Marketing is a concept that is different for different people in different industries. In fact, the definition varies in the same industry as well. Marketing of a consumer product is very different from an industrial product. For some industries, marketing can simply mean ascertaining ‘brochure’ presence.
But marketing is all about closely looking at customers and assuring them that our products or services are going to help them meet their goals. In marketing, we need to make the customer’s dream, our dream, and help them realise their goals. If we look from this perspective, we will be able to understand the meaning of marketing. This will help us set a direction for ourselves and we will be in tune with our customers and travel with them to collectively achieve their goal, which should be our goal as well.
Why is Marketing Imperative?
The current situation is that we are moving from little choice to no choice to abundance of choice. Today, we have more products trying to chase customers. Hence, we are moving from a seller’s market to a buyer’s market.
Today, the world is a global village. Every company is trying to be an international player. Today, anything that happens anywhere in the world not only affects our business but also affects the business of the people who are our customers. One has to keep eyes and ears open to the global market. The fundamental requirement now is to be close to the market.
Are you Selling or Marketing?
We still wrongly believe that a good product with a new technology can sell like hot cakes in the market. The best product always does not win and technology alone cannot attract customers. We need to bring about a mental shift in our marketing strategies.
There are several things that boost marketing and one of them is to think differently. If we need to do better in the market, we need to look at things from an outward viewpoint.
Mostly, we confuse ourselves with the terms ‘marketing’ and ‘selling’. They are usually used interchangeably like changing designations from Sales Executive to Marketing Executive. But the roles are different. Marketing is an artistic science with a theoretical base and needs to be looked at holistically to incorporate it into our day-to-day product development and company working requirements. While marketing, you need to interview customers and understand their needs before presenting your product.
Always ask yourself how you would add value to your customer’s goal. In capital equipment, any buying decision depends on two things—Reduce cost, Increase revenue. Customers do not readily see value in specification, features or performance; they are more interested in knowing whether your machine will help them reduce cost and increase revenue.
Marketing value not cost
If your customers need to relate to your products, you need to show them how doing business with you will add value to their products, their business and their goals.
There is another aspect of marketing called internal marketing, which is equally important. It is one thing to promise, but something else to deliver. This is a kind of marketing practice that we need to execute inside our organisation. It is customer-centric and needs to place customers at the centre of your business.
When organisations promise something to customers, customers have some expectations in their minds. The delivery mechanisms of these expectations do not happen between organisation and customer but it happens from people to people. This is why it is important to place customers at the centre of your business and ensure that your people have the right talents aligned with the vision of the company. This methodology of proper communication, listening to customers and their needs will lead you to convert the vision into actual reality. It is a process of transferring a vision from one set of people to another. When you are marketing your products, have the right people with the right vision and communication skills to ensure the best customer experience. Find the right people, train them, empower them and reward them for their efforts.
Alignment of a vision based on theory, communication methodology and clubbing it with a higher purpose (not just to make profit) is the kind of marketing that we need to execute inside the company.
This way, our marketing strategy will look genuine to our customers. This genuineness creates a connect between the organsiation and customer for a lifetime.
(TK Ramesh, CEO, Micromatic Machine Tools P Ltd Marketing)
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