Exam 8: Building a Powerful Bootstrap Marketing Plan

Mini-Case 8-1: Customers: Key to Success Lloyd Dixon has owned and operated a small dress shop for the past three years. Each fashion season, Lloyd attends the apparel shows and he is always very impressed by the glamour and the hundreds of different manufacturers, all with the merchandise that they say will be this season's biggest sellers. Lloyd caters to an older market and baby boomers. He hopes to tap into the upscale market. After his first year of operation, Lloyd recognized that some of his merchandise was not selling. The "inventory close-out sale" did rescue his investment in this merchandise but did not make him a profit or contribute much to his overhead. Lloyd knew that it was not reasonable to expect to sell everything you bought, but he was not sure exactly how much of his inventory was comprised of slow movers. Lloyd believed that when he went into business he knew what women wanted in dresses. He had always prided himself on having good taste. When he had the opportunity to open this store, he was confident that he could choose merchandise that would be well received. In the first three years of operations, sales have not met Lloyd's expectations. -Faith Popcorn offers several ways Lloyd Dixon could collect information about his customers and competitors. Explain at least five of those ways.

How can a company achieve stellar customer service and satisfaction?

Which of the following statements concerning a company's target market is false?

________ is the process of communicating a company's unique selling proposition to its target customers in a consistent and integrated manner.

Mini-Case 8-1: Customers: Key to Success Lloyd Dixon has owned and operated a small dress shop for the past three years. Each fashion season, Lloyd attends the apparel shows and he is always very impressed by the glamour and the hundreds of different manufacturers, all with the merchandise that they say will be this season's biggest sellers. Lloyd caters to an older market and baby boomers. He hopes to tap into the upscale market. After his first year of operation, Lloyd recognized that some of his merchandise was not selling. The "inventory close-out sale" did rescue his investment in this merchandise but did not make him a profit or contribute much to his overhead. Lloyd knew that it was not reasonable to expect to sell everything you bought, but he was not sure exactly how much of his inventory was comprised of slow movers. Lloyd believed that when he went into business he knew what women wanted in dresses. He had always prided himself on having good taste. When he had the opportunity to open this store, he was confident that he could choose merchandise that would be well received. In the first three years of operations, sales have not met Lloyd's expectations. -How could Lloyd realistically create a competitive advantage by giving customer service a focus in his business?

A marketing strategy that relies on three principles to speed products to market, shorten customer response times in manufacturing, and deliver and reduce the administrative time required to fill an order is ________.

Because they lack the size and financial resources of their larger competitors, small companies are powerless when it comes to developing effective marketing strategies.

A "shotgun approach" to marketing is the small business' secret to competing successfully with larger rivals and their bigger marketing budgets.

Most customers never complain to the business; in fact, for every complaint that a company receives, there are ________ other complaints that go unspoken.

Small companies that spot demographic trends and act on them early can gain a distinctive edge in the market.

In your training program, you stress to all new employees the importance of customer satisfaction, citing the fact that ________ of the average company's sales come from present customers.

Too many marketing plans describe in great detail what an entrepreneur intends to accomplish and pay little, if any, attention to practical and affordable strategies to achieve those targets.

Case 8-2: TQM and TV in Omaha Nobody who knew Marvin Tollison ever met a man who liked television better. In the Navy, he had the opportunity to learn a great deal about his trade. When he finished his tour of duty, Marvin opened a television repair shop back home in Omaha, Nebraska. Over the years the quality of his workmanship, his fair prices, and his general overall good nature made his business flourish. Marvin had a way of finding men and women like himself when expansion was needed. Over 17 years, the business had grown from a one-man shop operating in his garage to a 38-employee television repair staff that was dispatched to customers by two-way truck radio. Over the years, the time between a customer's call and the television repairman getting to the home had increased to about two days because the repairmen were taking longer with each call. Call-backs (having to "re-repair" equipment) are up significantly. Marvin wasn't sure, but he thought some of his customers were going elsewhere for service. -Can Marvin use TQM to develop a competitive edge? If so, what would you recommend he do?

The specific group of customers at whom a company aims its good or services is referred to as a ________.

One of the most important variables that determine whether employees deliver superior service is the degree to which they perceive they have the permission to do so.

Explain the concept of total quality management. How is it different from the quality inspection of a final product just before being packaged?

To attract potential customers, a ________ can serve multiple business purposes, including keeping customers updated on new products, enhancing customer service, and promoting the company.