Marketing is NOT Everything

It’s a Three-Part Process

The Three Parts: Marketing, Sales, and Customer Service 

(These comments on Marketing, Sales, and Customer Service were originally posted at LearningEntrepreneurship.com and later included in Don’t Do It the Hard Way).

The building of a sustainable business around a marketable product or service requires loyal, long-term profitable customer relationships that can only be achieved with a consistently effective team effort supporting a three-part process of marketing, sales, and customer service.

Entrepreneurs often fall short in managing that process because they neglect it, or they think they understand it because they’re constantly exposed to so much of it. Or they assume their product is so good that it will sell itself.

All three elements of the process are essential to sustainable growth and they require focused effort and expertise to be applied to achieve the expected results.

Marketing

The process is to pursue the strategic objective of finding, attracting and retaining qualified customers who will not only provide continuous profitable revenue but will also become enthusiastic fans and influencers for new business. Marketing starts with doing the research to understand the market, buying behaviour and the target customer, then promoting the product and the brand to attract qualified leads for sales opportunities.  

Sales  

The sales effort should be focused on converting leads into satisfied customers by understanding their specific needs and selling the most appropriate product or service to meet their budget and timetable.

Customer Service

Customer service is responsible for ensuring that the organisation delivers as promised by the marketing and sales teams. Responding to questions, concerns and complaints in a way that ensures customer confidence in the organisation and builds loyalty to the brand.

Three simple steps, although each one can be a difficult challenge.

You’re always competing against others who have good products, loyal customers who are reluctant to switch, and often do it all better with more professional talent, bigger budgets, and greater brand awareness.     

Nobody told you success would be easy, I hope.

Don’t waste time doing it wrong while the competition moves ahead of you. Take the time to do it well. Monitor, measure and constantly adjust the processes to improve the results.  

Be better. Do better.

Be an Enlightened Entrepreneur.

Your Uncle Ralph,

Del Chatterson

Learn more about Enlightened Entrepreneurship at: LearningEntrepreneurship.com 

For more of Uncle Ralph's advice for Entrepreneurs read Don't Do It the Hard Way & The Complete Do-It-Yourself Guide to Business Plans.

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