Introduction

Walmart is the largest retail store in the US. It has over 3, 700  stores countrywide and many others internationally. Despite these positive results, there is a need for injection of new ideas in order to ensure that the retail giant sustains its position as a market leader. The essay seeks to examine its marketing strategies in the present and possible strategies to ensure future growth. (MSNBC, 2007b)

Walmart Strategic business goals and objectives

Walmart has always aimed at increasing sales through its friendly prices. This image has stuck with the company for a very long time. Not only is the company associated with low prices, but it has a variety of items under one roof. These qualities favor the rural clientele.

The company is driven by a commitment to business excellence. This is seen by the quality of care accorded to customers once they report to their retail stores. This is ensured by the participation of employees in this business goal. The company has cultivated a culture of perfection in that they always want to be on top. The Walmart marketing manager has said that Walmart’s major business objective is to ensure that their sales are always increasing. It is one thing to get to the top but remaining there is different. The company ensures their growth rate does not stagnate. Other companies usually work on increasing their performance and once they have reached those targets, they choose to relax. However, this does not apply to Walmart; the company ensures that they always look for ways of sustaining their competitive advantage.

The Company is driven by the pursuance of technological improvements. This is achieved through the use of new technologies in service delivery. Creativity and innovation is another business objective for the company. Through the efforts of their employees, the company aims at maintaining their market positions by brainstorming and looking for new ways of attracting potential clients. (MSNBC, 2007b)

The Company also values being considered as a strategic community partner. The company’s mission is ‘saving money to live better’. This is an image that the company has worked on very well. Many people consider Walmart as a consumer friendly retailer. The company has cultivating this image through a number of ways. First of all, through their consumer friendly prices, through their satisfactory customer service, and also through their convenience as a one stop shopping centre.

Walmart uses the aspect of availability as another business objective. The Company has opened up a series of locations in different parts of the country. This means that customers are not inconvenienced when trying to locate them. Additionally, it becomes very difficult to ignore the store when one can see it in virtually all parts of the country. This aspect of availability is one of the reasons why the company has done very well in the past. (MSNBC, 2007b)

Analyzing Walmart’s situation

Walmart is dealing with attacks from a range of stakeholders in the retail industry. For instance Trade unions, human rights organizations and former employees. these groups have all accused the retailer of abusing its employee’s rights. They assert that Walmart discourages its employees from participating in trade unions. Employee rights groups argue that the company’s enumeration package does not reflect the rich profit margins that the company enjoys currently. In the year 2006, Maryland legislature passed a law that would force Walmart to spend a specified amount on health insurance. However, this law was reversed by a federal court. Additionally, some groups have been formed to specifically give anti-Walmart remarks. For instance WakeupWalmart protesters assert that Walmart’s advertisements on their corporate responsibility efforts indicate that Walmart wants to fool the eyes of the American public. Such an image could damage the company’s public relations and this could drive away certain precious clients.

The company has expanded rapidly over the past years. With its three thousand seven thousand retail chains located in the US, the retailer has saturated the market. It is difficult to get to a certain town without locating a Walmart store. This means that the company might face severe obstacles in its expansion procedures. It would therefore be wise for the country to consider other parts of the world such as China and India. However, efforts to replicate this success in other countries have not bore fruit as the country has not done very well in South Korea after recording low profits for a while, the company was forced to close its subsidiary in Germany. The company had to sell this subsidiary at a throw away price in order to stay ahead. Therefore, expansion strategies need to be done systematically (MSNBC, 2006)

The corporation is also faced with the challenge of continuously attracting clients into its stores. Clients have already decided on what they want to buy in Walmart and it is difficult to convince others to join in. This is the reason why the company’s client traffic has been reducing in 2007. The company has reached saturated levels in the US market and it is difficult to convince other individuals to continue with the company. (MSNBC, 2006)

Walmart is faced with the challenge of making its stores more convenient. The company’s representatives asserted that they may consider reducing the sizes of their stores in the future because it is difficult to navigate the stores for just one particular item. There is a need for the company to change its image from its large rural base into smaller, urban and more convenient stores. The company’s major competitors have already embraced this concept as Tesco of the UK has small stores specializing in specific products. (MSNBC, 2006)

Strategic goals for Walmart’s future growth

Walmart needs to target external markets. However, the company should change its market entry techniques. It should focus on customizing its business objectives within each country.

The retail giant needs to make product quality as part its major business strategy. Quality in this regard refers to both the customer service and the nature of the products in its stores.

The company needs to reinforce an image of a community based organization. This means that its employee practices should be enhanced and it should also maintain its low price offering. (MSNBC, 2007a)

Strategic marketing program marketing objectives, targeting and positioning

The Company needs to change its marketing objectives in such a way that they can attract a different market segment. In the past, the company has been associated with the middle class or low-income earners. Affluent clients tend to shy away from the retail giant due to the misconception that Walmart’s products are of lower quality. Most of them use the store for pharmaceutical and grocery shopping and pay no attention to the stores when it comes to other options. The Company has tried to establish this concept in the past. In the year 2006, the company opened up stores with this objective in mind. They stocked a wide range of sophisticated products such as jewelry, electronics, a sushi bar and a variety of electronics. The affluent market is crucial in the company’s efforts to secure new markets because they have saturated current ones. Almost all middle class shoppers prefer Walmart. Therefore, in order to sustain its position, the company needs to assess what competitors are doing to boost sales. Target – Walmart’s rival – has managed to attract affluent consumers. Consequently, Walmart must try and give these shoppers a reason for shopping at the company. Affluent shoppers appreciate quality and need to be assured that they can find it at Walmart. The reason why the company failed in its 2006 efforts to target these clients is because it went about implementing this goal in the wrong way. First of all, the company needs to improve the appearance of their stores through creative store displays. This is particularly important for stores allocated in affluent neighborhoods.

Walmart needs to work on the quality of its items. Some of the affluent consumers believe that Walmart has failed in this regard. In instances where the perceptions about the company are totally wrong, then the company can improve this image by marketing its products in a different way. They could talk about the quality of their items with particular emphasis on merchandise that affluent workers prefer. However, the company should be very careful about the type of products they choose to sell. In the year 2006, the company wanted to follow their rival- Target’s product portfolio. However, this did not work very well because they tried including designer labels in their apparel section. This is a very tricky item to sell and may not necessarily give positive responses. Designer items fluctuate from season to season and it may be difficult for the company to keep up with the trends. It would have been wiser if the company stuck with electronic items as these are less susceptible to change. Additionally, the company needs to make this transition slowly. All successful entrepreneurs agree that there is no need to change a winning team. Therefore, even if Walmart plans on targeting those affluent consumers. They must ensure that these changes do not scare away current clients. Walmart should do a thorough market analysis to find out the most appropriate manner of attracting these clients. Other retail stores that have made a name for themselves among these affluent shoppers have been working on this image for centuries. Consequently, Walmart should not imagine that they could do this overnight. (MSNBC, 2007b)

Additionally, the company should venture into other countries. Despite the fact that the company has done very poorly internationally: it closes one in every three stores overseas, there is need to expand operations. Since the company has reached saturated levels locally, then there is a need to tap some of the internationally resources. First of all, the company should exercise a lot of selectivity before choosing a particular country. Part of the reason why the South Korean outlet had to be closed was that the company still used the same marketing strategies applicable in the US. Different countries have different preferences, the company’s strategy of saving money to live better may not be feasible everywhere. The company should not enter international markets directly. It could collaborate with local leaders in those respective countries in order to work with a winning formula. Alternatively, the company should test an international market by beginning with fewer and smaller stores. If the response is good then it could proceed to expand. Countries chosen for expansion should be economically secure. Therefore, increasing the number of stores in China and India is probably a good idea. However, this should be done slowly and after thorough research. (Pallavi, 2007)

Marketing program

Product

The company should not abandon its idea of attracting the affluent client. However, this should be done sequentially; the Company had introduced Metro 7 stalls in 1,500 stores. These stores offered jewelry, expensive wine and other expensive commodities. The reason why this did not work very well was that the change was introduced rather drastically. The company should introduce expensive products only in stores located in affluent neighborhoods. (Pallavi, 2007)

Additionally, the company needs to exercise selectivity in the types of products chosen. The company should stay away from designer clothes or organic foods because these did not yield good results in the past. The focus should be on electronics.

The company needs to inject more creativity in its product offerings. It indicated this through its partnership agreement with Canopy furnishings. During the month of March this year, the company introduced a range of furniture items from Canopy and it is very optimistic that this would do well. The company should follow such an approach. For instance, the company should partner with other brands for household items and electronic companies. By securing well-known suppliers, the corporation can offer better quality products thus attracting the eye of the affluent clients who are particularly interested in these items.

Place

Since the Company has already saturated the local market, then the focus should be on international markets. However, entry into those international markets should be done tactfully. Walmart should choose economically secure countries. The stores found in these areas need to be located strategically. (Pallavi, 2007)

Price

The pricing aspect of Walmart’s marketing mix is part of the reason why the company has done so well so far; this is its winning formula. The company should maintain their low pricing strategies but they should merge this with product choices. They need to improve on the quality of service and their items in order to make themselves more appropriate in this scenario.

Promotion

One of the most notable promotional strategies in Walmart is the use of public relations. The company takes part in charitable events and has marketed itself as a community based institution. However, there have been a number of accusations in the media that Walmart exploits its employees. The company has had to grapple with lawsuits centering on this poor image. The company has already embarked on this program by marketing the company as a fair employer; it provides its employees with a good health insurance pan. The following issues have been highlighted in an advertisement posted in support of Walmart’s corporate responsibility

• The retailer is the nation’s largest employer
• Its offers affordable health plans starting from $ 23
• The company contributes close to 245 million dollars in charitable events annually(MSNBC, 2007a)

Instead of using advertisements such as the one shown above, Walmart should place more effort in improving their staff management policies. The problem with such advertisements is that they take so long to change consumer opinion. As a matter of fact, they may engrain negative perceptions because clients will see that the company wants to improve a tarnished image. Instead of spending millions on such advertisements, the company could direct those funds to improve their reward systems. A good employer does not need to advertise their employment practices as they will speak for themselves. The company should boost its health insurance plans because other companies offer better health programs yet they earn less than Walmart. This will go a long way in improving company image. (MSNBC, 2007a)

In line with this argument, the Company need not convince the public that its employees are actually happy to work for the company. These employee opinions should not be communicated to the public. Walmart asserted that, it has been found that a whooping eighty one percent of the company’s staff would recommend one of their friends to become Walmart employees. This kind of approach will not work for the company because the company is adopting a defensive strategy. The accusations made against the company could be embraced and turned against the counter accusers by improving organizational policies.

Lastly, the company should embrace the idea of hospital partnerships for its retail clinics. The company already announced that it plans on expanding the number of in-store clinics from fifty five to a whooping four hundred by the year 2010. While it may be a good idea in itself (given the fact that Walmart will be enhancing its corporate image as a company that cares for the community), there is still room for improvement. Walmart has been in the news for a number of wrong reasons. One of the accusations labeled against the retail giant is the fact that their employee health insurance plans do not fit their status as market leaders. Consequently, the company needs to look for ways of improving this image through a number of avenues. First of all, they could offer their employees access to the in-house clinics. This will go long way in enhancing their employment practices. (Pamela Lewis Dolan, 2008)

Conclusion

Walmart has done a lot in the past in order to secure its position as a retail market leader. These include offering low prices, offering good customer service and constant innovation. However, lately the company has grappled with low customer traffic. Market saturation in the middle income market segment, poor international performance and bad public relations as a result of their employee practices. The company should adopt the following strategies in order to ensure future growth; adopt penetrative strategies international markets, introduce good product packages for products favored by affluent clients and improve health insurance plans within the company. These will go a long way in sustaining the company’s positions as the US’s retail leader. (Pallavi, 2007)

reference:

MSNBC (2006): Wal-Mart turns attention to upscale shoppers, The Associated Press

MSNBC (2007a):Wal-Mart to air ads countering attack, The Associated Press

Pallavi Gogoi (2007): Wal-Mart goes abroad for growth; The McGraw-Hill Companies

MSNBC (2007b): Wal-Mart considers not-so-Super centers, The Associated Press

Pamela Lewis Dolan(2008): Wal-Mart partners with hospitals to rapidly expand in-store clinics, retrieved from

http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2008/02/25/bil10225.htm accessed on 9th July

Source by Carolyn Smith

Although sometimes cringe-worthy, examples of global marketing bloopers are a useful means of appreciating that we are not all the same. For any company or business conducting a marketing campaign abroad they must take linguistic and cultural variations seriously.

Below we have provided a top 20 Marketing & Communications Bloopers from across the globe.  

1)    The Japanese company Matsushita Electric was promoting a new Japanese PC for internet users. Panasonic created the new web browser and had received license to use the cartoon character Woody Woodpecker as an interactive internet guide. The day before the huge marketing campaign, Panasonic realised its error and pulled the plug. Why? The ads for the new product featured the following slogan: “Touch Woody – The Internet Pecker.” The company only realised its cross cultural blunder when an embarrassed American explain what “touch Woody’s pecker” could be interpreted as!

2)    The Swedish furniture giant IKEA somehow agreed upon the name “FARTFULL” for one of its new desks.

3)    In the late 1970s, Wang, the American computer company could not understand why its British branches were refusing to use its latest motto “Wang Cares”. Of course, to British ears this sounds too close to “Wankers” which would not really give a very positive image to any company.

4)    “Traficante” and Italian mineral water found a great reception in Spain’s underworld. In Spanish it translates as “drug dealer”.

5)    In 2002, Umbro the UK sports manufacturer had to withdraw its new trainers (sneakers) called the Zyklon. The firm received complaints from many organisations and individuals as it was the name of the gas used by the Nazi regime to murder millions of Jews in concentration camps.

6)    Sharwoods, a UK food manufacturer, spent £6 million on a campaign to launch its new ‘Bundh’ sauces. It received calls from numerous Punjabi speakers telling them that “bundh” sounded just like the Punjabi word for “arse”.

7)    Honda introduced their new car “Fitta” into Nordic countries in 2001. If they had taken the time to undertake some cross cultural marketing research they may have discovered that “fitta” was an old word used in vulgar language to refer to a woman’s genitals in Swedish, Norwegian and Danish. In the end they renamed it “Honda Jazz”.

8)    American Motors tried to market its new car, the Matador, based on the image of courage and strength. However, in Puerto Rico the name means “killer” and was not popular on the hazardous roads in the country.

9)    Proctor & Gamble used a television commercial in Japan that was popular in Europe. The ad showed a woman bathing, her husband entering the bathroom and touching her. The Japanese considered this ad an invasion of privacy, inappropriate behaviour, and in very poor taste.

10)    Leona Helmsley should have done her homework before she approved a promotion that compared her Helmsley Palace Hotel in New York as comparable to the Taj Mahal–a mausoleum in India.

11)    A golf ball manufacturing company packaged golf balls in packs of four for convenient purchase in Japan. Unfortunately, pronunciation of the word “four” in Japanese sounds like the word “death” and items packaged in fours are unpopular.

12)    Pepsodent tried to sell its toothpaste in Southeast Asia by emphasizing that it “whitens your teeth.” They found out that the local natives chew betel nuts to blacken their teeth which they find attractive.

13)    A company advertised eyeglasses in Thailand by featuring a variety of cute animals wearing glasses. The ad was a poor choice since animals are considered to be a form of low life and no self respecting Thai would wear anything worn by animals.

14)    The soft drink Fresca was being promoted by a saleswoman in Mexico. She was surprised that her sales pitch was greeted with laughter, and later embarrassed when she learned that fresca is slang for “lesbian.”

15)    Kellogg had to rename its Bran Buds cereal in Sweden when it discovered that the name roughly translated to “burned farmer.”

16)    When Pepsico advertised Pepsi in Taiwan with the ad “Come Alive With Pepsi” they had no idea that it would be translated into Chinese as “Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the dead.”

17)    Coors put its slogan, “Turn It Loose,” into Spanish where its translation was read as “Suffer From Diarrhea.”

18)    Frank Perdue’s chicken slogan, “It takes a strong man to make a tender chicken” was translated into Spanish as “It takes an aroused man to make a chicken affectionate.”

19)    Colgate introduced a toothpaste in France called Cue, the name of a notorious porno mag.

20)    During its 1994 launch campaign, the telecom company Orange had to change its ads in Northern Ireland. “The future’s bright … the future’s Orange.” That campaign is an advertising legend. However, in the North the term Orange suggests the Orange Order. The implied message that the future is bright, the future is Protestant, loyalist… didn’t sit well with the Catholic Irish population.

Source by David Arnold

Marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders. Marketing affects all individuals, all organizations, all industries, and all countries. (Kerin, 2006, p.22) In this paper I will explain the value of three pieces of marketing research, the components of marketing mix for Kudler new catering service, far as their product, place, price, and promotions. I will also explain how Kudler should determine the products it wants to offer and how they will determine how they will price their products to be relative to other catering companies. I will also explain what term place means, how Kudler will go about promoting their catering service and describe how technology will be used by Kudler in their market, lastly I will explain if Kudler decide to go with catering how that mesh with their decision to contract with organic growers.

Marketing research is an important part of understanding the market and where there is a need for a service. The product and service will have to be targeted to the right people who are in need of the service. The three pieces of market research allow you to specify, identify, and determine the current market. The three pieces of market research are: “Specifying Constraints- The constraints in a decision are the restrictions placed on potential solutions to a problem. Identifying data needed for marketing action- Often marketing research studies wind up collecting a lot of that are interesting but irrelevant for marketing decisions that result into marketing actions. The data should be able to provide manager with information that allows them to make clear choice of action to take for their product. Determine how to collect data- Determining how to collect useful marketing research data is often as important as actually collecting the data. The two key elements in deciding how to collect data are concept and method. Concepts are ideas about a product or service. To find out about consumer reaction to a potential new product, marketing researchers frequently developed a new product concept, that is, a picture or verbal description of a product or service the firm might offer for sale. Methods are the approaches that can be used to collect to solve all or part of a problem.” (Kerin, 2006, p.22)

Kudler has a new idea of starting a catering service but before they can start they will have to research the market to determine the right course of action. Kudler will have to define the marketing problem and the opportunity for increased customer satisfaction. The company will have to develop an organized plan to determine the effectiveness of their decision. People today are looking to eat healthier and stay in shape. Consumers have become interest in the quality of their health with today’s 54 percent of Americans is considered overweight. ( http://www.fit4free.org/musdevArticle.htm) As people begin to look into other foods the diet of many consumers are now change to foods that are healthier such as organic. This type of change in consumer’s diet has allowed companies like Kudler to provide these different types of food options. Before starting the catering service Kudler had decide to contract with local farmers for organic produce. The organic and gourmet food market in the United State has soured through the sky. There are more cooking show and more people cooking healthy than ever before. With this type of increasing market Kudler can began to advertise and market their organic product to their consumers. As organic continue to gain popularity with consumers the sales potential will continue to increase.

To ensure that their decision will be the best action to take for Kudler, the company will have to do research were they provide an atmosphere for customers to try their products and receive feed back. One method that Kudler could use is allowing customers to try their organic produce for free by providing samples. This can give Kudler a chance to introduce their new product and service to gain more customer loyalty. Customer loyalty is what drives a business to be successful, when customers are satisfy they return because of the product and service. Kudler will need to decide what food item and recipes will be their main attraction. The way that Kudler can determine their most popular products is by using there inventory process to track what items are being purchased frequently and more than others. According to what customers are buying, by tracking items in their inventory will tell them what products are doing well and the ones that are not, with this information Kudlers is able to determine what items would be put on their menu to entice customers.

The way that Kudler can determine its price is by knowing the community, competition, the cost of start-up, employees and preparation of meals. Unfortunately, with the quality of product that Kudler is providing the price for their food will be higher than their competition, but if Kudler can appeal to customers about their great quality and began to build loyal customers then they will pay the price because of the great quality. To be competitive in the market Kudler must be aware of the competition and the items and prices of their products and services. One of Kudler’s successful strategies is the focus on customer needs; these needs are met by offering an open menu with possible adjustments based on customer requests. With no set menu Kudler will be competitive in the market because they will cater specifically to each customer’s needs and their willingness to alter their menu keeps customers happy and coming back for future services. As a part of Kudler’s advertising strategy they need to focus on the customer satisfaction aspect and the openness to meeting and exceeding the customer requests received.

Promotion is the key to starting a new business and the right decisions must be made to be successful. Promoting communicate messages to potential customers and clients. Kudler already has a clientele base of customers due to their existing business that willcost them little to no money to advertise to them. With the use of existing customers Kudler will be able to get word out that they have started their catering business. When customers are satisfied with a service or product they will not only come back but began to recommend the services to their friends or anyone they come in contact with. Finding out the needs of potential customers and adding this key message to advertising will draw business. For specific forms of promotion Kudler should use newspapers, in-store fliers, direct mailers to current loyal customers, and advertising over the intercom at each store location. Technology will allow Kudler to be more efficiency, cut cost and labor. Kudler right now is not using technology to its full potential but as business begin to increase this will become important as the business grows and the clientele grows to an unmanageable amount. Organic growers will mesh well with the catering service because of the increasing interest in organic foods.

As Kudler continue to grow they must remember that the most important thing is to continue to satisfy their customers and meeting their needs. As the business grows they will need to upgrade on technology to cut down cost and labor to be more efficient. Kudler can also utilize their existing customer base to advertise their product as well, as customers continue to love the services offered the existing customers will recommend the services to their friends and so on. Marketing is essential for success, research and planning must be done in order to know what course of action to take. After the implementation phase Kudler can review and look back to see what results were achieved and were the processes was most beneficial for the company overall.

References

Kerin, R.A., Hartley, S.W., Berkowitz, E.N., Rudelius, W. (2006) Marketing. [University
Of Phoenix Custom Edition e-Text].New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies.
Kudler Intranet. (2005). July 5, 2008, from
https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/secure/aapd/CIST/VOP/Business/Kudler/KudlerHome002.htm
Gomez-Mejia, L.R. & Balkin, D. B. (2002) Management [University of Phoenix
Custom Edition e-Text] New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies

Source by Phil Forp

It is very important for any business to scan and analyze their marketing environment by continuously monitoring what is going on in the marketing environment. Marketing decision makers must collect, analyze and diagnose information about the environment. These actions of marketing decisions are explained under:

Environment scanning-it is the process of collecting information about forces in marketing environment; environmental analysis-it is the process of assessing and interpreting the information gathered through environment scanning; environmental diagnosis- it is the process of making decisions by accessing the significance of threats and opportunities. The following are importances of scanning marketing environment:

• To understand elements of the environment.
• To observe and understand the changes which are occurring in the environment.
• To analyze market situations
• To fit the organization properly into the environment so that effective strategies can be developed.

Any person venturing into any kind of business must be aware of his/her business environment. It is therefore very important for business to be positioned and be designed in a way that its image is in distinctive place in the market. It must thrive to provide best quality, best service, best value, lowest price and more advanced technology. When a business understands its environment correctly there is no doubt for it to achieve success and become profitable throughout its running.

SWOT analysis is an overall evaluation of a company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. It involves monitoring the external and internal marketing environment. SWOT analysis assumes that organization will achieve success by maximizing strengths and opportunities and minimizing weaknesses and threats.  It is very important for a company to indentify its weaknesses and opportunities as the information provided will help in informing the managers of the company on the various developments in the external and internal environment that have taken place. Also it leads to improved organizational performance and the company can also be in a position to framework its current and future positions.

A SWOT analysis is a procedure for identifying and examining opportunities and strengths, weaknesses and threats facing the business. It gives insight into company’s position in the competitive arena. When carrying out SWOT analysis to determine how you rate against a competitor, the following should be used (Kottler,2002)

Strengths –consider your company’s strong points, this should be both from your own and your customers, don’t be modest but be realistic, consider distinct advantages that your company offers; what customers say, do they enjoy doing business with you; is there anything you currently offer that cannot be copied by a competitor now or in future.

Weaknesses-evaluate your company weaknesses, not only from your own perspective but also from your competitors.

Opportunities- consider the areas in your market that offers a room for your company to grow; opportunities can come from changes in technology and markets on both broad and narrow scale, changes in government, policy related to your industry, changes in social patterns, demographic and customers lifestyle changes.(Lydon,2005)

Threats-although we don’t like to think about them, we all face threats in our businesses, many times they are out of control e.g. downturn in the economy, shift in market demographics or perhaps a new mega corporate opening in your local area.

After the research was conducted on telemarketing, the following threats and weaknesses facing it were found:

• Lack of experienced personnel.
• Inadequate fund for them to promote their services.
• Change of technology which requires them to train their employees now and then.
• Demographic changes of their target customers.

Equally they had some opportunities and strengths that have held them up high on their market, they are:

• They have strong brands that sells world wide.
• They have employed penetration method of pricing.
• They have very strong sales team.
• They have corporate image all the whole world.

To maximize their profit telemarketing industry should apply the following strategies to run successfully, they are:

Marketing planning-this involves overall strategies of marketing that helps company achieve its overall objectives. It is a tool for improving performance and it leads to development of standards for control. Marketing planning will help this industry to instill discipline in time and the management team will have a control mechanism for detecting future problems. Marketing planning provides on opportunities and threats, weaknesses and strengths of accompany. It works as a warning mechanism by making a company alert and sensitive to the environment.

Marketing communication-this involves communicating to the target market basically to inform about the product and influence them to buy their products. Marketing communications creates awareness of the existence of a product; and remind and reassures the customers so that decision they make while buying a product is effective. By communicating to their customer’s a favorable climate for future sales is created and competitive difference through careful choice of word.(Gelb,2003)

Use of promotional mix-this comprises of five elements, advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, public relations and direct marketing. It is also necessary to conduct marketing audit, this involves comprehensive, independent and periodic examination of a company’s or business units, marketing environment, objectives, strategies and activities with a view to determine problem areas and opportunities. It is a plan of action to improve the company’s marketing performance.

Source by LindaMiller

Direct sales and home party businesses are booming. Direct selling is definitely the wave of the future as the world goes the current economic restructuring. With party plan companies blooming on every street corner how do you pick the right home party plan company for you? Do you like jewelry? How about make-up? Perhaps food is your thing, no fashion! Skin-care, that’s it! Seems as long as there are products being made, there is a party plan company selling it. The following are the 7 Pillars & Tips For Direct Sales Home Party Consultants for the success to consider when selecting a party plan company.

1) You, The Home Party Consultant: As an independent direct sales home consultant you are the company representative. People will judge the company by how you conduct yourself and your direct selling business. If you find people are a little resistant to what you have to say, don’t take it personally. I can guarantee they had a bad experience with another direct sales consultant. Now is your chance to build a new relationship.
Home Parties Tip: A home party business is not about the party plan company. A home party business is about the home party consultant.

2). Home Party Plan Company Leadership: Does your company of choice have proven MLM/Network Marketing/Direct Sales Experience? How long have they been in business? Are they ethical? –What about their integrity? Is the company privately held or publicly traded? (If the home party company of choice is publicly traded I hope it is one that Warren Buffet owns e.g., Pampered Chef) Have you actually read their Policies & Procedures? How Many pages? (Less is usually better.) WHY? Because the more paper work the less creativity and options you have. It means your every move will be monitored by the party plan company gate-keepers. You might as well get a job! Who does it protect? Comp plan set up to favor/protect distributors or company? Allow ‘walk away’ income? Loopholes to steal your commissions someday?
LONG TERM focus with a solid foundation, or “get rich quick” mentality? I recently read up on the ‘dead’ Circuit city company. The CEO said that their greatest failure was focusing on short term profits instead of long term value. Is your company of choice has not been in business for 5 years…think again

3) Timing of INDUSTRY and COMPANY: Did you know that jewelry home party plan companies are the hottest thing in the party plan industry? Yes Gold home parties are taking the nation by storm. Bill Gates willingly shares his secrets to success, he says:

1. Recognize the future of an industry
2. Take immediate massive action
3. Be at the right place at the right time!

If you can grasp this, success as a home party consultant is all but guaranteed! That said people will never be too young, too thin, too fashionable, too glamorous or too sexy. Any home party plan business surrounding these questions and problems will always be a hit! Run from Startups are to be avoided at all costs. This is what we call trending in the direct sales industry. E.g., once Mary Kay unveiled her company suddenly everyone had a beauty and skin care line you could sell from home. You want to find balance in your choice.

What phase is the Party Plan Company? Formulation? Momentum? Critical Mass? Plateau? Companies in the plateau phase offer more name recognition and less of an opportunity. (Under 5 year or 25 + I’d stay away)!

4). TARGET MARKET for your PRODUCTS: Is there huge demand for the home party products you plan on representing? Is the Future bright? Does the product meet Long Term TRENDS? The BIGGEST mistake people make is by making an emotional decision about their choice to become involved in direct sales. Sure your neighbor who is only a high school graduate jumped into party plan company ABC and made a killing and drives the car of your dreams. That is all well and good. However are you suited to the direct selling business? Is it the right time for you to jump in? More importantly have you identified a market for your product? Want to know why most home party consultants fail? because they found a product but have no one to sell it to. Your first step in succeeding is identifying a market for your product and then finding the right home party company. Trust me on this one, you will save yourself a whole lot of trouble!

5) Flagship PRODUCT(s): Products have to be REMARKABLE Not over-priced CONSUMABLE! Seth Godin, author of the best seller Purple Cow speaks at length on the issue of product remarkability. He talks about the mundane-ness of a regular black and white cow over a purple cow. A purple cow is remarkable. Remarkable incidentally doesn’t mean good or awesome

adjective

worthy of attention; striking
Is your home party product of choice one that will compel other to talk about and thus market for you? This is the essence of word of mouth. Is your product average or top of the line? Your product must be good enough to compel repeat buys and persuade me or any other person to tell a friend or ten about it!

6) Compensation Plan: The comp. plan should be the least of your worries, but I will discuss it for your benefit. The home party, direct sales and direct selling industry are all victims of the recruitment scam. You see you are paid for volume not the number of recruits you get. Look it this way what benefit is it to enroll 100 people who buy nothing? However if you make get 10 customers, and each buy $100 of products then you have a percentage of $1000 home party sales. The compensation needs to pay the average person fair percentage. Party plan companies reward home party consultants for selling products NOT for recruiting reps. Avoid comp. plan that pay on levels. Volume is quantifiable. Levels is cut throat and breeds the scams and failings that network marketing has a bad reputation. Paying on VOLUME not levels – drives BEHAVIOR in the field. Do you have a break-away plan? I would be cautious and careful. Best ’statistics’ to determine comp. plan include
‘TAC’ Total Average Commission? ‘PTV’ Percentage of TOTAL volume ?

7) Training, Education, Experience & Personal Development: Duplication is all well and good. Remember what I said at the beginning a home party plan business is about you. You are the single most important determinant of how successful this home party business. There is no such thing as proven SYSTEMS, UPLINE SUPPORT. The only thing that will help you build a successful business is personal development, training, education and experience. Do you have an Action Plan / Game Plan? It is one that can be taught to others i.e., duplicatable while still leaving room for creativity, innovation and expansion? Times have changed. Some things that worked just a few years ago, do not today. Many companies and TEAMS are using outdated systems and methods. Most people (92+% of population) do not like to sell or be sold. Are you building a home party business using 8 track methods in an iPod world? Don’t get caught in a rut!

Wishing you success,
Party Plan Pat

Source by Patricia Kagwiria Makhulo