ABSTRACT
Key business issues Section
O Marketing should be seen as a means of generating profit. If it is not, there is something wrong, and the problem needs to be resolved 1.1
O Marketing is a rational process which should not compromise our intellectual, professional, technical or ethical integrity 1.2
o Marketing does not always require large budgets or extra staff - it is a way of thinking about business 1.3
o We cannot assume that people know or want what we sell, or that they are prepared to find out 1.4
o Marketing should be proactive not reactive
o The ‘best’ service is not always the most commercially successful
o Becoming market-led involves a shift of focus away from ‘what we do’ to ‘what they need’ 1.5
o Nobody, not even our best customer, actually wants what we do; they want what it will do for them 1.6
o Marketing starts with identifying customer needs, and then organizes the whole company operation to satisfy those needs in a profitable way 1.7
o Marketing is too important to be left to the Marketing Department. Key staff in all functions must be market led 1.8
o Professionalism in marketing should be recognized and sought. Many senior managers set their sights too low in recruitment and appointment 1.9
o Marketing influences three components of profit - market share, market size and margin. Two of these are often ignored 1.10
o Marketing and selling have an entirely different focus and should not be confused 1.11
o Marketing is not telling people what we do 1.12
o Marketing is not persuading people to buy what they do not need
o Marketing is not only about brochures, advertising, customer support or customer service
o Being market led does not mean satisfying every whim of every customer 1.13
‘The trouble with marketing is that it is a debit against profit.’ This remark, made to me at one of my seminars, reveals volumes about some people’s attitudes to marketing. It suggests that it is some sort of disease that needs to be eradicated! Unfortunately this is a commonly held view, and it is based on a complete misunderstanding of what marketing is there to achieve.
