Answer to Question #249495 in Marketing for Isley

Question

3-22. You are in charge of campus recruiting at your college or university and you wish to conduct research that will assist in boosting enrollment. Explain how will you define your problem statement. Describe how you will use each step in marketing process to complete your project successfully. What are three key performance indicator (KPI) that might be used to measure your success

Answer 1

Discussion

A problem statement is a clear concise description of the issue(s) that need(s) to be addressed by a problem solving team. It is used to center and focus the team at the beginning, keep the team on track during the effort, and is used to validate that the effort delivered an outcome that solves the problem statement. It identifies the gap between the current state and desired state of a process or product. A problem statement expresses the words that will be used to keep the effort focused and it should represent a solvable problem.

The 5 'W's - Who, What, Where, When and Why - is a great tool that helps get pertinent information out for discussion.

Who - Who does the problem affect? Specific groups, organizations, customers, etc.

What - What are the boundaries of the problem, e.g. organizational, work flow, geographic, customer, segments, etc. - What is the issue? - What is the impact of the issue? - What impact is the issue causing? - What will happen when it is fixed? - What would happen if  the problem is not solved?

When - When does the issue occur? - When does it need to be fixed?

Where - Where is the issue occurring? Only in certain locations, processes, products, etc.

Why - Why is it important to fix the problem? - What impact does it have on the business or customer? - What impact does it have on all stakeholders?

Each of the answers will help to zero on the specific issue(s) and frame the issue statement. The problem statement should be solvable. That is, it should take a reasonable amount of time to formulate, try and deploy a potential solution.

Marketing is how companies create value for customers and build strong customer relationships to capture value from customers in return. Below are step process of the marketing framework wherein value is created for customers and marketers capture value from customers in return.

• Understanding the marketplace and customer needs and wants.

It is important to understand customer needs, wants, and demands to build want- satisfying market offerings and building value-laden customer relationships. This increases long-term customer equity for the firm.

• Designing a customer-driven marketing strategy.

This step involves selecting customers to serve i.e.-defining the target market and deciding how to serve customers in the best way i.e.-choosing a value proposition.

• Constructing an integrated marketing plan that delivers superior value.

The company’s marketing strategy outlines which customers the company will serve and how it will create value. Then the marketer develops integrated marketing plans that will add value to intended target customers. The marketing program builds customer relationships by transforming the marketing strategy into action.

• Build profitable relationships

Customer relationship management is the overall process of building and maintaining profitable customer relationships by delivering superior customer value and satisfaction. Customer relationship management aims to produce high customer equity, the total combined customer lifetime values of all of its customers.

• Capturing value from customers

Customer relationship management’s ultimate aim is to produce high Customer equity, total combined lifetime values of all of the company’s current and potential customers. The more loyal to the company’s profitable customers, the higher are the customer equity. 

Key performance indicators (KPIs) measure a company's success versus a set of targets, objectives, or industry peers. KPIs can be financial, including net profit (or the bottom line, gross profit margin), revenues minus certain expenses, or the current ratio (liquidity and cash availability). Below are some key (KPI) that might be used to measure success.

• Revenue per client/member (RPC)

The most common, and probably the easiest KPI to track is Revenue Per Client, a measure of productivity. A simple calculation (annual revenue divided by number of clients). Besides access to classes and/or membership dues, what else can one make available for sale to clients? What do they want? What would be a complementary product or service that would enhance enjoyment without seeming too aggressive?

• Average Class Attendance (ACA)

If classes are full or nearly so, it indicates a highly desired class, and theoretically, a profitable class. At the other end of the spectrum, some classes are not quite as full. It’s incumbent on the owner to find out why; often an elusive answer. It’s key to know the difference between: A bad class, a bad instructor and a bad day or time.

• Average Daily Attendance (ADA)

A simple KPI but one that can get blurry. There are lots of methods to achieve ADA goal. For instance, give away free promo items, run special promotions, bring a friend, special this or that are all ideas. But be careful. While there’s validity to ADA as a marketing strategy, make sure there’s a sales acquisition strategy to support it.

Reference

Li, X., Dawkins, S., Ward, D., & Durand, A. (2007). Softwire problem statement. IETF RFC4925. Internet Engineering Task Force, Fremont, CA.