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Getting Started on Writing a Marketing PlanSome have not really entertained the process of writing things like marketing and sales plans, but might be considering it. How do we begin this process of planning? What are we trying to achieve?
It's important to write your sales and marketing plans in a way that they won't end up serving as a bookend inside a dusty binder.
Writing a great marketing plan begins with a solid mission statement and relevant objectives.I personally think that it's important to begin at the core strategy and then move to the objectives. This is important not only during initial planning, but even more so later in the year when there is doubt and those binders are forgotten dusty bookends. Doubts and confusion often lead to everything from arguments to frozen progress. A return visit to strategy and objectives helps to break through the ice.People often ask why a marketing consultant likes to write those "mission statements". Well, now you've got the answer. I think that Bill Gates' original mission statement was something like, "A computer in every home." Today, Microsoft's mission statement is something like, "Helping people reach their full potential." Both are brilliant in simplicity, exciting in scope, and a great catalyst for creating more focused objectives! Striving to meet objectives is not as easy as many would believe. Many of the quality control programs that I've studied pretty much follow a stepwise progression of progress. Their brilliance is a never ending cycle of measuring "where did we come from?", measuring "where are we now?", asking "what's the next step?", and testing the water. This process is often referred to as "continuous improvement". This leads me to my next point. Getting it done is more important than perfection. While we all love perfection, it can lead to worries, the wringing of hands, and stagnation. A Honda Civic today looks much different than ten years ago! And I'll bet that the people at Honda will continue to make changes in the future! Measure the results, if an idea didn't work then respond. Keep things moving. Which leads me to my next point. Flowers may prosper where weeds are absent. Some employees will complain when things aren't perfect. Some customers may become dissatisfied when you move into a more profitable market segment. Some vendors may complain when things don't go as planned. All of this is normal and can often be addressed without a big problem. However, there are those few one percent that seem to consume ninety nine percent of your morale, time, and resources. As Abraham Linolcon said, "You cannot please all of the people all of the time". So to review, putting a marketing or sales strategy together is really three basic steps. Start by writing down and getting agreement on your overal strategy. Then write down and get agreement on the objectives, the steps along the way, that will be required. Then begin planning on how you're going to meet those objectives. So that's it, that's how you get started writing a marketing or sales strategy. Unless there's some specific reason for a certain format, then the format isn't so important. The main thing is not to let another year pass without making a strategy that you and your people can appreciate! |
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Questions or comments? Please Contact Me. Copyright © 1999 - 2008 Robert Winton all rights reserved. | |||