Marketing Plans: How To Prepare Them, How To Use Them 7th Edition Malcolm McDonald & Hugh Wilson - Solutions

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4. Summarize the consumer and business adoption levels in your country. What seem to be the main barriers to adoption?
3. Describe the different services that can be offered to customers via a web presence.
2. Explain what is meant by buy-side and sell-side e-commerce.
1. Distinguish between e-commerce and e-business.
1. Assess how the characteristics of the digital media and the Internet together with strategic decisions taken by its management team have supported eBay’s continued growth.
1. Discuss the new opportunities and risks that need to be managed by North West Supplies with the increased importance of its online channel to market.
3. For the main business risks to Facebook identified in Question 2, suggest approaches the company could use to minimize these risks.
2. Complete a situation analysis for Facebook focusing on an assessment of the main business risks which could damage the future growth potential of the social network.
1. As an investor in a social network such as Facebook, which financial and customer-related metrics would you use to assess and benchmark the current business success and future growth potential of the company?
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Design a simple system for your company, or describe in what ways your existing system could be improved.
If it does, describe in what ways it differs from the principles outlined here.
Does the principle of hierarchies of audits, SWOTs, objectives, strategies and programmes apply in your company? If not, describe how they are handled.
Does your marketing plan include objectives and strategies relating to:a) customer retention by segment?b) cross-sales to existing customers, by segment (or key account)?c) customer profi tability or customer lifetime value by segment (or key account)?
What stage of CRM maturity are you at? See Figure 11.4. Do your systems and processes support:a) Product transactions only (stage 1)?b) Access to integrated customer information only for marketers and other back-offi ce staff(stage 2)?c) Access to integrated customer information for all front-offi
Most fi rms do not have an explicit defi nition of CRM. But what is the implicit defi nition? A software package for sales automation or outbound direct mail, perhaps? Or a customer database?
Whose responsibility is CRM in your organization? The sales and marketing director? The IT director? Or is it delegated to individual business units, with piecemeal approaches that cannot deliver a joined-up experience to the customer?
What do you think are the major areas of weakness in your current approach to customer service management?
(a) Do you have a single point of contact for customers or (b) do certain departments handle different types of inquiries/complaints?Yes (a) (b)No (a) (b)
Do you have an established method of communications for your customers to contact you about some aspect of their order after the order has been entered?Yes __________________________________________________________________________ No
Where does customer service management fi t in relation to the marketing function?(Draw an organizational chart if necessary.)
Which function(s) has responsibility for customer service management?______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________
Do you believe that within your company there is adequate knowledge of the true costs of providing customer service Yes __________________________________________________________________________ No __________________________________________________________________________
Do you monitor competitive customer service offerings?Yes __________________________________________________________________________ No __________________________________________________________________________
Is any attempt made to monitor your customer service performance on these three dimensions?Yes __________________________________________________________________________ No __________________________________________________________________________
What are the three most crucial aspects of customer service as they impinge upon your marketing effectiveness?1 __________________________________________________________________________ 2 __________________________________________________________________________ 3
Do customers receive a copy of this policy?Yes __________________________________________________________________________ No __________________________________________________________________________
Is this given a wide circulation within the company?Yes __________________________________________________________________________ No __________________________________________________________________________
Do you have a written customer service policy?Yes __________________________________________________________________________ No __________________________________________________________________________
Can you see any way of making savings in your distribution system without reducing customer service?
How do service levels compare with competitors?
How are decisions currently made concerning customer service levels?
What coordination takes place between physical distribution management and marketing management? How can any problems be minimized?
Is logistics adequately represented at board or senior management level in your organization?How could improvements be made?
What else might prevent you from making the changes you would like to make? Metrics? The investment case? Company culture?
Is any executive responsible for marketing, sales and service in an integrated way across multiple channels? Or do you have ‘channel barons’ responsible for different parts of the customer journey? If there is no single person responsible, can a multichannel governance board be set up?
If the answer to any of the above is ‘yes’, are you clear what should be done, or do you need to apply the tools in this chapter to establish a multichannel plan?
Does your company have a problem with:(a) channel costs?(b) customer experience in individual channels?(c) customer experience across channels (multichannel integration)?(d) market coverage?
What is the nature of the channel of distribution through which the company sells? Does the company sell direct to the end customer, or through intermediaries? To what extent does the company control the channel and the activities of its members, such as the stock levels and order policies?
What is the nature of the competition? How many companies are providing an alternative source of supply to our customers? What sort of service levels do they offer?
How profi table are the customers constituting each segment?
What is the nature of the market? Does the company operate in a sellers’ or a buyers’ market? How frequently is the product purchased? Are there ready substitutes? What are the stockholding practices of the purchasers? Which markets and customers are growing and which are declining?
What is the nature of the product? Is it a critical item as far as the customer is concerned, where stock-outs at the point of supply would result in a loss of sales? Does the product have characteristics that result in high stockholding costs?
How profi table is the product? What contribution to fi xed costs and profi ts does this product make and what is its sales turnover?
Are trade margins justifi ed? What is your policy towards trade margins?
During the past 10 years, what trends have occurred in margins in your industry? Are these trends acceptable? What policy has your organization got towards these trends?
Describe how you deal with pricing:in times of high infl ation, market stagnation or recession at each phase in the product lifecycle.
Describe your pricing strategy for one of your major products. How does it compare with that of your major competitors?
Was the pricing decision correct? What additional information could you have used to help you with the pricing decision? What would you do differently given the same circumstances?
When you last introduced a new product or service, how was the price established?
Do you allocate resources (such as your best key account managers) to key accounts differentially, taking into account the position of each account in the portfolio?
Do you manage key accounts differentially according to their stage of relationship development?Are there any key accounts where you delude yourselves that a close relationship is possible when the customer has every intention of behaving transactionally?
Have you identifi ed key account managers with the requisite infl uencing and implementation skills?
Have you identifi ed key accounts taking into account future potential and not just today’s revenue?
Critically appraise your company’s sales plan. Does it fl ow naturally from the company’s marketing objectives?
How is your own organization’s sales force used? Is this the best possible use of the sales force? In what ways do activities of the sales force complement other forms of marketing communications used? Identify any other ways in which you feel the activities of the sales force could enhance the
Can you make a case to justify the present size and type of sales force used? Could you defend your position if you were requested to cut back the sales force by 30 per cent? How would you make your case? What do you believe would be the consequences of a 30 per cent cutback in the sales force?
Who is responsible for the sales force in your organization? What is the relationship between this post of responsibility and other marketing responsibilities in the organization? Does this cause any problems? Where problems arise, how could they be solved?
How is the sales force deployed: by geographical territory; by product range; by type of customer?Is this deployment optimal? What other patterns of deployment should be considered by your organization?
What are the key functions of salespeople in your organization? How is their work coordinated?
Draw up criteria for product/market extension which are compatible with your company’s distinctive competences.
Has there been any product/market extension during the past 10 years which has not been compatible with your company’s distinctive competence? If so, state why.
If you cannot identify any distinct segments, how can you begin to identify one or more?
Identify your key market segments. How do you describe them?
For those you have identifi ed, how can they be improved on?
If you cannot identify any differential benefi ts, in what ways could you develop some?
Choose a major product or service. What are its features? Identify the benefi ts (to the customer)of each feature. Identify which of these are differential benefi ts.
In what ways do you deal successfully with them?
In what ways do they apply to your company?
What actions might be required if improvements are needed?
What are the implications for your company?
If you do not have a mission statement, try writing one, following the guidelines provided here. Try it out on your colleagues and see if they agree with you or if they can fi nd ways to improve on what you have written.
To what extent does your company’s mission statement meet the criteria listed above?
Are there contingency plans in the event of objectives not being met/conditions changing?
Are the assumptions upon which the plan was based valid?
Are there still organizational weaknesses?
Are there still unexploited opportunities?
Is there evidence that this reduces the chance of subsequent failure?
Is there a procedure for dealing with nonachievement of objectives?
Are people clear about their role in the planning process?
Are there any problems between marketing and other corporate functions?
Do internal communications function effectively?
Do control mechanisms exist to ensure planned objectives are met?
Is the planning system well conceived and effective?
Are there agreed objectives about:(a) The product range?(b) The value of sales?(c) The volume of sales?(d) Profi ts?(e) Market share?(f) Market penetration?(g) Number of customers and retention levels?(h) Introducing new products/services?(i) Divesting of old products/services?(j) Organization
Are all responsibilities and authority clearly made known?
Are suffi cient resources made available?
Are there clear strategies for achieving the stated marketing objectives?
Are the marketing objectives clearly stated and consistent with the corporate objectives?
Are the assumptions valid in the light of current and predicted trading situations?
Do they cover:(a) The business environment?(b) The market?(c) The competitors?(d) The industry?
Are these assumptions made explicit to senior company personnel?
Is there a set of assumptions around which the marketing plan is formulated?
Is the organizational climate such that a full and accurate analysis is seen as a striving for improvement rather than an attack on specifi c departments or vested interests?
Are there objectives for promoting the corporate image with:(a) The stock market?(b) Customers?(c) The local community?(d) The employees?(e) Environmentalist/conservationist lobby?(f) Government departments?(g) Trade associations, etc.?
Are there defi ned business boundaries in terms of:(a) Products or services (that will be offered)?(b) Customers or markets (to deal with)?(c) Operations facilities?(d) Distribution facilities?(e) Size and character of the workforce?(f) Sources and levels of funding?
Is there a corporate plan to channel the company resources to this end?
Is there a target fi gure for ROI?
Is there a corporate statement about:(i) The nature of the company’s current business mission?(ii) Its vision of the future?
Say how you think it could be improved.

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Marketing Plans: How To Prepare Them, How To Use Them 7th Edition Malcolm McDonald & Hugh Wilson - Solutions

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