aCCOUNTING HELP

Running head: Marketing and Sale Plane

I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The company is created to sell hot dogs and other food related products to fast food lovers. The company mission is to “sell good food fast.” By making whatever products in house and fresh daily, we are able to provide the best fast comfort food possible. As any food business faces direct and indirect competition, Hot Dog City employees need to work to bring the best possible meal to each customer that comes through the door. One of the main challenges facing Hot Dog City is how to maximize profits and to make good use of resources when the sales are good.

This plan focuses on a growth strategy for the company, suggesting on how it can build on existing customer relationships and development of new products and services to specific customer niches.

II. ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS

As a fast comfort food company, Hot Dog City has grown to be a producer of top-quality fast food and quality catering services. This family-run business operates on a full-time basis and is turning out to be a popular and busy restaurant.

a. The Marketing Environment

1. Direct and indirect competition. Direct competition for this type of food is scant. There is one restaurant within two blocks that has a comparable menu. There are more than ten other food service restaurants within the same two block area, but they offer diverse other ethnic menus that do not directly compete with Hot Dog City. With more people venturing into the food business, there is continual turnover in the foodservice spots in the close neighborhood. The only saving feature is that there are limited spaces to house restaurants within the business district. Due to the huge volume of people that come into the area every day to work and eat, the indirect competition is not as fierce.

2. Economic forces. Many food companies invest very little in promotional budgets because of the nature of the local market in the business district area. This is because of their desire to cut expenses. This is short sighted as potential customers pass by not knowing the extent that the restaurant may cater to their needs and wants. It becomes hard for them to receive customer recognition and appreciation, therefore, leads to poor sales. In addition to marketing, offering specials to induce potential customers to try our products will help bring first time customers in the door. Once they try our food, we hope they will like it enough to keep coming back. We base this on quality, diversity of food product and cost/value.

3. Legal and regulatory body. In the recent years, they put more emphasis on licenses and medical reports (Luther, William M 257). Legislation laws charge Food companies highly on work permits and get restrictions on employing people with good medical reports which are supposed to renew yearly. The purpose is to offer clean healthy food products. By strong efforts on cleanliness and sanitary practices, we indirectly encourage customers to return. They notice more than you would realize that you use gloves, wear hats and keep a clean place.

b. Target Market

Since it focusses on service and quality, Hot Dog City has implemented a niche differentiation strategy effective in the diverse marketplace. Our ability to make quality different products quickly has contributed to strong annual returns. Our target markets consist of food enthusiasts, as well as office workers in the area, and individuals/businesses with events that require catering services.

c. Marketing and Sales Objectives and Performance

Hot Dog City employees offer appropriate customer service to clients and hold a high degree of professionalism in their workstations. Once an order is made, a customer moves to the cashier to make payment where they meet our principal salesperson. His job is more than to take the money, it is to make sure that our customer leaves with a smile on their face and their food needs are met. He also gives discounts and other free samples to enhance the customer experience and get them to try different items on our menu.

Hot Dog City has a company-specific basis to market its products. The company has a strong repeat business factor. There are very few customers that are less than happy with their food selections. By the staff being sensitive to customer feedback, we encourage repeat business even if it is to purchase other or new food selections.

III. MARKETING STRATEGIES

A. Target Markets

Target market 1: Office workers in the area surrounding the business premises and visitors to the downtown business district looking for a great hot dog or hamburger. With thousands of people walking past the intersection where the business is located each business day, out goal is to get them to stop in and try us.

Target market 2: party enthusiasts and event planners.

By marketing ourselves to all the local offices and businesses, we have a food setup that is done in an enticing manner with excellent services that guarantee us to earn subsequent catering events.

B. Marketing Mix

Products. Hot Dog City not only provides fast quality food products sold on the premises but also has outside catering services. We work to exceed customer expectations consistently and are speedy in responding to customer demands trying to anticipate our customer’s needs. These attributes and menu are hard for any nearby competitor to duplicate, thereby giving Hot Dog City a competitive advantage.

Pricing. Hot Dog City provides quality products at reasonable prices. According to (Luther, William M 156) a company should be sensitive to price elasticity of its products and the overall consumer demand. By having margins that allow us to have the lower price points among all indirect food competitors in the area we ensure visits from repeat customers at least once per week.

Distribution. Hot Dog City uses direct marketing tactics that focus mainly on social media. This is proving to be effective as well as cost effective in producing results. Since our main products are hot dogs and other fast food items, we strive to have quick sales and delivery service to nearby customers.

Promotion. Since a strong majority of Hot Dog City events create customer demand, the bulk of promotional expenditures tends to focus on marketing to these customers. In addition, new product development and continued improving service keep up customer interest

IV. MARKETING IMPLEMENTATION

Since Hot Dog City’s current and future products require some adjustments to match customer needs, it is important to organize the marketing function through market segmentation. It will allow Hot Dog City to focus its marketing efforts on the specific wants and needs of our target customer segments. The customer groups are food consumer group and the catering service group. Both segments will have a sales manager who is responsible for marketing the company products.

These changes in marketing will enable Hot Dog City to become more flexible and creative in meeting customer needs. The changes will overcome any potential lack of diversification in the company’s product lines and customer base. It will also give the company a better opportunity to monitor competitor activities and stay competitive.

V. EVALUATION AND CONTROL

a) Performance Standards and Financial Control

A comparison between the financial expenditure and the plan goals will be in the final report. The following are the suggested performance standards and financial control.

• Each project team is expected to report all financial expenditure for their segment of the project. The marketing manager will also get A standardized reporting form.

• The marketing manager is responsible for adherence to project budget and report to company president every week.

• New product offerings will frequently be evaluated to find out whether they are profitable.

b. Monitoring Procedures

Monitoring procedures should be developed for activities needed to bring the marketing and sales plan to fruition. They include,

• Project management function will be used to evaluate the implementation and sales plan through developing time requirements and budget expeditions.

• There will be Comparison of actual and planned activities on a weekly basis during the first implementation phase. The company president will the receive the report.

Works Cited

Luther, William M. The Marketing Plan. 1st ed., New York, AMACOM, 2011.

Westwood, John. The Marketing Plan Workbook. 1st ed., London, Kogan Page, 2005.