Questions for Managers

Truman explained his nickname “Give ‘em hell Harry” with “I don’t give them hell; I just tell them the truth and they think it’s hell.”

The hardest questions, because it’s easy to take the answers personally, are about how you’re really seen by your customers and what it takes to keep them.

1. How are we perceived in each of our markets?

• It’s a big mistake to assume you will stay in one market forever, or that it never changes.  You need to examine every year just what your markets are: by service/product family, geography, price points, customer type, even what industry you’re in.  Yes, it’s hard.
• Market research is the answer and most people hate it.  Full-blown analysis is costly, but some basic techniques (if done right) work well: informal discussions with customers and short, regular surveys.  The key is being spot on with the questions, their phrasing and sequence.
• We’re all human, and we remember the nice things people say, and discount the criticisms—even the ones we ask for.

2. How will our geographic markets shift over the next 3 years?

• While some businesses aren’t too location sensitive, this is always an important question.
• Sound easy?  No.  Once again, it’s human nature to remember the customers we like, or the ones who are a big pain.  This distorts our mental map; all businesses should have a real map of their customers.  Not just ZIP codes, but “push pins” of each customer, perhaps colored by size, type, and product or service family.  A good map will raise even more really useful questions about where to sell, how to market, and how you’re positioned against competitors.  Check out Mappoint 2010.
• You should also pin a competitor matrix to your wall, a high-level analysis of your top three competitors, with three columns:  Basic Facts, What Makes Them Better, and What Makes Us Better.  Have some friendly customers help you.  Then think about where you’re vulnerable–and where they’re vulnerable–geographically.

3. What percentage of revenue should we spend on marketing?

• Just what is marketing?  David Williams of Broadbent & Williams has a simple definition:  “Marketing is all that you do to create opportunities to sell.”  This includes PR, social media, advertising, website maintenance, direct mail, etc.  Having a budget as part of your annual marketing calendar will show you the cost/benefits and synergies.
• What are your competitors spending?  Because it’s hard to know the ROI on a website or ad, you need some other way to calibrate your marketing spending.  If your trade group doesn’t have benchmarks, try to find them from a similar industry.
• Don’t assume a) your marketing never needs to change, b) word of mouth will carry you toward your goals, or c) just because you can’t measure it, marketing really isn’t that important.  And that’s the hell of it.

Challenge your managers with these questions and see where they take you.

What’s your killer question about brand and market position?  Please comment below.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 11th, 2009 at 8:32 pm and is filed under Market Position. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.