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What Goes Around, Comes Around! – Marketing in Full Circle!
Life is a Circle (author unknown) – Marketing is about Life!
At age 4,
success is not peeing in your pants.
At age 50,
success is having money. My brain is spinning. I know what I want to say but I’m not sure how to organize the thoughts in a few words. I’ll try. My motivation / inspiration for this article is multiple sources. In the recent past I’ve watched on the national news Arthur Andersen and Enron “crash and burn. A few years ago I witnessed United Companies (a local success story) “crash” and a news article in last week’s Business Report discussed a billion dollar lawsuit against Deloitte and Touche. Will they “burn”? I’ve observed smart people running successful companies spending literally hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars on the “Big 8” or “Big 7” or “Big 6” (to be determined) consulting firms like Arthur Andersen to create a strategic plan, marketing innovation, or value added proposition. These experts from out of town talk in language we don’t speak here. All of this in a name of a customer they’ve never met to be implemented by a front line employee (often called a trainee) who can’t understand the language they are speaking and certainly don’t have the education or experience to grasp the concept. I was also reminiscing as I exercised this morning. My mind flashed back to Mr. Lucien (grocery store owner / butcher), Delaune’s Drug Store, the Fuller Brush Man, the milk man, Mr. Deshotel (the postman), Mr. Dionne and his cleaners, and Mr. Evans, Mrs. Bourque, and Mr. Ozenne – each owners of a grocery store all within 3 blocks of each other. (For those of you under 50, in the old days grocery stores were small and local and on one corner of each block in each town.) The final inspiration – reflections on two classics of business literature: Marketing Myopia (Theodore Levitt – the Harvard Business Review) and The Five Deadly Pricing Sins (Peter Drucker – Wall Street Journal – October 21, 1993). Now let me try to “spin” these inspirations / reflections into an article that makes sense for the real people in the real world. I’ll work backwards from the above list. If you read and reflect on the aforementioned articles you’ll probably agree with my SIMPLE interpretations. I believe in K.I.S.S. In the evolving and diverse world we live in there are more Mikes, Mommas, Uncle Claudes, Mr. Luciens, and Mrs. Borques than there are Harvard MBAs (another reason to thank God every morning). Based upon these readings I believe Marketing is simply
a process that profitably satisfies customers (prospects) wants and needs.
The steps in the process as I interpret Dr. Levitt’s outline are: What is the want and need? - as you build your Marketing Plan this answer will be narrowed by the next question. Remember everyone wants to feel important and have a positive buying experience. Also remember speed, flexibility, no-hassle, friendly, etc. What products / services do you offer to meet these wants and needs? As we move from a “mass market” to a niche of one that demands “mass customization” remember many of your products / services may be obsolete and must be reinvented. At what price will this product / service sell? This is the most important question. Dr. Drucker reinforces this in his article. He talks about sin # 1 – premium pricing and sin # 2 – charging what the market will bear. Finally he explains this with comments about sin # 3 – cost driven pricing (adding up your costs + profit) and forcing this on the customer. Before you say, “but this is the only thing that works”, Mr. Drucker responds that “customers do not see it as their job to ensure manufacturers a profit.” How can we profitably deliver this product / service at the desired price? In tomorrow’s world the customer (marketplace) is in charge of establishing the price. You job – better yet, your survival – is dependent upon innovating your processes to profitably delivering “under” this price. Once you answer the above questions – you must then determine the best method (cost efficient and effective) to: Prospect (where do you find these types of customers?) Communicate (how / where do you talk to [communicate with] these folks?) Sell (create an environment where they are motivated to buy) Service (keep them happy) Renew your relationship (buy more things over a longer period of time) Compensate all stakeholders (keep the system one of win / win / win) Manage and perpetuate the process I worked in the summers for my Uncle Claude’s Wholesale Grocery. I delivered to Mr. Lucien. He was a Cajun, old (in my mind’s eye) and mean (at least to delivery boys). I walk in with his order and he’d say, “put it in the corner, BOY!” I was 15 and like every other 15 year old I was struggling with myself – my image, my role in society – did I fit – HOW? I was doing a man’s work and getting paid a man’s minimum wage (50 cents an hour if my memory is correct). I was not yet a man – but I certainly wasn’t a BOY (for those under age 50 this was before Political Correctness). When Mr. Lucien would call me a boy, the hair on my neck would stand up. I’d leave mad but I would never confront Mr. Lucien because he was the customer (and customers were always right), my boss – Uncle Claude was meaner than Mr. Lucien, and this is the way it was in those days – this was the CULTURE. IN YESTERDAY’S WORLD I WAS A DELIVERY BOY. THE CUSTOMER WAS MY BOSS. TO STAY IN BUSINESS UNCLE CLAUDE HAD TO PROFITABLY MEET THE CUSTOMERS WANTS AND NEEDS. I DID THIS FOR HIM AT MINIMUM WAGE (CAUSE THAT’S WHAT THE MARKET WOULD PAY). The other examples are important as well. Mr. Dionne delivered our dry cleaning on a bike, Mr. Deshotel delivered our mail on foot, Mr. Disch delivered Mammam’s groceries by bike or truck and Delaune’s brought us prescriptions. The Fuller Brush man brought his wares to the front door and let Momma update her cleaning utensils and enjoy some adult conversation. Delivery was important cause cars were rare and often used by Daddy at work. We lived at home so that’s where the “action” was. The other stores mentioned added value to their customers lives by convenience, trust, and relationships. When Momma needed something and couldn’t wait for delivery she outsourced the process by telling me, “boy run to the store and get some corn.” The process was efficient. I went in, picked up the corn, showed it at the counter (the first optical scan) and Mr. Evans wrote it on Momma’s tab. We paid when we had money. OUR WORLD WAS FILLED WITH DELIVERY BOYS / GIRLS. Fast forward 50 years. Cut through all the BS, political correctness, education, sophistication, technology, consultant talk and legal ease and understand one thing. The customer is still the King. We’ve come full circle - what goes around, comes around. The customer actually is more in charge today than (s)he was 50 years ago. In yesterday’s world – our options were limited. I
could choose from Mr. Bourque’s store (4 houses up the street), Mr. Evan’s
store (1 house down the street), or Mr. Ozenne’s (3 blocks away but close to
Momma’s house – and she’d always give me a treat when I stopped there).
With all this change – what do we want! WE WANT WHAT I WAS – POLITE, EFFICIENT, AND EFFECTIVE DELIVERY BOYS AND GIRLS. TOMORROW’S WORLD WILL BE POLITICALLY CORRECT SO THE TERM WON’T BE USED BUT THE FUNCTIONS WILL BE THE SAME. If you don’t believe me let’s look at two success stories – Sam Walton and Bill Gates have had a modest degree of success by knowing who their customers are – understanding their wants and needs – providing products and services to meet these wants and needs – establishing a price the market is WILLING to pay (not what it will bear) and finally and most importantly DELIVERYING THIS AT A PROFIT. We’ve come full circle – life is a circle – marketing is about life! Before you spend hundreds of thousands (or millions) of dollars on Harvard MBAs with the Big # Consulting Firms do yourself a favor – go talk one on one and heart to heart with your customers and the delivery boys that work for you! If you and they can’t figure out what’s needed or can’t do it then open up your wallet and bring in the big boys / girls from the Frozen Nawth! One other word of advice – don’t send them to talk to Mr. Lucien. It won’t be a positive experience for either side. Since I preach innovation and I watch businesses feel better about larger expenses I’m going to try this “out of the box” approach. This article has a price. If it makes you think, smile, or in some other way brings value to your business / life, you must pay the price. It took me about an hour to write this. As a local consultant I charge about $100.00 - $150.00 an hour when I dictate the price and I accept what my client’s and I agree to when they set the price (more often than not). If you liked this article send a contribution to my favorite Charity: Desire Street
Ministries If you liked this and you use national consultants convert my rate to theirs and send much more. Thank you for your generous contribution!
©Square One Consulting (September 2001) |