‘Marketing’

Business Start-Up Programme Welcome to the Business Start-Up Programme Workshop 2 ‘Marketing’ Your Notes _____________________________________________________________________

Workshop Links Business Planning The Essentials Front Page Why start a business? Viability assessment Marketing Management control Legal issues Funding Business Planning Front Page Executive Summary The Business Market Operations Finance SWOT Analysis Action Plan Marketing Product & service Place Price Promotion Your Notes _____________________________________________________________________ Finance Profit & Loss Cash flow Balance sheet

Product Place Price Promotion Marketing – The 4 Ps Start-up Workshops Marketing Business Plan Action Plan On-going Support Product Be clear about what you’re selling Know your customers. Sell at a profit. Make promotion work. Place Price Your Notes _____________________________________________________________________ Promotion

Product & Services Promotional Message!! Product & Services Place Start-up Workshops Marketing Business Plan Action Plan On-going Support Product & Services Have a clear idea about your product & service offer. Think about what the customer is buying, not what you’re selling. Ensure you have the skills to provide both product and service. Look for unique selling points to differentiate from your competitors Protect something Unique. Place Price Your Notes _____________________________________________________________________ Promotion Feed into your Promotional Message!!

Product & Services Competitor Analysis My Company Competitor 1 Competitor 2 Competitor 3 Strengths - Qualified - Market Knowledge - Data base - Established - Market knowledge - Contract customers Weaknesses - Job costing - Financial Mgt. - Not known - Selling - Capacity - Complacent - Customer service - Bad reputation - Dissatisfied workers Price + 10% Your Notes _____________________________________________________________________

Product & Services Example: Landscape Gardener Product Offer Skills Needed - Design - Building/paving - Installation of electrical power - Horticulture - Garden maintenance - Design software - Planning Legislation - Legislation, approvals - Planning (Listed Trees etc) - Knowledge of plants etc Service Offer Customer Requirements - Responsive - Accessible - Reliable - Flexible - Value for money - Warranty - Quote request followed within 24hrs - 24/7 - Turn up & deliver as promised - Exceed their expectations - Quality - Peace of mind Your Notes _____________________________________________________________________

Confirm that there is sufficient demand to reach your sales targets Place Start-up Workshops Marketing Business Plan Action Plan On-going Support Product & Services Profile the characteristics of your customers Understand your customer’s expectations Locate and quantify the number of your potential customers and competitors Know your market share Confirm how your customers will access your product Place Price Your Notes _____________________________________________________________________ Promotion Confirm that there is sufficient demand to reach your sales targets

Place – Customer Profile (B2B) Example: Landscape Gardener Customer Characteristics Research Areas - Type/Sector - Annual Sales - Profitability/credit rating - Number of employees - Premises - Standard Industry Classification (SIC code) - Schools/Councils/Businesses - Profitable/Busy - Capable of paying bills - N/A - Premises with grounds Customer Expectations Research Areas - Accreditations - Contracts - Licences - Standards - Buying behaviour - Legislation - Electronic trading - Horticultural/ building qualifications - Terms & conditions of trade - N/A - Professional (presentation/image) - Frequency of purchase - Health and safety/insurance - On-line orders/invoices/direct banking Your Notes _____________________________________________________________________

Place – Customer Profile (B2C) Example: Landscape Gardener Scope of Product Offer Research Areas - Type/Sector - Disposable income Premises Geography - General public - Ability to pay Property with gardens North West Scope of Service Offer Research Areas - Accreditations - Contracts - Licences - Standards - Buying behaviour - Legislation - Electronic trading - Qualified - Terms & conditions of trade - N/A - Professional (presentation/image) - Frequency of purchase - Health and safety/insurance Your Notes _____________________________________________________________________

Place – Locate & Quantify Customer Numbers Information research sources: Telephone directories/yellow pages/Thomson directories Government Council Economic Development Units/Office of National statistics Trade organisations Libraries/Press Market research organisations List brokers Research results Business to Business (B2B) Location Source No. of Customers No. of Competitors Local (St Helens) Regional (Lancs.) National Internet ? 50 (www.sthelens.gov.uk) 607 (www.lancashire.gov.uk) 13 (www.yell.com) 100 (www.yell.com) Research results Business to Consumer (B2C) Location Source No. of Customers No. of Competitors Local (St Helens) Regional (Merseyside.) National Internet ? 15K (www.sthelens.gov.uk) 462K (www.lancashire.gov) 13 (yell.com) 100 (yell.com) Your Notes _____________________________________________________________________

Place Customer Access to Product Mail order (Catalogue/call centres) Store/your premises Internet (e-bay) Their premises. Sales representative Image/perception Your Notes _____________________________________________________________________ Cost Implications?

Price Product & Services Place Price Promotion Start-up Workshops Marketing Business Plan Action Plan On-going Support Understand market conditions in relation to supply and demand. Check what your customer is prepared to pay. Check competitor pricing. Know your break even and cover your costs Add premium for added value. Monitor conversion rates from quotes to orders. Product & Services Place Price Your Notes _____________________________________________________________________ Promotion Optimise profitability keeping abreast of market conditions and being flexible in pricing.

Price – Break Even & Cost Plus Calculating Break Even: By Value : Total Overhead (Fixed Costs) ÷ Gross Profit % £25000 ÷ 45% Break even sales = £55,556 By Number of Orders: Break even sales - £55,556 Average order value £10 Break even unit sales = 5555 units Calculating Cost Plus: Labour cost + Material Cost Overhead Charge = Total cost Profit Selling Price Your Notes _____________________________________________________________________

Use promotions to achieve sales targets Start-up Workshops Marketing Business Plan Action Plan On-going Support Use a clear message, emphasise product and service features and benefits Use unique selling points in promotional materials Use logos and branding to give a professional image Check competitor promotional methods Work within budgets Monitor the impact and return on investment Product & Services Place Price Your Notes _____________________________________________________________________ Promotion Use promotions to achieve sales targets

Promotion – Features & Benefits Service Offer Your Notes _____________________________________________________________________

Sales Conversion Rate (%) Promotion – Impact Customer Contact Remote Personal Cost (£) Sales Conversion Rate (%) 0% 10% 20% 30% Your Notes _____________________________________________________________________ Remote (<1%) Internet (1-3%) Target Marketing (4-7%) Tele-sales (10-15%) Sales Rep (25-30%) WOM (>30%) Yellow pages Mail shot Press ad SEO PPC Journal Direct Mail

Promotion – Work With Budgets Campaign Details Costs Circulation Conversion Enquiry Cost / enquiry Remote Local Press 4 line £100 25K < 1% 0 - 25 £0.40 - £100 Tele-sales Cold Calling List £58 / day 50 / day 10% - 15% 5 - 7 £4 - £6 Sales Sales Rep. Appt. £135 / day 6 / day 25% - 30% 2 – 3 £46 - £67 Your Notes _____________________________________________________________________ Target Direct Mail £870 1K 4% - 7% 40 - 70 £12 - £21

Promotion – Measure Impact Request for quotation Build estimate & send quotation Customer order decision Plan & deliver promotion campaign: Decide on budget. Calculate no. of contacts to achieve sales targets Identify target customers Decide on promotional method Set up data base to monitor response. Record customer response: Record date, Customer, Contact details, Nature of request Record your response: Record date quote sent, product information and cost Record customer response: Record date of order decision. Use Impact Reports: Time taken for each stage of the process. Number and value of request for quotations Number, value and frequency of orders. Conversion rates for contact to request for quote and placement of order Average value of quotes and orders/£1 of promotional cost Your Notes _____________________________________________________________________

Keep Your Customers Customer Service: Getting one new customer costs Be responsive Understand their requirements and working methods Do what you promise and exceed their expectations Look after them and solve their problems The answer is yes- now what was the problem Getting one new customer costs much more than the cost of keeping an existing one. Your Notes _____________________________________________________________________

Moving on? Marketing is not just advertising and selling! How often should you do it ? Routine Budget Measure Customers and competitors are ever changing. Make sure you’re always up to date. Your Notes _____________________________________________________________________

Keep in touch with each other, chat and network on Linked in. www.linkedin.com Join the ‘Business Start Up Group’ and then join ‘The Workshop Group’ subgroup to keep in touch!