The marketing audit points out the most common problems in our country.
In this article we intend to point out in a reduced way, not the symptoms (already well known; falls in sales, loss of market share, deterioration of profitability, etc.) but, in general terms, the problems that in our general concept such symptoms and which must be faced by marketing in our country.
Interestingly even the most unsuspecting of readers will notice, most of the problems mentioned are not externally but in its own operations originate from the enterprise to not belong to the world of the complex or esoteric but rather to the simple scope of the meaning common and elementary logic, as can be seen below:
1. By far, the main cause or source of problems is the fact that the client or user does not appear anywhere in the organization chart of the company and the officials, who are usually closer to who is the reason for being Of the businesses, there are usually insignificant points in said organization chart (curiously and as is traditional, the highest and most important part of such organization chart is occupied by those who are further away from the client but closer to the confidential payroll).
2. The lack of periodic analysis and definition (or redefinition) of the business in which the company is or should be, not only to ensure its development but, equally important, to make the most of its resources. Theodore Levitt already exemplified it in 1960 in his famous marketing myopia; Are you in the railroad business or should you be in the transportation business? We would add: are you in the candy business or should you be in the candy business? Are you in the clothing business or should you be in the fashion business? Are you in the shampoo business or should you be in the personal care business? Or in that of beauty? (Remember that the appropriate definition of the business is the basis of the strategic approach that will guide the future development of the company).
3. Failing to recognize that the symptoms of the problem are often mistaken for the problem itself. A sharp drop in sales will be a symptom and not a problem. The problem may be the poor turnover at the point of sale felt by the merchants, but what must be identified and attacked is the cause; for example, low quality in the product that has led to a loss of confidence on the part of consumers and consequently a deterioration in demand. The profit loss will be a symptom and not a problem. The problem will be how to explain it to the shareholders or to New York.
4. Not seeking to actively work on the Differentiation (tangible or intangible) of the product or service, by far the main and the most useful marketing strategy. For the same products, the competitive difference tends to be only a lower price and consequently a lower operating margin.
5. Believe that the only axis of the campaign (advertising) is Positioning and stop taking advantage of this incomparable marketing strategy effectively.
6. The lack of company objectives for the medium and long term, when they exist, are not properly communicated to the members of the organization.
7. Forget that marketing is essentially the permanent search and use of strategic actions to encourage and / or facilitate the demand for a product or service (through any of the marketing tools; repositioning, new presentations, packaging changes, promotions, etc.), which frequently leads to settle for a certain volume of business or to settle for the liar growth in pesos resulting from inflation
8. The deliberate or unconscious forgetting that the product or service has to be the star and the hero of the company, especially in a dynamic and highly competitive economy like ours, in which many products or services tend to become obsolete with a astonishing speed.
9. Forget that you have to work with all the tools of the marketing mix and not just with the showiest or most glamorous.
10. Not being aware (despite the symptoms) that the non-differentiation of the product and / or the lack (or poverty) of brand franchise, aggravated by the proliferation of competitors, easily leads to a price war, in the the only losers are the producers, while all the other partygoers are the winners (intermediaries, consumers, etc.), including the banks that finance the operations of the losers.
11. Forget that for many products the standard set by the category leader is the benchmark that the customer or consumer usually uses to measure / accept similar products. Consequently, as one moves away from the standard, one will move away from the leader.
12. Forgetting to constantly monitor the market to identify new segments, new competition, new behaviors of merchants, customers and users, new opportunities, etc. And to make the necessary adjustments in their strategies.
13. Ignore that if the product has quality and can give the consumer the benefits it promises, its price must be consistent with them (a consumer will be very hesitant to buy a spotting face cream if its price is below that of another face cream that does not promises such benefits)
14. Forget the review and / or update of the design and packaging of the product so that it is in a better position to stand out (or defend itself) at the point of sale.
15. Forgetting or not giving enough value / importance to the fact that, in service marketing, it is the commitment of your human resource that makes the difference between successful results and mediocre results.
16. Failure to recognize that uncontrolled bureaucracy in service companies will always lead to poor customer service and punishment for efficiency and business growth.
17. Try to position a new product in a segment of use that is "obvious and easy" but small and with little possibility of growth.
18. Forget that if the product recently launched on the market requires changes in consumer habits, its effective demand will take much more time, money and effort than if these changes are not necessary.
19. Having prejudices (without valid endorsement) against certain media or distribution channels, which prevent them from being seriously considered.
20. Accept that the concept of a few family members and friends (naturally well-intentioned) is worth more than that of experts (including customers and users) in matters such as packaging design, product appearance, advertising, etc.
21. Not having the information or technical tools so that the concept expressed by marketing prevails over concepts with less support (production budgets, quality levels, etc.)
22. Accommodate and not periodically review the marketing policies, systems and procedures continuously seeking greater efficiency / productivity / profitability.
23. Forget that for what quality control is only 6 percent, for the customer or user it is one hundred percent.
24. Forget that when reducing costs also reduces the quality of the product or service, it is also reducing its acceptance and demand and incidentally opening (gently) the door to competition.
25. Failure to recognize that distribution channels only marry profitability (based on turnover and margins), and not with brands, vendors or traditions.
26. Forget that the consumer increasingly thinks, evaluates, compares and decides. And less and less it behaves mechanically.
27. Forget that prices must be determined primarily based on the market and not only based on costs.
28. Forget that distribution channels have a reason for being and that only fair play produces satisfactory and lasting results from them.
29. Forgetting that the sales force must be trained, retrained and retrained in order to maintain its competitive position in the face of different market forces.
30. Forgetting that a single unmotivated salesperson can do more harm to the company's business than the demotivation of 10 to 20 officials or workers from other departments.
31. Believe that at this stage of the game, only tradition can keep customer and user loyalty in force.
32. Duplicate what makes the competition successful, without bothering to do different, more creative, more original or more competitive things.
33. Limit the use of investments made in market research, whether due to poor setting of their objectives, poor interpretation of their results or simply not using them.
34. Failure to recognize that, due to the proliferation of competitors, the market in which it is operating may be turning into a price market (low margins and equally low profits).
35. Settling for a certain positioning / volume and not evaluating repositioning alternatives or larger and / or more dynamic or less competitive market segments.
36. Failure to recognize that the mere fact of being a manager, wife or daughter of the largest shareholder does not necessarily qualify the individual to make more accurate judgments about particular aspects of marketing.
37. Accept excessive conformism (or accommodation) with results that are not consistent with the quality of the product / service or its market potential.
38. Accept the absence of a strong organizational culture aimed at giving preponderance and importance to results over any other consideration.
39. Lack of or poor approach system that does not allow to act but rather to react (poorly and late) to internal phenomena and risks (excessive cost growth, low productivity, etc.) and external (competition, unproductive distributors, deterioration of demand, etc.).
40. Lack of mechanism to identify business opportunities or important changes in the market (trends, lower costs, better prices, new products, etc.)
41. Lack of knowledge of market events and phenomena that may be causing or could cause problems.
42. Little or no knowledge of the profile and behavior of its consumers or users.
43. Advertising campaigns geared more to spending than investment. Poorly targeted and poorly run agencies. Poor or no measurement of the results of efforts and investments in advertising / promotion.
44. Good products with real demand lower than its potential due to lack of advertising effort / investment.
45. High turnover of personnel (sellers and promoters) without knowing, let alone correcting the reasons for such turnover.
46. Lack of adequate systems for recruiting and evaluating sales personnel.
47. Unproductive nepotism. Too rigid or too elastic personnel relations policies.
48. Lack of personnel training and development programs that allow or facilitate greater efficiency and productivity. Lack of interest in the type of structure that will support future growth.
49. Lack of systems to extend or repeat successes and avoid repetition of failures.
50. Lack of incentives that encourage and ensure maximum effort (or extra) on the part of sellers.
51. Poor or incomplete census of potential customers.
52. High inventories of obsolete promotional material.
53. Poor territorial allocation to vendors.
54. Products with very low volume / profitability and no justification to keep them on the market.
55. Unreliable cost systems that lead to wrong pricing structures.
56. Little or no activity in product development or improvement. Idle production capacity for long periods.
57. Poor two-way communications, both with company personnel, as well as with wholesalers and distributors.
58. Fully statistical distribution strategies. Excessive dependence on few channels or not used properly.
59. Hesitation in having profitable prices due to ignorance of phenomena associated with the demand / price / competition relationship.
60. Limited knowledge of what the competition is doing / reaching. Generally looked down upon or overly feared for no valid reason.
61. Sales (and therefore production) budgets without consulting market realities, or corresponding to efforts and investments. Excesses or defects in inventories that lead to higher financial costs or distortions in pricing and distribution policies.
62. Little and badly oriented, or no activity / investment in promotion at the point of sale.
63. Personnel of promoters / promoters (and in some cases vendors) without direction or support for their activities and results.
64. Little attention to the quali-quantitative analysis of the productivity of sellers, especially to the exceptions or extremes.
65. Vendors burdened with bureaucratic activities or not related to their basic responsibilities.
66. Lack (or poverty) of leadership received by the organization.
Finally, we must conclude by stating that only by avoiding or solving problems such as those described above in a timely manner and ensuring the company's total commitment to marketing will it be possible for the company, in economic situations like the current one, to achieve and maintain an accelerated and solid development.
