markets, reseller markets,(in which the buyers of products and services resell those products and services to other buyers) in this type of market retailers resell the products and services directly to consumers. While wholesalers and distributors resell the products and services to either retailers or to firms in the industrial market. and government markets. A marketing organization's external environment is composed of following factors (1) the economy, (2) governments, (3) markets, (4) technology, (5) geography, and (6) society.

9 catalysts to enhance sales

Following are the 9 important catalysts to enhance sales.

1.Strategic Hiring
2. Presentation and Training

3. Consultative Selling

4. Tracking and Evaluation

5. Compensation Alignment

6. Return on Investment

7. Resizing Sales Force

8. Drive Management

9. Negotiation

Strategic Hiring
Our first question we would ask a firms CEO was about the firms hiring process. Time and time again we would hear from the CEO with a smile, "I just know a good sales person when I meet them." Our next question was of the last five sales hires how many of them are still with the company? The CEO would typically blush and sometimes say one, other times say two and even more often say zero. Firms that had a well defined hiring process typically fared much better in terms of lower turnover and therefore were less afraid to hire additional sales people. This is the compounding effect of a poor hiring process, a firm needs more sales people to grow, yet every sales person the firm hires ends up begin a "dud". Of the 30 firms surveyed all firms that had averaged greater than 10% sales growth over the past 3 years had a well defined hiring process. One firm had adopted the hiring strategy of only stealing its competitors top sales people. This firm did achieve a growth rate of 10% for each of the previous three years. So we do give some merit to this strategy if a strategic hiring process is not going to be laid out in detail, this is the second most effective strategy we encountered.

Presentation and Training
Most firms would have a very detailed training program of a multitude of positions with their company. But when it came to training their sales people it was "trial by fire." Sales people would enter the field with substandard product knowledge, an inability to ask or answer question, and no formalized sales presentation at all. Organizations without at least two weeks of training and a formalized sales presentation "one that tells a story" had low sales growth rates. Occasionally we would run into organizations that had hired a consultant to provide a week long session of expensive training. These organization fared no better than their counterparts who had none. The firm must have its own formalized training process in place, with lists of questions that must be asked to every prospect to determine problems they are having and then this must be followed up with a compelling story that solves these needs. Firms that understood this had lower learning curves for their sales force and had explosive growth rates. Those with out formalized training and presentations always grew at marginal rates.

Consultative Selling
Consultative Selling and Presentation go hand in hand. Companies that had high growth rates train their people to solve problems. Not to sell a product that is not needed by the firm. The sales people would do this by always asking questions so that they could tailor their products to their customers needs. Features and Benefits selling is "dead." Effective sales people are problem solvers period. This problem solving process originates with having and understanding of the potential need of each individual client and not spewing product knowledge.

Tracking and Evaluation
All firms tracked some form of data on a weekly basis during a weekly call as most sales mangers would prescribe. The next question we would ask is "what do you do with this data?" The answer in over 90% of the time was "well nothing?" Tracking sales activity is essential to improving the performance of any sales organization. If sales behavior is not being tracked and compared to the performance of the given sales person at your organization it is highly unlikely your sales organization even in the best of time would ever achieve double digit growth. Organizations that took the information from weekly meetings such as number of dials or meeting a sales person had each week and compared these results long-term to performance were able to find deficiencies in their sales people as well as track down more importantly "Why were their top producers, their top producers? What were these people doing differently?" During our interviews it was discovered this was focal to the learning process.

Compensation Alignment
Sales forces that had properly aligned compensation structures fared much better than those without. One firm who struggled in all other areas took pain staking efforts to convert all sales people over to 100% commission based pay after the first year. This company even though all other areas of sales management had large problems was able to grow at 11% per year over a five year period. The top performing company had starting base salaries for sales people at $100,000 per. These sales people were making an additional $200,000 per year in commission. The CEO's rational was "I want to view every top candidate in the marketplace, and I want every candidate in the marketplace willing to jump ship to work at my firm." This type of pay structure only works well when the CEO is confident all other processes are in place, such as strategic hiring and training. When you are paying for the best you had better be getting the best. But the results are incredible when all of the pieces come together.

Return on Investment
Top sales management viewed sales people based upon new business that the sales person delivered to the company that year. Accounts were valued based upon harvest period of the account, and discounted back to net present value. Sales people that rested upon repeat business from prior years were quickly reduced to commission only and the base salary was eliminated. We asked one top performing CEO how base salary should be viewed? His response was "Base Salary is what the sales person gets for bringing new business to the table, commission are what sales people make for retaining accounts."

Resizing Sales Force
Firms that analyze or develop ways to self monitor their territory typically are able to achieve additional revenue by properly allocating their people resulting in more revenue. Only the highest growing firm had a program in place for resizing its sales territories on an annual basis. All other 29 did not have a resizing program in place and looked confused when this question was posed.

Drive Management
Drive
Manage is the process by which management uses to keep its sales force motivated. People with optimistic outlooks are well documented to be able to outsell people with a pessimistic disposition on life. Therefore top sales organizations coached employees and helped those employees establish their own goals and "dreams." These organizations help the employees achieve these goals fared better than managers that took a "carrot and stick" approach to managing their sales forces.

Negotiation
The top three sales organizations spent a large amount of time on teaching negotiation and providing parameters in which a sales person could negotiate with clients. These organizations appeared to have a better understanding of their cost model as well as having developed the means to share this information with the sales force. The sales manager would also provide incentives with the commission structure to maximize firm value in deals obtained by the sales force. Training people how to negotiate and giving them parameters to do so in short creates value. "We make money when our sales people make money." one CEO said, "this is the only way to align our interests and maximize profits."

reference;ezinearticles.com

Partner Relationship Management
A partner relationship management strategy seeks to improve business processes by improving communications between a business and its channel partners. In some ways it is closely related to customer relationship management. However, in many cases, partner relationship management is a term specifically applied to relationships between businesses.
Partner relationship management can take a number of different forms. In some cases, delivery of a product is needed during specific times of the day. For example, in some shipping and receiving departments, suppliers must deliver within a certain time frame. In the busiest of locations, that window could be as little as 30 minutes. When traveling across a large geographic region, that can be a hard target to hit.
Using software and other communication tools often provided through a partner relationship management strategy, suppliers, shippers and the end users can keep in constant contact with each other. This means the end user will be able to know where each item is each step in the process and when to expect it. Depending on the situation, this may allow a factory to adjust production so that the entire operation does not shut due to supply concerns.
Partner relationship management is also important for a manufacturer and reseller or retailer. On this side, software allows the producer to understand when a certain product is in demand and allows that producer to adjust his processes likewise. Without this benefit, a manufacturer would need to wait for an order from the retailer or reseller. That could delay the process and thus allow both sides to miss out on valuable sales.
In addition to communication, partner relationship management can also provide services in other areas. For example, it may include a partner loyalty component, which provides a benefit to both companies. As those relationships are solidified, it provides a good customer base on which both can depend.
Though the idea of forming business-to-business relationships is not a new idea, the extent to which it is taken in a partner relationship management situation is. This is due to a number of reasons. First, with business taking advantage of the Internet, it makes improved communication possible. Second, with business becoming more specialized in the services they provide, it is creating a greater interdependency between businesses and thus a need for enhanced partner relationship management applications. Third, with products and suppliers located all across the globe, a better system for real-time communication was needed.

Reference: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-partner-relationship-management.htm

My opinion: Partner Relationship Management is used to describe the methods and strategies for improving communications and relationships between other companies and their channel. Main reasons of this method include selling, commission, opportunity, marketing campaigns, inventory access, and other features designed to facilitate the relationship between manufacturers and others.
Marketing Myopia
Short sighted and inward looking approach to marketing that focuses on the needs of the firm instead of defining the firm and its products in terms of the customers' needs and wants. Such self-centered firms fail to see and adjust to the rapid changes in their markets and, despite their previous eminence, falter, fall, and disappear. This concept was discussed in an article (titled 'Marketing Myopia,' in July-August 1960 issue of Harvard Business Review) by Harvard Business School emeritus professor of marketing, Theodore C. Levitt (1925-), who suggests that firms get trapped in this bind because they omit to ask the vital question, "What business are we in?"
Marketing Myopia is the short sighted look of the managers in wrongly identifying the category and goals of the company, not looking at the whole industry of the product neglecting the fields of opportunities in their area of industry, not listening to the customer's real


Reference: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/marketing-myopia.html
http://www.directessays.com/viewpaper/98507.html



My opinion: Most of the small or inexperienced companies usually emphasizes on selling, not on marketing. This is a mistake, because selling focuses on the needs of the seller, whereas marketing concentrates on the needs of the buyer as a result customer becomes unsatisfied and the customer relationship starts diminishing.

Question Mark or Problem child????

Through the last post which Bilawal iqbal has posted, i have come to know that question marks in BCG matrix are also know as problem child. so here a question for you that which name is best for it and which name you like: Question Mark or Problem child????

Positioning


Positioning is undoubtedly one of the simplest and most useful tools to marketers. After segmenting a market and then targeting a consumer, you would proceed to position a product within that market.

Remember this important point. Positioning is all about 'perception'. As perception differs from person to person, so do the results of positioning differ in my perception.

Products or services are 'mapped' together on a 'positioning map'. This allows them to be compared and contrasted in relation to each other. This is the main strength of this tool. Marketers decide upon a competitive position which enables them to distinguish their own products from the offerings of their competition (hence the term positioning strategy).

Take a look at the basic positioning map template below






The marketer would draw out the map and decide upon a label for each axis. They could be price (variable one) and quality (variable two), or Comfort (variable one) and price (variable two). The individual products are then mapped out next to each other Any gaps could be regarded as possible areas for new products.

The term 'positioning' refers to the consumer's perception of a product or service in relation to its competitors. You need to ask yourself, what is the position of the product in the mind of the consumer?

Trout and Ries suggest a six-step question framework for successful positioning:

1. What position do you currently own?

2. What position do you want to own?

3. Whom you have to defeat to own the position you want.

4. Do you have the resources to do it?

5. Can you persist until you get there?

6. Are your tactics supporting the positioning objective you set?

Look at the example below using the auto market.

Product: Ferrari, BMW, Kia, Range Rover, Saab, Hyundai.







The six products are plotted upon the positioning map. It can be concluded that products tend to bunch in the high price/low economy(fast) sector and also in low price high economy sector in takes place.

Reference: www.markettingteacher.com