Transferring a Product or Service from your organization to the marketplace requires a marketing plan the includes four major disciplines:

Marketing, advertising and branding are three distinct disciplines that SUPPORT the selling or create the sale of a product, service or cause.

There are differences - between selling and creating the sale of a product, service or cause.

A “ created sale,” is initiated by the marketplace, it is an event, such as, a consumer selecting TIDE soap from the shelf due to convincing advertising or branding or simply word of mouth recommendations. And then there are those who simply want to wash their clothes and they buy “soap,” which happens to be on the shelf.

All organizations would like the marketplace to be so convinced that its product, service or cause is so superior that it will seek out its product, service or cause.

Further. all organizations would like their product, service or cause to create a phenomenon in the marketplace where the marketplace literally goes “crazy” and “lines up” to acquire their product: beany babies, Volkswagen “Bugs” (in the 60s), certain housing developments that used lotteries to sell units.. Oh, to discover how to create a sales phenomenon.

“Selling” on the other hand is a process of convincing the marketplace on a direct basis to utilize an organization’s product, service or cause.

From this point on, when “product” is used it also means service or cause.

Marketing, advertising, branding, as well as selling, are distinctly separate disciplines. In smaller organizations all or some of these disciplines may be managed by one person.

The goal of this article is simply to give a broad view of the multiple disciplines and encourage readers to explore in greater detail methods to increase the transfer of products from their organization to the marketplace.

Official quote of this article: Yoggi Berra, the great New York Yankees catcher once said, “You can observe a lot by watching.” Official words: OBSERVE & THINK

Marketing, Advertising, Branding and Selling techniques of all organizations as well as their cultures and how they accomplish sales and satisfy their customers must be observed and analyzed - how will this work for my organization? Take the good ideas and retool them to fit and benefit your organization.

“Disney control” - utilizing ropes to queue. people at rides (fairness and order), worked well for the banking industry with customers standing in a queue for tellers.

When MacDonalds introduced a “Big Mac button” for cashiers on the cash register so they did not have to look over their shoulders to remember the price (quicker more accurate service) was scrutinized at length to see if it had application with bank tellers.

It is worth repeating - observe and question everything you see (not just moving products)..... will it work in my organization?

No matter what product an organization wants to deliver to the marketplace, the product is worthless unless it is actually transferred (final sale) to the marketplace.

Marketing performs three principal functions: research, collateral support and advisors to product managers and function managers.

Research: Who will buy our new products? How can we increase our penetration of current products? This is accomplished through a series of programs.

Demographics, data about the marketplace to target specific potential customers. Numerous marketplace data is available from professional sources, libraries, plus self generated data. Demographic data includes home prices, income, ownership of cars & homes, population concentration, ages, businesses (size, products and services, ownership) segregated by zip code, names, etc.

A Rolls Royce mechanic researching a potential site for a Rolls Royce service center - needs to know who owns Rolls Royces and Bentleys, he must also know their geographic concentration. An excellent source is the State’s Motor Vehicle data, and the data is also used to direct mail information to the Rolls Royce and Bentley owners.

Consumer behavior can be ascertained by asking consumers through focus groups, test markets, samplings, and questionnaires. Be clever and reward the customers for participating.

You need to ascertain if they buy products like yours, how do they buy them, which sizes, colors, what media vehicles do they use - for advertising purposes.

Data Warehousing, the accumulation of data from current customers has made giant steps forward since the advent and massive utilization of computers. Extracting data about current customers such as the time they interact with your organization, locations they use, product data (size, color), zip codes, how they learned about your product. This data is invaluable to target and penetrate the marketplace with increased sales to current and new customers.

Quality products are a key to future sales. One excellent source of measuring quality it to LISTEN and learn from your customers, both positive and negative comments. After sale contacts: the thank you, gifts, customer appreciation gatherings are excellent opportunities to verify the quality of your product. Of course repeat and increasing sales are a strong indication of quality.

Shopping your organization’s interaction with customers, on the telephone and at the point of sale is an absolute must. Smart organizations shop competitors on a consistent basis, not only for their quality of service, but for price, and availability of product. If you are a dentist and have available appointments on a daily basis and your competitor’s appointment times are booked weeks in advance you just may have a problem.

Collateral Materials: Brochures, point of sale information, packaging, logos, posters, audio/visual materials, advertising specialties.

The visual display of a well designed exciting logo and packaging, along with coordinated, well designed and written collateral materials is critical to supporting a product.

The talent of those who design and prepare these materials on a consistent quality level, must be appreciated d, they are rare.

In order to reach the mass marketplace it is imperative to “advertise.”

It is vital to maximize the use of advertising dollars. The price of advertising vs. potential (targeted) customers that advertising will reach. Market research is critical in this process. If one’s product is heavy construction equipment, one does not advertise in the Cross-Stitch Monthly magazine.

Which media and specifically which vehicle within the media is for you - Television, Newspapers, Phone Book, Magazines, Internet, Radio or Hand Bills. There are many, many choices for each including geography, style, such as classical, country or rock radio.

Billboards (ugh)! Stick by your guns, if you too think they pollute your community, don’t let the advertising agency utilize them for your organization.

If possible, it is best to deal with an agency to utilize their experience.

An effective way to advertise is to have customers wear your tee-shirts and caps, with logo of course. Better if the customer buys them... and even better if you can sell your products with your well branded logo and/or name all over them - at extremely high prices.

The cowboys have just wrestled a steer down and with their branding iron they have burned the “Rocking B” logo into the steer’s hide to allow other ranchers on the range to quickly recognize the steer’s ownership.. (No anneals were injured or abused while preparing this article).

All organizations want to “brand” for instant recognition of their products through product names, logos, colors, packaging (Tiffany’s blue boxes) and spokespersons (Michael Jordan).

Organizations just love instant recognition of their names, instant understanding of their products and have them considered premium products: Coke, Disney, Nike, IBM, GE, Gucci, Rolex. In addition to name recognition creating a “gotta have” “status symbol” works wonders for creating sales in housing, clothes, vehicles, watches, pens, seminars.. A name that expresses an organization’s mission statement is an added benefit. The names of Bank of America and Nations Bank carry a strong message as compared to First Interstate Bank and United Swiss Bank, which capture a moment in time and the value is lost subsequent to the moment.O

All organizations would also like everyone to utilize their “name” as the common name for the physical product. Kleenex - rather than tissue, U-Haul - for a rental trailer; Fed-Ex for overnight..

Naming products works well to build loyalty and help sell the product to new customers. I’m going to use “Tillie (the Teller)” or “(Honolulu) Lulu” rather than the ATM.

Branding “causes” works too. TQB (The Quality Bank) for the mission statement of a bank. This branding worked so well employees of the bank were buying TQB merchandise (with the logo) including clothing articles from the company store. Talk about a “buy in” for the mission statement. Best in the West, for a specific quality improvement program and function within a bank. Tremendous quality improvement, not to mention a 35% increase in productivity.

Branding, so to speak, works for people: celebrities and corporate climbers who want instant recognition that invokes value and quality.

Quality facilities and equipment, as well as well groomed employees (UPS) leave positive impressions on customers and prospects I am not flying an airline that fails the quality look test. Branding is transferable as organizations grow or adds products, Virgin Airlines, Virgin Records, Virgin Financial Services.

Unfortunately not everyone strives to brand their products. For instance I do not believe utilizing the generic name ATM is branding, it’s like Coca Cola branding their Coke as soda or pop. Successful branding requires an immense amount of coordination and “smarts.”

Within the last 10 to 15 years cobranding has exploded. Fast food outlets in service stations and giant discount retail stores. Name association with sports arenas. Banks in food markets.

Blending two products to maximize a facility is smart... Baskin-Robbin’s ice cream and Dunkin Donuts in a store front. Two quality products that complement and sell each other - donuts in the morning overlapping with ice cream in the afternoon and evening.

I have always used the term “renting versus owning.” As a bank I may want to offer brokerage services to my customers, so do I buy a brokerage firm or arrange for a “name brand” brokerage firm to place an operation within my facility or to use their name and service in direct mailing or advertising.

One can expect more cobranding or alliances in the future. Lawn maintenance, security and office cleaning firms working together for the benefit of all.

Community involvement is a form of cobranding, thus a good public relations program is essential.

The most important event of any organization is the closing of a sale. The transfer of a product from your organization to the marketplace. And everyone in your organization must understand this. There is no question that it takes multiple functions to administer an organization, create the product, produce it and delivery it to the marketplace, balance and team work is vital, but it the almighty sale that brings the “bucks. Without a sale the best run organization is “history.” Therefore, it is critical that each organization has a sales culture.

Sales must be supported by:

Management, marketing, advertising, branding, cobranding, various levels of sales training for everyone in the organization, sales leads from all “trained” personnel within the organization, quality products, product availability, convenient delivery system, post sales support, fair and timely sales compensation, incentives, recognition of sales performance (non financial, plaques, etc.)

There are a bizillion books in your library and bookstores that dissect every aspect of selling... worth the journey to the library or bookstore, ‘cause we all sell something every day of our lives. Following are simple samples, thoughts and/or points in no particular order that are key to sales and selling.

• Goals, short and long term a must to selling.
• Create a “numbers” game.. if one can achieve certain activities (direct mailings, phone follows, appointments, referrals, etc.) each month, it will result in “x” sales.. Some organizations apply “points” to each activity. One such firm asks its sales people to reach 100 points each month.
• The beginning for direct selling is the first contact/appointment:

  Prospect to salesperson - cars, housing, yachts, for instance is initiated by branding, status symbolism, referrals, and advertising to name some key prompters.

  Salesperson to prospect: Direct mail/follow-up; networking, leads, referrals, and an intense work ethic, repetition (one must understand the “numbers” game) and discipline.

  I will not mention telemarketing as I hate it. Effective or not.

  Repetition of calls is required for sales, sales don’t come easy.
  

  Evaluate your performance often.
  

  Prospects are people so treat them right.
  

  People have 5 senses - seeing, hearing, tasting, touching and smelling - how do I utilize them?
  

  Polite, good manner are always necessary.
  

  Proper dress, first impressions are always remembered.
  

  Direct selling - multiple calls, techniques, discipline, follow-up.
  

  Leave something meaningful behind so the potential client will retain it and remember you.
  

  Connect with the customer, do some consultive selling.

  Understand the needs of the customer.
  

  Understand the needs of the organization. What can your product do for the organization?
  

  Go where the business is, don’t chase mice while the elephants are going by.
  

  Timely calls (seasonal for instance)
  

  Target your customers
  

  Phone book
  

  Newspapers (Stories, lists, advertisements)
  

  Association lists and association meetings.
  

  Business licenses
  

  Library-fantastic resource
  

  Leads - groups, alliances, friends, current customers, conventions.
  

  Appropriate person, or path to the sale. Leads from a former salesperson, customer files, your management, personnel of your target company.
  

  Don’t be negative about anything, particularly you client’s organization.
  

  A competition using a Harvard Case Problem approach

  Use positive, selling words.
  

  Don’t talk about competitors.
  

  Don’t bore customer with your life.
  

  Don't wear lapel pins, they just might offend your prospects, any kind of lapel pin.

  Test your sales approach on video.
  

  Educate yourself, academically and from experienced associates

  Show confidence, be enthusiatic(extremely important)
  

  ATTENTION, get it.
  

  Everyone laughed at the BBQ restaurant that mounted a plastic pig on top of his van and drove around town. But it brought customers to the restaurant and the customers were loyal as the food was high quality and the service excellent. And the owner laughed all the way to the bank. Kinda like the “drummer” that came to small towns in the 1800s to sell pots and pans.and snake oil.
  

  Know your product, well Product knowledge is a key factor.

  Work for referrals.
  

  Dion't promise what you can't deliver.

  “May I help you?” Pretty basic.
  

  Acknowledgment. “I will be right with you honey” What every waitress should tell a waiting customer when she can’t get to customer immediately. Or a bank manager when he or she is short tellers.... or when anyone is waiting for your product.
  

  Add-on sales - sell a trailer hitch, sell a hitch cover; sell a seminar, sell a book.
  

  Ask for the business, we tend to forget.
  

  Rejection, learn to live with it.
  

  Dealing with jerks, a necessary evil.
  

  Correcting problems-follow up promptly and follow-up for satisfaction.
  

  Put yourself in buyers position - remember, treat others as you would like to be treated yourself.

  Punctual, always be

  Welcome the customer. Visit a “Waffle House” in the southeast for a unique method.

How does marketing, advertising, branding and selling come together? Through product managementt. And EVERY organization, regardless of size, MUST practice product management.

In large organizations products are managed by product managers. The product manager is truly the focal point for a specific product. Depending on the complexity of the product. a product manager may manage one or more products.

The role of a product manager is simple: To manage a specific product and to coordinate all the professionals and functions within (or external to) an organization to accomplish the approved goals and budget of the product. For instance, if a the product manager needs a compensation survey it is requested through Human Resources; needs a pricing study, it is requested through Finance/Accounting; needs a product shopped, it is requested through Marketing.

A product manager in most cases does not own the product. Products normally belong to the “line” manager. It is my strong opinion that the product manager should report to the person who owns the product.

The product manager has the overall responsibility for branding product.

The product manager (politically astute, personable, visionary, self starter to name a few skills) is responsible for the performance of the product and must skillfully “manage the interface” with key functions and professionals:

Line Managers (closest to the marketplace)
Planning * Regulations * Contracts * Competition * Software * Hardware * Policies * Insurance * Marketing - research, collateral, shoppers * Communications * Internal Training - Product Information * Delivery Systems * Productivity * Facilities * Public Relations * Advertising * Compensation * Staffing * Quality Service * Branding * Pricing * Statistical Data * Accounting * Profit Analysis * Sales * Sales Training * Enhancements

It is not out of the question to create product managers, utilizing all the same disciplines, for certain functions within an organization, such as bank tellers. Most functions in an organization needs to sell “their” product.

CEOs are product managers for their organization. They are concerned about everything within the organization. Ask any CEO who has faced a group of New York analysts, or for that matter a small business owner (CEO)who faces the lending officer at the local bank when he needs a loan.

It becomes obvious that there are no set rules for how many product managers should exist in any organization or where they fit within the organizational chart. It clearly depends on each organization, its size, its products, the complexity of its products and its culture

The Product Management plan must include:

Marketing, advertising and branding strategies.
Specific selling targets.
Resources
Budget
Staffing
Goals and activities
Monitoring programs
All the activities that will transfer your product to the marketplace

It must be coordinated and support the organization’s Mission Statement and the Business Plan. The Product Management Plan along with other documents help formulate the Financial Plan and the plans of other administrative units.

The world is full of wonderful, talented people working for all manner of organizations employing clever methods to transfer their products to the marketplace.

Observe everything, learn everything you can about marketing, advertising, branding and selling, learn all the techniques, think - then retool those clever techniques and methods and utilize them in you organization.