The sales and marketing section covers the typical 4Ps of marketing which include; product/service, place, promotion, and price. This segment outlines a plan that will utilize the four aspects of marketing to establish a market presence and attracts more customers in the target market (Khan, 2014). This constitutes the marketing mix which, if well deployed, will give the new partnership a competitive edge in the industry of operations. The proposal for the sales and marketing strategy will outline how the new business will position its products and services in relation to the product, price, place, and promotion to achieve the maximum possible output. The objective of the marketing section of the business proposal is to introduce the new and unique product to the new market and to:
• Increase sales by 20%.
• Offer customized products to meet customer needs.
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"Sales and Marketing".
Product/ Service Strategy
This part covers aspects relating to the exceptional product and service value proposition offered to customers. Since 3Designs produces the hardware related products while Lowe’s home improvement is a retail company that also specializes in hardware tools and appliances, the proposal will not have a significant change on the requires business structure. The partnership will utilize technology to allow customization of hardware products to meet the different customer needs. Customers are becoming more sophisticated with varying needs; therefore, customization is the only way for companies in the hardware sector to stand out from the competition. This will require adding new features to existing products to satisfy different needs. Some of the products offered by both companies include; printers, home appliances, building materials, and lighting among others. The products will be designed to deliver flexibility, convenience, and comfort. The partnership will analyze each of the products to determine which ones will be core and categorize the rest based on the sales history.
Grouping products will help to direct adequate marketing efforts to each category thereby maximizing sales and profit generation (Hanssens et al, 2014). The target market for the partnership includes households and businesses who make use of hardware tools and appliances in different areas of their businesses and households. The partnership will first concentrate on enhancing quality, and then use the information obtained from market analysis to design products that suit specific needs of households and businesses. The new market is expected to revolutionize the entire industry; therefore, the partnership aims to use their technology-driven product designs to meet the anticipated changes in customer preference. The new partnership will start out with a limited number of product lines to assess market viability before expanding to others.
Place
Place represents the means through which the new business will deliver their products to their customers. 3Deesigns and Lowe company already have excellent distribution channels, therefore, thereby merging operations will enhance their capabilities. 3Designs has already proposed that the partnership will include setting up a department within one of Lowe’s locations in Ohio. The aim is to ensure customers can easily access products, make inquiries and get after sale services. The partnership will merge the existing distribution channels into one to eliminate any repetitive processes. More distribution centres will be set up over time to allow the partnership serve customers better.
The new business will implement an integrated information system that will incorporate supply chain and customer relationship management features to help deliver better customer services. The products will be designed using technology, and it will, therefore, be better for all operations to be computerized to enhance effective management of the supply chain. Ohio provides a strategic location for businesses to grow. The well-established transport and communication systems will ensure products are delivered to customers on time. The conducive business environment will encourage within the state of Ohio will allow fast growth and expansion of operations for the partnership. New business relationships will be established with other supply chain parties to enhance the flow of information and distribution of products.
According to Khan (2014), place determines the distribution strategy which specifies how the product will reach the customers. With the anticipated changes in the market environment, the partnership will ensure the distribution channel is regularly reviewed to maximize efficiency and profits. The channel will also plan for reverse logistics which will help customers dispose of products that have outlived their usefulness in an environmentally friendly manner. Product designs will be developed based on orders placed by clients to save on storage space and cut down on costs. This will also ensure that resources are utilized efficiently to make products that customers need. In addition to the physical location, the partnership will also make use of electronic commerce platform to engage with and manage customer traffic allowing clients to access information regarding products offered and how to direct their queries.
Promotion/Advertising
Promotion and advertising are significant to creating product awareness to the target market. Organizations use a mix of approaches to inform and convince the public to purchase their products and services (Serrat, 2017). The two partnering firms already have their separate promotional strategies in place given that they have acquired a substantial market share. It should, however, be noted that the different promotional approaches employed will not work for the new partnership; therefore, the companies will need to plan and device new approaches. A combination of advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, and publicity will be used to attract the attention of customers to the products the partnership seeks to offer. The first step will be to design a website under the new partnership that will help to monitor Customers and the information used to facilitate customization of products.
The website will allow customers to place orders providing their design specifications which will help the partnership market their products directly to customers. Email marketing will allow the new partnership to design personalized promotion messages directed to the different market niches. As such, marketing resources will be utilized efficiently, and the partnership will achieve better results. Social media platforms will also be used as part of online marketing to help reach more customers. Advertisements will be run on television, radio and other affiliate websites. As Serrat (2017) explains, the establishing an online presence will be most suitable for enterprises in the current business world. Technology has transformed the level of consumer awareness given the ease of access to information regarding products in the market. Therefore, organizations must make use of technological capabilities to meet the rising demands.
Pricing
The last of the 4Ps of marketing is the price which involves decisions regarding the price of products and which strategy to employ. The partnership will use a combination of pricing strategies including skimming, psychological, economy and bundle pricing. Product discounts will be allowed to customers to help earn their loyalty and enhance the credibility as well as the reputation of the company. The two companies will determine the portion of the overall budget to be allocated to marketing activities in an attempt to create product awareness, and this includes staff salaries and training. The price for each product will be determined by trends in the market and cost of production as well as that of marketing the products. For effectiveness, the new partnership will have to identify the best way to combine the four different segments of marketing to increases the chances of attaining market presence. The new business will need to merge their separate pricing strategies to suit the new market. A clearance sale will be held to clear existing stock on select products before the two enterprises can commence operations under the new partnership.
- Hanssens, D. M., Pauwels, K. H., Srinivasan, S., Vanhuele, M., & Yildirim, G. (2014). Consumer Attitude Metrics for Guiding Marketing Mix Decisions. Marketing Science, 33(4), 534-550.
- Khan, M. T. (2014). The Concept of’ marketing Mix’ and Its Elements (A Conceptual Review Paper). International Journal of Information, Business and Management, 6(2), 95.
- Serrat, O. (2017). The Future of Social Marketing. In Knowledge Solutions (pp. 119-128). Springer, Singapore.
