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Marketing in Berkshire
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How to get the best value from your marketing mix
The deepest cut of all
So it’s that time of year again. The budgets have finally been approved, your plan is prepared and you are ready to go… until the call comes to cut your spend. So how do you decide which pieces of your master plan to ditch and which pieces just have to survive to have any chance of hitting your sales and profit targets?
Sort out the garbage
The first thing to do is eradicate waste. The bigger your budget, the bigger the opportunity to reclaim some of your misplaced time and money and put it to better use. Here are the 7 most obvious waste areas:
Waste #1: Too much activity (poor focus and lack of measurement)
Waste #2: Too many people involved (inconsistent messaging and customer service)
Waste #3: Overly complicated processes (confusion and diffusion)
Waste #4: Too much waiting (slow decisions and procrastination)
Waste #5: Excessive communication costs (arcane and expensive vehicles)
Waste #6: Trial and Error (don’t learn from experience, model the wrong behaviours)
Waste #7: Excessive lead costs (poor targeting)
Start by ranking yourself on a 0 to 10 scale where zero means you don’t suffer from this type of waste and a big fat 10 if you absolutely do. Try to avoid too many fives as this means you can’t make a decision. If you scored highly then look on the positive side.. at least you know where to look to trim the excess fat …and if you scored well you can still improve.
Be Honest with yourself
Use the “Truth Chart” below to be totally honest in categorising your activities. This can be a cathartic experience.
The next step is to make a list of all the things you intend to do and place them in the categories on the chart. Ideally you can use post it notes but if you want to save some trees just write them down.
Remember to be truthful and honest in compiling your lists:
MAKE MONEY: (You won’t have many here). Must have an almost certain chance of making you money based on first hand experience or logical thought...
SAVE MONEY: (You won’t have many here either). Must have an almost certain chance of saving you money based on first hand experience or logical thought.
NECESSARY: (You will probably have a lot in here). This is a promise, protocol or process task that neither makes nor saves you money – tasks in this column will go into the “Pain or Gain” (POG) grid
COST MONEY: (You’ll probably have loads in here). Doesn’t fit into the other columns – tasks in here will go into the “So What” chart.
So What?
On the final “cost money” list, estimate roughly how much time and money you would spend if you were to do each one and write it next to the activity. Then go through the list and place it on the “So What” chart below.
Good chance of MAKING or SAVING Money? JUST DO IT
Can’t justify that It will MAKE or SAVE Money? DUMP IT
Won’t MAKE or SAVE Money but still Necessary? PAIN OR GAIN
As a simple example you might want a new logo… ask yourself “So What?” and depending on the answer it will go in one of the three columns:
Answer 1: My competitors are sniggering at my pathetic Word Art logo. I think a new one will improve my business card and make me more money. (JDI)
Answer 2: I have seen a really cool red logo on my competitor’s card and I want to look good. (DI)
Answer 3: I’m changing my address and might as well take the chance to re-vamp the logo. (POG)
Pain or Gain?
Collect the “Necessary” activities from your “Truth” and “So What?” charts and categorise them on the POG matrix. Pain is vertical, Gain on the horizontal. Top right = Just Do It or Outsource. Bottom right = Just Do It. Top left - Caution. Bottom left - Dump It.
PAIN is something you don’t have the skills for or hate doing and GAIN is how much money it may earn if it is done. The Caution section probably contains the necessary evils if they have survived this far.
Priorities
So now you have sorted the Cost money items, the Necessary items and identified the activities that definitely make or save you money. The last task is to prioritise your Just Do It selection by using the priority slide.
Horizontal is "Chances of Success". Vertical "Potential Value". Slide goes from top left to bottom right.
Ask yourself two questions and place your activities on the corresponding area of the chart:
How much money will this activity make or save me?
How confident am I of its success?
Only one other thing might over ride this approach and that is time.. if you have a deadline or made a promise.
And that’s it!!!
Profits can be fun
If you follow this way of thinking you will be well on the way to eradicating the waste, making profits and having more fun doing it. You will also amaze your Marketing Director by the speed of response to his or her next request for a budget cut (or you may want to use the time that this exercise has saved you to do something useful while your colleagues are still trying to figure it out!!) Good luck with your business for 2005.
David Horton, Managing Director, Targeted Solutions Ltd.
Phone: 01494 473581 Email: enquiries@targetSL.com
If you want to make money, save money and have some fun, visit BERT at our website: www.targetsl.com We offer business consultancy to companies who want to improve the way they operate and have some fun doing it.
Based on the Lean Marketing TM approach developed by Debbie Jenkins and her book "The Gorillas Want Bananas"- www.leanmarketing.co.uk
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