The SAE Business PracticumMarketing Plan Overview

Presentation by Ana EstradaMember of Cal Poly Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE)

Under a grant from HSBC Bank

It is based on the concepts and process in a popular book on small business marketing called Duct Tape Marketing by John Jantsch.

The process uses a popular software package, Sales and Marketing Pro that is designed to accompany Duct Tape Marketing.

The Business Practicum’s Big “5” Questions and the SWOT analysis have also been incorporated into this process.

The Planning Process

To help the business owner focus his marketing efforts in a simple, effective, and affordable approach that results in improved business performance.

The Purpose of the Plan

1. The SAE team is provided a series of checklists to guide you through the process of getting information from their business and developing your analysis of this information. You will also have a short reading assignment in Duct Tape Marketing related to the checklist.

2. The team meets with the business owner or representative in a series of at least three meetings and goes through the questions on the appropriate checklist, taking extensive notes on the business owner’s answers.

3. In the SAE Computer Lab, the team enters the information in the appropriate sections of the Sales and Marketing Pro software.

Steps in the Process

4. The checklist sometimes asks you, the team, to come up with marketing analysis and ideas based on the information you gathered. You can also start working with the business on one deliverable.

5. Once you have entered all of the information, You will assemble it into a draft of a marketing plan and present it to the business owner.

6. The business owner will add or delete what he thinks is best. Then you and the business owner will come up with a marketing budget and action plan.

7. A final version of the marketing plan will be prepared with a budget and action plan. This will be presented to a panel of judges on March 15 or 16.

Steps in the Process

Your team’s project will be evaluated on three factors:

1. The marketing plan2. The deliverable3. The presentation itself

The Final Presentation

The old way, a funnel, vs. the new way, an hour glass

The old funnel: get as many suspects and identify the prospects near the top, and funnel them down till you make a sale at the neck.

The hour glass: turn your suspects into prospects, then into customers. Then, try to make them repeat customers and eventually champions who sell for you through referral. In this way, your customer base becomes bigger and bigger at the bottom.

The Marketing Hour Glass A Key Concept

1. Know – ads, articles, referral leads2. Like – Web site, reception, social media profile,

email newsletter3. Trust – marketing kits, sales presentations, 4. Try – Nurturing activities, webinars, product

evaluations, try-before you buy workshops, demos5. Buy – Fulfillment, new customer kit, delivery,

financial arrangements6. Repeat – Post-sale customer survey, cross-sell

presentation, quarterly events.7. Refer – results reviews, partner introductions,

community building

The Seven Phases of the Hour Glass: Identify Touch points for Each Phase to

Move the Custmer from Suspect to Champion

1. Know your business – Big 5 Question 12. Know who your customers are and decide who

matters – Big 5 Question 23. Know what customers value – Big 5 Question 34. Define results you want to achieve and to what

extent the business has met its goals –Big 5 Question 4

5. Define the Core Marketing Message: how the business is (will be) different

6. Evaluate your brand identity and needed improvements

7. Build the Marketing Plan - Big 5 Question 5

How You Will Build a Marketing Plan: Overview

a) How well is your business achieving the results you expected?

b) Does your business’s current market appear to be viable? (i.e., Is your business profitable)

c) How does your current location help or hurt your business?

d) How well do you think your business is using its resources?

Checklist 2 What have been the business’s results?

(Big 5 Question 4)

a) What products and/or services does you sell?b) What percentage of your income comes from the

different products and/or services?c) What are your business hours?d) What are your busiest times—of the day, of the

week, of the month?e) Do you sell online? If yes, what percentage of sales?f) Why do your customers come to your business as

opposed to another business?g) What do your customers consider ‘value?’h) What is unique about your business? i) What is your market niche?

Know Your Business Checklist 1

1. What are the business’s strengths?

2. What are the business’s weaknesses?

3. What are the business’s opportunities?

4. What are the business’s threats?

SWOT Analysis

Know Who Your Customers Are and Decide Who Matters

Part 1 – Checklist 1(Teams may have already done this) Part 2 – Checklist 2

a) What is their age and income?

b) Where do they come from?

c) Is your customer base changing? If yes, how?

d) Who would be your ideal customer?

e) What are your different types of customers?

f) What does each type buy from you and what is the approximate value

g) Which customers are the most profitable and which are the least?

h) Which profitable customers are most likely to refer you to others?

i) What is the demographic of the profitable customers who are likely to refer: Age, income, zip code?

j) What has attracted your most profitable customers to you?

a) Differentiators: What makes you different from your competitors?

1. Examples of unique points of difference: with the business, create a summary statement. For example:

i. Unique productii. Unique serviceiii. Market niche iv. Special offer v. Solve a specific problem vi. Message of value vii. Unique packagingviii. Outrageous guaranteeix. Customer Servicex. Doing things your competitors don’txi. A way of doing business

What will be your core marketing message? Your Remarkable Difference

b) Create a talking logo:1. Action verb (insurance salesman example: “I

provide”)

2. Target market (“homeowners in this region”)

3. Problem solved or need met (“peace of mind”)

What will be your core marketing message? Your Remarkable Difference

c) Constructing the Core Marketing Message.1. Suggestion: the business owner (or team) should ask several

existing customers: i. Why they choose this businessii. Why the stay with this businessiii. Why they refer this business to others

2. To create your core marketing message, use what you have already learned from:

i. Your ideal customerii. Statement of remarkable differenceiii. Your talking logo iv. What your customers value from Checklist I-III to create your core

marketing message.

d) Test your marketing message with current customers. These questions about what your business provides or plans to provide.

What will be your core marketing message? Your Remarkable Difference

e) Do your business’s elements of identity communicate your core marketing message—your brand?1. Store environment2. Signage 3. Stationery 4. Forms 5. Print materials 6. Advertising7. Web site8. Social media presence 9. Phone message10. Attire

What will be your core marketing message? Your Remarkable Difference

1. Identify and create products or services for every client stage Suspects Prospects Customers Repeat customers Champions who refer

Assemble Your Marketing Plan (Big 5 Question 5)

2. The Seven Phases of the Hour Glass: Identify touch points for each phase to move client from Suspect to Champion.

Know – ads, articles, referral leads Like – Web site, reception, social media profile, email

newsletter Trust – marketing kits, sales presentations, Try – Nurturing activities, webinars, product evaluations,

try-before you buy workshops, demos Buy – Fulfillment, new customer kit, delivery, financial

arrangements Repeat – Post-sale customer survey, cross-sell

presentation, quarterly events. Refer – results reviews, partner introductions, community

building

Assemble Your Marketing Plan (Big 5 Question 5)

3. For each touch point offering, indicate how the business will measure its effectiveness

4. With the business owner, develop a calendar for touch point offerings and brand improvement activities.

5. With the business owner create a draft budget of the cost of each touch point activity

Assemble Your Marketing Plan (Big 5 Question 5)

The order may differ slightly from this presentation

The order of your checklist may differ slightly from the Sales and Marketing Pro Software

You checklist will contain a reference map to the software components.

You may not be able to get all of the information on the checklists from the business owner, but try to get as much as you can

All of the steps you have just seen will be on your Marketing Plan Checklists

Designed to be used with Duct Tape Marketing The sections in the software differ from order

chapters in the book, but has references The software has sections to input most of the

information from your checklists but not all of it. Your team will save and present the following

separately:◦ Basic business information◦ Answers to the Big 5 Questions◦ The SWOT Analysis

The Software: Sales and Marketing Pro

Questions?

Thank you

Now Let’s Try It!