Strengths of the market organization of the marketing service. Organization of a marketing service at an enterprise

Chapter 2 Leaders Know Their Strengths and Weaknesses Either you will move forward and achieve growth, or you will fall back and gain security. Abraham Maslow The better you know and understand yourself, the better decisions you make and the better you get

Reforming the commercial and production activities of enterprises in our country is an objective reality, a challenge of the time, which should be accepted with a full understanding of the whole range of problems and issues that can be solved with the help of marketing tools. Marketing work requires the organization of a specialized service at the enterprise. In commercial practice, various approaches to organizing a marketing service have been used: functional, product, market, product-market. Let's consider the features, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the organization.

The functional organization of the marketing department is built on the principle of responsibility of individuals or a group of department individuals for the implementation of a separate local or consolidated functional task of the department. This approach is very effective when it comes to monotony and consistency.

production and sales functions of the enterprise, but when changing types of activities or solving fundamentally new problems, quickly reacting to a changing market situation, it is less effective. This form of building a department is practiced by small firms that produce one or a limited number of products and sell products in a small market (market segment). However, large manufacturers of unique equipment also use this form of department construction. In table 30 shows the strengths and weaknesses of building a marketing department on a functional basis.

table 2

The product organization of the marketing department is built on the principle of dividing marketing into separate enlarged product groups. With a commodity organization! (TO) for each product (product group) there is a sector manager (head) with a certain staff of employees who perform all functional marketing tasks for this product. This department structure is effective for companies with a wide range of products with the possibility of selling them in a large number of homogeneous (identical) markets.

Product structure is especially effective when:

b) the sales volume for each product is large enough to justify the costs of organizing a marketing service for this product (Table 3).

Table 3. - Strengths and weaknesses of building a marketing department based on product principles

A rather large disadvantage of a commodity organization, associated with the need for each department employee to perform a large “set” of responsibilities, can be leveled out by using a combination of commodity and functional organization of department construction.

The product-functional organization of the marketing department is a combination of functional and product approaches, in which all functionaries of the department, performing their assigned duties in the context of a certain product group, coordinate their actions.

The market organization of the marketing service is the division of responsibilities of individuals in the department or their groups for individual markets. The principles for dividing markets are practically the same as for segmenting markets, i.e. The identification of markets comes from taking into account their realities. The use of a market organization by geographic markets is effective if the enterprise produces a limited range of goods, but sells them in a sufficiently large number of markets that differ from each other in terms of sales conditions (Table 32). Therefore, in real marketing practice, a market-functional organization is often used, sometimes called a regional-functional organization (RFO).

Table 4.- Strengths and weaknesses of the market organization of the marketing department

Its type is a segment organization. The segmented organization of marketing departments provides for the assignment to each sector of a certain market segment with a designated circle of potential consumers.

To overcome the limitations of commodity and market organization, large enterprises that produce a wide range of goods and operate in many markets use a commodity-market organization. Commodity-market organization is a combination of commodity and market approaches using the matrix principle: product managers are responsible for planning sales and profits from the sale of their goods, and market sector managers are responsible for the prospects for the development of markets in the context of identified potential segments.

Thus, there are many options for organizing a marketing service in an enterprise, each of which has its own strengths and weaknesses.

When implementing marketing plans, many different deviations from the developed plans and programs arise, so the marketing department needs to constantly monitor the progress of the activities included in the plan.

Table 5. - Strengths and weaknesses of building a marketing department according to a product-market operating scheme

In marketing practice, there are the following types of marketing control:

The stages of monitoring the implementation of annual marketing plans include the following activities:

1. It contains benchmarks broken down by month or quarter.

2. Carrying out measurements of the company’s market performance indicators.

3. Identification of the causes of serious disruptions in the company’s activities.

4.Take corrective action and close gaps between goals and results.

Strategic control

From time to time, a company needs to conduct critical assessments of marketing effectiveness as a whole, re-evaluate its overall approach to the market, using a marketing audit!!! - a comprehensive, systematic, impartial and regular study of the company’s marketing environment, its objectives, strategies and operational activities in order to identify emerging problems and opportunities and make recommendations regarding a plan of action to improve the firm's marketing activities.

Marketing and controlling

Controlling is a comprehensive systematic assessment of all aspects of the activity of an enterprise - the company, its divisions, managers and employees in terms of timely and high-quality implementation of planned strategic indicators, identifying deviations and taking immediate and energetic actions so that the planned milestones are achieved in the event of possible deviations in the economic situation.

Controlling acts as a means of improving the activities of the company, and in such a timely manner that it is possible to take preventive measures in relation to phenomena that threaten its very existence. Controlling does not mean to control, but rather to “keep under control at all times.”

The marketing aspect of controlling serves to achieve all the business goals set by the company. Initially, controlling was used to solve assigned tasks within a profit-oriented enterprise. Practice has shown that a company survives in the market only by acting actively in the sphere of “personnel - company” and “economic environment of the company” on the basis of a clear plan. Therefore, within the framework of controlling, special attention is paid to the development of programs for the improvement and development of the company’s personnel, the constant growth of their qualifications, as well as the systematic improvement of the internal environment of the company and its organization.

As an important element of firm management, the controller will assist management in the process of defining and implementing strategic and operational development goals.

Controlling is an effective means of management in a company, aimed at solving marketing problems. The controller’s task is to, in the event of actual discrepancies with the plan, set in motion a mechanism capable of achieving the goal, despite deviations from the plan. A comparison of actual and planned results is carried out to timely determine where difficulties arise with the implementation of the plan and to ensure the receipt of planned profits and the achievement of other planned indicators with the help of regulatory measures.

The regulatory activity of controlling is to signal deviations made in one area of ​​activity to other departments, prompt them to take the necessary actions, and help them implement them to achieve planned milestones as a whole.

The control mechanism is based on the following principles:

Movement and braking. Creating and maintaining conditions for success is associated with the concept of “innovation”. It (as a change or renewal) occurs when something new and progressive is introduced into the work of the company. Controlling is obliged to actively influence those who slow down progress, to achieve constant updating of all the company’s activities, especially in the field of marketing;

Timeliness. Controlling as a marketing philosophy is future-oriented and serves to early identify new opportunities and risks for the company. The ability to respond in a timely manner to market changes depends on the time interval between the emergence of a new chance and risk and specific actions, as well as on the time required to develop a change plan and implement it;

Strategic consciousness. It is implemented when any decisions and actions of the company are made from the standpoint of compliance with strategic programs. Maintaining this approach is the most important task of the controller. Strategic consciousness is a filter that prevents the implementation of operational decisions or modifies them if they do not correspond to the strategic plan;

Documentation. Its purpose is to create the ability to verify whether the goals and objectives of strategic controlling were actually met. Information must be provided in the form of a written message, systematically, as completely and clearly as possible.

Practice shows that marketing is the most “sore” area of ​​most Russian enterprises. The problem of producing a product has long faded into the background, and the ability of an enterprise to sell manufactured products is the most important indicator for potential investors.

Many enterprises are taking steps to reorganize or create a new enterprise marketing system. What measures can be taken by enterprise managers to improve its efficiency?

Considering that most enterprises are in a difficult financial situation, a number of marketers (A. Idrisov) recommend starting the activity control system with actions that do not require significant costs. Usually these are measures of an organizational and managerial nature, which, with targeted implementation, will allow the enterprise to significantly increase the efficiency of the marketing and sales service. Of course, it would be desirable to conduct detailed market research, determine the potential of various consumer groups, evaluate the company's capabilities and competitive advantages, and develop a new marketing strategy that takes into account these advantages and market potential. This work can be done more effectively with the participation of management consultants. But the steps listed below can be completed by the enterprise without outside help.

Assess the position of the marketing director (marketing and sales) in your company. If your enterprise has several such managers, identify one who will not only have comprehensive powers, but also bear full responsibility for the results of the company’s activities in the market. Typically, the manager responsible for marketing and sales is the second person in the enterprise management team after the general director. Necessary Analyze who and how performs the following functions at your enterprise:

It is necessary to appoint those responsible for performing these functions, vest them with powers and resources, define criteria for assessing the effectiveness of their work and responsibility. The remuneration system for employees of the marketing and sales department should be related to the company's performance in the market.

Marketers must describe their products or services:

Product name;

Advantages and disadvantages;

The most important competitive advantages.

Identify your consumers (target consumer groups). And assess the potential of each target consumer group.

For each target consumer group it is necessary to formulate:

Reasons why customers buy your products and services;

Reasons why customers refuse to purchase.

Describe ways to promote products to target consumer groups, determine the most effective of them.

Analyze your pricing policy. How do the prices of your products compare to those of your competitors?

Analyze the discount system taking into account the product distribution system.

Determine the typical sizes of transactions (large, medium, small), their volumes in monetary and physical terms.

Set your priorities and concentrate your efforts And resources only on those products that make the most significant contribution to covering total costs and only on those target groups of product consumers who have highest potential.

Determine the company's break-even point (minimum allowable total sales) in monetary terms.

Calculate an individual sales plan for each employee.

Determine the minimum number of transactions that the company must complete during the reporting period.

Analyze the productivity of the sales department: how many contacts are established monthly, how many customers buy products
and for what amount.

Determine the number of contacts that the company must provide in order to achieve the required sales volume.

Determine the number of contacts and clients that one sales employee must provide.

Create a personnel motivation system that will orient marketing and sales employees to achieve results.

Analyze what your marketing and sales employees do during the workday.

Taking into account data from the analysis of tasks and functions, determine the composition And number of employees in marketing and sales departments.

Analyze the sales process and identify critical stages (finding contacts or communicating information to customers, initiating a lead, identifying customer needs, preparing a proposal, receiving payment) that require improvement.

Develop a marketing plan:

What products to sell and to whom

Price policy

Distribution system

Product promotion methods, how you will inform customers about your products or services

Define your sales plan And other indicators by which you will evaluate the performance of the marketing and sales department.

The marketing service should regularly submit to the sales department developed programs of marketing “attacks” aimed at target consumer groups.

Despite the fact that this list of tasks looks impressive, this is only the beginning on the path to creating an effective marketing and sales service, but without their implementation it is unlikely to achieve success in the market.

Marketing budget

The marketing budget is one of the very difficult tasks that company managers have to deal with. The marketing budget includes: expenses for market research (market research, medium- and long-term), ensuring the competitiveness of goods, information communication with customers (advertising, sales promotion, participation in exhibitions and fairs, etc.), organizing product distribution and sales network. Financial resources for the listed activities are drawn from profits, which without such expenses would be much larger in mass; however, on the other hand, without marketing expenses it is unlikely that in modern conditions it will be possible to sell a sufficient number of units of goods to recoup the costs of research and everything else associated with its production, not to mention making a profit. Therefore, allocating funds for marketing is a solution to an optimization problem with a large number of variables, the influence of which usually cannot be accurately taken into account, that is, a problem that is typically predictive. The influence of variables is also, as a rule, nonlinear and must itself be determined empirically. That is why traditions, the experience of the company's top managers and analysis of the marketing expenses of competing firms play such a large role in determining the marketing budget.

To estimate the order of magnitude of marketing expenses, you can use the profit equation:

P=SW- ,

where P is profit, S is sales volume in pieces, W- list price, O - transport, commission and other expenses for the sale of 1 unit of goods, A- costs of production of 1 unit of goods, not related to marketing, but depending on the volume of production, F- fixed production costs that are not related to marketing and do not depend on the volume of production and sales, R

If we assume that when exporting finished products, the usual profit on capital invested in production, trade and marketing is 10%, this equation takes on the following form

R+D = 0.91SW - .

However, the difficulty is that the sales volume S depends nonlinearly (and with some uncertainty) on R And D, although this dependence can be determined by regression analysis methods (a priori it can be stated that for each company the regression equation is strictly individual).

Since the rate of profit depends on the market share occupied by the company (with a share of less than 10%, this rate is approximately 11% for companies producing personal items, and 5% for industrial goods, with 20 - 30% of the market the rate increases, respectively, to 12 and 16% depending on the type of goods, with 40% of the market - up to 22 and 27%; and with a market share of over 40% - up to 25 and 30%, respectively) from the profit equation it follows that advertising or promotion costs should increase according to as the firm establishes itself in the market.

A.P. Durovich notes that in marketing practice various methods are used to determine the marketing budget. However, it is obvious that none of them is universal and perfect. Therefore, we will limit ourselves to considering the most common ones.

The most common methods for determining a marketing budget are:

Opportunity funding;

"Fixed interest" method;

Competitor matching method;

Maximum expenditure method;

Method based on goals and objectives;

Marketing program accounting method

Opportunity funding is carried out on the principle of “as much as you can allocate”. This method is used by firms focused on production rather than marketing. The latter usually accounts for only what remains after satisfying the demands of production as such (if anything remains). The only, but very dubious, advantage of the method is the absence of any serious conflicts with production departments due to their unconditional priority. The imperfection of the method is obvious at first glance. First of all, this is the absolute arbitrariness of allocating specific amounts, their unpredictability from year to year and, as a consequence, the impossibility of developing long-term marketing programs, planning the marketing mix and all the activities of the company.

"Fixed interest" method based on the deduction of a certain share of the previous or expected sales volume. For example, a value of 3% of last year’s sales is assumed. This method is quite simple and is often used in practice. However, it is also the least logical, since it makes the cause (marketing) dependent on the effect (sales volume). When focusing on the results of the past period, marketing development becomes possible only if it is previously successful. If there is a market failure and sales volume decreases, then the amount of deductions for marketing also falls proportionally. The company finds itself at a dead end.

Competitor matching method involves taking into account the practices and level of marketing costs of competing firms, adjusted for the balance of power and market share. For its implementation, a number of conditions must be present. First, you should select a competitor who is close in resources, interests and market position. Secondly, it is necessary to at least approximately determine the size of its marketing budget, which is very difficult. While a competitor's efforts in advertising and sales promotion are visible in the market and can be at least approximately ascertained, the costs of marketing research and product development are difficult to estimate.

This method of developing a marketing budget allows for the use of collective experience, but is not consistently optimal. There is no guarantee that the competitor chosen by the company to follow acts wisely enough, rationally forms its budget, and in general proceeds from those goals that we involuntarily attributed to it.

Maximum Expense Method suggests that as much money as possible should be spent on marketing. Despite all the apparent “progressiveness” of this approach, its weakness lies in the neglect of ways to optimize costs. Moreover, given the fairly significant time interval between the implementation of marketing expenses and the achievement of results, the use of this method can too quickly lead the company to difficult financial difficulties and, as a result, to a departure from the marketing concept.

Method based on goals and objectives requires a coherent system of clearly formulated goals and objectives. The essence of the method comes down to calculating the costs to be incurred as part of individual marketing activities to ensure the achievement of the corresponding goals. Therefore, in such cases, a revision of the goals is often required. In general, carrying out specific calculations when using this method is quite difficult and time-consuming. Maybe that's why only a few companies turn to him.

Marketing program accounting method involves careful consideration of the costs of achieving specific goals, but not in themselves, but in comparison with the costs of other possible combinations of marketing means, i.e. when implementing other “chains” of marketing strategy alternatives.

Taking into account the disadvantages inherent in each of the above methods separately, it should be noted that the most justified budget will be drawn up on the basis of an integrated approach using individual elements of all the techniques considered. This method of budget formation can be based, for example, on a focus on completing a given task, taking into account the actions of competitors and the funds that the company can allocate for marketing.

When determining the budget, it is necessary not only to determine the total costs, but also to distribute them both across the main areas of marketing activities (marketing research, product development, advertising, sales promotion, etc.) and within them.

Marketing planning

8.1 Goals and objectives of planning in marketing

The practice of domestic business shows that many firms are still operating without officially adopted plans. In most start-up companies, managers are so busy that they simply do not have time to plan. In small firms that have accumulated some experience, managers, intuitively feeling the need to have a plan, at the same time believe that they can do without formal planning, and therefore it cannot be of significant importance. They don't want to take the time to prepare a written plan. They say the market is changing too quickly for the plan to be of any use, and it will end up gathering dust on a shelf. It is for these and a number of other reasons that many firms do not use formal planning. Large firms assess the importance of a marketing plan completely differently.

But formal marketing planning allows you to reap a number of benefits. In particular, M. Branch lists these benefits in the following order:

1. Planning encourages managers to think long-term.

2. It leads to better coordination of the efforts undertaken by the company.

3. It leads to the establishment of performance indicators for subsequent monitoring.

4. It forces the firm to more clearly define its objectives and policies.

5. Planning makes the firm more prepared for sudden changes.

Any planning begins with strategic planning. The strategic planning process consists of developing an enterprise program, formulating its tasks and goals, analyzing the business portfolio and long-term planning for the development of the organization. The mission statement of the enterprise must be market-oriented, realistic, motivating, and specific in the sense that it directs the company to take advantage of the most promising opportunities available.

Taking into account the above, strategic planning requires an assessment of each of the production facilities included in the enterprise in order to draw a conclusion about the advisability of their expansion, preservation, termination or use of the achievements of their activities.

To ensure a firm's growth, strategic planning requires identifying market opportunities in areas where the firm needs to have a clear competitive advantage. Such opportunities can be identified along the paths of intensive growth on the scale of modern market activity, such as deeper market penetration, expanding the boundaries of one’s market or improving the product, as well as along the paths of integration growth within the industry and along the paths of diversification growth.

“After the development of general strategic plans,” believes F. Kotler, “each production of the enterprise will have to develop its own marketing plans for goods and market brands.” The main sections of the marketing plan are: a summary of benchmarks, a statement of the current marketing situation, a list of threats and opportunities, a list of tasks and problems, a statement of marketing strategies, action programs, budgets and control procedures.

A flexible planning system eliminates binding to planning periods and can change activities quite arbitrarily as changes occur in the market and in the enterprise itself. It allows you to react flexibly to market fluctuations. The absence of a marketing plan deprives the enterprise of clear, stable goals.

The strategic plan of an enterprise determines what kind of production it will engage in and sets out the tasks of these productions. Now each of them will have to develop their own detailed plans. If production includes several product groups, several products, brands and markets, a separate plan must be developed for each of these positions. That is why we are faced with production plans, product plans, brand plans and market plans. All these plans are collected into one - the “marketing plan”.

Strategic planning must address the specific needs of both marketing and other functional areas. This is not always easy, as the goals and needs of different functional units differ.

The orientation of the different functional areas is as follows:

1. Marketing - attracting and retaining a loyal group of consumers through a unique combination of product, sales, promotion and price.

2. Production- making full use of production capabilities, reducing relative production costs and maximizing quality control.

3. Finance - operating within established budgets, focusing on profitable products, controlling credit, and minimizing borrowing costs to the company.

4. Accounting - standardization of reporting, careful detailing of costs, standardization of transactions.

5. Technical Services - development and adherence to specific specifications, limiting the number of models and options, focusing on improving quality.

6. Supply- purchasing materials in large, homogeneous quantities at low prices and maintaining small inventories.

7. Legal services- ensuring the security of the strategy from the government, competitors, distribution channel participants and consumers.

Top management must ensure that each functional unit is willing to balance viewpoints in the joint decision-making process and participate in this process. Friction between services is inevitable, but it can be reduced by openly discussing differences and encouraging contacts between separate departments; look for people who bring together technical and marketing knowledge; create cross-functional working groups, committees and management development programs; develop the goals of each department, taking into account the tasks of other services (for example, evaluate the heads of marketing departments not by exceeding sales targets, but by the accuracy of forecasts). This is quite reasonable. Suffice it to say that in the practice of foreign companies, deviations in the accuracy of the forecast in one direction or another by more than 5 - 10% indicate the unprofessionalism of the marketer.

Strategic planning is the management process of achieving and maintaining a stable balance of the organization's goals, capabilities and resources and new market opportunities.

There are the following types of organizational structures of the marketing service:

Functional;

Commodity;

Market;

Commodity market.

1. Functional organization(FO) of the marketing division is built on the principle of responsibility of each employee or their group for performing a separate local functional task. This approach is very effective when the production and sales functions of mainly small firms are uniform and constant.

A functional organization is effective if the company's production and marketing activities are constant and uniform. Unsuitable for solving fundamentally new problems or quickly reacting to a changing market situation. It is used by small firms that produce a limited number of products and sell products on a small market, and large enterprises that produce goods that are unique in their technical characteristics.

Strengths of a functional organization:

Simplicity of management - each performer has a range of responsibilities that does not overlap with others;

The possibility of functional specialization for marketers contributes to the growth of their qualifications. Competition between individual performers stimulates work efficiency.

Weaknesses of a functional organization:

Decrease in quality of work with expansion of the product range;

Lack of mechanisms for searching for non-traditional types and directions of the company’s activities;

The ability to turn healthy competition into private interest, and not for the interest of the company.

2. Commodity organization The marketing department is built on the principle of dividing marketing into separate enlarged product groups. This structure is effective for companies that have a wide range of goods with the possibility of selling them in many homogeneous markets, as well as with a sufficiently large volume of sales of individual product groups.

In a commodity organization, each product has its own manager with a division of employees who perform all functional marketing tasks for this product. Effective for enterprises with a wide range of goods and when they are sold in a large number of homogeneous markets, when the requirements for packaging, sales, and advertising for each product produced differ significantly from each other, and the sales volume for each product is quite large to justify the cost of organizing the service marketing for this product.

Strengths of the commodity organization:

Full marketing of the entire range of products;

The ability to comprehensively study demand and identify promising consumers across the entire product range.

Weaknesses of the commodity organization:

A wide range of responsibilities of each department employee for assigned functions of the entire promotion complex.

3. Market organization- This is the division of responsibilities of individuals within a division or their groups across different markets. Division by geographic markets is effective if the enterprise produces a limited range of goods, but sells them in a sufficiently large number of markets that differ from each other.

Strengths of a market organization:

Good coordination of services when entering the market;

Ability to develop a comprehensive go-to-market program;

A more reliable market forecast taking into account its specifics.

Weaknesses of a market organization:

Complex structure;

Low degree of specialization of service work;

Possibility of duplicating functions;

Poor knowledge of the product (the entire range).

4. When commodity market organization, for example, regional representatives submit orders or seek advice from the central office to managers responsible for individual products or their groups.

Commodity and market organization of the marketing service– a combination of product and market approaches using the matrix principle: product managers are responsible for planning sales and profits from the sale of their products, and market managers are responsible for developing profitable markets for existing and potential products. When choosing one form of organization or another, you should pay attention to the size of the organization, the list of areas of activity and product range.

64. Features of marketing in the industrial market.

Understanding industrial markets as PPTN markets, it is necessary to highlight the following main differences from consumer markets:

in industrial markets the number of buyers is significantly smaller; they purchase products in bulk for industrial consumption. In this regard, the industrial buyer is more competent both in the commercial and technological spheres, has a good knowledge of market conditions, offers of alternative suppliers, and their competitive advantages. A competent buyer requires professional service. Individualization of the service process and the influence of personal contacts on relationships with customers is an important feature of marketing activities in industrial markets;

industrial markets are scarce by nature. On the one hand, market scarcity is determined by the limited natural resources - the primary type of PPTN (raw materials), which determine the production capabilities of all other types of PPTN. In addition, industrial markets are characterized by larger amounts and turnover of transactions, which also results in a lack of resources of all types for each individual company (in particular, financial, information, human, etc.). A particular lack of financial resources is evident in the area of ​​creating innovative goods and technologies. All this forces companies to unite and interact, which leads to increased concentration and monopolization of industrial markets;

industrial markets are more concentrated - often no more than 4 large companies control at least 60% of the market. High concentration creates a rigid market structure in which the place and role of each actor is almost uniquely distributed. Such markets are often called highly structured market networks. Network barriers to entry into the market are sometimes too high for potential competitors, which allows “old” market participants to maintain high profitability of operations;

the most structured industrial markets have a hierarchical structure, that is, they can be considered as organizational markets. The structure of the market resembles the structure of an organization: there is a leading company or a group of companies that quite strictly (actually administratively through a system of contracts) manage the development of smaller companies, and practically the market as a whole;

Scientific and technological progress (STP) has a stronger influence on industrial markets than on consumer markets, which creates high technological risks for activities and requires high-quality research and forecasting of the development of STP and new technologies. Since markets are controlled by those who control the process of creating new technological principles and new technologies, industrial marketing is characterized by huge costs for research and development of innovative products;

All market entities act as competitors in the industrial market: direct competitors, competitors producing substitute goods, large buyers, intermediaries, contractors and subcontractors, banks, as well as the state.

Industrial markets are almost always international because industrial customers are globalized (focused on purchasing products not only from the local supplier, but from any available foreign supplier). This forces companies to compete internationally and enter international markets;

In the industrial market, standardization has a serious impact on marketing activities. All industrial products are standardized. Sales volumes are often determined by whether products meet certain standards. Therefore, an essential component of the marketing activities of an industrial company is the introduction of its own technological standards of production and service at the level of the company, industry, state, and international community. The adoption of brand standards at the industry and government levels (especially globally) guarantees sales volumes for many years.

65. Features of services marketing.

Marketing of services- marketing, the task of which is to promote the company’s services to the market.

Services Marketing- a scientific discipline and branch of modern marketing that studies the features of the marketing activities of organizations whose business is to obtain benefits from the provision of services.

There is a classic (F. Kotler) list of service properties that make it possible to distinguish service marketing into a separate area. Common features of services marketing are:

Intangibility,

Inseparability from the source,

Inconsistency of quality

Non-storability.

But both in F. Kotler’s textbook and in the literature on services marketing there is no detailed consideration of the applicability of this list to the marketing of consulting services. While working on the guide to marketing consulting services, the authors adapted the list of service features in relation to consulting services, and additionally developed an in-depth list of features of marketing consulting services.

Intangibility. The client cannot “hold in his hands” what is offered to him; your services have no shape, color, smell, or packaging. The consumer is truly able to evaluate the quality only after receiving the service. (Sometimes he cannot even do this, for example, in the case of audit services: the quality of the audit can only be finally judged after a tax audit). In this regard, the client faces high uncertainty, which determines a greater number of factors influencing the choice of services. In an effort to reduce risks, clients analyze external signs of service quality, namely: staff behavior, office location, etc.

How to overcome intangibility:

brand development;

development of image policy;

information about previous experience;

calculation of expected results from counseling;

Have you ever wondered what a good military leader does before a battle? He studies the field of the upcoming battle, looking for all the advantageous hills and dangerous swampy places, assesses his own strength and the strength of the enemy. If he doesn't do this, he will doom his army to defeat.

The same principles apply in business. Business is an endless series of small and large battles. If you don't assess your business's strengths, weaknesses, and market opportunities and threats before battle (those uneven terrain that become so important in the heat of battle), your chances of success will be greatly diminished.

In order to get a clear assessment of your company's strengths and market situation, there is a SWOT analysis.

• Strengths (S trengths) advantages of your organization;
• Weaknesses (W eaknesses) shortcomings of your organization;
• Possibilities (O pportunities) external environmental factors, the use of which will create advantages for your organization in the market;
• Threats (T hreats) factors that could potentially worsen your organization's position in the market.

Using a SWOT analysis will allow you to systematize all available information and, seeing a clear picture of the “battlefield,” make informed decisions regarding the development of your business.

SWOT analysis in the marketing plan of your enterprise

SWOT analysis is an intermediate link between formulating the mission of your enterprise and defining its goals and objectives. Everything happens in this sequence (see Figure 1):

1. You have determined the main direction of development of your enterprise (its mission)
2. Then you weigh your strengths and evaluate the market situation to understand whether you can move in the indicated direction and how best to do this (SWOT analysis);
3. After this, you set goals for your enterprise, taking into account its real capabilities (defining the strategic goals of your enterprise, which will be discussed in one of the following articles).

So, after conducting a SWOT analysis, you will have a clearer idea of ​​the advantages and disadvantages of your enterprise, as well as the market situation. This will allow you to choose the optimal path of development, avoid dangers and make the most efficient use of the resources at your disposal, while simultaneously taking advantage of the opportunities provided by the market.

Even if you are sure that you are already well aware of everything, we still advise you to conduct a SWOT analysis, since in this case it will help structure the existing information about the enterprise and the market and take a fresh look at the current situation and emerging prospects.

How to Conduct a SWOT Analysis

In general, conducting a SWOT analysis comes down to filling out the matrix shown in Figure 2, the so-called. "SWOT analysis matrices". It is necessary to enter the strengths and weaknesses of your enterprise, as well as market opportunities and threats, into the appropriate cells of the matrix.

Strengths your business - something it excels at or something that gives you additional opportunities. Strength may lie in your experience, access to unique resources, advanced technology and modern equipment, highly qualified personnel, high quality of your products, recognition of your brand, etc.

Weaknesses of your company are the absence of something important for the functioning of the company or something that you are not yet successful in comparison with other companies and puts you in an unfavorable position. Examples of weaknesses include a too narrow range of products, a poor reputation of the company in the market, lack of financing, low level of service, etc.

Market opportunities are favorable circumstances that your business can exploit to gain an advantage. Examples of market opportunities include the deterioration of the positions of your competitors, a sharp increase in demand, the emergence of new technologies for the production of your products, an increase in the level of income of the population, etc. It should be noted that opportunities in terms of SWOT analysis are not all opportunities that exist in the market, but only those that your business can exploit.

Market threats are events that, if they occur, could have an adverse impact on your business. Examples of market threats: new competitors entering the market, rising taxes, changing consumer tastes, declining birth rates, etc.

Note: the same factor can be both a threat and an opportunity for different enterprises. For example, for a store selling expensive products, an increase in household income may be an opportunity, as it will lead to an increase in the number of customers. At the same time, for a discount store, the same factor can become a threat, since its customers, with rising salaries, may move to competitors offering a higher level of service.

So, we have determined what the result of a SWOT analysis should be. Now let's talk about how to achieve this result.

From words to action

Step 1. Determining the strengths and weaknesses of your enterprise

The first step of a SWOT analysis is to assess your own strengths. The first step will allow you to determine what the strengths and weaknesses of your business are.

In order to determine the strengths and weaknesses of your enterprise, you need to:

1. Make a list of parameters by which you will evaluate your enterprise;
2. For each parameter, determine what is the strength of your enterprise and what is the weakness;
3. From the entire list, select the most important strengths and weaknesses of your enterprise and enter them into the SWOT analysis matrix (Figure 2).

Let's illustrate this technique with an example.

So, you have already done a significant amount of work on the SWOT analysis of your company. Let's move on to the second step - identifying opportunities and threats.

Step 2: Identify Market Opportunities and Threats

The second step of SWOT analysis is a kind of “terrain reconnaissance” – market assessment. This stage will allow you to assess the situation outside your enterprise and understand what opportunities you have, as well as what threats you should be wary of (and, accordingly, prepare for them in advance).

The method for determining market opportunities and threats is almost identical to the method for determining the strengths and weaknesses of your enterprise:

Let's move on to an example.

You can use the following list of parameters as a basis for assessing market opportunities and threats:

1. Demand factors (here it is advisable to take into account the market capacity, the rate of its growth or contraction, the structure of demand for the products of your enterprise, etc.)
2. Competition factors (you should take into account the number of your main competitors, the presence of substitute products on the market, the height of barriers to entry and exit from the market, the distribution of market shares between the main market participants, etc.)
3. Sales factors (it is necessary to pay attention to the number of intermediaries, the presence of distribution networks, conditions of supply of materials and components, etc.)
4. Economic factors (the exchange rate of the ruble (dollar, euro), the level of inflation, changes in the level of income of the population, state tax policy, etc. are taken into account)
5. Political and legal factors (the level of political stability in the country, the level of legal literacy of the population, the level of law-abidingness, the level of government corruption, etc. are assessed)
6. Scientific and technical factors (usually the level of development of science, the degree of introduction of innovations (new goods, technologies) into industrial production, the level of government support for the development of science, etc. are taken into account)
7. Socio-demographic factors (you should take into account the size and age-sex structure of the population of the region in which your enterprise operates, birth and death rates, employment levels, etc.)
8. Socio-cultural factors (usually the traditions and value system of society, the existing culture of consumption of goods and services, existing stereotypes of people’s behavior, etc. are taken into account)
9. Natural and environmental factors (the climate zone in which your enterprise operates, the state of the environment, public attitude towards environmental protection, etc. are taken into account)
10. And finally international factors(among them, the level of stability in the world, the presence of local conflicts, etc. are taken into account)

Next, as in the first case, you fill out the table (Table 2): in the first column you write down the assessment parameter, and in the second and third columns the existing opportunities and threats associated with this parameter. The examples in the table will help you understand the list of opportunities and threats for your enterprise.

Table 2. Identification of market opportunities and threats

After filling out Table 2, as in the first case, you need to select the most important ones from the entire list of opportunities and threats. To do this, you need to evaluate each opportunity (or threat) on two parameters by asking yourself two questions: “How likely is it that this will happen?” and “How much will this affect my business?” Select events that are likely to happen and will have a significant impact on your business. Enter these 5-10 opportunities and approximately the same number of threats into the appropriate cells of the SWOT analysis matrix (Figure 2).

So, the SWOT analysis matrix is ​​completed, and you see in front of you a complete list of the main strengths and weaknesses of your enterprise, as well as the prospects opening up for your business and the dangers that threaten it. However, that's not all. Now you need to take the final step and compare your business's existing strengths and weaknesses with market opportunities and threats.

Step 3. Compare your business's strengths and weaknesses with market opportunities and threats

Comparing strengths and weaknesses with market opportunities and threats will allow you to answer the following questions regarding the further development of your business:

1. How can I take advantage of emerging opportunities by leveraging the company's strengths?
2. What weaknesses of the company can prevent me from doing this?
3. What strengths can be used to neutralize existing threats?
4. What threats, exacerbated by enterprise weaknesses, do I need to be most concerned about?

To compare the capabilities of your enterprise with market conditions, a slightly modified SWOT analysis matrix is ​​used (Table 3).

Table 3. SWOT analysis matrix

Once you've filled out this matrix (as we hope the examples we've provided will help you), you'll find that:

1. determined main directions of development of your enterprise(cell 1, showing how you can take advantage of emerging opportunities);
2. formulated the main problems of your enterprise that need to be resolved as soon as possible for the successful development of your business (the remaining cells of table 3).

Now you are ready to set goals and objectives for your enterprise. However, we will talk about this in one of the following articles, and now we will dwell on a question that is probably of interest to you:

Where can I get information to conduct a SWOT analysis?

In fact, most of the information you need to conduct a SWOT analysis is already at your disposal. Basically, of course, this is data about the strengths and weaknesses of your enterprise. All you need to do is collect all these disparate facts (taking reports from accounting, production and sales departments, talking with your employees who have the necessary information) and organize them. It will be better if you can involve several key employees of your enterprise in collecting and analyzing this information, since it is easy to miss any important detail alone.

Of course, information about the market (opportunities and threats) is somewhat more difficult to obtain. But here the situation is not hopeless. Here are some sources you can get useful information from:

1. results of marketing research, reviews of your market, which are sometimes published in some newspapers (for example, Delovoy Peterburg, Vedomosti, etc.) and magazines (for example, Practical Marketing, Exclusive Marketing, etc.);
2. reports and collections of the State Statistics Committee and St. Petersburg Statistics Committee (information on population size, mortality and birth rates, age and sex structure of the population and other useful data);
3. Finally, you can get all the necessary information by ordering marketing research from a specialized company.

We will tell you more about the sources and methods of collecting information that you may need to conduct a SWOT analysis in the following articles. And now let's summarize all of the above.

Summary

SWOT analysis this is a determination of the strengths and weaknesses of your enterprise, as well as the opportunities and threats emanating from its immediate environment (external environment).

A SWOT analysis will allow you to choose the optimal path for developing your business, avoid dangers and make the most of the resources at your disposal.

The procedure for conducting a SWOT analysis in general comes down to filling out a matrix that reflects and then compares the strengths and weaknesses of your enterprise and the opportunities and threats of the market. This comparison allows you to determine what steps can be taken to develop your business, as well as what problems you urgently need to solve.

The following materials were used in preparing the article: