Archive for November, 2009
Marketing Systems are Out of Control.
Posted by: | CommentsMost Marketing systems are out of control. They have not been managed with understanding of the process speed and the effect of the flow on the process. As a result, performance has to be sub-standard. My marketing has too many variables to define my Value Stream! Can you afford to say that?
Depending on your industry, marketing can be anywhere between 5 to 30% of your total expenses. In most operations that I am familiar with it runs in the neighborhood of 5 to 10%. It is not uncommon to find labor at a similar amount. Would you accept the same amount of variability in your workforce? If you have variability in your marketing, why not cut the budget? Increasing it only will increase the variability. On the other hand, if you have low capacity you have little variation. Is that the problem you want to have?
Variation in demand and in processing time will have a major impact on your total process lead time. If you are functioning close to your optimum level, customers in your value stream, and you get a sudden rush of opportunities, the opportunities will be severally minimized by just variation alone.
How do you minimize variation and get a handle on the process? It has to do with segmentation. If you have not segmented your list properly, you have tremendous variation and the numbers you are looking are skewed. You must segment until you can get a handle on variation. It does not mean you have to segment to, there is none. You have to segment until you can start to minimize the variation that is incurring. You must conquer complexity by narrowly defining your problem.
Related Posts:
Value Stream Mapping for Marketing
Lean your Marketing thru Segmentation
Steps to creating your Need Statement
Posted by: | CommentsThe other day, I discussed Your Marketing Vision should define your Customer’s Core Problem, but how do you go about doing it. A simple exercise that I found useful was depicted in a book True Purpose: 12 Strategies for Discovering the Difference You Are Meant to Make
Stay away from editing it as much as possible, except for your grammar of course. You will water down the statement trying to appeal to everyone versus the segment you are actually marketing too. Do not worry about alienating anyone that is the purpose, discrimination in this sense is not bad! Tim says, “Remember that moving forward on your purpose means saying “no” to jobs, clients, and customers for whom your purpose is not appropriate. Therefore, your public purpose should be a simple and clear articulation in of what you do and who you do it for, in the most purposeful terms possible.”
Steps to creating your Need Statement:
1. Write down the list of possible options you need to choose from.
2. For each option, write a list of pros and cons.
3. Read each statement and rate them by the most useful aspects of your product or service.
4. Ask for advice from salespeople, customers, dealers and other stakeholders within the marketing segment. It is best to read it out loud to a client, such as an elevator speech would be used. The worst thing you could do is to do this by yourself.
5. Weighing these factors make a choice. It does not even have to be the best choice, just the one you choose to live with.
6. Now, try it out. If a sample client “doesn’t get it” then you may need to change the wording, not the meaning of the statement. If you statement inspires, you are ready for prime time. 7. If your sampling struggles with what you are offering, re-think your strategy going through these steps.
8. Re-read what others said about your offering.
9. Using what others said, brainstorm different ideas on how to say the message.
10. Now try different combinations of the 2 list to come up with simple statements that describe what you do and for whom you do it for.
11. Read the statement out loud to others. See which one creates the most interest.
I may go one step further. Play telephone with a group of 4 to 5 people. The message that comes through the last person is more than likely the message that will get transmitted throughout the rest of your marketing process.
P.S. If you are getting ready to map that Customer starting point in your Value Stream Map, this is what you write in that little box with the sawtooth shape on top.
Your Marketing Vision should define your Customer’s Core Problem
Posted by: | CommentsToday’s products and services reflect greater marketing segmentation. 
As you segment, each segment will include fewer customers. However, it should enable you to identify the individual stages more effectively or determine your material and information flow needed in each step. It will also allow you to define waste and create better value for your customer. In fact, this is basically the definition of Value Stream Mapping.
As a result of this exercise, you will change the shape of your Pillar. You should be able to shorten your cycle in some and as a result decrease your expenditure in the marketing process. Others, on the other hand, may be lengthened and a total different approach may have to be utilized. A good example of this may be in the pursuit of a governmental contract. The point to be taken is that there is nothing wrong with either situation, what is wrong is treating each segment the same.
The key ingredient to get started is developing the NEED statement for each marketing segment or Pillar. The statement should clearly define your CUSTOMER’S CORE PROBLEM and your ability to solve that problem. Defining this alone will provide clarity throughout the various stages in your marketing process. The NEED statement is a living document that will evolve as your product/service and the customer’s use of it changes. Further development of this statement should include limits on cost and time to keep your Pillar within boundaries that you are able to manage.
The point of defining the Need Statement is to succeed at developing a manageable process. We want the resulting marketing phases to meet our customer’s needs, at the right time and at the right cost. It must do this in a way that maximizes our investment in the process. Marketing can be a complex and often risky process and in today’s world it mandates speedy development. The Lean Marketing process is geared to provide a framework and specific tools for efficiently and predictably reaching goals.
Related Posts:
Following the Customer’s Need in your Value Stream Map
The Pillars of the Lean Marketing House
Value Stream Mapping for Marketing
Get Rid of Your Marketing Vision Statement and Address the NEED!
