Marketing is not a Bad Word

Why are marketing personnel stonewalled
whenever they go to meet clients? Why are they considered as pesky intrusions?
Marketing is a crucial aspect of any business and it is time that marketers
realize their worthiness and flaunt it to the world as well.

Let's
accept the fact. The world would not have been a better place to live in had we
not marketed it! Marketing is an essential part of today's world. Every
individual, every institution, every existence requires some form of marketing
or the other to survive and succeed.

To ensure that every
offering or product's true value and potential is realized, it needs to be
marketed. The outside world needs to recognize the existence of an option and
the benefit it offers to the buyer. Every customer needs to be aware about all the options that he has and the pros and cons of each product so that
he makes an intelligent choice. And marketing serves to achieve this in a
manner, which is profitable to both the seller as well as the buyer.

What is marketing?

Marketing is a much-misused word in today's world. Any and every market
activity is termed as 'marketing'. More so, marketing activities are
synonymously called 'advertising' and 'selling'.

Marketing in its true
form comprises all activities ranging from the identification of a need to
finding a solution for it, to letting the world know about the existence of such
a solution and selling the solution to achieve customer satisfaction and
profitability for the company. Advertising and selling are just parts of
marketing.

These are the two
well-recognized arms of marketing and also the most maligned as well. Being the
most visible forms of marketing, they catch the customer's eye and demand high
level of customer interaction. These are the aggressive front ends of
marketing that makes the customer aware about the product and delivers a
promise.

Don't shoot the messenger

Many times, marketing individuals in their exuberance or sheer pressure to
exceed targets tend to over-promise. And this is when the following saying is
repeated most— 'marketing guys cannot be trusted'. It is almost a norm in
the industry not to trust a marketing or sales person today.

Why does this happen?
Why can't the sales guys be trusted? This is primarily because the sales
people in the sheer pressure to achieve sales targets have only one objective of
selling the product. Over a period of time this becomes their identity. They do
not just bother at all for customers but are simply bothered about only
converting the customer to a buying statistic. In the bargain, customers start
distrusting them. This is how marketing has got a bad repute and people from
this line are viewed with suspicion.

But this is not the
fact. There are still many honest sales marketing guys who tell the truth and
who guide customers about the right choice. They actually act as consultants to
them. When you take this kind of approach, you may not get immediate success but
will definitely be respected and will leave a positive image in the customers
mind.

For e.g., Gigabyte India
is into the business of laptops and motherboards. There is chaos in the laptop
industry today as several vendors hype the processor speed, RAM size and HDD
size. If this is not enough they also focus on the optical drives.

But the truth should be
on highlighting the more tangible and long lasting benefits like the various
compatible ports for utility, lightweight laptops, better battery life, etc. And
this is what we have conditioned our marketing people to talk about. We stress
on them that they need to be transparent about our products. Not only, is this
healthy for the customer, it also reflects the ethics of the individual and the
company at large.

No need to hard sell

If marketing is done properly, then there is no need to hard sell. Marketing
is supposed to make selling redundant. As the saying goes 'You can take a
horse to the water but can't make it drink it!' If you actually want the
horse to drink the water then present the pond in the right manner — rather
give the horse what it wants.

If the product is good
and serves a customer need then it need not be sold, the customer would buy it!
Then there would not be any compulsion to make exaggerated promises to the
customer. Only an inferior offering or a product that does not serve the
customer well needs to be hard sold. Thus every product has to first fulfill a
need and then the customer who has that need be identified and only then
approached.

Because of the bad name
that marketing has been attracting, it has been having a negative impact on the
morale of the marketing executives. Customers do not tend to give respect to
marketing people, who end up feeling extremely demoralized and de-motivated.

I have noticed that when
marketing people go on sales calls, they are asked to wait for long hours and
often don't get to meet the concerned person after the wait. They are always
questioned and clients are suspicious about their presentation or offer. Many
times the customer doesn't even come online the phone and avoids them at all
levels.

Where a marketing manager steps in 

This is where a marketing manager plays a vital role. He would need to boost
the morale of his subordinates by encouraging him for his achievements. Even if
it just being able to meet a prospective client. He needs to work closely with
his team and help them find a way to achieve their desired targets.

Incentivizing sales can
do this. He needs to train them on various parameters like objection handling,
behavioral pattern of seller and buyer, how to understand what's there in
customer's mind from his body language, how to read between the lines or
hidden parameters, how to have effective telephone ethics and conversations, how
to impress customers through proper communications, etc. 

I am of the strong
opinion that marketing is not at all a bad word. But if given the right
treatment this same function can be a boon not only to the marketing personnel
but also to the buyer. Build this confidence in your marketing team. And also
treat the marketing personnel visiting you with more respect.

The author Prabodh Vyas is MD of
Gigabyte India