Module 5
Open yourself to relevant ideas of your
Implementation of Marketing Plans and
Strategies
Implementing the Marketing Plans and
Strategies
Preparing a marketing plan is research base,
very technical, and focused on coming up with a
methodical marketing plan.
Implementing a marketing plan is strategy and
tactics-based, needs manpower to execute, and
is results-oriented.
Effective marketing implementation starts with
listing the marketing activities and those who will
be involved in executing the tasks. The
entrepreneur must be able to know who are
responsible for what and must manage them to
perform their functions effectively. It is important
to monitor the specific responsibilities of the
marketing team members for the specific tasks
related to each and every marketing plan
component.
Steps in Marketing Plan Implementation
Step 1. Divide the marketing plan into small
manageable pieces time lines.
The entrepreneur must discuss the
marketing plan and the marketing objectives
thoroughly to the marketing team at the onset
and establish accountabilities. The value
proposition, the unique selling proposition, and
the 7Ps or marketing mix must be clear with the
members of the marketing team and why these
were chosen to best communicate the product
or service to target customers.
Gantt Chart is an important implementation tool
that enumerates all the planned marketing
activities into one file and arranges the
marketing activities chronologically, together
with the interrelations with each other and other
dependencies.
Step 2. Explain and delegate the marketing
tasks to assigned individuals
Entrepreneur must discuss the marketing
objectives and specific marketing tasks to
assigned people so they know what they will do
and when to deliver them. The entrepreneur
must also update, monitor, and evaluate the
marketing assignments every week or every
month depending on the importance and
urgency of the marketing task.
Step 3. Keep the communication line open
It is important to avoid implementation
issues. This is very critical because if there is a
communication gap, customers will be the ones
to suffer.
Step 4. Monitor accomplishments and progress
Each of the marketing team member’s tasks
must be monitored and evaluated to see if the
deliverables were done correctly and timely. The
entrepreneur must also review the results
according to standards if there are marketing
tasks that were not performed as planned, the
entrepreneur must help the employee.
Step 5.
marketing team
Because the ones in the frontline are the
entrepreneur’s marketing team members, the
entrepreneur should listen carefully to all their
specific insights and findings and document
them. They have the first hand experience and
idea about the behavior, psychology,
demographics, and geography of the target
market. They can better describe the picture of
reality – the marketing plan implementation
results and other relevant feedback that may be
covered by the marketing plan.
Step 6. adapt to the internal and external factors
that affect the marketing function
The entrepreneur must always be at pace
with the changes happening within and outside
the environment where his business operates.
He must not ignore all relevant factors so he
knows how to counter or follow them by devising
a revised marketing plan. A marketing plan is a
work or progress and must be revisited
accordingly. It evolves in relation to the internal
movements and the market condition ehre it
operates.
Step 7. Incorporate incentives and penalties for
motivations
Incentives and penalties will always remind
the members of the team to keep themselves on
their toes. A congratulatory remark plus a tap in
the back means the team did a task right,
whereas repeated coaching sessions and
reminders mean the team member was not quite
effective in the task given, so they so be given
reasonable chances before replacing them or
transferring them.
Step 8. Analyze and interpret the results
The entrepreneur must analyze and interpret
the overall results of the marketing plan
implementation. Each accomplished marketing
task must be marked as a milestone to
recognize that a task is already executed as
envisioned. All relevant insights and learning
must be recognized and incorporated in the next
marketing plan. Effective marketing strategies
and tactics must be maintained and monitored if
they still work.
Actual selling of a Product or Service
Actual selling of a product or service may
vary per person or per business. Sellers are
expected to be skilled in probing and digging
deep into the needs and wants of the customers.
Different selling strategies of entrepreneurs:
1. COLD CALLS - this is a selling strategy
whereby the seller calls a random person who
has no relationships with the business yet but is
considered as a potential customer. This selling
strategy is one of the most difficult to pull off.
The seller should expect that the customers are
“cold” and skeptic when he sells the product to
them.
2. CONSULTATIVE SELLING – it is a dialog
process between the buyer and the seller ( who
acts as an expert consultant) as to how the
buyer’s problem or pain points can be
addressed by the product or service of the
seller.
3. DIRECT SELLING – a selling strategy that is
very common, it is where an independent direct
seller goes directly to the customer’s house or
office and presents his products for selling..
4. PERSUASIVE SELLING – it is often
associated with being pushy, but is different in
such a way that it selling with subtlety. This is
positioning the product or service as rare, questions related to price or other proposition.
limited, or recommended by experts. It is able to Customers need to be assured that the value of
engage a customer in a conversation rather than their money is satisfied by the value of the
a sales pitch, and put the customer at ease. product or service. The seller must address to
the unique needs of customers based on their
Steps in Selling: interests, needs, and situations to proceed with
1. Find prospects. The entrepreneur has to closing the sale.
choose an initial group of people that has
common interests and preferences. This 4. Close the sale. The entrepreneur must close
mechanism lessens unnecessary marketing and the sale by ensuring that both the seller and the
selling expenses and makes the strategy more buyer agree to the conditions of the sale. The
effective and suited to the primary target market. entrepreneur must inspire the buyer to instigate
an action by making a firm commitment to buy
2. Sell credibly to your primary target market. the product or avail of the service.
The selling presentation is one of the most
challenging tasks in selling. The entrepreneur or 5. Develop a long-lasting relationship with
his sales team must contact the prospects in any customers.
of the possible channels where they can easily Closing the sale spearheads a long-lasting
reached such as face-to-face, Internet, or any relationship with customers. Entrepreneur must
other creative strategic channel where they will ensure that he asks for customer feedback
be enticed to buy. regarding the product or service sold so that he
4 Types of Sales Presentation knows if the customer is satisfied or not.
1. Stimulus response – offering the customer a
compelling proposition that triggers them to
initiate purchase.
2. Formula selling – follows a standardized
selling approach or based on a formula.
3. Canned presentation – it is a sales
presentation memorized by the presenter.
4. Need presentation – it is a question and
answer presentation with the aim of
understanding the exact needs and wants of the
customers.
3. Manage customers’ inquiries and
objections. Customers are not buying for the
sake of buying and they are the major critics of
the entrepreneur. They are usually asking