MARKETING, SALES & 

CUSTOMER SERVICES

NOTES

1. BASIC MARKETING PHILOSOPHY

Marketing is the marketing process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer needs profitably.

Needs:      relates to the expectations of the customer

Features: characteristics or qualities

Benefits:  something good to receive or an advantage

2. THE MARKETING MIX

• PRODUCT (Central Function)

THE PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE

• Development and introduction
• Growth
• Maturity
• Decline

Extent the life of a product

• Re-launch through increased advertising activity expenditure
• Amend its features to make it attractive to another market segment
• Add it to another product to enhance it
• Reduce the price
• Change the target audience
• Enter new markets
• Promote a wider range of usage

THE LEVELS OF PRODUCT CONCEPT

• Core
• Expected
• Augmented

THE BOSTON CONSULTING GROUP MATRIX

Relative market growth  .Vs.  Relative market share

• Problem Child
• Stars
• Cash Cows
• Dogs

THE DIRECTIONAL POLICY MATRIX

Business strength  .Vs.  Market attractiveness

• First Quadrant
• Second Quadrant
• Third Quadrant
• Fourth Quadrant

• PRICE (Central Function)

FACTORS AFFECTING THE PRICE

• Cost
• Profit
• Competition
• Customers' willingness to pay 

(Loss Leader Products, Quality Products)

• Availability of substitutes
• Cross-subsidization issue (loss leader, quality products)
• Payback periods
• Complexity of segmentation
• Risk
• Complexity of service provided
• Level of production

PRICING METHODS

• Cost-based pricing
• Value-based pricing
• Competitor-based pricing

• PLACE

Distribution of products, where they are sold and how they are sold.

• PROMOTION (Central Function)

• Direct Sales Force
• Telephone
• Direct Mail / Direct Response
• Brokers / IFAs
• Branch Network

• PEOPLE

• Data managers
• Creative staff
• Salespeople
• Print and media buyers
• Administration staff
• Call-center personnel

• PROCESS

The processes put in place before the marketing activity can take place.

 

3. THE PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING FINANCIAL SERVICES

• THE BUYING PROCESS

• Recognize the problem
• Understand the problem and desire a solution
• Assess the alternative options
• Make the purchase
• Validate the decision

Factors affecting the buying behavior

• The Family
• The Social Background
• The Culture

• SEGMENTATION

The division of market into smaller groups who have similar needs and similar behavioral patterns 

BENEFITS OF SEGMENTATION

• Each segment has similar needs so the organization can design products specifically for them.
• Each segment has a similar buying behavior so advertising can be more focused on their needs, which means that they are more likely to buy.
• The organization can attract more customers who have similar characteristics to those of the most profitable segments. 
• The organization can focus on those segments who are aligned with the strength of the organization. 

DRAWBACKS OF SEGMENTATION

• Ignore segments who are not easy to identify
• Segments and their characteristics overlap
• The characteristics of a segments may not be easily identifiable e.g. lifestyle segmentation
• Competition for profitable segments
• May choose the wrong segment ( which does not bring any additional profit)
• Ongoing change harder to manage 

CHARACTERISTICS OF A SEGMENT

• Measurable
• Accessible
• Substantial
• Profitable
• Relevant

SEGMENTATION METHODS

• Demographic

According to the age, sex, life cycle

SEGMENT	AGE	CHARACTERISTICS	PRODUCTS
Student	18-25	Money	Bank account/Student loan
Working single	16-24	Saving / Borrowing	Credit Card /Debit Card/ Personal Loan / Savings Account
Married Couple	20-35	Buying first home/ Two incomes/ Expensive holidays	Mortgage/ Home insurance/ Investments
Family with children	25-50	Limited disposable income/ Need to protect family/ Larger home	Life cover/ mortgage/ health insurance/ personal loan
Empty Nesters	40-60	Rising disposable income/ plan for retirement	Wills // TESSAs/ ISAs/ Pension provision
Retired	55+	Need financial security/ Long term care/ equity release	Investment products/ Long term care

• Geo-Demographic

Segmentation according to where people live (ACORN) -A classification of residential neighborhoods

• Socioeconomic

• A -   Upper Middle Class:  upper managerial level
• B -   Middle Class :              middle managerial level
• C1-  Lower middle Class : junior management
• C2 - Skilled working Class:skilled manual workers
• D -   Working Class:             semi-skilled and unskilled manual workers
• E-     Subsistence Level:    unemployed or on state benefit

• Lifestyle

• Achievers
• Socially conscious
• Sustainers

• Behavioral

• Usage rate, how often
• User Status - non-user, potential user, first time user
• Readiness stage, awareness of product, level of interest

4. THE LOGIC OF A CORPORATE PLAN AND THE MARKETING PLAN       CONTAINED THEREIN

• THE CORPORATE PLAN

• Statement of objectives (primary, secondary, trade-off)
• Situation Analysis (SWOT analysis)
• Strategy Development (Developing, attacking, , defensive)
• Specific Plans
• Implementation

• THE MARKETING AUDIT

• The Marketing Environment

• Major markets
• Customers
• Competitors
• Environment developments

• The Marketing Objectives

• Organization's marketing objectives
• Are the resources sufficient
• Is the expenditure appropriate
• What procedures are in place
• Is personnel operating efficiently and effectively?

• The Marketing Activities

• A review of pricing by looking at supply and demand
• Review of each product
• Analysis of the distribution systems
• Review of the size and efficiency of the sales force

• THE MARKETING PLAN

Strategic .Vs. Tactical Plan

• Executive summary
• Situation Analysis
• Marketing Objectives
• Marketing Strategy
• Action Plan
• Budgets
• Signatures

5. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PROFIT, SERVICES AND CUSTOMER SELECTION

• TRANSACTIONAL SELLING.Vs.RELATIONSHIP MARKETING

TRANSACTIONAL MARKETING	RELATIONSHIP MARKETING
Single sale focus	Regular/ongoing sales
Priced per transaction	Pricing based on the value of the relationship
Price sensitive	Less price sensitive
Competitive	More loyalty
Short term focus	Longer term perspective
Limited customer commitment	Through thick and thin
limited exchange of confidential information	Openness/trust developed over time though past service provided

• LADDER OF CUSTOMER LOYALTY

• Prospect    target customer
• Customer  purchases a product
• Client         sense of membership
• Supporter gives you the opportunity to correct
• Advocate   openly tells others

 

6. HOW TO ORGANIZE MARKET RESEARCH

• AREAS WORTH OF RESEARCH

• Product
• Price
• Promotion
• Customers

• CUSTOMER PROFILING

• Personal Information (Age, Sex, Location, Employment, Family)
• Financial Information (Income-Expenses, accounts, cards, loans, etc)
• Objectives & Priorities (Attitude to risk, etc)

• PRIMARY & SECONDARY DATA

PRIMARY DATA

Being collected for the first time, either by observation or by questionnaire. 

SECONDARY DATA

Being gathered for another purpose, so it already exists. They can be gathered by both internal or external sources. 

Example of Sources of Secondary Data

• Government Statistics

• Census of population
• Monthly digest of statistics
• Family Expenditure survey
• National Income and Expenditure Blue Book
• Financial Statistics

• Trade Sources (motor trades association)
• Media (TV, press, magazines)
• Off the shelf reports

Advantages of Secondary Data

• Cheaper and quicker to collect than primary
• Focus on key markets and issues
• Used to set primary data in context (sinafia)

Disadvantages of Secondary Data

• Relevance
• Availability
• Bias (prokatalispi)
• Accuracy

• LOCALLY GATHERED INFORMATION

ADVANTAGES:

• Knowledge of the area
• Local Variations
• Trust and Accuracy
• Cost

DISADVANTAGES:

• Restricted Use
• Risk

• DATA PROTECTION ACT (1984)

Every company that gathers information on its customers and stores that information, should comply with the Data Protection Act. The Act deals with information stored on computers. 

The Act established a register of all users of personal information, including:

• user's name and address
• type of data 
• purpose for which they are kept
• the source of the information
• people to whom disclosed
• places where they may be transferred

Data principles:

• Data processed legally and fairly
• kept only for the purpose on register
• not been disclosed for any inconsistent purpose
• Should be relevant and not excessive
• not kept for longer
• reasonable access 
• measures to ensure security of the data

7. FEATURES AND BENEFITS OF PERSONAL SERVICES

• Home Banking

• Out of hours banking
• Conduct business in your own home

• Travel Facilities

• Travellers Cheques
• Foreign Currency
• Travel Insurance

• Credit Cards

• Low Interest Payments
• Instant Credit
• Pre-agreed credit limit
• Low annual fee
• Cash Facility
• Award points

• Cash Dispensers

• Instant access to cash
• Out of hours transactions
• Balance enquiries
• Printed Statement Facility
• PIN change facility

• Life Insurance

• Lump Sum benefit on death
• Income on death
• Joint life facility
• Waiver of premium
• Critical Illness Cover
• Trust facility
• Monthly, quarterly and annual premiums

• ISAs and Unit Trusts

• Lump sum or monthly savings
• Tax free growth
• Income
• Encashment
• Expert Fund management
• Low charges
• Pooled investment
• Guaranteed Interest Rate

• Pensions

• Lump Sum at retirement
• Income in retirement
• Tax relief on contributions
• tax free growth
• Premium holiday
• Waiver of contribution
• flexible contributions
• transfer options
• open market option
• Life cover

• Personal Loans

• Fixed repayment term
• Interest rate fixed at outset
• No penalties for early retirement
• Life cover and redundancy insurance

 

8. CORPORATE SERVICES

• Bank Loan

• Fixed and variable rate of interest
• Money when needed

• Bank Overdraft

• Pre-agreed overdraft limit
• Good interest rate

• Equity Finance

• Money lent in exchange for share capital

• Foreign Services

• Expertise in foreign markets

• BACS (Banks Automated Clearing Services)

• same day debit and credit
• Payment instructions given to the bank on magnetic tape or disk
• Distribution of payments direct from the company's bank account

• Computer based cash management services

• Out of hours access to banking information
• Immediate access to information about the company's accounts

• Factoring and discount services

• Administration carried out by the bank
• Bank chases non payment
• Bank pays the money to the company on due date regardless of whether it has been received or not
• Discounting allows the company to receive the money owed to them instantly. 

• CHAPS

• No minimum transfer
• Fund both debited and credited on the same day

• Deposit Facilities

• Instant Access
• Banded Interest rates
• Cheque book option

9.  KNOWLEDGE OF COMPETITORS AND THEIR SALES ACTIVITIES

• Banks
• Building Societies
• Life assurance companies
• Girobank
• Private banks
• Finance Houses
• Retailers and Supermarkets
• Solicitors and Accountants
• National Savings

Retailers and Supermarkets

Advantages:

• Retail Brand
• Access to Customers
• Distribution
• Knowledge of their customers
• No baggage

Disadvantages:

• Lack of experience
• Customer knowledge

10.  PLANNING AND CONDUCTING SALES ACTIVITY

Lead --> Enquiry --> Appointment --> Sale

Top down sales plan  .Vs.   Bottom up  sales plan

11. CAMPAIGN SELLING

• THINGS TO CONSIDER FOR A SUCCESSFUL CAMPAIGN

• Objectives
• Marketing Mix
• Campaign management
• Management information

• POSTAL SELLING

Careful targeting is essential so that it is not considered to be junk mail

Uses:

• To impart information
• To sell a product or service
• To raise the customer's interest
• To encourage a customer to visit the branch
• To encourage people to make a telephone call to the company
• To seek further information

 

• TELEPHONE SELLING

Uses:

• To make an appointment
• Find out further information
• To sell a product over the telephone
• To follow up the issue of one or two stage mailing

Advantages:

• Cost-effective
• Instant response
• Used in conjunction with mailings

Disadvantages

• Database may not hold numbers for all customers
• Should employ people to work outside traditional office hours
• People screen out calls
• People find unsolicited telephone calls intrusive.

• CAMPAIGN BRIEF

• Introduction
• About the company
• Marketing Objective
• Campaign Objective
• Target Audience
• Product
• Distribution
• Competition
• Unique Selling Point (USP)
• Key Messages
• Deliverables
• Timing
• Budget

• CROSS SELLING

• More focused offers
• More comfortable with the company already
• More likely to open the mailings
• The more products, the longer the relationship
• Cheaper to mail to existing customers

 

12. THE SALES INTERVIEW

• PREPARING FOR THE SALES INTERVIEW

• Hardware
• Literature
• Interview Area
• For home visits everything should be ready and taken with him/her
• Set objectives beforehand
• Consider the interview style to suit the customer
• Structure of the interview
• Handle objections effectively
• Know how to close a sale
• Follow-up 

• THE SALES INTERVIEW STRUCTURE

• Introduction
• Rapport Building
• Investigate customer's needs
• Very and quantify the needs
• Present a solution
• The sale - gain customer's agreement to the solution
• Agree the next steps

• HANDLING OBJECTIONS

• Understand the real objection
• Provide an answer
• Return to the buying process
• Cost Objections
• Put-Off
• Deny
• Convert

• CLOSING TECHNIQUES

• Simply ask for the business
• The alternative close (Would you prefer an appointment in the morning or in the afternoon)
• The assumptive close (as you obviously see the benefits, I'll get you an application form)
• The concession close (use an incentive)

 

13. CREATING A SALES TEAM

• SALES TRAINING

• Technical knowledge
• Product knowledge
• Application for knowledge
• Skills training
• On-job training

• MOTIVATION BY MANAGER

• Be motivated himself
• Create a positive feeling
• Set challenging but realistic targets
• Give regular feedback
• Treat each people as an individual
• Give incentives
• Additional responsibilites
• Promotion
• Recognition

• REASONS TO SET SALES TARGETS

• To give something to aim for
• Managers can see how well an individual salesperson if performing
• Excellent way of motivation
• Can give us the overall sales target
• To judge how the business is progressing

• BENEFITS TO HAVING A SELLER FEEL OWNERSHIP

• The feel that the plan is achievable
• More committed to the target they set themselves
• Sometimes they set higher targets

• REWARD

• Salaried Sales Force

Advantages:

• Attract more people to the job
• More trusted by people
• Will not be tempted to oversell

Disadvantages:

• Lack of motivation to do well
• The successful ones will feel that they are not fairly rewarded

• Commission Only Sales Force

Advantages:

• Are motivated to work hard
• Not loose more for people they are not suited for the role
• Attract proven successful salespeople

Disadvantages:

• Struggle to recruit large number of people
• Possibility of overselling

• Combined Salary and Commission

• INCENTIVES

• For motivation
• To reward certain type of activity at certain times. 

• MONITORING, REVIEWING AND ENHANCING SALES PERFORMANCE

• To see how well salespeople are progressing towards their targets
• To ensure that any shortfall in sales is addressed as soon as possible
• To spot any knowledge or skill deficiencies and rectify them
•  If sellers are paid by the sales they make

• REASONS FOR POOR SALES PERFORMANCE

• Not enough customer enquiries
• The quality of the leads could be poor
• Uncompetitive products
• Problem with the individual salesperson

• ACTION TO ENHANCE SALES PERFORMANCE

• Increase marketing activity
• Amend the type of marketing carried out
• Improve the sale skills of the staff
• Improve the knowledge of the adviser
• Improve the sale skills of the individual
• Motivate
• Enhance products
• May not enough people
• Changes in sales procedures
• Paperwork

 

14. UNDERSTANDING INDIVIDUAL CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS

• SELECTING THE CUSTOMERS TO BUILD RELATIONSHIP WITH

• Customer Value .vs. Product Profit
• Gold, Silver and Bronze customers
• Levels of service: Basic, reactive, proactive

• HOW TO BUILD CUSTOMER LOYALTY

• Financial Benefits
• Social Benefits
• Structural Ties

• CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SURVEYS

• Selection of customers on a continuous basis
• Large number of customers as a one-off exercise

• THE BANKING CODE  (11 Key commitments)
• THE MORTGAGE CODE (10 key commitments)

15. PRESENTATION SKILLS

• Objectives
• Know the audience
• Structure of presentation

• Introduction
• Opening Statement
• Body of the presentation
• Summary
• Call to Action

• Presentation skills

• Verbal
• Vocal ( Intonation, pauses, fillers)
• Visual ( Formality, presence, body language)

• Style 

• Energy
• Confidence

• Telephone techniques
• Written techniques
• Use of technology 

• Overhead Projector (OHP)
• Microsoft Powerpoint
• Video

 

16. CREATING A POSITIVE, PROFESSIONAL AND KNOWLEDGEABLE IMAGE

• Ingredients of the professional sales person

• Industry knowledge
• Company knowledge
• Product knowledge
• Sales skills
• Personal style and attitude
• Communication

• Forecasting the workload and planning

• To do list
• Know when you can work best
• Do not waste time
• Controlling interruptions
• Use diary effectively
• Delegation

17. COMMUNICATIONS

• Selling Skills

• Interpersonal 
• Questioning
• Listening
• Analytical

18. BALANCING THE NEEDS OF THE CUSTOMER WITH THOSE OF THE ORGANIZATION

• Product (individually tailored products. Vs . simple products)
• Price (Lower possible price .Vs. maximum possible profit)
• Place (Many distribution channels .Vs. one distribution channel)
• Promotion (Offers specifically for their needs. Vs. one offer to large numbers)
• Communication (Added value communications. Vs. Revenue from each communication)

19. CONTROLLING DELIVERY AND FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITY

• Allocation of Responsibilities

• New Business Team
• Underwriting
• Existing Business
• Customer Services
• Legal and Compliance
• IT
• Finance
• Operations
• Human Resources

• Maximizing Internal Communications

• Establish agreements
• Share Plans
• Meet regularly
• Internal magazines
• Technology

• Security and Confidentiality

• Selecting the staff carefully
• Timing
• Grading Information

20. EVALUATING CHANGE TO IMPROVE CUSTOMER SERVICE

• ZEITHAML SERVICE QUALITY MODEL

• Box 1: Management perception of customer expectations
• Box 2: Translation of perceptions into service specifications
• Box 3: Service delivery both pre and post contract
• Box 4: Communication to customers
• Box 5: Expected Service
• Box 6: Perceived service

• MINIMUM CUSTOMER CARE

• Physical Features and Facilities
• Reliability
• Staff
• Responsiveness

• SERVQUAL

22-Item scale based on 6 dimensions

tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, recovery

Uses

• Track trends in service quality

• Categorize customers

• Compare service offered by one company with the one by the competitors

• Compare standards offered by different branches

Limitations:

• Only for current and previous customers

• Variables not weighted to their importance

• Statements with negative wordings may be confusing

• Asking the same things from two perspectives can seem repetitive

• No allowance for the timing factor

21. MONITORING AND IMPROVING PERFORMANCE

• Increase individual performance

• Objective setting
• Understand the company's goals
• Ensure Team Spirit
• Delegate and allocate
• Monitor and review performance
• Performance related pay
• Giving feedback
• Appraisals

• Ethics
• Social Responsibility

• Stakeholder responsibility
• Societal responsibility

APPENDIX CODE OF ADVERTISING PRACTICE

ASA - Advertising Standards Authority

• Substantiation
• Legality
• Decency
• Honesty
• Truthfulness
• Matters of Opinion
• Fear and Distress
• Safety
• Violence and anti-social behaviour
• Testimonials and endorsements
• Prices
• Free offers
• Availability of products
• Guarantees
• Comparisons
• Denigration
• Exploitation of goodwill
• Imitation