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Wg Cdr Retd C M Vyas

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Wg Cdr Retd C M Vyas

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Recommended Courses and Certification

There is no certification appropriate for STARTING a career in Marketing. At that stage a person need not be an MBA (Mktg). We need a Diploma in Marketing & Sales, taken up by people who want to pursue a career in Marketing and Sales. MBA should ideally come when as a progression after 5 yrs workex.

What can be achieved

Marketing is one of the most misunderstood words amongst ALL careers. In its correct meaning, there is no limit to success in Marketing as a career. Products chasing high profits at the cost of "what the customer actually wants" will always have a high level of Customer Dissonance.

Competitiveness

All disciplines are scientific and precise. 1 1 always makes 2. In marketing (1 1) has to make 3 (or more). To understand it better consider this: 3 (or more)-(1 1)= 1 or more. This figure is the grey area which represents the ability of the Marketer/Seller to squeeze out more from the customer or palm of a dud.

Branding

50% of Marketing is straight activity of informing customer of products and services that will meet their needs. This is essential for the customer to look at your product. If you have a product the customer actually wants based on this 50%, the product will sell.

Importance of STP

All these three are the scientific activities in Marketing. The main brain work lies here so the efforts of getting to a large customer base is reduced and so too the costs. These are absolutely essential.

Growth Prospect in marketing

Marketing= Mktg + Sales. If success is measured in Sales numbers and exceeding targets alone, the marketing man takes the cake since he is brings in the incomes.

Marketing

Marketing is actually making products and services that customers desire and need. It should be more important than efforts put in to "force push" the product. Unfortunately both these together have come to be known as marketing.

Recommendation

Books, newspaper and website which cater to specific types of customers reading/ accessing these media should be in focus. The product itself needs to be covered in these appropriate media.

Importance of 4ps

Product, Positioning, Pricing, Promotion. All are very important but Product is and should be THE MOST IMPORTANT. There should be as less a reliance on Promotion, if possible.

The product must be able to meet the expectation of the customer. This is not on the priority list of marketers today.

A hardcore marketer of premium products (top brand retail products in garments, accessories, fashion etc) once told me "As a professional I am half a liar, making people believe what my products are not and also making them believe that they actually NEED it".

His accent was to make customers believe how a brand enhances their image by getting persons with image to enhance the product's image by advertising and endorsing them!!

Sometimes it sounds like a lie justifying another lie only to achieve sales and targets.

Brief yourself

I am a retired Officer from the Indian Air Force's Procurement, SCM, Logistics Branch. My academic qualifications are B Com (Hons), MBA (Fin). After a stint as Head of Procurement and SCM in my civil life, I branched out to Sales 881984 Marketing of Real estate Products.

I have always wanted to mentor people on Financial matters and so I have concurrently taken up Sales and Marketing of Financial Products, specifically Personal Collaborative Mentoring of Retirement Planning and Advisory Service under the aegis of Principal Retirement Advisers Pvt Ltd. My Service covers advice on Tax Planning, Stocks and Shares, Mutual Funds, Insurance, Debt Products, Real Estate, Estate Planning and personalized advice on related matters.

So, now I am an Entrepreneur providing Collaborative Mentoring of Retirement Planning and Sales of Real Estate products meeting my exacting standards of product quality, price and legally clear.

Motivating

Marketing and Sales is the revenue earner for any Company. It is extremely crucial for its existence. But meeting customer expectation must be the most important goal. Within these parameters we must plan how we will work.

If the above is taken seriously, we have to have a good product/ service. Training of the selling team must be comprehensive and complete. However if one is not able to deliver I believe he needs my special assistance. So, I will first Assess whether they KNOW their product/ service. Enhance this knowledge first. If my team member loses hope, I mentor him/ her again. Assess their approach to customer and share insights into each customer's requirements and expectations. Complement their effort and meet customers in their presence.

Growth

That is not applicable to me. As an entrepreneur following and backing scrupulous marketing practices, I am not a quantity chaser, but quality is a MUST.

Future trend

Unscrupulous marketing, misleading advertising, misrepresentation of facts and attributes, false promises, white lies, quantity/ number chasing instead of focus on meeting customer expectations and needs.

I do not like or do any of these.

Future prospect

Be satisfied that I have done a morally good job. My customers with whom I will have a lifelong advisory relationship, should feel that their trust in me is not misplaced morally, ethically of legally.