A Couple of the Benefits of a Marketing Plan

Without a marketing plan, a business manager could walk right on competitive land mines.

While working currently to set companies on a solid marketing track, I am surprised how few organizations take the time to consider their practical goals and how to achieve them. Many managers at the top of companies, small and large, often skip over the task of rationally laying out a plan or analyzing their position relative to other similar businesses. Many managers say that it is merely academic exercise. I hear that phrase often.

Managing a company can seem to be an easy task when your business is prospering in a growing industry. Some industries can thrive for years in an economic slump.

Consider a case or two or three.

1) During an economic down turn, many consumers tighten their budgets and look for ways to fortify their trade or professional skills by taking

college or trade school classes or seminars. When unemployment is high, people have more time to learn how to hone their careers.

So, managing a trade school might seem like a breeze in such circumstances.

2) Likewise manufacturers of low-priced, utilitarian cars can enjoy a relative upturn in sales compared to manufacturers and sellers of luxury cars.

3) Or consider a defense contractor just before or during a war. Selling the services and products in such times can seem like a piece of cake. When business is up as an industry trend, a manager may not care much about sustaining a strong position compared to competitors. If business is good why bother?

In such a situation, trade-school managers can sit back and let students line up to enroll in classes, desperate to pay to learn.

Likewise small cars, motorcycles or even motor-scooters will attract people. But without looking at the industry trends, a manager might slip into a dangerous sense of complacency. What if a business manager of a motor-scooter shop runs his business thinking this trend will continue? What if a manager is doing great, but she doesn't realize that her sales rate is less that the industry’s rate of growth?

That could mean that a motor-scooter shop manager is

actually conducting less business than most other shops in the same market. This means that her competitors are stronger in ways she has not cared to consider. The customer services, the quality of a repair and maintenance crew, or any other such attractive advantages can make her competitors stronger.

Some day the upward trend for motor-scooters will turn down. The weaker motor-scooter shops will lose customers and lose their footing in the market.

Meanwhile other, more competitive motor-scooter shops will be in a stronger position during a market change so that they can adapt by developing more competitive advantages.

This reveals some of the practical benefits of a marketing plan. It is not academic. It is like putting together a battle plan before rushing out to war. It can save any business from ruin. A marketing plan, when done right, can set your business on a track to prosperity despite the wild changes in your market.