Marketing & Sales Roundtable

Marketing’s Role in Driving the Customer Focus into the Planning Process

November 2002

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11:30 –Introductions/Objectives

11:45 –Marketing’s Role in Driving the Customer Focus into the Planning Process: Presentation and Discussion

1:15 –Summary and Wrap-up

Agenda

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Startups and Planning: The Dilemma• Too much to do• Too few resources• ‘We don’t know enough' yet• Dynamic environment

but…• Without strategy and planning, it’s impossible to build a

successful company

Optimum balance between disciplined process and “overdoing it” is required

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Market opportunity: context for company’s long term success

Company-specific raison d’etre related to market opportunity ( 5 years)

2-3 year strategic plan supporting market vision and mission

12-month operating plan detailing actions, milestones, metrics, responsibilities necessary to execute against the strategic plan

MarketVision

MissionStrategicPlan

AnnualOperatingPlan• Company• Functions/

Departments

Company Planning Foundations

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Strategic Plan Components• Market Vision: Environmental assessment (market trends, technology enablers,

problem/opportunity)

• Mission statement

• Key business assumptions

• Competitive environment

• Barriers to adoption

• Positioning strategy (product/service category, market/customer segments targeted, problem solved, benefits/competitive differentiation)

• Customer Requirements: Total product roadmap

• Company strengths/weaknesses relative to its ability to execute against the strategy

• Business model/pricing

• Marketing and Sales strategy

• Corporate strategic objectives (3-5)

• Corporate culture and values description

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Annual Operating Plan Components• State of company

• Review of prior year’s performance against the strategic plan, corporate strategic objectives

• Key corporate accomplishments• Financial performance/health• Variances from plan

• What’s changed since last year-environmental assessment & strategic plan update

• Key business assumptions• Key initiatives for next year (“must do’s”)

• Risk factors• Hinge factors

• Functional/departmental Must Do’s• Marketing plan (includes total product

roadmap)• Sales plan• Engineering plan (includes technology

and product roadmaps)• Finance and administration plan (Finance,

IT, H/R)• Manufacturing/Operations

• Management team/personnel• Headcount• Performance reviews• Next year management team

compensation recommendations• Next year management team

measurement criteria

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What’s is Marketing’s Role in the Planning Process?

Planning/Content• Drives the annual plan process (shared with CFO)• Represent ‘Target Customer’ to organization• Bring market shifts to the table• Provide focus on products/customers• Identify market opportunities + requirements to address• Provide research and apply judgment – competitive, customer, market, technology – synthesis +

analysis• Articulate a compelling value proposition vs. status quo solution• Prioritization of opportunities, segments, channels• Identifying most viable business model• Represent voice of the customer, (end customer), other influencers, analyst, experts• Map core capabilities to organizational competence• Realistic (honest) identification of barriers to market adaptationProcess• Ensure that assumptions are research, market data-based• Establish plan for the plan – ground rules, process-updating deliverables• Set timeline + milestones

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The Causes: Hearing what you want from the customers rather than what they are really saying Small number of potential customers ‘interviewed’ Tunnel vision: technology/product Lack of regular market assessment Not understanding the customer buying decision process Inability to develop consistent, compelling, customer segment-focused messages

CustomerSegment

CompanyDisconnect

The Customer SegmentFocus ‘Problem’

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Strategic Plan

Strategic Plan

CustomersStrategy

discussions

Customers

Sales calls

Industry Analysts

Market segment

reports and discussions

CustomersProduct

requirements discussions

Advisory Board(s) Competito

rsCollateral, Websites,

Tradeshows

PartnersStrategy

discussions

ConsultantsQualitative third-party market and

customer segment research

(interviews)

Building a Customer Segment-Focused Strategic Plan

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Summary: Keys to a Customer Segment-Focused Strategy

• Define your market and customer segment • Listen to multiple customers and synthesize their inputs• Understand ‘the problem’ and its critical-ness to them• Define the customer segment’s total product

requirements• Execute!!

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Presenters

• Rosemary Remacle, ConsultantMarket Focus408-244-0412rosemary@mktfocus.net