3 Simple Steps

How to market your company for increased customer satisfaction.

1. Determine what you want to accomplish.

2. Develop effective means of achieving those results.

3. Implement a strategic plan to accomplish goals.

 

We all do it instinctively.

We get hungry and want food, and decide to go to a restaurant, then we eat. Simple as 1-2-3.
It’s a natural process we act out everyday all the time, most often it’s an instinctive reaction.
But when applying the process to more complex issues in life and business we tend to take short
cuts to get quicker results. Often the results are not what we expected or intended and we are
surprised or unhappy with the outcome that falls short of our expectations and needs. Many times
people will prematurely move from step one after only identifying a small part of the big picture
and while in step two only choose safe and familiar methods to accomplish goals that were not
well thought out at the beginning. Without a clear vision as to what really needs accomplishing
the results will only hit the bulls eye by sheer luck. That is why a complete and comprehensive
understanding of a complex issue such as your companies marketing plan is the initial key to
getting the results you truly need for success. It’s one thing to pick the wrong restaurant,
it’s another to commit to marketing efforts without a clear understanding of what you’re trying
to accomplish in the long run.

1. Develop goals for what you want to accomplish with your marketing efforts.

A common response is simply the desire to increase revenues, but is that all, is that sufficient?
Are their other needs or desires to consider? Are you interested in building a favorable reputation?
How important is customer loyalty and retention? Do you begin the process with simple easy goals
or do go after the complete full marketing package? You’ll want to consider things like how important
your brand is and what is your unique selling proposition is. It will be important to agree upon an
overall essential message for your communications. In this first step all key influencers need to input
through moderated group discussions and analysis. You’ll be amazed at the different ideas and
directions a group dynamic can have on setting goals. It’s very likely some type of research will need
to take place before arriving at a set of goals and often these questions will be derived from the
group meeting. They could be questions related to customer’s needs and wants or effective ways of
reaching them. Having a crystal clear image of an achievable vision is absolutely critical to step one.
You’ll know you’re done when you can write a set of goals and all the decision makers can agree
upon them. But as in life all things will change, so after all due diligence is done you can safely
move on to step two knowing you’ll have the chance to revisit this first step again after the third
step is accomplished. This is a never ending cycle of analysis and action.

 

2. Determine the most effective means of achieving those results.

Armed with clear goals and the knowledge of what you want to accomplish from step one will
make this second step considerably easier and far more cost efficient in the long run. Begin by
reviewing the established methods of past efforts while considering new avenues of implementation
that you may have learned about recently in research or group discussions. Be open to non-traditional
ways that could be helpful in achieving these new standards and goals. Mix and match various
media possibilities while considering how strong of a bridge each set of methods could be at
allowing the new goals to be reached. After thoroughly reviewing all reasonable possibilities
it should become simple and clear based on realistic parameters what combination of pathways
will achieve the goals most cost effectively. Keep in mind this second step needs to be constantly
under study. It’s this area that can genuinely impact your market in dramatic new fashion. As
technology advances the landscape will alter and how you communicate to your customers will
need to as well. The research done in the first step with your customer base will be invaluable
in how you direct your message. You can begin the third step of implementation when you are
confident you have developed the proper message and the best ways to communicate it.

3. Implement strategic plan to accomplish set goals.

Choose the best sources you can afford for this step. The difference between success and
failure in this phase is likely determined by how well someone can interpret your goals and
the specific pathways set forth in the earlier steps. It takes experience and skill to craft the
vehicles that will deliver your message. Allow for originality and new ideas, giving clear
direction and focus can assure that the creation of your new marketing materials will prove
more reliable and effective. Throughout this final process all these efforts should be held up
to the original set of goals in order to maintain continuity with the master plan. In all cases
it’s important to have in place a way of tracking results. This information will be invaluable
when you begin the cycle again and reassess the first step based on your recent results.

It’s as simple as 1-2-3.
If this three step strategy is utilized fully then any reasonable goal can be accomplished,
from choosing the right restaurant to improving your companies bottom line profitability
through better customer communications. Just try it, it’s as simple as 1-2-3.