One of my favourite people is the operations manager (let’s call her MFM, short for My Favourite Manager) for a small distribution company in Kingston, Jamaica. Like so many others, she cusses her manager frequently (also the owner of the company) for being inconsistent in his decision-making. And every year she is planning to leave, but 13 years later, she is still there.

And why not? She makes a good living and has learnt how to manage the love-hate relationship. Further, she does not have to worry about starting all over again with a new employer who, in her words, “may be even worse”.

Twelve years ago I sat with MFM and her small team and led them in creating a basic marketing plan. She still has most of that team from those days, but now she is facing even fiercer competition and needs to create a new plan. Not sure how to proceed, MFM called me last week for advice.

A CUP OF COFFEE

Over coffee at Cafe Blue two days ago (I’ve been enjoying their coffee from the very beginning up in Irish Town), without offering any data, MFM spoke at length about the changing business environment, the performance of her sales and marketing reps — who may be getting stale — and changes in business buying behaviour.

IS CUSTOMER LOYALTY DEAD?

Among MFM’s concerns was the matter of customer loyalty. “Is it dead?” she asked.

Customers who for a decade never asked about prices are now requesting a price list. And her reps were noticing a few new brands in the market.

Would she be losing ground to any of them soon? What should she be thinking about in this period of uncertainty? What notes should she take from our discussion?

MARKETING STRATEGY

In developing the strategic marketing plan, the strategist should begin the process by considering the three Cs of marketing strategy: Customers, Competitors and Capabilities.

Customers

• Who are they?

• Where and how do they buy?

• What motivates them?

Competitors

• Who are they?

• What strategies are they pursuing?

• What are their strengths and weaknesses?

• What are their areas of vulnerability?

• How are they most likely to develop over the next few years?

Capabilities

• What are your company’s relative strengths in each of the major market segments?

• What levels of investment are available?

• How might your company’s capabilities be best leveraged?

LEVERAGING MARKETING ASSETS

Marketing planners must be dreamers. But dreamers must leverage their marketing assets to achieve their dreams. For too long we have been accepting marketing plans that are little more than a communications plan outlining activities and expenditures, with no commensurate ROI.

Hamel and Prahalad (1994) told us that managers must get off the corporate treadmill, compete for industry foresights, and learn to forget some of the traditional rules of competition.

Perhaps even more important is the reminder from Wilson and Gilligan (2009) that planners must “identify the two or three strategic actions that, if taken together, would make a real difference in the marketplace”. And never forget that cost containment is not a strategy!

ANOTHER CUP OF COFFEE?

Coffee was finished. Time to move on. Surely MFM had enough to get started with her marketing thinking that must precede the planning. But as McDonald (2007) reminds us, despite its apparent simplicity, creating a marketing plan is baffling for both academics and practitioners alike.

So can MFM identify two or three critical strategic actions that will make all the difference in her business? Time to roll up the sleeves. And maybe we’ll need more than a cup of coffee next time!

Herman D Alvaranga FCIM, MBA, MISM, is president of the Caribbean School of Sales & Marketing (CSSM). E-mail hdalvaranga@cssm.edu.jm.