Mapping Marketing Essentials: The “Four P’s” and You Product, Price, Promotion, Place (and Partners): What’s your take on them, as they apply to Gemini, KPL & GEM? Collecting your three questions and using them to unpack the article just a little further…..

Mapping Marketing Essentials Using Dynamic Questioning and Catalytic Checklists to Create a Marketing Plan.

Mapping Marketing Essentials: Knowing Thyself What’s the core concept and strategy for professional marketing? From, Rainmaking: The Professional Guide to Attracting New Clients, “You must sell yourself to sell your firm……..”

Mapping Marketing Essentials: Knowing Thyself Have you written down your sales history and forecasts for 3 years backward and forward? What is your market share (%) relative to: Your existing customer base? Your industry? Your major competitors?

Mapping Marketing Essentials: Knowing Others Have you ever tried doing a SWOT analysis on your competitors?

Mapping Marketing Essentials: Knowing Others-The Competition What are their strengths? What are their weakenesses? What do they do differently from you? What do they say about you (+’s & -’s)? When do they shine, and when don’t they? The Art of War - Sun Tzu, said “……………..”

Mapping Marketing Essentials: Defining the Market What is its Total Size in $$ ? What are its Geographic Zones? What are its Temporal Concentrations? Is the market limited by your resources? Are their competitive challenges that restrict your market?

Mapping Marketing Essentials: Defining the Market Should the market for your services be segmented by - technical expertise, financial restrictions, geographic location, temporal zones, limitations of your resources, competitive challenges? Should a specific marketing strategy be developed by segment?

Mapping Marketing Essentials: Defining the Market Knowing Others - The Clients & Politics DO YOU UNDERSTAND: 1. The Formal Roles in the Buying Process? 2. The Client’s Adaptability to Change? 3. Your Status with the Key Players?

Mapping Marketing Essentials

Mapping Marketing Essentials: Defining the Market What are the reasons that customers buy from you? How often do you review/rank them? What underlying (unstated) client needs are satisfied by your services? How does management both monitor and adjust to significant changes in its client base? Are you anticipating any?

Mapping Marketing Essentials: Defining the Market What are the social, behavioral, financial, technical characteristics of your company’s client base and target markets? Who to contact? How do you contact them? Why/when do they buy from you? Can the purchaser be characterized? Who left you, why? What do others say about you, +’s & -’s?

Mapping Marketing Essentials: Your Strategic Plan Relative to the competition how will you market your services? Comparative Pricing Methods? Quality/Value and Expertise Methods? PR, Promotional and Networking Methods? Advertising Methods? Direct Sales Methods? Bid/Tender Methods?

Mapping Marketing Essentials: Your Strategic Plan How do you plan on capitalizing on your competitors’ weaknesses? How will you meet the challenges represented by your competitors’ strengths? Are there any breakthroughs in technology, expertise, financial & human resources, and sales initiatives that you anticipate the competitors will launch into the market?

Mapping Marketing Essentials: Your Strategic Plan Have you done a “Gap Analysis” of your market/clients/competitors? Do you have a research & development program in place? Is your MIA effectively deployed? Do you have a designated person and procedure for implementing your opportunity assessment intiative?

Mapping Marketing Essentials: Opportunity Assessment Is there an opportunity? Does the client have a “compelling event”? Can we compete? What “unique business value” will we offer the client? Can we win? Is it worth winning?

Mapping Marketing Essentials: Knowing & Showing Thyself What have you done to create and perpetuate an image, identity and brand for your company? It needs to be both outer & inner. Mission/Vision? Logo/Slogan/Brand? Glossy Brochures? Newsletters? A E-presence ?

Mapping Marketing Essentials: Planning to Plan Is there any value in not planning? Who in your company is responsible for the creation, development and revision of your marketing plan? Is it written? How often is it revised? What is your company going into the corporate jungle with - a machete or a map?

Mapping Marketing Essentials: Creativity & Marketing How can you use creativity stimulation techniques and the creative problem-solving process to enrich your marketing plan and its implementation?

Mapping Marketing Essentials: Creativity & Change-A Preview “And one ought to consider that there is nothing more difficult to pull off, more chancy to succeed in, or more dangerous to manage, than the introduction of a new order of things” (Machiavelli, The Prince) “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes” (Marcel Proust)