Training Course: Best Practice in Marketing, Customer Service and Sales

Introduction

An examination of the makeup of the market, the role of marketing, sales, and customer service in the delivery, and relevant consumer behaviour. Topics include basic principles and key concepts related to the design and implementation of marketing efforts in service & product organizations. The goal is to develop and evaluate marketing, sales, and customer service plans. Discussion covers the marketing process and the development and analysis of strategic marketing plans.

Course Objectives 

• Define customer service and break it down to its most basic dimensions
• Explain customer satisfaction, retention, and loyalty and measure them in a meaningful and systematic way
• Defend the use of a profitability dimension to any customer loyalty strategy
• Identify the right professional selling behaviours and skills needed to maximize sales performance
• Develop the right personal habits to optimize selling effectiveness
• Define the marketing framework of a business organization
• Conduct marketing audits and analyses to better examine the micro and macro environments
• Combine best practices, tools, and models to implement an effective marketing and sales management system
• Develop strategies, initiatives, and programs to build and sustain a competitive market advantage
• Apply planning and the execution of advanced marketing strategies to enhance organizational results

Course Outlines

Day 1

Customer service

• Introduction to customer service
• Definition of customer service
• Service dimensions
• Addressing customer needs

Attaining customer satisfaction through quality measures

• Customer service excellence

Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty

• Customer satisfaction, retention, loyalty, and delight
• Levels of loyalty
• Customer satisfaction and loyalty
• Customer Delight

Day 2

Key loyalty measurements

• Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) and Customer Retention Rate (CRR)
• Profit impact of CRR
• Customer life expectancy
• Customer loyalty index

Loyalty and profits

• The cost of loyalty
• Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) shortfall
• Activity-Based Costing (ABC)

Customer satisfaction surveys

• Surveys and questionnaires
• The objective of the survey
• Population of interest
• Writing the questions
• Sampling methods
• Administration and analysis

Day 3

The changing business environment

• The evolution of personal selling
• Marketing
• Consultative
• Strategic
• Partnering
• Social
• The new sales competencies
• Behaviors, characteristics, and skills of a successful salesperson
• Assessing performance according to specific sales indicators
• The 10 root causes of sales problems
• Personal selling profile

Preparation and self-organization

• Personal management
• Self-mastery
• Personal planning
• Self-talk
• Personal image
• Time management for salespeople
• Understanding the psychology of selling
• Developing strategies for sales success

Day 4

The sales process

• Prospecting and qualifying
• Pre-approach
• Approach
• Presentation and demonstration
• Overcoming objections
• Closing
• Follow-up and maintenance
• Product selling versus service selling
• A glimpse into different selling models

Marketing concepts

• Marketing management defined
• Evolution of the marketing concept
• Differences between marketing and selling
• Scope of marketing management
• Setting the scene: the marketing mix
• Using the 4Ps marketing mix model

Marketing audit and planning

• Understanding the marketing environment
• Various marketing analysis techniques
• 'PESTLE' Analysis
• 'SWOT' analysis
• The Five Forces model (M. Porter)
• Customer analysis
• Competitive analysis
• The marketing audit
• Marketing planning

Day 5

Marketing communication and campaigns

• Elements of the communication process
• Steps in creating a promotional campaign
• The goals and tasks of promotion
• The 'AIDA' concept
• Setting the advertising budget
• The various media types
• Media scheduling
• Evaluating promotional campaigns

The Product Life Cycle (PLC): A Strategic Approach

• The PLC concept
• Marketing strategies for PLC
• The promotion mix and marketing objectives
• Characteristics promotion mix elements
• Promotion mix strategies across the PLC
• Push and pull strategies

Marketing research

• Marketing research defined
• The marketing research process
• Secondary and primary data
• Questionnaire design
• Forms of survey research