1)     Consumer Products and

2)     Industrial Products.

Consumer Products or Goods

Consumer goods are those which are used by ultimate consumers or households and in such form that they can be used without further commercial processing. Consumer goods can be divided into

1)     Convenience Goods,

2)     Shopping Goods,

3)     Durables or Durable Goods, and

4)     Non-durables or Non-durable Goods.

Convenience Goods

These are goods which consumers generally purchase frequently without making an effort or as a habit. The purchase is almost spontaneous and the person has already a predetermined brand in mind. These convenience goods include soaps, newspapers, toothpastes, toiletries, cigarettes, etc. Often convenience goods are bought impulsively or spontaneously. For example, when a person goes shopping around and sea a product which attracts his eyes, he buys it on impulse. Such goods are not purchased on regular basis. For example, when a person goes shopping around and sea a blinds product like vertical blinds, roman shades, which attracts his eyes, he buys it on impulse. Such goods are not purchased on regular basis.

Product positioning: You know that all products do not appeal to all income groups or age groups, unless they are meant to satisfy basic necessities. A manufacturer can thus use the need-oriented segmentation. For example, a toothpaste manufacturer may appeal to prevention of ‘tooth decay’, while another might offer ‘sociability’ in the sense of preventing bad breath. Still another may provide the need to be ‘attractive’ by emphasizing the whiteness of the teeth which his product, toothpaste, gives. This is the concept of product positioning. In the case of vertical blinds or roman shades product positioning can be done in terms of pricing, size details, product specifications and installations guide, user manuals and in many other ways. Thus positioning is used for bringing about differentiation in a manufacturer’s product.

A motor car in terms of marketing is something more than merely assembled pieces of metal, rubber, etc. It certainly provides ‘transportation’ and that is one of the important benefits provided by a car. However, this is not the only reason why motor cars are thought. Why some people move about in expensive foreign cars? The expensive cars obviously provide a sort of ‘image’ or a ‘status symbol’ for the purchaser.

So it can be said that a product is a combination of several characteristics-physical and psychological. How people personally feel about, or perceive the product is just as important as the actual physical characteristics of it. For a term life insurance rates providing company, term life insurance is their product. This is related with several psychological and financial characters.

Please remember that the customer is not interested in your goods. He is interested in himself and what ‘benefits’ he will get, and not in you or your organization. Thus a product is the bundle of benefits or satisfactions offered to a customer. This is the meaning which must be accepted in a marketing sense, so that you become ‘consumer-oriented’. Now you can modify your answers about what they were selling in connection with soaps, bulbs and drills as given above.

Let us take the example of soaps. Is a salesman selling some chemicals put together in the form of a rectangle or any other shape called soap? Why not think of some of the advertisements that you have come across in connection with soaps. Take Hindustan Lever’s LUX soap. What are they selling? You must have noticed the film actress in the advertisement for LUX. Are they selling the film actress? Obviously not! They are selling a “good beautiful complexion” or a “lovely skin”.

Different answers were received from different groups. One group answered, “Soaps”. When asked, “What? What did you say?” the salesmen would immediately answer back, “Soaps, soaps, soaps”. They even tried to help the seminar leader by putting forward their right hand with the first finger and the thumb holding something rectangular, thereby assisting him to visualize soap. Second groups answered woven wood shades, roller shades, blinds. When ask again they replied blinds, blinds, blinds.

In case of another consumer products organization, the salesmen’s answer was “Bulbs”. When seminar leader frowned and asked them, “What did you say?” the answer came back, “Bulbs, bulbs, bulbs, Sir”. They even put out their right hand and moved the fingers of their hand to show something blinking, so that instructor understands what they were selling.

The third group answered, “Drills”. When asked again, in the same way, they replied “Drills, drills, drills ….brr….brr…brr”. Thus they tried to explain, as if the instructor was deaf and could not understand the meaning of drills even by making those funny noises.

Now the question is, “Were the salesmen correct in their answers?” Before we analyse the answers, let us give you another question. You may like to fill in the blank or complete the following sentence.

       “A good salesman does not sell goods. He sells……….”

What is product? 

In order to be effective at selling or marketing, it is necessary to have a proper perspective of the meaning of a product, or how it should be viewed from a marketing perspective. You may like to think a little deeply on what is meant by the word ‘product’. Let us understand this with the help of an illustration.

Whilst conducting seminars for experienced salesmen who had been in the field for 10 to 12 years, salesmen were asked a question,        “What are you selling?”  We will discuss the answers of question in detail in next post.

Unvaried techniques are used for analyzing data when there is a single measurement of each element or unit in the sample, or, if there are several measurements of each element, each RCH variable is analyzed in isolation. On the other hand, multivariate techniques are used for analyzing data when there are two or more measurements on each element and the variables are analyzed simultaneously.

Step 6: Report Preparation and Presentation

The entire project should be documented in a written report which addresses the specific research questions identified, describes the approach, the research design, data collection, and data analysis procedures adopted, and present the results and the major findings. The findings should be presented in a comprehensible format so that they can be readily used in the decision making process. In addition, an oral presentation should be made to management using tables, figures, and graphs to enhance clarity and impact.

For these reasons, interviews with experts are more useful in conducting marketing research. Interview of a blinds manufacturing company who make roller shades and woven wood shades, his review on blinds industry is more important than someone who is not belong to the same industry. While to do a market research for term life insurance industry, interview of term life insurance agents is more useful than others. For industrial firms and for products of a technical nature, where it is relatively easy to identify and approach the experts. This method is also helpful in situations where little information is available from other sources, as in the case of radically new products.

1. Secondary data analysis
2. Qualitative research
3. Methods of collecting quantitative data (survey, observation, and experimentation)
4. Definition of the information needed
5. Measurement and scaling procedures
6. Questionnaire design
7. Sampling process and sample size
8. Plan of data analysis

Step 4: Field Work or Data Collection 

Data collection involves a field force or staff that operates either in the field, as in the case of personal interviewing (in-home, mall intercept, or computer-assisted personal interviewing), from an office by telephone (telephone or computer-assisted telephone interviewing), or through mail (traditional mail and mail panel surveys with persecuted households). Proper selection, training, supervision, and evaluation of the field force help minimize data-collection errors.

Step 5: Data Preparation and Analysis 

Data preparation includes the editing, coding, transcription, and verification of data. Each questionnaire or observation form is inspected, or edited, and, if necessary, corrected. Number or letter codes are assigned to represent each response to each question in the questionnaire. The data from the questionnaires are transcribed or key-punched on to magnetic tape, or disks or input directly into the computer. Verification ensures that the data from the original questionnaires have been accurately transcribed, while data analysis, guided by the plan of data analysis, gives meaning to the data that have been collected.

Development of an approach to the problem includes formulating an objective or theoretical framework, analytical models, research questions, hypotheses, and identifying characteristics or factors that can influence the research design. This process is guided by discussions with management and industry experts, case studies and simulations, analysis of secondary data, qualitative research and pragmatic considerations.

Step 3: Research Design Formulation

A research design is a framework or blueprint for conducting the marketing research project. It details the procedures necessary for obtaining the required information, and its purpose is to design a study that will test the hypotheses of interest, determine possible answers to the research questions, and provide the information needed for decision making.  Market research helps interior designing company who make woven wood blinds or roller shades blinds to design new and customize design for their products. Market research helps them to know what customer test and new trend in the market. Conducting exploratory research, precisely defining the variables, and designing appropriate scales to measure them are also a part of the research design. The issue of how the data should be obtained from the respondents (for example, by conducting a survey or an experiment) must be addressed. It is also necessary to design a questionnaire and a sampling plan to select respondents for the study.

We will discuss some important point for formulating research design and other stages for marketing research process in next post.

Contents

1 Stages of marketing research process

2 Secondary Data Analysis

3 Qualitative Researches

4 References

5 Further reading

Today we discuss on Problem Definition step for which is a part of the Stages of marketing research process

Stages of marketing research process

Step 1: Problem Definition

The first step in any marketing research project is to define the problem. In defining the problem, the researcher should take into account the purpose of the study, the relevant background information, what information is needed, and how it will be used in decision making. Problem definition involves discussion with the decision makers, interviews with industry experts, analysis of secondary data, and, perhaps, some qualitative research, such as focus groups. Once the problem has been precisely defined, the research can be designed and conducted properly.

Customers occupy the central role in the marketing research process. As a company or organization, the overwhelming majority of research you are currently considering likely revolves around your customers: 

1. Current customers
2. Prospective customers
3. Lost customers
4. Members
5. Community
6. Employees (internal customers)
7. Shareholders (internal customers)  

Whether you are creating a new marketing research program or perhaps revising an existing marketing research program, what are the steps you should take?

While there are dozens of little steps along the way, each of those steps fits into one of the 6 major steps of the marketing research process.

They are:

1. Identifying and defining your problem
2. Developing your approach
3. Establishing research design and strategy
4. Collecting the data
5. Performing data analysis
6. Reporting and presentation

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Marketing research is objective. It attempts to provide accurate information that reflects a true state of affairs. It should be conducted impartially. While research is always influenced by the researcher’s research philosophy, it should be free from the personal or political biases of the researcher or the management. Research which is motivated by personal or political gain involves a breach of professional standards. Such research is deliberately biased so as to result in predetermined findings. The motto of every researcher should be, “Find it and tell it like it is.” The objective nature of marketing research underscores the importance of ethical considerations, which are discussed later in the chapter.

Marketing research involves the identification, collection, analysis, and dissemination of information. Each phase of this process is important. We identify or define the marketing research problem or opportunity and then determine what information is needed to investigate it., and inferences are drawn.

Marketing management often finds it necessary to invest in research to collect the data required to perform accurate marketing analysis. As such, they often conduct market research (alternately marketing research) to obtain this information. Marketers employ a variety of techniques to conduct market research, but some of the more common include:

1. Qualitative marketing research, such as focus groups
2. Quantitative marketing research, such as statistical surveys
3. Experimental techniques such as test markets
4. Observational techniques such as ethnographic (on-site) observation

Marketing managers may also design and oversee various environmental scanning and competitive intelligence processes to help identify trends and inform the company’s marketing analysis.

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Marketing research and analysis

In order to make fact-based decisions regarding marketing strategy and design effective, cost-efficient implementation programs, and firms must possess a detailed, objective understanding of their own business and the market in which they operate. In analyzing these issues, the discipline of marketing management often overlaps with the related discipline of strategic planning.

Traditionally, marketing analysis was structured into three areas: Customer analysis, Company analysis, and Competitor analysis (so-called “3Cs” analysis). More recently, it has become fashionable in some marketing circles to divide these further into certain five “Cs”: Customer analysis, Company analysis, Collaborator analysis, Competitor analysis, and analysis of the industry Context. The focus of customer analysis is to develop a scheme for market segmentation, breaking down the market into various constituent groups of customers, which are called customer segments or market segments.

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But because many businesses operate with a much more limited definition of marketing, such statements can appear controversial or even ludicrous to some business executives. This is especially true in those companies where the marketing department is responsible for little more than developing sales brochures and executing advertising campaigns. The broader, more sophisticated definitions of marketing management from Drucker, Kotler and other scholars are therefore juxtaposed against the narrower operating reality of many businesses. The source of confusion here is often that inside any given firm, the term marketing management may be interpreted to mean whatever the marketing department happens to do, rather than a term that encompasses all marketing activities — even those marketing activities that are actually performed by other departments, such as the sales, finance, or operations departments. If, for example, the finance department of a given company makes pricing decisions (for deals, proposals, contracts, etc.), that finance department has responsibility for an important component of marketing management – pricing.

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From this perspective, the scope of marketing management is quite broad. The implication of such a definition is that any activity or resource the firm uses to acquire customers and manage the company’s relationships with them is within the purview of marketing management. Additionally, the Kotler and Keller definition encompasses both the development of new products and services and their delivery to customers.

Marketing expert Regis McKenna expressed a similar viewpoint in his influential 1991 Harvard Business Review article “Marketing is Everything.” McKenna argued that because marketing management encompasses all factors that influence a company’s ability to deliver value to customers; it must be “all-pervasive, part of everyone’s job description, from the receptionists to the Board of Directors.”

We will continue our discussion on Marketing Management in our next post.

ref: wikipedia, mini blinds

The Sales department’s goal would be to improve the interaction between the customer and the sales facility or mechanism (example, web site) and/or salesperson. Sales management would break down the selling process and then increase the effectiveness of the discreet processes as well as the interaction between processes. For example, in many out-bound sales environments, the typical process is out bound calling, the sales pitch, handling objections, opportunity identification, and the close. Each step of the process has sales-related issues, skills, and training needs as well as marketing solutions to improve each discrete step, as well as the whole process. 

One further common complication of marketing involves the inability to measure results for a great deal of marketing initiatives. In essence, many marketing and advertising executives often lose sight of the objective of sales/revenue/profit, as they focus on establishing a creative/innovative program, without concern for the top or bottom lines. Such is a fundamental pitfall of marketing for marketing’s sake.

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Marketing and sales are very different, but have the same goal. Marketing improves the selling environment and plays a very important role in sales. If the marketing department generates a potential customers list, it can be beneficial for sales. The marketing department’s goal is increase the number of interactions between potential customers and the sales team using promotional techniques such as advertising, sales promotion, publicity, and public relations, creating new sales channels, or creating new products (new product development), among other things.

In most large corporations, the marketing department is structured in a similar fashion to the sales department and the managers of these teams must coordinate efforts in order to drive profits and business success. For example, an “inbound” focused campaign seeks to drive more customers “through the door” giving the sales department a better chance of selling their product to the consumer. A good marketing program would address any potential downsides as well.

ref: wikipedia

Sales Managers

It is the goal of a qualified and talented sales manager to implement various sales strategies and management techniques in order to facilitate improved profits and increased sales volume. They are also responsible for coordinating the sales and marketing department as well as oversight concerning the fair and honest execution of the sales process by his agents.

Sales Persons

The primary function of professional sales is to generate and close leads, educate prospects, fill needs and satisfy wants of consumers appropriately, and therefore turn prospective customers into actual ones. The successful questioning to understand a customer’s goal and requirements relevant to the product, the further creation of a valuable solution by communicating the necessary information that encourages a buyer to achieve their goal at an economic cost is the responsibility of the salesperson or the sales engine (e.g. internet, vending machine etc). A good sales person should never miss sell or over evaluate the customer’s requirements.

Sales broker or Seller agency or seller agent:
This is a traditional role where the salesperson represents a person or company on the selling end of the deal.

Buyers broker or Buyer brokerage:
This is where the salesperson represents the consumer making the purchase. This is most often applied in large transactions.

Disclosed dual agent:
This is where the salesperson represents both parties in the sale and acts as a mediator for the transaction. The role of the salesperson here is to over see that both parties receive an honest and fair deal, and is responsible to both.

Transaction broker:
This is where the salesperson doesn’t represent either party, but handles the transaction only. This is where the seller owes no responsibility to either party getting a fair or honest deal, just that all of the papers are handled properly.

Sales Outsourcing :
This is direct branded representation where the sales reps are recruited, hired, and managed by an external entity but hold quotas, represent themselves as the brand of the client, and report all activities (through their own sales management channels) back to the client. It is akin to a virtual extension of a sales force.

ref: wikipedia, Leadorganizer, insurance software, shopblinendsonline.com

The “deal is closed”, means the customer has consented to the proposed product or service by making full or partial payment (as in case of installments) to the seller.

A sale is completed by the seller, the owner of the goods. It starts with consent (or agreement) to an acquisition or appropriation or request followed by the passing of title (property or ownership) in the item and the application and due settlement of a price, the obligation for which arises due to the seller’s requirement to pass ownership, being a price the seller is happy to part with ownership of or any claim upon the item. The purchaser, though a party to the sale, does not execute the sale, only the seller does that. To be precise the sale completes prior to the payment and gives rise to the obligation of payment. If the seller completes the first two above stages (consent and passing ownership) of the sale prior to settlement of the price the sale is still valid and gives rise to an obligation to pay.

ref: wikipedia, LeadOrganizer, insurance software, guaranteedblinds

• Understanding the economic structure of your industry
  
• Identifying segments within your market
  
• Identifying your target market
  
• Identifying your best customers in place
  
•  Doing marketing research to develop profiles (demographic, psychographic, and behavioral) of your core customers
  
• Understanding your competitors and their products
   
• Developing new products
  
• Establishing environmental scanning mechanisms to detect opportunities and threats
  
• Understanding your company’s strengths and weaknesses
  
• Auditing your customers’ experience of your brand in full
  
• Developing marketing strategies for each of your products using the marketing mix variables of price, product, distribution, and promotion
  
• Coordinating the sales function with other parts of the promotional mix (such as advertising, sales promotion, public relations, and publicity)
  
• Creating a sustainable competitive advantage
  
• Understanding where you want your brands to be in the future, and providing an empirical basis for writing marketing plans on a regular basis to help you get there
  
• Providing input into feedback systems to help you monitor and adjust the process
  

·         The sales manager, rather than gathering all the call sheets from various sales people and tabulating the results, will have the results automatically presented in easy to understand tables, charts, or graphs. This saves time for the manager.

·         Activity reports, information requests, orders booked, and other sales information will be sent to the sales manager more frequently, allowing him/her to respond more directly with advice, product in-stock verifications, and price discount authorizations. This gives management more hands-on control of the sales process if they wish to use it.

·         The sales manager can configure the system so as to automatically analyze the information using sophisticated statistical techniques, and present the results in a user-friendly way. This gives the sales manager information that is more useful in :

1.  Providing current and useful sales support materials to their sales staff

2.  Providing marketing research data: demographic, psychographic, behavioural, product acceptance, product problems, detecting trends

3.  Providing market research data: industry dynamics, new competitors, new products from competitors, new promotional campaigns from competitors, macro-environmental scanning, detecting trends

4.  Co-ordinate with other parts of the firm, particularly marketing, production, and finance

5.  Identifying your most profitable customers, and your problem customers

6.  Tracking the productivity of their sales force by combining a number of performance measures such as: revenue per sales person, revenue per territory, margin by customer segment, margin by customer, number of calls per day, time spent per contact, revenue per call, cost per call, entertainment cost per call, ratio of orders to calls, revenue as a percentage of sales quota, number of new customers per period, number of lost customers per period, cost of customer acquisition as a percentage of expected lifetime value of customer, percentage of goods returned, number of customer complaints, and number of overdue accounts. More complex models like the PAIRS model (by Parasuraman and Day) and the Call Plan model (by Lodish) can also be used. 

The Internet has brought many unique benefits to marketing, one of which being lower costs for the distribution of information and media to a global audience. The interactive nature of Internet marketing, both in terms of providing instant response and eliciting responses, is a unique quality of the medium. Internet marketing is sometimes considered to have a broader scope because it refers to digital media such as the Internet, e-mail, and wireless media; however, Internet marketing also includes management of digital customer data and electronic customer relationship management (ECRM) systems.

Guaranteedblinds.com offers window blind & shade products such as wood blinds, faux wood blinds, mini blinds, and vertical blinds online which is best example of internet marketing. Internet marketing ties together creative and technical aspects of the Internet, including design, development, advertising, and sales. Internet marketing does not simply entail building or promoting a website, nor does it mean placing a banner ad on another website. Effective Internet marketing requires a comprehensive strategy that synergizes a given company’s business model and sales goals with its website function and appearance, focusing on its target market through proper choice of advertising type, media, and design.