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Nov

Steps to creating your Need Statement

Posted by: business901 | Comments (2)

The other day, I discussed Your Marketing Vision should define your Customer’s Core Problem, but how do you go about doing it. A simple exercise that I found useful was depicted in the book: True Purpose: 12 Strategies for Discovering the Difference You Are Meant to Makeby Tim Kelly. In the book, he discusses 12 proven methods to find the unique individual purpose that makes you, you. At the end of the book, he discusses how to create your own purpose statement. Much of this content was derived and re-purposed for the use of developing your Marketing Vision or Need Statement as I refer to it.

Stay away from editing it as much as possible, except for your grammar of course. You will water down the statement trying to appeal to everyone versus the segment you are actually marketing too. Do not worry about alienating anyone that is the purpose, discrimination in this sense is not bad! Tim says, “Remember that moving forward on your purpose means saying “no” to jobs, clients, and customers for whom your purpose is not appropriate. Therefore, your public purpose should be a simple and clear articulation in of what you do and who you do it for, in the most purposeful terms possible.”

Steps to creating your Need Statement:

1. Write down the list of possible options you need to choose from.

2. For each option, write a list of pros and cons.

3. Read each statement and rate them by the most useful aspects of your product or service.

4. Ask for advice from salespeople, customers, dealers and other stakeholders within the marketing segment. It is best to read it out loud to a client, such as an elevator speech would be used. The worst thing you could do is to do this by yourself.

5. Weighing these factors make a choice. It does not even have to be the best choice, just the one you choose to live with.

6. Now, try it out. If a sample client “doesn’t get it” then you may need to change the wording, not the meaning of the statement. If your statement inspires, you are ready for prime time.

7. If your sampling struggles with what you are offering, re-think your strategy going through these steps.

8. Re-read what others said about your offering.

9. Using what others said, brainstorm different ideas on how to say the message.

10. Now try different combination of the 2 list to come up with simple statements that describe what you do and for whom you do it for.

11. Read the statement out loud to others. See which one creates the most interest.

I may go one step further. Play telephone with a group of 4 to 5 people. The message that comes through the last person is more than likely the message that will get transmitted throughout the rest of your marketing process.

P.S. If you are getting ready to map that Customer starting point in your Value Stream Map, this is what you write in that little box with the sawtooth shape on top.

Your Marketing Vision should define your Customer’s Core Problem

Posted by: business901 | Comments (5)

Today’s products and services reflect greater marketing segmentation. As you know, I use the Duct Tape Marketing Hourglass as The Pillar of the Lean Marketing House™ but there is no universal terminology, it is just convenient to stay with one message because even as you segment your list you still have to recognize the marketing process into stages such as Know, Like, Trust, Trial and Buy. Different hourglasses.jpg

As you segment, each segment will include fewer customers. However, it should enable you to identify the individual stages more effectively or determine your material and information flow needed in each step. It will also allow you to define waste and create better value for your customer. In fact, this is basically the definition of Value Stream Mapping.

As a result of this exercise, you will change the shape of your Pillar. You should be able to shorten your cycle in some and as a result decrease your expenditure in the marketing process. Others, on the other hand, may be lengthened and a total different approach may have to be utilized. A good example of this may be in the pursuit of a governmental contract. The point to be taken is that there is nothing wrong with either situation, what is wrong is treating each segment the same.

The key ingredient to get started is developing the NEED statement for each marketing segment or Pillar. The statement should clearly define your CUSTOMER’S CORE PROBLEM and your ability to solve that problem. Defining this alone will provide clarity throughout the various stages in your marketing process. The NEED statement is a living document that will evolve as your product/service and the customer’s use of it changes. Further development of this statement should include limits on cost and time to keep your Pillar within boundaries that you are able to manage.

The point of defining the Need Statement is to succeed at developing a manageable process. We want the resulting marketing phases (Know, Like, Trust..etc.) to meet our customer’s needs, at the right time and at the right cost. It must do this in a way that maximizes our investment in the process. Marketing can be a complex and often risky process and in today’s world it mandates speedy development. The Lean Marketing process is geared to provide a framework and specific tools for efficiently and predictably reaching goals.

Following the Customer’s Need in your Value Stream Map

The Pillars of the Lean Marketing House

Value Stream Mapping for Marketing

Get Rid of Your Marketing Vision Statement and Address the NEED!

Why do The Pillars of the Lean Marketing House™ crumble?

Applying the Marketing Hourglass: The Pillars of the Lean Marketing House