Hi

Continuing from the last edition...

Competitors copy

When a product/ Service or a marketing campaign succeeds, the competitors copy. It is a fact of business. (that is one of the reasons for the existence of Intellectual Property Laws)

There is no getting away from it.

If you are the competitor, you too can copy. :)

When there are established competitors in the market, steal what they are doing. Then transform it for your business and differentiate. It is not easy. But it gives us a good starting point, instead of starting from scratch.

Limited resources

Every business has limited resources when compared to the ambitious goals it sets for itself. Limited resources are one of the constraints that allows people to come up with creative solutions.

Necessity is the mother of invention.

In marketing, resource constraints forces us to choose the channels that are the best compromise between customer reach and cost of the outreach.

For eg: if you don't have 1000s of dollars, don't think of ads in newspapers. Find better and cheaper sources to reach your clients.

In fact, I prefer to start at the resources that are available, before creating a strategy for a company. But, nobody wants to talk about money and other resources up front. So, much time and money is wasted with such niceties.

Best way to understand the constraints is by throwing out exaggerated ideas with high costs. People will keep narrowing them down, till they are around the limits they are comfortable with at.

All of the above is good to know. But a lot of this is data collection. How do we go about doing it?

Talk to the customers

Yes. That is the solution to about 90% of the questions that are asked in marketing.

Talk to 100 potential customers.

Listen to them.

Understand how they are solving the problem currently.

Note down the phrases and words they use.

Get clarity on the solution they prefer.

Majority of the magic in marketing comes from the customers. Listen to them. Observe them. And then filter everything from the perspective of the problems you are solving.

A note about the customer (small clinics)

Clinics are busy.

Owner is the main doctor - super busy.

Receptionist is the gate keeper.

And they don't want to invest a huge amount in solutions that are not certified or approved by medical boards.

Marketing and Sales are dirty words in their profession.

They serve patients, treat them, and make them better.

They want more patients to walk in because of their expertise. (not because of marketing !!!)

Therefore, don't use the words marketing and sales in your pitches.

Continued in the next edition....

Best

Anoop Kurup

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