Are you marketing your product/service right?

A month ago, I had this incredible conversation with a hotelier in Lonavla. His first order of business was coming straight to the point. He does not want to spend on marketing? Well, that is what I thought was an incredible conversation. Many of the entrepreneurs have a very vague idea about marketing. Its not just branding putting up some commercials and promotions. Marketing is an investment. Let’s Examine how by analyzing the problem with one such example in real estate.

Act I Scene I

(venue at the marketer’s office, [Marketer’s Do have Office You Know...!])

Characters;

Ramesh - Marketing Exec

Suresh – BDE(now please don’t ask what’s BDE, Go hunt, Search on Net)

Ramesh: “Hello, Mr. Giadhani, Sir, yes sir, we are currently working with few companies, we are handling their account. No sir, it will not Sir (Curses…I am not going to spell it out here, think of your own.), Yes sir my BDE will visit your office, sir. Thank You, Sir.” …..

Puts the receiver down...!!

Ramesh On Intercom: “Send Suresh in.”

Suresh: “Can I come in Sir?”

Ramesh: “Yes, come in, look you have to visit Mr. Giadhani, they have an office at the market…give them the presentations, and here is the address.”

Ramesh: “Ok Sir”

End OF Scene I, ACT I

Act I Scene II

Venue: At Mr. Giadhani’s Office

Characters:

Suresh – BDE

Receptionist

Mr. Giadhani

Ramesh to the receptionist: “Excuse me, I have an appointment with Mr. Giadhani,”

Receptionist: “ Yeah, Suresh Right?, He’s waiting for you, you can go in after five minutes.”

After Five Minutes

Suresh: “Mr. Giadhani, Sir, Can I Come in?”

Mr. Giadhani: “Yes, yes, Come In.”

Suresh: “Sir, I would like to present the services that we cater to reputable businesses like yours. With your permission, May I?” (Opens the laptop and notes.)

Mr. Giadhani: “Please do Carry on?”

Suresh Presents the case, how his marketing company can help Mr. Giadhani’s Real Estate Developing Firm. The channels used for promoting such a company. And the rest.

Mr. Giadhani: “To be honest, Suresh still did not get you, how that is going to help my firm?”

Suresh: (Bit confused, we all marketers are, the clients ask strange questions) “Sir, I didn’t get you?, If you are asking about ROI (…again. Go hunt) I can assure you, that not only your firm's presence in the market will be established but it will also be established as a reliable brand, getting you more consumers in the long run.”

Mr. Giadhani: “ Our is already a reputable brand, in the market, we have loyal consumers those that can vouch for us. How are your strategies going to work? We are already on the top.” 

Suresh: “ (..Like I Said, confused..) Sir, if I may be bold to ask, May I know what is that you require from us ?”

Mr. Giadhani: “well I have been talking with a couple of marketers, your company’s prices are too unrealistic.”  

… smiles in a way …. a doctor smiles at the patient on operation table…yeah, he is going nowhere.

Suresh: “Sir, Please do talk about the pricing and other costs with Ramesh Sir, I can help you in other ways as to, present you with other channels that might suit your budget. Do you have a budget in mind?”

Mr. Giadhani: “No we don’t have a budget, we believe in a product being the best, if our product is best in the market, customers will come to us.”

Suresh: “Well, then sir, I will ask Ramesh Sir, to give you a call. It was nice meeting you, sir. Have a great day ahead”

End OF Scene II, ACT I

ACT I, Scene III

At the office,

Characters,

Ramesh - Marketing Exec

Suresh – BDE

Suresh: Can I come in Sir?

Ramesh: “Do come in Suresh, how was the presentation?”

Suresh: “Yes sir, Mr. Giadhani wants to know what we can do for them? I gave the presentation, he replied that his company needs no marketing, as they are on the top and have many loyal consumers.”

Ramesh: (while playing with paperweight) ... “Did you, explain to him about the ROI’s,”

Suresh: “Yes, I did, he also mentioned that our cost is greater than the other marketers they are talking to.”

Ramesh: “Well, I will give him a call, it all comes down to parity, thank you, Suresh, you may go now.”

End Of Scene III,

End Of Act I

This is a typical day at any marketer’s office, everybody needs marketing, like those flu shots, but people pretend to be in good shape just to get away from those shots.

Marketer’s Tips For Marketing Investment

1.      Businesses of today and tomorrow, if you are thinking of making a quality product then you are on the right track, now in the days of educated consumerism, quality is not a specialty, but an expected trait from all the businesses big and small. So, when you say, we do not need marketing, we have a quality product, then you are mistaken by the mirage of this quality assurance. Look around yourself and you will find that many people are making products/ services the same as yours probably a notch better in the offering. Quality Is not a specialty, it's mandatory.

2.      A Lot of people think, marketing is just an added expenditure, they think spending more on other things than marketing, is what matters the most. Once the product/service is out, it will get marketed automatically. To spell some wisdom here, everything that was to be invented is invented already, renovation and reverse engineering are syllabuses for school children. You are not making anything new, and even if it is new its competition will surprise you in a matter of days. Novelty is Outdated, Consistency Matters.

3.   Many entrepreneurs start with the planning of the project first and then plan the marketing. Many people fail to understand that, without the grasp of trends, and knowledge of the target consumer psyche. It is useless to create a product/service. We have seen many examples of such ventures where people are saying consumers are not interested anymore. Well, then why are you selling something that they are not interested in, in the first place? But we all have our visions and every looking glass cannot be the same. Not every rabbit hole ends up opening in wonderland. Marketing First, Production Later

4.      A very renowned philosopher once said anything worth doing is, worth doing. Well sometimes it is hard to grasp, its full meaning. If you think, a little bit of marketing will help you skyrocket your sales, then it can skyrocket your sales provided you have done your research and development likewise. Is marketing worth doing? Well, ask a used car dealer with dirty windshield you will get to know the answer. Marketing is essential, it is not an option  

5.      When Lorence talked to his friend about the expenditure on marketing his company has just made, he not only voiced what his company views on marketing were but also how he feels about marketing. Well to tell you the truth, marketing is far far away from the expenditure. It’s a study of your target consumers, it studies their behavior, patterns, their motivations. The more you understand them the more closer you get to achieving sales. Marketing is an investment, not an expenditure

 I hope you people by now understand, how a marketer, can’t explain what he can do for your firm.

In the words of JFK (slightly revised) “ask not a marketer, what he can do for your firm, ask what you are doing for marketing”