MARKETING is what it takes to SUCCEED

No Business, No venture, Nobody succeeds in life or Business without being a successful marketer. Everybody needs it – Politicians, Babas, Soccer Teams, Hospitals, Schools, Businesses….

Be Happy that you are a Marketer

MARKETING is NOT SALES. Yes,sales is an important part of it.

MARKETING is about understanding the need, creating required Products, reaching the customer, communicating with it and satisfying the need of the customer.

Now, you know that when a school wants to know what is the profile of its students ( Market Research ), what it should teach students ( Deciding on Products to offer ), Designing syllabus ( Designing Products ), advertising the courses on offer ( Communication with TG ) , Helping students perform better in exams ( Customer Service ) and then seeing them succeed in completing the course , IT ACTUALLY PERFORMS MARKETING.

So, if a school does not know well what the students want OR How to advertise the courses on offer so as to reach right set of students, it has all chances to not achieve best possible success.

Likewise with Hospitals, NGOs, Political Outfits , YOU and everything and everybody else. So, No Marketing = Poor Success.

Yes, Be Happy that you are a Marketer

1. Be proud of your profession, World’s most successful people were / are Marketing People.

Actually, all jobs in life involve Marketing skills ! think about it ! All success people  in life are highly skilled Marketing people ( even they are not declared  marketers). PM Modi, Baba Ramdev, President Trump, Steve Jobs, Henry Ford, the list is countless…..

For Political parties, voters are customers. For Teachers, students and their parents are customers. For District Administrative Officials, citizens are customers. For Income Tax deptt, tax-payers are customers. To succeed in their jobs, they all have to excel in marketing.

Best part of your profession – You are a declared sales / Mktg personnel. So, you focus more and have better opportunities. Sales & Marketing remain one of the highest paid jobs in the world and no organisation can succeed without excellent Marketing people. Marketing people are usually very high on soft skills.

So, Be proud of your profession. The moment you are really proud, your way of looking at things ( and results ) change.

2. Know the Products & Category well.

You must know what you sell. What pain-areas / problems your products solve and how it adds value to your customers lives. What would happen if they don’t have your products ?How and why are your offerings better than competitors ?

3. Know your customers well – Who they are ? When, what, how, where they buy your offerings. Who advises / influences them ? More meetings, more people always does not mean more sales/ results if you are not meeting the right persons.

4. Think like your customers ( dealers in case of channel-based sales ) – Most Marketing people start pitching for orders/sales/ results, the moment they sense a person / organisation as prospect. Know that not pitching to the right customer and the right product WILL irritate him and you remain sure of losing orders. First listen to the customer, His /er requirements, match it with your products and then only offer the right match. See, which product/s in your bouquet matches with the requirements. Putting oneself ( mentally ) on the other side of the table and thinking like a customer really helps. Learn to disqualify if your product does not match the exact requirements. It always makes you a winner as you always get assured, repeat and continuous flow of orders if your offerings match with the requirements.

5. Talk and look meaningful, don’t oversell : Unless you solve customers problems, they would not be interested in you. Talking more and unnecessary will rob you of opportunities.

6. Talk to the buyers, not everybody : Not always who uses a product, are buyers. Like for Pharma companies, doctors are buyers ( of medicine ) and not the patients. Civil Engineering contractors / masons may be the right person to buy cement and TMT bars. Know whom to talk to, otherwise you end up wasting time and resources without gaining orders.

7. Don’t act Desperate : Customers buy when exactly they need a product / offering. Pestering a customer ( unnecessarily ) means losing a customer. Keep in touch but wait till the right time which assures you of better pricing and other returns.

8. Honesty pays. Agree to disqualification : If your offerings don’t match the exact requirements, agree to disqualify. Yes, a happy customer is the best ambassador and it really helps you get the leads.

9. Focus on satisfying a customer. Deliver exactly what you promised : As it is said, a satisfied customer is the best ambassador of your products. Instead of running here and there on many leads, focus on closing the deals in hand properly and you will witness a packed order book .

10. Physical & Mental fitness : While entering the domain, you always knew that sales & marketing requires hard work and continuous learning process. Also, every body, including your prospects like talking to a physically and mentally healthy person. 

Happy Marketing !