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One great need of
small
business marketing management is to understand
and develop marketing programs for their products and
services. Long term small business success depends on your
ability to maintain a strong body of satisfied customers
while continually increasing this body with new customers.
Introduction to small business marketing
programs build around the marketing concept, which directs
managers to focus their efforts on identifying, satisfying,
and following up the customer's needs - all at a profit.
Marketing plays an important role (some say the most
important role) in the success of your small business. This
section features numerous guides to help you succeed in your
marketing operations.
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Introduction to Marketing -
Small Business Marketing Management - Top
Empowerment Tip
Be an Effective Listener
and Flatter People
Sensibly
A multipurpose tactic for gaining
the edge is to listen intently. In review, the central skill in
listening is to concentrate intently on what the other person is saying
and not saying. If you listen carefully, you will often gather solid
clues as to the other person's interests and motives. You can then
modify your tactics to gain advantage. Sales trainers, for example,
often tell their clients, "selling is listening."
An example of the power
of listening took place at a firm that provides maintenance services to
office buildings and free-standing companies. The president of the
company had returned from a Total Quality Management training program.
Enamored by the teamwork ideas in TQM, he spoke to his top staff about
the importance of teamwork. Jerry Landau, the sales manager, listened
intently. He observed that although the president waxed ecstatic about
teamwork, he still kept referring to impressive individual performances.
Other staff members did not listen carefully enough (or lacked the
insight) to observe this discrepancy.
In the ensuing weeks, several
members approached the president with proposals for more teamwork in the
company. The president nodded in agreement but made no commitments.
Jerry, in contrast, proposed a new contest for the "maintenance
technician of the month." The president bought the idea and complimented
Jerry on his ability to find a sensible way to motivate workers.
Ironically, Jerry' s acceptable proposal focused on individual rather
than on team effort. Jerry had gained the edge by listening to what the
president was really saying.
Flatter People Sensibly
One of the least expensive, and most effective, tactics for gaining the
edge is to flatter people sensibly and credibly. Despite the risk of
being called obsequious, a cheap office politician, or a sycophant, the
flatterer wins. An intelligent, perceptive person like yourself can
probably see my point. Just the fact that you are reading this book is a
credit to your professionalism and your quest for valid information. As
reported in a management newsletter, "There is virtually no limit to the
amount of praise that most people can swallow, provided that a spoonful
of credibility is added."
An effective, general-purpose
piece of flattery is to tell another person that you are impressed by
something he or she accomplished. A management trainee at a General
Electric business unit told the purchasing manager that she was
impressed with his modern operation. "It's very similar to the ideal
materials management system described in my productions and operations
management course," said the trainee. Her flattery appeared to be
instrumental in her being asked to become a permanent member of the
purchasing department after her training period ended.
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Introduction to
Marketing - Small
Business Marketing
Management - Top
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