高级经理培训课程全套PYMUNIT(2)

1、Unit 1THE MARKETING APPROACHIntroductionIn this unit you will set the stage for penetrating the markets available to your field sales office by reviewing the fundamental principles of marketing and considering their implications for your operation.Unit ObjectivesAt the completion of this unit, you w

2、ill be able to:Discuss the benefits of market segmentation.Distinguish between general and specific markets.Describe five types of markets.Identify five characteristics of a “good” market.Apply 10 marketing factors to your field sales office.Analyze your marketing strengths, weaknesses, and constrai

3、nts.Projects for This UnitIn addition to the study assignment and review questions, this unit contains the following projects:Project 1: Examining Market FactorsProject 2: Identifying Levels of ControlBegin work on this unit by carefully reading the Study Assignment that starts on the following page

4、. When you have finished your reading, complete the “Check Yourself” Unit Review at the end of the Study Assignment. Check your answers by comparing them with those provided on the answer sheets found at the end of the entire module. Then complete the projects that follow the “Check Yourself” Unit R

5、eview. Make arrangements with your trainer to submit these projects for review or to meet with your trainer to discuss the work that you have done on the projects.UNIT 1Study AssignmentA Changing PerspectiveThe traditional view of the marketing process equates marketing with finding customers. Compa

6、nies operating from this perspective develop products and services and then go out into the marketplace to find as many customers as possible. While this traditional view has proved to be quite successful in the past and is a strategy that is still used by many organizations, it is considered an out

7、dated philosophy by many marketing experts. The more contemporary view of marketing adds an important dimension to this traditional approach. In addition to finding customers for particular products or services, today's effective marketer changes the focus from the seller to the buyer by identif

8、ying products and services to meet customer needs.This people-oriented approach to marketing benefits the company as well as the consumer. Recognizing that consumer needs are more basic and more important than are products or services enables companies to identify new product and service opportuniti

9、es. Product design and the sales process are more effective when they are directed toward satisfying the identified needs of particular groups of consumers.If really effective marketing involves those activities required to deliver products and services to particular consumer groups based on their n

10、eeds and wants, then products and services cannot be marketed in the same way to everyone. The marketplace must be segmented into meaningful buyer groups.Begin to think of your organization as one that has a diverse customer base and direct your services to each of those markets individually. Effect

11、ive market segmentation begins with identifying the current markets served by your field sales office and the potential markets that you would like to penetrate. Market penetration involves the development and implementation of an action plan that will satisfy the needs of customers within existing

12、and potential markets.As simple as this sounds, this approach has not been characteristic of financial services organizations in the past. LIMRA research shows that because the needs for many of financial services products such as life insurance, are virtually universal, field managers have simply e

13、xpected newly recruited sales representatives to find their own clients. This is the opposite of what LIMRA found that other industries do. It is commonplace in other industries to start with a specific product, territory, and targeted consumer and then to recruit and train someone to serve that par

14、ticular market. In some cases, other industries analyze a particular market, identify its needs, develop the product or service to satisfy those needs, and then direct all sales emphasis for that product to the specific market.Markets Are PeopleA market is a group of people with common characteristi

15、cs and common needs for our products. The term “group of people” is the key to the definition of a market. A market is just that people who need a specific product. The concept of market penetration, then, is planning to target groups of people (markets) whose needs your products and services can sa

16、tisfy. Your choice of targeted markets comes about based on the strengths of your present staff, on possible recruits, and on the territory served by your field sales office.An awareness of the distinction between general and specific markets is important to successful marketing. In a specific marke

17、t there is a level of interaction and familiarity among the members. “Health occupations” is not necessarily an appropriate, specific market because a registered nurse in a hospital, for example, would probably have very little interaction with chiropractors. Narrowing the scope even further, it is

18、possible that “physicians” is even too general. Does a pediatrician, for example, have a high level of familiarity with a radiologist? “Pediatricians” is probably specific enough because it is likely that any one pediatrician in your area knows and interacts with other pediatricians. While such narr

19、owing of markets depends upon your own territories characteristics, be as specific as possible since this will affect referrals, nest prospecting, etc.For all intents and purposes, there are only five types of markets that meet the stated criteria: geographic groups; social groups; occupational grou

20、ps; language, cultural and ethnic groups; and special needs groups. Following is a more complete description of these five types of specific defined markets:Geographic groups. A small town where a sales representative has tremendous social mobility . . . a particular neighborhood of a city where a s

21、ales representative iswell-known . . . a defined agricultural community . . . a city neighborhood where a certain industry is concentrated . . . business buildings, apartment or housing complexes, campuses.Social groups. Alumni clubs, fraternities and sororities, country clubs, hobby clubs . . . ser

22、vice organizations such as Kiwanis, Rotary, business and industry associations, political organizations, religious groups Occupational groups. A profession in which a sales representative already has a client or a friend . . . the occupation in which a sales representative was previously employed .

23、. . an industry that dominates a particular areaLanguage, cultural, and ethnic groups. A market of a particular nationality where the sales representative “speaks the language”Special needs groups. New homeowners within a given development or in a condominium (mortgage protection) . . . alumni group

24、s (endowments)Once a specific market has been identified, it must be evaluated to be sure that it is a “good” market; i.e., one that is of sufficient quality to support a sales representative. A good market has five essential characteristics: size, geographic concentration, approachability, responsi

25、bility, and compatibility.1.Size: Is the market large enough? If you want your sales representatives to get all of their business from one or two primary markets and you want them to write a suggested number of cases a year, the markets that you identify must be large enough to produce the desired c

26、ases. Assuming that you want your sales representatives to write 100 cases, have a 1 in 2 closing ratio, and see five individuals to get two closes, then your sales representatives must see 500 people a year. As in all things in the financial services industry, you must think numbers and you must wo

27、rk those numbers. To identify an ethnic market in an area where there are only 10 people of that national background is an exercise in futility. Think numbers when you are thinking markets. Ask yourself, “Are there enough prospects in my identified markets to keep my sales representatives busy?”2.Ge

28、ographically concentrated: When a group is spread out geographically, some part of the market advantage may be diluted. In an era of high transportation costs, a geographically concentrated market offers great advantages.3.Approachable: Do your sales representatives have an entry into this market? C

29、an theyget an entry through referrals or through some form of formal introduction? A sales representative who is the son of a dentist, for example, will probably find dentists to be approachable. A sales representative who speaks a foreign language will no doubt find an approachable market among tho

30、se who speak the same language. Your own judgment will help you to determine the approachability of the markets that you identify.4.Responsible: Are the people in this market desirable customers for your company? You want people who are likely to keep their purchases in force people with adequate in

31、comes and stable family situations. Focusing on people in hazardous occupations might result in very expensive business.5.Compatible: Are the markets that you identify compatible with your field sales offices products and services? With the skills of your sales representatives? You would not want to

32、 market pension trust business, for example, without the knowledge and technological support available in your field sales office or in your company. Instead, you might want to concentrate on a market whose primary need could be met by a company product or service that is well designed and competiti

33、vely priced. Before choosing a market, consider whether your sales representatives will be comfortable dealing with the people in the market and whether these people will feel comfortable dealing with the particular sales representative.You will work with various types of markets and market characte

34、ristics in building your marketing plan. Instinctively, you know many of these marketing concepts and work with them on a day-to-day basis, but in order to develop “good” markets, you will need to think marketing more conscientiously. There is more to developing and penetrating a market than simply

35、saying something like, “Well, I guess well move into the physician market.”A successful field sales office in one large city has target-marketed not to the physician or medical market, but more specifically to the “medical intern and resident market,” of which there are close to 20,000 within 20 min

36、utes of the field sales office. Other examples from large cities are a successful sales representative who concentrates on pediatricians and another sales representative who works the female physician market.A worthwhile rule of thumb in breaking general markets into specific markets might be that w

37、hen the population figures for a market reach over 1,000 to 2,000, you should break the market down more specifically.Market PlanningMarket segmentation and penetration, like any other management process, begins with good planning. Effective market planning involves the four steps of the DOME planni

38、ng process:Diagnosis: In the first step, assess your present situation. Take a realistic look at both the internal environment in your field sales office and the external environment in the territory where you are located. Consider your strengths, weaknesses, constraints, and opportunities.Internal

39、strengths include what you know and what you know how to apply, the abilities of those reporting to you, and the marketing-related processes that are working well for you. External strengths come from your image and reputation in the community, the competitiveness of your product line, and the marke

40、ting direction of your company.Weaknesses are areas where you need to improve or areas where the people reporting to you are having problems. These weaknesses could involve improper application of the various steps of the sales cycle, inadequate product knowledge, or lack of technical expertise. Inc

41、lude as weaknesses any strength that you have not taken advantage of.In any business, there are constraints factors over which you have no control. Examples of this would be a company-level decision that affects your field sales office or a mass layoff at a large manufacturing plant in your territor

42、y that affects the local economy. Consider the constraints affecting your operation as a reminder not to waste valuable time on items over which you have no control and to concentrate on the marketing factors over which you do have control.Opportunities can involve weaknesses that you can overcome o

43、r strengths on which youcan build. Overcoming a weaknesses could mean improving the ability of your sales representatives to do financial planning. Building upon a strength might mean taking advantage of the contacts resulting from the previous occupations of some of your sales representatives.Objec

44、tives. Once you have completed your diagnosis, establish specific market objectives. It is not enough to target two or three markets. Be specific in what you want to accomplish. Good objectives meet three criteria:1.Motivational. People should feel that they want to achieve the objective. When choos

45、ing sales representatives to work in specific markets, be sure that there is some tie-in that makes each person want to work with the chosen market. Involve the sales representatives concerned in your decision-making.2.Attainable. The objective should be challenging enough to motivate people, but no

46、t so high that it will be impossible to achieve. The emphasis should be on realism. If you wish to target the small-business owners within a specific geographic area and assign a sales representative whose entire business background before coming with you had been blue-collar work in a large manufac

47、turing plant, that person probably will be unable to attain the objective that you have set. On the other hand, that sales representative might do very well in penetrating the union market at the nearby factory.3.Measurable. If you cannot measure progress, you will not be able to use the objective t

48、o manage. A measurable objective provides data to evaluate performance and guidelines for coaching people.Methods. With the market objectives clearly established, identify the specific means or methods you will use to achieve your objectives. For each selected objective, prepare an action plan that

49、outlines what should be done, the needed materials, who is responsible, and the dates on which specific steps will be started and completed.Evaluation. The last step in the market planning process involves an ongoing evaluation of progress to check your results against your objectives. Marketing Fac

50、tors The Keys to Effective Market PenetrationYou have little or no control over the products and services offered by your company or the markets available in your territory, but there are a multitude of marketing-related items over which you have some direct or indirect control. These are important

51、marketing factors that you can alter and redirect depending on the type of market that you want to penetrate. These factors really become the basis for your marketing plan. Ask yourself about the important marketing factors that you probably control:Office philosophy. This concerns the present attit

52、ude and efforts in your field sales office toward market segmentation and the way the staff feel about working in specific markets. Where do you stand with respect to this marketing philosophy? How deeply are your people presently involved with it? What resistance, if any, will you meet if you gradu

53、ally try to instill a more market-oriented direction?Product development. To what extent do you or can you customize financial services and products to meet individual customer needs? Are you constrained in any way by your company when you try to customize services? What are these constraints? How c

54、an you deal with them? How will these factors impact on a plan that calls for a greater market orientation? Pricing. What types of pricing systems do you operate by in your field sales office? Are you free, for example, to price products and services within a particular range established by your com

55、pany? Are you expected to adhere to rigid price guidelines? For example, do you want to position a particular service to be a loss leader? A break-even service? A profit-maker? What effect will pricing have on your new marketing approaches?Sales systems. How do you sell? What sales strategies work b

56、est in your field sales office? For example, how do you identify prospects? Do you use direct-mail approaches? What specific face-to-face selling techniques do you use? How are brochures and other support materials used?Advertising. What advertising programs have you used and which ones are most eff

57、ective for your field sales office? Do you use local newspaper ads or do you rely on advertising in specific market-oriented journals or newsletters? What effect will greater market segmentation have on your advertising program?Promotion. What types of promotional activities have you used in the pas

58、t and what are you currently using? Do you, for example, use sales contests for your sales representatives? Do you involve your support staff in the contests? What are the criteria for success in these activities? In what ways will you have to change these promotional programs as you market your ser

59、vices differently?Office location. Where is your field sales office located? Is it in the general vicinity of markets that you currently serve? Or are markets that may appear to be worthy of pursuit not within reasonable traveling distance of your office? How will you serve markets outside your current trading area?Use of technology. To what extent is your field sales office involved in com