Marketing & Sales Roundtable Marketing ’ s Role in Driving the Customer Focus into the Planning...
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Transcript of Marketing & Sales Roundtable Marketing ’ s Role in Driving the Customer Focus into the Planning...
Marketing & Sales Roundtable
Marketing’s Role in Driving the Customer Focus into the Planning Process
November 2002
2©2002 Rosemary Remacle
11:30 –Introductions/Objectives
11:45 –Marketing’s Role in Driving the Customer Focus into the Planning Process: Presentation and Discussion
1:15 –Summary and Wrap-up
Agenda
3©2002 Rosemary Remacle
Startups and Planning: The Dilemma• Too much to do• Too few resources• ‘We don’t know enough' yet• Dynamic environment
but…• Without strategy and planning, it’s impossible to build a
successful company
Optimum balance between disciplined process and “overdoing it” is required
4©2002 Rosemary Remacle
Market opportunity: context for company’s long term success
Company-specific raison d’etre related to market opportunity ( 5 years)
2-3 year strategic plan supporting market vision and mission
12-month operating plan detailing actions, milestones, metrics, responsibilities necessary to execute against the strategic plan
MarketVision
MissionStrategicPlan
AnnualOperatingPlan• Company• Functions/
Departments
Company Planning Foundations
5©2002 Rosemary Remacle
6©2002 Rosemary Remacle
Strategic Plan Components• Market Vision: Environmental assessment (market trends, technology enablers,
problem/opportunity)
• Mission statement
• Key business assumptions
• Competitive environment
• Barriers to adoption
• Positioning strategy (product/service category, market/customer segments targeted, problem solved, benefits/competitive differentiation)
• Customer Requirements: Total product roadmap
• Company strengths/weaknesses relative to its ability to execute against the strategy
• Business model/pricing
• Marketing and Sales strategy
• Corporate strategic objectives (3-5)
• Corporate culture and values description
7©2002 Rosemary Remacle
Annual Operating Plan Components• State of company
• Review of prior year’s performance against the strategic plan, corporate strategic objectives
• Key corporate accomplishments• Financial performance/health• Variances from plan
• What’s changed since last year-environmental assessment & strategic plan update
• Key business assumptions• Key initiatives for next year (“must do’s”)
• Risk factors• Hinge factors
• Functional/departmental Must Do’s• Marketing plan (includes total product
roadmap)• Sales plan• Engineering plan (includes technology
and product roadmaps)• Finance and administration plan (Finance,
IT, H/R)• Manufacturing/Operations
• Management team/personnel• Headcount• Performance reviews• Next year management team
compensation recommendations• Next year management team
measurement criteria
8©2002 Rosemary Remacle
What’s is Marketing’s Role in the Planning Process?
Planning/Content• Drives the annual plan process (shared with CFO)• Represent ‘Target Customer’ to organization• Bring market shifts to the table• Provide focus on products/customers• Identify market opportunities + requirements to address• Provide research and apply judgment – competitive, customer, market, technology – synthesis +
analysis• Articulate a compelling value proposition vs. status quo solution• Prioritization of opportunities, segments, channels• Identifying most viable business model• Represent voice of the customer, (end customer), other influencers, analyst, experts• Map core capabilities to organizational competence• Realistic (honest) identification of barriers to market adaptationProcess• Ensure that assumptions are research, market data-based• Establish plan for the plan – ground rules, process-updating deliverables• Set timeline + milestones
9©2002 Rosemary Remacle
The Causes: Hearing what you want from the customers rather than what they are really saying Small number of potential customers ‘interviewed’ Tunnel vision: technology/product Lack of regular market assessment Not understanding the customer buying decision process Inability to develop consistent, compelling, customer segment-focused messages
CustomerSegment
CompanyDisconnect
The Customer SegmentFocus ‘Problem’
10©2002 Rosemary Remacle
Strategic Plan
Strategic Plan
CustomersStrategy
discussions
Customers
Sales calls
Industry Analysts
Market segment
reports and discussions
CustomersProduct
requirements discussions
Advisory Board(s) Competito
rsCollateral, Websites,
Tradeshows
PartnersStrategy
discussions
ConsultantsQualitative third-party market and
customer segment research
(interviews)
Building a Customer Segment-Focused Strategic Plan
11©2002 Rosemary Remacle
Summary: Keys to a Customer Segment-Focused Strategy
• Define your market and customer segment • Listen to multiple customers and synthesize their inputs• Understand ‘the problem’ and its critical-ness to them• Define the customer segment’s total product
requirements• Execute!!