Archive for duct tape marketing
Lean your Marketing thru Segmentation
Posted by: | CommentsHow do you look at your marketing? Do you know where your leads come from? How are you processing leads to make them successful? In my recent blogs about marketing and the Theory of Constraints, I discussed the connections between each step of the marketing hourglass. Many organizations do not look at their sales and
marketing process in a linear fashion, let alone segmenting it. When organizations first map out the process, they look at connections where people come from being all over the map such as the diagram to the right. They look at a simple chain as an oversimplification of reality. Not everybody goes through each step of the cycle. Some will skip from step one to step three. Someone may enter the cycle in step three. These interconnections are not trivial, it is what makes your process work and it also may be stopping it from working.
So what is the purpose? The purpose of creating the marketing hourglass is very simple: Which is harder to manage the above diagram or this diagram?
Your flow system, The Marketing Hourglass, structure will allow an organization to operate at maximum efficiency. The secret in creating such a linear flow is segmentation. Without it, you will continue to operate in less than an optimum manner. You will never be able to find your constraint, because it will be moving around, practically every single opportunity.
Different opportunities, normal variation and changing workforce make it just about impossible to balance everything. There is a weakest link; there is one element in your system more limiting than another. Why is it so important to find that? Without working on your greatest constraint much of your work will be wasted and non-productive. Take a look at the diagram above and see how proper segmentation may alter your perception of the marketing hourglass. As you can see, not all steps may be needed for each and every channel. An excellent example is someone that has been referred to you. With the proper referral program in place, you will know exactly what step in the process that person should enter.
Keep segmenting your list, till you gain a linear flow. Yes, there may be a few exceptions. However, I think it might be interesting to scrutinize those exceptions. Are these exceptions really your target market or ideal client? I think you might find out that they are something less than ideal clients. Whatever you do, don’t ignore the exceptions; they may prove valuable insights to your marketing process. That thought may lead to another discussion.
Related Posts:
Using the Theory of Constraints in Marketing
Using your Marketing HourGlass to determine your Constraint
Identifying your Marketing Constraint
Setting up your Marketing HourGlass
Posted by: | CommentsAnother way of using the hourglass is to determine the number of prospects(inventory)
that you need in each part of your hourglass. This is tremendous opportunity to really understand what is taking place in your process and will enable you to determine what is and what is not working. Where is your bottleneck or if you have ever read The Goal, where is your Herbie?
In your process do you understand your conversion rates? Are you converting 50% of your prospects from the Try phase to the Buy phase? You may not know each of these, but if you know several of them, you will have the ability to interpolate some of the others. The ability to create this chart will allow you to significantly increase your sales result. Have you ever considered where your constraints were in your marketing? Many people spend the majority of the time, money and even skill in developing new leads. They may be just piling prospects(inventory) in front of a constraint. Going through this exercise may significantly increase your awareness on what is your limiting factor.
An obvious example, is we alll know that a referral is our best form of creating business. Duct Tape Marketing emphasizes referrals and in fact, John Jantsch, author of DTM, next book is based on building a Referral Marketing System. I mention this, because, I believe your marketing is incomplete without a formal Referral Marketing system in place and by the way, I offer such a package. Seldom do I see the true cost of what it means to gain a referral. I think the chart below, demonstrates quite vividly what it means in the overall marketing flow. If you get a repeat buyer or a referral, you would drop them into one of the phases above. Notice, how it significantly it could change your marketing efforts. Consider the dollars and time you spend in the top of the hourglass. How productive would your efforts be in using the same amount of time and effort in the bottom of the hourglass?
We realize that referral efforts are probably short changed in most marketing practices. But that may or may not be your limiting factor. Every System typically has relatively few constraints. However, to operate at maximum efficiency, the limiting constraint must be identified. The Five Steps of Continuous Improvement from the Theory of Constraints methodology help identify and improve the constraint. That is the next stage and next blog.
Related Blog Posts:
Gathering Information For Your Plan
Posted by: | CommentsAffiliate Post By Palo Alto Software, Inc.
A common problem people encounter when writing their business plan is finding information about their business industry and competitive companies.
Fortunately, in recent years the Internet has made information gathering simple and easy, but sometimes the best information is found much closer to home, with real people, in real time.
Always take a look at other businesses similar to your own, as a very good first step. If you’re looking at starting a new business, you may well be starting one similar to one you already know. If you’re doing a plan for an existing business, you are even more likely to know the business well. Even so, you can still learn a lot by looking at other similar businesses.
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Look at existing, similar businesses
If you are planning a retail shoe store, for example, spend some time looking at existing retail shoe store businesses. Park across the street and count the customers that go into the store. Note how long they stay inside, and how many come out with boxes that look like purchased shoes. You can probably even count how many pairs of shoes each customer buys. Browse the store and look at prices. Look at several stores, including the discount shoe stores and department store shoe departments.
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Find a similar business in another place
Find a similar business far enough away that you won’t compete. For the shoe store example, you would identify shoe stores in similar towns in other states. Call the owner, explain your purpose truthfully, and ask about the business.
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Scan local newspapers for people selling a similar business.
Contact the broker and ask for as much information as possible. If you are thinking of creating a shoe store and you find one for sale, you should consider yourself a prospective buyer. Maybe buying the existing store is the best thing. Even if you don’t buy, the information you gain will be very valuable. Why is the owner selling? Is there something wrong with the business? You can probably get detailed financial information.
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Always shop the competition.
If you’re in the restaurant business, patronize your competition once a month, rotating through different restaurants. If you own a shoe store, shop your competition once a month, and visit different stores.
It takes a little hard work but by using the Internet and doing some research at local businesses, you should be able to gather all the information necessary for your business plan. Looking for more Planning tips visit Business901.
