In my previous post on Lean Six Sigma marketing , I had stated that defining the problem or requirements, was the first step in building a Lean Six Sigma marketing process. I also stated that in the Duct Tape Marketing planning system that the Marketing Vision and Ideal Customer coincided with the definition.
Now, as I add the Lean component to the mix, I match up the Value Stream to this stage. The Value Stream is is defined solely by the customer. Your product must meet the customer’s needs at both a specific time and delivered with the message that is required. The thousands of mundane and sophisticated things that marketers do to deliver a message are generally of little interest to customers. To view value from the eyes of the customer requires needless messages to be reduced. Having your ideal customer identified is to understand all the activities required to explain the benefits of a specific product and as a result optimize the whole marketing process from the view of the customer.
Sounds like a perfect world and impossible to do. Maybe, maybe not. Many marketers need to critically evaluate their processes to determine their effectiveness in bringing maximum value to customers. Today’s techniques are creating more efficient methods that can deliver a targeted message in the particular manner that a customers wished to receive it. It must be remembered that it is our job as marketers to deliver the message in a manner that a customer wishes to receive. As an example, one customer wishes to receive less frequent information in written form while another may prefer daily bits of information delivered in a blog. Lean marketing is a system focused on and driven by customers. Optimizing the value stream from their eyes and in an efficient process takes marketing to a level not experienced before.
Review your past sales to your ideal customers. Determine when and what was of value to them. That is your value stream and your vision,