The eyes of the marketer can help your business grow

Question: Why is a marketer with strategic insight, a business sense, and an eye for opportunity so valuable in a business?

Answer: He will be the first person to identify growth opportunities.

How does he do it? He walks in the shoes of your customer and can identify what you need to do for that customer to attract him to your company.  It is this ability and insight that most people in a company cannot comprehend.  It is this dual insight that is so valuable to the leader of the company.  It is this insight that many companies are missing when they do not have the right marketer in place, and especially when they see their marketer (or team) as implementers of communication tactics only.

How the eyes of the marketer can help your business grow

Here is a real life example of this reality:

I was consulting with a chemicals company that was trying to grow.  They were unsure how to go about it and had no idea where to begin.  I spent some time chatting with the President, trying to ascertain how the buyer thought and behaved.  What were the motivating factors for his decisions?  What was his buying process?  How did he choose the appropriate vendor?

One thing that became clear is that, given the nature of the business, quick response and efficient replenishment of inventory was key.  If the buyer did not get speedy customer service, he would move on to the next vendor to make a purchase of a similar product at a similar price.  Very little differentiation was in place between vendors, products, pricing and service.

I asked the President if they were able to deliver faster and more efficient customer service via 24/7 order entry and he said “no”.  He said it was too expensive to have people on standby 24/7 waiting for customers to call.  When pressed on whether his competitors had this capability he responded “No.  They are in the same boat”.

I asked him whether he felt that if he could supply that kind of customer service cost effectively, that it would make his company different and would attract more customers, he said “absolutely Yes”.

I recommended the addition of a customer portal onto their ERP system that was about to be purchased and the company did so for a one-time cost of $5,000.  This gave the customer access to their own products and prices in the company’s system and enabled them to place orders themselves, 24/7, without any direct interaction with the company’s staff.

The President was delighted.

Here is the key learning: the President then asked me why I, as a marketer, was talking to him about his logistics and his order entry procedures.  He did not understand why marketing was interested in that.  He thought marketing was about websites, and advertising and other forms of communication.

I responded:  “Marketing is about helping you grow.  I looked at this situation to provide you with an ability to be different to your competitors while being relevant and desirable to your customers.  I did that by seeing the situation through a customer service perspective and have now given you the ability, if you implement effectively, to make a real difference and grow your business.  I see the opportunity wherever it lies, even if it is in the logistics or operations area of your business”.

True and holistic marketing will help your business grow

True marketing is not about communications – the way the president perceived it.  By allowing me to look at his business through my marketing eyes I was able to provide him with some valuable insight and a capability to grow his business in a significant manner.  Marketing offered him that insight.  However most “marketers” today cannot do that because they are focused on the communications side of the business only.

I can, because my business intuition, knowledge and experience allows me to see business opportunities through my marketing eyes.  It offers me a unique perspective which business could use, if they only opened their eyes and minds just a little wider.  It’s an opportunity that is there for the taking, for the bold and the enlightened.

Is that you?

By Neville Pokroy

Neville Pokroy has over 30 years of experience in all aspects of business growth, strategy and marketing, from big business to sole proprietorships. His hands-on experience spans the most basic to the most strategic, and everything in between. This has provided him with tremendous insight at all levels of the marketing discipline, and in particular, how it impacts on the ability of businesses to leverage marketing as a prerequisite for growth in a changing world.

If you are interested in finding out how these skills and insights can help you grow: Call me today 905-886-2235. email: neville@mastermindsolutions.ca.