We have been discussing what a Property Management Plan is and how important it is to the property and the manager.This websites can assist you with writing your own Property Management Plan as a Prop

Reprinted for Personal Account, American Public University System [email protected] Reprinted with permission as a subscription benefit of , All rights reserved. Reproduction and/or distribution in whole or in part in electronic,paper or other forms without written permission is prohibited. Page 2 of 13By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:

Prepare your full strategic plan for what you sell and to whom Find out why your chosen customers will prefer to buy from you rather than from someone else with something similar to sell Prepare a more detailed plan for implementing the first year of your strategy Before setting out the strategic plan, I have a number of important summary points that will act as a reminder of all the crucial messages shared with you throughout this book. The following 10 guidelines summarize most of the intended wisdom set out in the pages of this book.

The Malcolm McDonald 10 Guidelines for World Class Marketing (summaryyf 1 . Understand that marketing is the driver of strategy in the boardroom.

2 . Understand your market and how it works.

3 . Carry out proper, needs-based segmentation on decision makers.

4 . Understand your own strengths and weaknesses.

5 . Understand your portfolio of segments.

6 . Set realistic objectives and strategies for each segment to grow your sales and profits.

7 . Focus and play to win in a few segments only.

8 . Calculate whether your objectives and strategies will create shareholder value.

9 . Financially justify investments in marketing.

10 . Be professional and ethical.

It is NOT promotion.

Everything an organization does from R&D through to delivery adapts to and converges on the business value proposition that is projected to the customer.

Define the market in terms of needs, not products.

Map how it works from end to end, showing product/service flows in total and your shares.

Understand how it is changing.

Identify major junctions where decisions are made.

Do not confuse needs-based segmentation with descriptors such as socio-economics, demographics, geodemographics and psychographics.

List what is bought (including applications, where and when it is boughtyf .

List who buys.

List why they buy.

Group those with similar needs.

For each segment, list their needs and the relative importance of each (weightsyf .

Malcolm McDonald on Marketing Planning: Understanding Marketing Plans and Strategy, 2nd Edition Reprinted for ZU7S5/5693748, American Public University System Kogan Page, Malcolm McDonald (cyf & R S \ L Q J 3 U R K L E L W H d Page 3 of 13Score out of 10 how you and each of our major competitors meet these needs.

List the external opportunities and threats for each segment.

List the major issues that need to be addressed for each segment.

Classify on a four box matrix each segment according to its potential for growth in your profits over the planning period (the vertical axisyf .

Classify each segment according to your relative strength in each (the horizontal axisyf .

This will position each segment as follows:

– Less attractive segments where you have strengths (1yf .

– More attractive segments where you have strengths (2yf .

– More attractive markets where you have few strengths (3yf .

– Less attractive markets where you have few strengths (4yf .

Set clear priorities and stick to them. You cannot be all things to all customers.

For quadrant 1, manage for sustained earnings.

For quadrant 2, manage for growth in revenue and profits.

For quadrant 3, elect the most promising segments and invest for improving your competitive position. Do NOT try to maximize your profits in these segments.

For quadrant 4, manage for case and minimize costs.

Develop a winning offer for each.

Quantity the value proposition (creating advantage, not just avoiding disadvantageyf .

Become the best in your chosen segments.

Carry out risk assessment on each strategy in each segment.

Calculate risk-adjusted net free cash flows for each segment over the planning period.

Allocate the relative capital employed multiplied by the cost of capital for each segment.

An overall surplus means that the plan is creating shareholder value.

Measure the indirect impact on sales and profits of all marketing expenditure.

Measure the impact of promotional expenditure using econometric models.

Measure and report to the board that your risk-adjusted marketing strategy creates shareholder value.

Develop professional marketing skills.

If possible, get qualified like other professions.

Be innovative and open-minded.

Be ethical at all times and consider the impact of your actions on all stakeholders.

These 10 guidelines can be summarized even further (see Figures 9.1 and 9.2 , and Table 9.1 yf .

Malcolm McDonald on Marketing Planning: Understanding Marketing Plans and Strategy, 2nd Edition Reprinted for ZU7S5/5693748, American Public University System Kogan Page, Malcolm McDonald (cyf & R S \ L Q J 3 U R K L E L W H d Page 4 of 131 . Define your market in terms of needs, not products. Know how it works from end to end.

2 . At decision points, do proper needs-based segmentation.

3 . Carry out a detailed SWOT analysis on each segment.

4 . Categorize the resulting segments according to the potential of each for you to grow your profits over the next three to five years and according to your relative strength in each compared with your competitors.

5 . Focus and play to win in the one or two best segments from item 4 above.

6 . Set only a few priorities, involve your team and don't try to be all things to all people.

Figure 9.1: Six ways to develop a winning strategy 1 . Identify a profitable, under-served segment (nicheyf .

2 . Target only one segment at a time.

3 . Create an irresistible offer. Offer quantitative proof that you are the best.

4 . Become the obvious expert in your niche.

5 . Create a hit list of customers you want to win. Concentrate your firepower.

6 . Get high-quality referrals.

Figure 9.2: How to become a very profitable leader Table 9.1: Six tips for competing with bigger companies 1. STUDY Find their strengths and especially their weaknesses. Know everything about them, especially what their customers don't like.

2. NICHE Spot one thing they haven't thought about and fill the gap.

3. SURPRISE Never attack their points of strength (David and Goliathyf .

4. WORK HARD Enthusiasm, commitment, energy and, above all, perseverance, eg more attention to instant customer service.

5. BE SMALL Be small, but above all, be professional, not amateurish.

6. PLAN AHEAD Develop your strategy (doing the right thingsyf 7 K H D E R Y H W D F W L F V Z L O O H Q V X U H V X F F H V V G R L Q J W K L Q J V U L J K W \f. Plan for the future, not just for this year.

It is, of course, possible to complete the forms provided without reading this book, but I stress that this is very risky and may well lead to a plan without any real substance. Consequently, I refer readers back to the relevant sections of the main text.

Let us remind ourselves that the overall purpose of marketing and its principal focus is the identification and creation of sustainable competitive advantage and that marketing planning is simply a logical sequence and a series of activities leading to the setting of marketing objectives and the formulation of plans for achieving them.

Marketing planning is necessary because of:

Increasing turbulence, complexity and competitiveness.

The speed of technological change.

The need for – to help identify sources of competitive advantage; – to force an organized approach to develop specificity; – to ensure consistent relationships.

The need for – to inform.

The need for – to get support.

The need for – to get resources; – to gain commitment; Malcolm McDonald on Marketing Planning: Understanding Marketing Plans and Strategy, 2nd Edition Reprinted for ZU7S5/5693748, American Public University System Kogan Page, Malcolm McDonald (cyf & R S \ L Q J 3 U R K L E L W H d Page 5 of 13– to set objectives and strategies.

Figure 9.3: Form 1 Malcolm McDonald on Marketing Planning: Understanding Marketing Plans and Strategy, 2nd Edition Reprinted for ZU7S5/5693748, American Public University System Kogan Page, Malcolm McDonald (cyf & R S \ L Q J 3 U R K L E L W H d Page 6 of 13 Figure 9.4: Form 2 Figure 9.5: Form 3: Strategic marketing planning exercise (SWOT analysisyf Malcolm McDonald on Marketing Planning: Understanding Marketing Plans and Strategy, 2nd Edition Reprinted for ZU7S5/5693748, American Public University System Kogan Page, Malcolm McDonald (cyf & R S \ L Q J 3 U R K L E L W H d Page 7 of 13 Figure 9.6: Form 4: Portfolio summary of the SWOTs Figure 9.7: Form 5 Figure 9.8: Form 6 Malcolm McDonald on Marketing Planning: Understanding Marketing Plans and Strategy, 2nd Edition Reprinted for ZU7S5/5693748, American Public University System Kogan Page, Malcolm McDonald (cyf & R S \ L Q J 3 U R K L E L W H d Page 8 of 13 Figure 9.9: Form 7 Figure 9.10: Form 8 Your strategic plan is complete and you can now proceed to prepare a more detailed specification of actions for the first year of the plan.

(This should be kept separate from the three-year strategic plan and should not be completed until the three-year plan has been approved.yf Specific sub-objectives for products and segments, supported by more detailed strategy and action statements, should now be developed. Here, include and and a . These must reflect the marketing objectives and strategies, and in turn the objectives, strategies and programmes must reflect the agreed budgets and sales forecasts. Their main purpose is to delineate the major steps required in implementation, to assign accountability, to focus on the major decision points, and to specify the required allocation of resources and their timing.

If the procedures in this system are followed, a hierarchy of will be built up in such a way that every item of budgeted expenditure can be related directly back to the initial financial objectives (this is known as task-related budgetingyf 7 K X V Z K H Q V D \ D G Y H U W L V L Q J K D V E H H Q L G H Q W L I L H G D V D P H D Q V R f achieving an objective in a particular market (that is, advertising is a strategy to be usedyf D O O D G Y H U W L V L Q J H [ S H Q G L W X U H D J D L Q V W L W H P V D S S H D U L Q J L Q W K H E X G J H t can be related back specifically to a major objective. The essential feature of this is that budgets are set against both the overall marketing objectives and the sub-objectives for each element of the marketing mix. The principal advantage is that this method allows you to build up and demonstrate an increasingly clear picture of your markets. This method of budgeting also allows every item of expenditure to be fully accounted for as part of an objective approach. It also ensures that when changes have to be made during the period to which the plan relates, such changes can be made in a way that causes the least damage to your long-term objectives.

1 .

a . ( yf W K H V H V K R X O G F R Y H U W K H I R O O R Z L Q J :

Volume or value, Value last year, Current year estimate, Budget next year Malcolm McDonald on Marketing Planning: Understanding Marketing Plans and Strategy, 2nd Edition Reprinted for ZU7S5/5693748, American Public University System Kogan Page, Malcolm McDonald (cyf & R S \ L Q J 3 U R K L E L W H d Page 9 of 13Gross margin, Last year, Current year estimate, Budget next year Against each there should be few words of commentary/explanation.

b . – eg new customers, new products, advertising, sales promotion, selling, customer service, pricing. For a list of marketing strategies, see Chapter 8 .

2 .

a . (see yf P R U H G H W D L O H G R E M H F W L Y H V V K R X O G E H S U R Y L G H G I R U S U R G X F W V R r markets, or segments, or major customers, as appropriate.

b . – the means by which sub-objectives will be achieved should be stated.

c . – the details, timing, responsibility and cost should also be stated.

3 . ( .

4 . ( yf L W L V L P S R U W D Q W W R L Q F O X G H D F R Q W L Q J H Q F \ S O D Q Z K L F K V K R X O G D G G U H V s the following questions:

a . What are the critical assumptions on which the one-year plan is based?

b . What would the financial consequences be (ie the effect on the operating incomeyf L I W K H V H D V V X P S W L R Q V G L G Q R W F R P H W U X H " ) R U H [ D P S O H L I a forecast of revenue is based on the assumption that a decision will be made to buy new plant by a major customer, what would the effect be if that customer did not go ahead?

c . How will these assumptions be measured?

d . What action will you take to ensure that the adverse financial effects of an unfulfilled assumption are mitigated, so that you end up with the same forecast profit at the end of the year?

To measure the risk, assess the negative or downside, asking what can go wrong with each assumption that would change the outcome. For example, if a market growth rate of 5 per cent is a key assumption, what lower growth rate would have to occur before a substantially different management decision would be taken? For a capital project, this would be the point at which the project would cease to be economical.

5 . ( yf This form is provided only as an example, for, clearly, all organizations will have their own formats – this should include:

Net revenue Gross margin Adjustments Marketing costs Administration costs Interest Operating result ROS ROI 6 . ( yf I L Q D O O \ \ R X V K R X O G V X P P D U L ] H W K H N H \ D F W L Y L W L H V D Q G L Q G L F D W H W K e start and finish. This should help you considerably with monitoring the progress of your annual plan.

7 . – there may be other information you wish to provide, such as sales call plans.

Table 9.2: Form 1 Malcolm McDonald on Marketing Planning: Understanding Marketing Plans and Strategy, 2nd Edition Reprinted for ZU7S5/5693748, American Public University System Kogan Page, Malcolm McDonald (cyf & R S \ L Q J 3 U R K L E L W H d Page 10 of 13Table 9.3: Form 2 Table 9.4: Form 3 Malcolm McDonald on Marketing Planning: Understanding Marketing Plans and Strategy, 2nd Edition Reprinted for ZU7S5/5693748, American Public University System Kogan Page, Malcolm McDonald (cyf & R S \ L Q J 3 U R K L E L W H d Page 11 of 13Table 9.5: Form 4 Table 9.6: Form 5 Malcolm McDonald on Marketing Planning: Understanding Marketing Plans and Strategy, 2nd Edition Reprinted for ZU7S5/5693748, American Public University System Kogan Page, Malcolm McDonald (cyf & R S \ L Q J 3 U R K L E L W H d Page 12 of 13Table 9.7: Form 6 Table 9.8: Form 7 Malcolm McDonald on Marketing Planning: Understanding Marketing Plans and Strategy, 2nd Edition Reprinted for ZU7S5/5693748, American Public University System Kogan Page, Malcolm McDonald (cyf & R S \ L Q J 3 U R K L E L W H d Page 13 of 13Armed with the tangible results of this wisdom you have captured in the strategic and tactical plans, you can face the future with confidence.

Best of luck!

However, in case it doesn't all go exactly to plan, I do have some further brief guidelines in Chapter 10 .

Malcolm McDonald on Marketing Planning: Understanding Marketing Plans and Strategy, 2nd Edition Reprinted for ZU7S5/5693748, American Public University System Kogan Page, Malcolm McDonald (cyf & R S \ L Q J 3 U R K L E L W H d