MBAPages

What is Marketing Management and concept of marketing management

Marketing is a management process, activity or we can call it as a Managed set of activites that leads to customer satisfaction. Marketing as Management part or process can be seen with every company or product niche. May be different in within activities, Marketing always aims at delivering or exchange of any physical product or a service with some monetary transactions.

Marketing is that much a broader term that almost every activity from 'product idea' till 'product being sold' is covered in it. The concept of Marketing came into existence in 1970s till when a mere 'product development' was no more satisfactory. During this period, when Marketing evolved, customers were active and aware of what they were using and paying for. During this period, the market was on a boom and the competition was increasing so it became necessary to know 'what to sell (product quality)', 'to whom to sell (potential customer)' and 'where to sell (potential market and product placement)'.

Why Marketing so needed?

If asked to anyone who is into any business or profession or is in market, the probable answer would be "what will you do if not marketing?". The obvious reason for this answer is that everyone is aware of customer choice and competition. Today you need to know what to produce or develop and where to sell it and to whom to sell it. To be a successful businessman or a professional you need to make people know of your presence in the market and that you are full of potential to serve them.

Marketing is not jus an activity but a study of the market, competition, customers within the policies of company. Even the company policies are designed as per the marketing competition. The scope of marketing activities covers:

• Study of Customer Needs/Wants.
• Study of Customer behavior.
• Product Pricing.
• Product planning and development
• Product Distribution and Promotional Techniques.

Above activites are carried out in a very precise and managed way, keeping in contol all the busines activites from starting a new venture till its successuful end.

If  you are into some Marketing Activities then you need to get involved into above activites as only then your Marketing Activity will be called as Completed. Different with Sales Activites, Marketing is a managed approach to the customers or potential customers. In mre Sales the personnels are involved in selling the product or services to the customers, but this may lead to improper access and incomplete sales as Marketing covers not only the product planning and sales but also after sales services, that is, Customer Support.

Phases of Marketing Management:

In Marketing Management, the Marketing Professionals are keen to concerntrate on some basic Marketing concepts/phases so as to avoid any loopholes. Lets have them below:

1. Marketing Concepts: It icludes the basic terms like Marketing Process, Marketing Environment, Marketing Organizations, Marketing Challenges, Customer approach, Customer needs, etc. These concepts are the very first things that are required to study before going forward for any activites. The market in which marketing personnel is approaching, customer behavior for any new service or towards purchasing or trying any new services are the key elements that can't be ignored as we need to know whom and where we are taking to.
2. Marketing Planning: Once analyzed the Customer behavior and Market trend, one can start with planning the entire marketing activites that what will be his approach toward the customers will be, what other competitors are present in the market that can affet his efforts. Approach without planning is something waste of all the efforts. One can design his own competitive strategy fort better results.
3. The Marketing P's: The Marketing P's refert to: Product(what product/service are offeting), Price(whether the price of that product is competive enough and acceptable to the target customers), Place(where the marketing activites are going on and whether the market is correct one as per the product) , Promotion(what promotional activites are carried on including advertisements, social activites), Packaging(design and packaging of the product), Positioning(approach to the market and what costumers think about you) and People(not only customers but all those who will be involved with you in the marketing activites including your staff).
4. Know your Customers: Factors influencing customer buying behavior, Consuer decision making process are included in this phase. Making strategy for demand forcasting.
5. Define Marketing Strategies: Some strategies are required like Market Segmentation, Approach Target market, Product Positioning, Creating Brand value.

Sales Management being a part of Marketing Management focuses on management of all sales activities including Sales promotion, Product Advertisement, Promotion, Pricing, Product Distribution product merchandising. Sales Management directly relates to the Sales Personnel who are involved in Sales activities. Managing Sales personnel including hiring, training, assigning and monitoring the sales force efforts followed by paying and motivating them.

The sales management activities are performed by the sales managers who are responsible to manage all the sales activities within and outside the company or the organization. Within the organization includes developing a formal and informal environment to ensure effective communication of Sales goals, targets and strategy not only within  the sales team but within the other departments too. Outside the organization the sales managers are responsible for maintaining a healthy relationship with the customers and providing them better services. The role of Sales managers not only ends here but continues with making the sales strategies, target assigning and price modification  and to design and plan modules to face market challenges.

Marketing Vs Sales

Marketing and sales are closely related to each other but are a much different. Marketing comes first than the Sales process as it involves creating brand of the product or service. Product promotion, planning, defining customer approach and targeting the customers. Whereas the sales is the final exchange of product/service with the customer/consumer with a monetary transaction. To understand the sales function although there are some process and components that we will understand later.

Sales if compared with the Marketing function, is the monetary transaction done against handling the ownership of the product/service to gain some profit for the organization. The product sold is already designed and manufactured keeping in mind the requirements of the customers(marketing). Sales is the final efforts done to make some profit and make some interest against the efforts of the marketing team/personnel. Sales approach should be so definitive that the results should either in the form of 'creating new prospect' or with 'customer retention'. Not just the sales but also the after sales services are necessary to ensure long-term association with the customers. One time sales is not the concept. Neither it works as hunting new people all the time. Gaining new prospects from the current customers is a reward.

Sales Process

Sales management is often mixed with personal selling. Though both are similar terms and used alternatively. There is a slight difference difference between them as sales management is a composite process of defining sales activities, planning sales strategies. Still sales function have some process to approach the target prospect and end in converting that prospect into customer.
Here are steps of sales process:
1) Prospecting and qualifying: This step involves identifying prospects or potential customers. One can use cold calling, reference of existing customers, inquiries received from company's marketing activities like advertisements, industrial directories and cold canvassing.
2) Qualifying: This step is to come up with some requirement of the customer, not surely with your organization but yes to know that we that customer have some requirements that we can seize. Based on the requirements sales person approach the prospect and can rate that particular as a lead with a status of either cold, warm or hot.
3) Gathering information: Before approaching the prospect with the available solution its good that if the sales person does some research on the customer profile like to know about his business. Based on that information the objective of the first interaction can be defined. Its obvious that the sales would not be closed in the first meet or call but its better to decide in advance whether on which stage the meeting should end so as it will help to decide how to approach next time.
4) Approach: This stage can also be called 'go-ahead' stage. Its' the first time to interact with the prospect and one should be confident enough for the interaction as in sales for the sales person its the 'first impression' that shapes his future relation with the customer. Again for the first approach there are some standard techniques to be followed: a) Introduction, b) Explain benefit to the customer, c) Explain product feature, d) Ask questions, e) Propose.
5) Presentation: After getting the desired information from the client now its the time to display what you have come for. Explain all the features and benefits of your offerings to him and leave no doubt on you. At this stage good confidence is a must. Be prepared for cross-questioning.
6) Research on customer needs: Once you have presented your offerings to the customer time is to do some competitive brief. This will help to know customer needs more clearly. Further you can do more research on his needs to give a sure shot in next meeting. Get required data for his needs including competitor analysis and price comparison and benefit analysis.
7) Closing sale: If the customer is at the stage of closing the order then its the time to get results of your work. But its may not always the closing time. Remember if the customer is having some need then he must be communicating with your competitors too. If you are for the final meeting/followup with the customer there are few are sales closing techniques you can choose from like to give some discounts, repeating benefits of your offering to him, providing some informal suggestions.
8) Follow up and after sales service: Once you get the order the main part of the sales process starts. Sales process is not completed till the services are provided to him. Keep in touch with him for various activities like order placing, order processing and service delivery. This increases confidence in the customer for you. Once services are delivered you can ask him for feedback.

Above sales process are not fixed and can be changed with organizations depending the type of product/service that is offered.

Planning is a management process that includes setting goals and objectives, both long term and short term in order to achieve target within the stipulated time. Planning is to decide the steps of how to achieve a target or of how to do a particular task.

Planning in any organization is important as it defines the reasons and the parameters of why and how to do management tasks with more efficiency and lesser time consuming activities. If done correctly it increases the efficiency of the organization as a whole and reduces the risk involved in various business activities. It gives the organization the right way to move ahead and provides better control to the managers. For the executives  too planning acts a motivational factor and clears the opportunities ahead. And the most important it helps in decision making.

Now being a process planning also have some steps that are to be followed in a sequence in order to achieve the targets and to take better decisions. Below are the steps:

1) Goal setting: Now whenever we plan something we have some goal in our mind that we have to achieve or something that we want to do. These are called goals or targets. In organizations also there are some goals around which the efforts of the managers and executives revolves. These goals should be clear and measurable so that the efforts made against those goals should be evaluated easily. Goals should not be rigid that is they should be flexible and can be modified, if needed. More, the goals should be information and self motivating so that the executives and the managers should not feel fallen into a rigid process.

2) Identify available resources: Once the goals are set the next step is to identify the available resources in the organization to analyze whether the available resources are enough or its need to have some more. Analyzing available resources means to take into account all the resources including monetary resources, sales people, technical resources, etc. This helps managers to mane necessary arrangements for future needs, so that the required resources should be available when needed.

3) Creating steps and strategies: Now the next step comes with thinking in a practical way as to what will  be the steps to do a particular task. For example, if the sales plans are to be made then the steps and strategies will include as to how to approach a particular client/customer, what should be proposed to him first and in what manner, There should be some alternative strategies too keeping in mind the future scenario. Also whatever the strategies will be, they should be discussed well with the executives or with the team that will be assigned that particular tasks.

4) Review meetings: Regular review meetings should be planned so as to check whether the plans are carried effectively. This also helps to managers to achieve their goals in time. Further the executives and the team is also aware that they are held responsible for the tasks that are assigned to them. This provide better level of control to the managers and the top management.

5) Implement necessary steps: If needed  he managers may require to change the steps or strategies to accomplish their goals. These can be the alternative course of action or can be the solution to the present problems.

Planning process though can never be the same in all the organization. It also depends on the organization/team size as with the small teams the risk factor can be higher as they need to do their tasks in very effective way with limited resources. 

This 24 years program has served more than 1800 students and has given financial aid to nearly half. Students come from all over world including US, districts of Columbia and return with a capability to tackle tough syllabus in medical and engineering and have greater sight to decide for college studies.

Smith College was founded in 1871 and given women a place not just to enhance their academics but also has provided them an exposure to the world class faculty and a vivid course structure allows students to increase their knowledge.

Eligibility
Girls who will be entering 9th, 10th, 11th or 12th having strong academics background and willing to explore new learning opportunities are eligible for SSEP. With limited number of applications Smith College ensures quality training experience.

Cost
The program cost is $5500 and application cost is $35 payable at Smith College. The fee online via Credit Card and Cheque. 

Students can also avail financial aid, partially or fully, based on given financial need. Last year half of the applicants for SSEP had received financial aid.

In order to get financial aid applicant need to fill 'Financial Aid Application' and submit it with their complete application.

Application Process

1. Sign up here to get the complete SSEP application form.
2. Applicant need to submit one written essay mentioning as to why she is applying for SSEP and what does she aspects and wants to accomplish from this program.
3. Teacher Recommendation Form needs to be filled by the teacher who knows the applicant.
4. The school of the applicant needs to send one transcript to the Office of Nondegree Program.

The Teacher Recommendation Form and Transcript cannot be submitted online and need to be sent to below mentioned address. Further the applicant's teacher and the school can get back on scraig@smith.edu

Office of Nondegree Program
Smith College
30 Belmont Avenue
Northampton, MA 01063
Phone: (413) 585-2165
Email: scraig@smith.edu

Important Dates

The last date of submitting application form is April 11, 2014. Applications received with complete material before this date will be evaluated. Since the number of applications for SSEP are 2-4 times more than the invited, the applicant should send the application at the earliest.
Also the response time from Smith College is 6-8 weeks the applicant should apply accordingly. Applications will complete material will not be evaluate.

To contact Smith College click here

Sources: www.smith.edu

Henry Fayol, a French Industrialist gave a very influential contribution to the management business manages under his 14 Principles of Management. Fayol became Director of a mining  company in 1888 and developed these Principles with his experience of taking a company from difficult times to profit earning.

When he retired, Fayol gave these 14 Principles and prescribed that every manager should follow these principles in order to run the company smoothly. Here they are:

Fayol's Principles of Management

1. Division of Work: The workers/employees will be more effective if they are given a limited set of activities. Work overload will make them exhaust and reduce their functionality.
2. Authority: Managers should be given some sort of authority over their work units so that they can take decisions at their end too. However, along with the authority comes responsibility also.
3. Discipline: The work units and personnel should obey the rules and regulations of the company in order to achieve the organizational goals and run the company smoothly. The workers can be penalize if found violating the norms.
4. Unity of Command: All the managers should lead their own departments and that their work units should receive orders from their respective managers only. It would be very effective if the Directors and Departmental Heads should contact with the Team members only and not the individual team members.
5. Unity of Direction: Each department and team should have their unique plan and should have only one manager/boss for better coordination.
6. Subordination of Individual Interest over general interest: Individual interest of employees should not be taken over the general interest of the company. The company interest is supreme and should not be compromised for the interest of individual.
7. Remuneration: Workers and employees should be paid fairly to avoid dissatisfaction of services.
8. Centralization: Centralization means involvement in the Decision Making activities of the company and effective planning. Fayol has proposed that the structure of the organization should be either centralized or decentralized depending on the conditions and the Decision Making activities should be limited to the directors and the departmental heads only.
9. Scalar Chain: Hierarchy is necessary in every organization and that it is required for Unity of Command and Unity of Direction.Organization in proper hierarchy ensures proper flow of authority, plans and policies.
10. Order: Here comes the Organizing Function of Management which ensures that the personnel and resources should be available in the right place when required. 
11. Equity: Managers should treat their work units with kindness and that the operations should be unbiased and fair.
12. Stability of Tenure of Personnel: The management should ensure that the tenure of the employees in the company should be long enough and that the turnover rate should be low. This include motivational activities and proper Remuneration of services.
13. Initiative: Employees should be allowed to create plans on their own to achieve their goals and targets effectively. Planning here means short term plans required to carry out a specific task. This generates confidence in the employees and encourages them to work hard.
14. Esprit de Corps: There should be harmony and kindness between the departments in the organization. 

Conditional Theory is reactive and we behave in a specific way when something happens. These are very obvious behaviours of individuals and are argued to be related with the consequences of events that actually changed their behaviour as it’s also the environment that is responsible for change in behaviour like every time special arrangements are done during the supervisors’ visits or the bell is used by the same person or at a specific time. Such complex behaviours can be studied better with Operant Conditioning Theory.

Decision making in management is a very important factor and demands high level of commitment from the managers and the top management. Decision Making can be said as the process of comparing various alternatives to select the best one that ensures highly efficient future actions. Decision making is directly proportional with the performance of the decision makers or the management as the future actions depends on the decision so taken and establishes chances of future decisions and amendments in the existing one, if needed.

Decision making is the responsibility of every managers regardless their departments and roles and some decisions may have huge impact on the organizational performance and some may have less. The alternatives that are analyzed in the Decision Making Process should be selected keeping in mind various factors like cost involved, time required to implement those alternatives, available resources, etc. Decision making can be a part of any sales team, disaster managers, top management and not necessary if its related to any particular activity or department it affects the whole organization.

Factors affecting decision making (Decision making variables):
Some decisions may be the demand of any specific course of action and some decisions are to be taken in some variables that are beyond the management control. There are some decision making variables Generally there are three types of variables: Certainty, Risk and Uncertainty.

Certainty: Decisions under predetermined conditions are some easy things but yes rare. The future can't be certain and so the chances of certain conditions for managers are quite less. For example if a HR manager plans to hire 20 candidates in the second quarter can be a predetermined factor as the second quarter is the hiring season for many industries.

Risk: Risk factors arises when the managers take any decision assuming favourable conditions in the near future. For example when a sales manager takes a decision of increasing discount rates for the next couple of months assuming that the demand of that the price of particular product/service will increase. Making such assumptions may be due to the experience of the managers in their respective fields and in such assumptions involves high level of risks. Managers though should be prepared always with some alternative actions as to use them when required.

Uncertainty: The main component in the Decision Making Process is the historical data or say the past experience of the organization. The experience of the managers can be different with that of the organization. Every decision in any organization is taken keeping in mind the past experience of the organization or the impacts of any particular decision or variable. Uncertain variable arises when the mangers undertake decision making without knowing or having such historical data. In such case the manager can choose one of the below mentioned options:
a) Increase possibility of results,
b) Increase the number of results to choose from,
c) Increase the chances of getting results that have least possibilities,
d) Postpone decision making for a while.

Types of Decisions:
Though very important part component and surrounded by various factors there are three different type of decisions:
1) Regular/Periodic/Programmed Decisions: Decisions are taken to overcome any problems or situations. Some problems are periodic and decisions are needed to be taken very frequently. Examples can be with the sales targets, employee incentive programs, etc. These situations occur very frequently and timely decisions are needed to be taken. Not only decision making is enough in this situation but timely review meetings and planning schedules are also necessary. Such decisions are called 'Periodic decisions'.
2) Irregular/Non-programmed Decisions: Some situations are not regular and don't have any regular patterns. These can include annual targets. However targets are to be reviewed regularly but they are planned and designed in advance at the start of every financial year. These decisions don't come under the organizational planning and so there is not specific procedure.