The 4 Business Quadrants – Your Market

Date: 3 July 2013
Category: Uncategorized, RealTime CEO
Tags: RealTime CEOs, Business Quadrants

In our previous blog “The 4 Business Quadrants”, the second quadrant is called “Your Market” and is defined by the relatively simple question “Who are your Customers?”. 

Defining Your Market

Defining your customers is often easier than deciding how you will identify, attract and interact with them.  There are many components to these questions but 2 key elements are

(i) the definition of your market and your marketing strategy and

(ii) the definition of your sales tactics.

The terms sales and marketing are often grouped together, so often that we can hear them as one word, salesandmarketing. They are actually two very different functions. One is tactical; one is strategic. The sales function is tactical, where you identify a prospect, qualify that prospect and close the deal. The marketing function is strategic; it raises awareness and increases the possibility of people wanting to do business with you.

Successful companies have learned that it is logical and productive to put the strategic before the tactical, in other words, have your strategy in place before implementing the tactics to achieve that strategy.  Large companies spend millions of dollars on marketing strategies to evaluate their market BEFORE they try to sell their product.

In contrast, most midmarket companies have a tiny marketing division tucked at the bottom of the sales team. These companies have put the tactical before the strategic and often pay a handsome price for this mistake.

Once you have defined your marketing strategy and sales tactics, challenge yourself – are they complimentary?  In tough times, sales teams often resort to the predictable conclusion “If I don’t drop my price I will lose the sale”.  This behavior may not be consistent with your market reputation or your marketing strategy.

Sales people who don’t have a clear understanding of the marketing strategy or are not able to differentiate their offering from the competitors predictably find it easier to drop the price than to work hard at the real skills of selling.  As will be identified in future blogs dropping prices can often be the quickest way to destroy value in your business.

Make sure you come back to read about the other areas of the 4 Business Quadrants – Your Foundation, Your Operations and Your People. 

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