Planning – The Marketing Plan
A company’s marketing plan contains information pertaining to the target markets that their products or services are aimed at. This information addresses issues such as the market size, competitors, customer preferences, current sales trends, and future market directions. In acquiring all of this data to compose a usable marketing plan Jeff mentions an important underlying element to the effort, “To develop a marketing plan you have to understand your customer. Understand them and talk to them by going directly to the source.” It is obvious the importance of knowing the customer’s perspective on one’s products or services, and getting in touch with the potential customers early on to prevent the pitfall of the entrepreneur thinking they know rather well what the customer is going to want, “You think you know it, but you don’t. You have to understand things such as how the customer is going to buy your product. Understand that the customer has the choice to choose any and all of the products that are related.” Evidently it goes beyond just knowing if the customer thinks the product or service is something they may use. Knowing what they will use it for and how they will get it for example play an important role in understanding as completely as possible an effective way of targeting a business’ key customers.
With information such as this to guide the collection of the data necessary for filling in the marketing plan, sources of information to acquire such detail can be approached in places accessible to any size business, “Get industry reports at the library, you don’t always have to buy them. Internet searches can turn up a lot of valuable information. Talk to a related company to understand if there is an existing market pattern for you to see. Look at your competition and who you are competing with.”
Competition is an important dimension to look at when considering the company’s marketing strategy and developing its mission strategy. By taking heart of what competing firms are stating they can offer, a company can define its efforts and entry into the market that will focus on its core competencies and clearly define what the company is offering to differentiate itself from the competitors, “Ask yourself what do the competitor products look like and offer? Then develop the plans that best fits your competencies and markets. You have to focus, there is just too much market out there. Otherwise you’re gonna get creamed.” The reality of spreading oneself to thinly in too many directions means a company’s resources will be stretched out into so many efforts that none may be accomplished to a high level of success. “Do one or two things that you do very well.”
In the case of PixelVision, they looked at the entire marketplace of all monitors that are sold and decided they did the best in the top level monitors. Thus they left the middle and lower end products to the rest of the market. They established a specific place in the market that they would target, and not try to accommodate all of the opportunities in the entire marketplace. They established a product family from the various monitors they were offering which helped quantify what they were selling, and helped them communicate this information to their partners in business such as their channels partners.
Execution – “This is the fun part”
“You’ve developed the plan, now you have to go out and start telling the world about yourself.” As PixelVision moved towards the mass market from its custom made products for a select group of clients, the challenge was how to address this broader market that did not necessarily have a need in which they actively sought out assistance from PixelVision, “We knew our primary customers, the question was how to get to that next level down to broaden that field. We had to target prospects that were going to match our product. In targeting these people we had to make sure that we had a product design that meets the market’s needs. A solution that will meet the market.” An ingenious way to expose PixelVision to these customers was the creation of a cardboard mock-up of a PixelVision monitor that had the same dimensions and appearance of a real monitor, made from cardboard material with stickers on the sides imitating the monitor’s actual appearance. This was sent to 200 of their top customer types from a good quality mail list that they purchased. “The mock-up had all of the appearance of a real product unit with product specifications on the flat panel side. It opened up more doors for us than you could imagine.” Here is just one example of how some clever thinking can effectively accomplish an objective of “getting the product in front of your customer.”
On the theme of getting the product and one’s company’s presence in front of the customer, trade shows and seminars prove to be effective activities to accomplish this goal, “Go after one of the associations in your area. Table top exhibits are small, inexpensive, and easy to get involved with. These can be done on a local basis to start.” When attempting to get into bigger trade shows where the benefits of a larger audience faces off against the cost of doing so, partnering is always a viable solution to try and defray the costs, “Find those that will leverage you into another show or shows. PixelVision attended a large trade show where we were set up in the pavilion of a larger company. It certainly helped us to get in with a smaller investment on our part.”
When the attention getting activities are executed and it is time to follow up with leads and potential clients, careful attention must be paid to working with the customer and attempting to accommodate their needs. “You must target your market, know what their market is, know what their business needs are, and adapt your product or service to fulfill their needs.” A primary target customer for PixelVision are the brokerage houses of New York where traders handle vast amounts of information from their computer stations that contain up to eight traditional CRT monitors taking up valuable and expensive Manhattan real estate. “Show the benefits on many different facets such as space saving costs as a result of less real estate needs because of the thinner monitors. Then they can use that money savings towards other things immediately.” Picking up on the details of a customer’s needs can help one position the benefits of their products better to suit the customers needs as well, “At these brokerage houses in New York, desktop space is at a premium. There are no mice because mice take up space and can be thrown at other people. Thus there is no Windows operating system.” Knowing this would help PixelVision, in this example, be able to promote their products compatibility with other computer operating systems instead of assuming the technology the customer may be using. “Learn these things so your product suits the clients needs on as many points as possible.”
When it comes to utilizing technology and business tools to perform the marketing and promotional activities in a gro wing business, Jeff is a firm believer in not skimping on the efforts or resources that one utilizes, particularly due to the advancements in desktop computer technology and what it can now offer to small businesses. “You should have very good and crisp sales tools. The tools available today with computers and programs gives you no excuse to not have great looking material. I don’t care if you are a one man shop, you should not go out of your house, garage, or your company without anything but the best. Spend a little more. Get a little better quality. Get it in color… You have no excuse.”