Marketing of NCR Company - Research Paper Example

? Marketing Plan Executive Summary Business markets are usually made up of many players and participants, unless when operating asa monopoly. Therefore, businesses need to market their products since; the customers are less than the suppliers. Businesses need to find ways of attracting customers and making people to choose its products instead of the competitors’ products. However, even though monopolists do not have competitors, they also need to market their goods in order to increase their consumer base. Monopolists also need to increase awareness of their goods to the market. This is because; if they introduce new products to the market, they will only make it known to the consumers by marketing it. Thus, every business in the economy markets its products and services to the public. In order to market products effectively, a business needs to prepare a marketing plan that will guide it to achieve its objectives. The marketing plan for NCR Company focuses on the way in which it can attract new clients for its services. The plan will analyze the company’s market, its competitive environment and the financial market. The Mission of the marketing plan is to work on diversifying the services offered in order to increase the number of clients served by the company. The company also has a number of goals and objectives that guide it. The company aims at ensuring that the quality of services offered has increased, and the customer base has been improved. In addition, the company also aims at ensuring that customer satisfaction has increased and, that the company’s profits have increased. The industrial analysis of the market can be judged as wide and mostly composed of investors and established people in the market seeking credit offers. The major needs of the market include loans, credit and funds at a lower interest rate. In addition, the market also demands financial advice from the company. Individuals need to be advised on how to make sound investment decisions. The market trend can be given as rising and smooth. A smooth market trend implies that governments have implemented favorable fiscal and monetary policies. On the other hand, it also implies that supply and demand forces are attractive and normal. Therefore, it implies that the business can regulate its prices and consequently affect customer purchases. Therefore, the business can be able to predict the future of its operations. The analysis of the porters 5 Forces, the threat of new entrants is the major force affecting the industry. This is because; there are many potential industries that are joining the finance industry. In addition, since there are no barriers to entry, it is very easy for other business to join the industry and increase competition. On the other hand, the threat of substitute products and services is very low since; all businesses in the industries deal with the same products and services. Therefore, the business faces very low competition from substitute products. The bargaining power of both suppliers and buyers is high since, buyers bargain for low fee for services offered while, suppliers bargain for high prices for the services that they offered. Market Analysis The targeted market includes customers that want to invest in the market (Luther, 2001). It also includes customers that business organizations that are normally engaged investment activities. On the other hand, all customers wishing to obtain funds on credit also form part of the target market. The company mainly targets people in the urban areas or highly industrious places. This is because; it is in the urban areas that there is a high demand for finances. In addition, in the urban areas there are many business organizations that are willing to borrow funds on credit in order to expend their operations. Statistics show that; approximately 2500 business organizations are targeted by the business and 5000 business individuals. There are also other miscellaneous additions that involve individuals and businesses that may borrow money for other purposes other than business (Luther, 2001). For instance; individuals may borrow money to pay school fees. To come with the data results, the company conducted a research using a sample of businesses and individuals from the market. In future, the trend for the market will be that customers seeking the services of the company will increase as the world economy grows. This is because; as the economy continues to grow, many people will be involved in business activities. In addition, a productive economy also implies that the industrial market will be very attractive. Thus; many business and individuals will be attracted to start up businesses. Therefore, individuals will borrow funds to increase their financial position. The SWOT analysis of the business is affected by a number of factors arising from the market and from the business too. The major strength of the business is majorly the customer loyalty that the company has built with many customers. NCR Company has established a strong rapport with most of its customers and thus; it is sure to provide a certain number of services to some of its customers (Cohen, 1995). The major weakness of the business is the large financial need since; operations of the business are fairly expensive. For instance, the business employs a large number of individuals to give the services to the customers. In addition, the expenses are also increased by the fact that the business has to employ professionals who can offer quality services. The opportunities of the business mainly include the high financial needs by the society. Therefore, the market is fairly large since; there many people and businesses that are in need of financial services. The vital threat of the business is the high competition from other businesses that offer the same services. Therefore, the business has to ensure that it offers quality services in order to maintain and keep its customers, failure to which the customers will be attracted to the other businesses. This is also triggered by the freedom of entry and exit into and out of the market. Competitive Analysis The major competitors of NCR Company include Investment Companies, Financial Corporations, Commercial Banks, and Non-Bank Financial Institutions. All these are able to offer the same services as the company. The businesses compete with the company in terms of the services offered, the interest rate charged, and the amount of loans offered. Businesses that offer low interest rates will attract many potential investors as compared to businesses that offer high interest rates. This is because, the lower the interest rates the higher the investments (Wood, 2003). People will borrow more when the interest rates are low as compared to when the rates are very high. The advantage of these competitors is they enable the company to increase the quality of its services to the customers. In addition, healthy competition in the market also helps the business to be able diversify its services. Diversification of services will enable the company to attract more customers since; different customers demand different services (Luther, 2001). For instance; when the company introduces different kinds of loans that are found with the rest of the competitors, it will attract many customers who cannot find the loans of their choice from the other companies. According to the SWOT analysis, the company also faces the threat of competition. Therefore; competition can also be a threat to the company because; high competition may lead to shifting of all the customers to the competitors. When the competitors come up with better services than the company, then it will imply that customers will shift where they can obtain the services that they demand. The opportunity for collaboration is very high in the industry since; all the companies offer similar services to their customers (Luther, 2001). Therefore, the companies can decide to amalgamate in order to reduce the competition in market. In addition this will also help to increase customers’ loyalty. However, merging of the companies might be very ineffective since; it may reduce the competition in the market. Consequently, this will lead to offering of poor quality services. Thus, merging may not be very effective. Market Strategy One market objective of the company is increasing its market scope and size. The company aims at increasing its market size through marketing its products and services. This is because; it will increase the number customers that it serves since; customers will move from the competitors who have not advertised their products. In addition, when the business markets its services, other individuals who are not aware of the credit services will be attracted to seek financial services too (Wood, 2003). The pricing policy applied by the company is observation of prices offered by its competitors first. This is because; if the company offers prices which are high above the prices offered by its competitors, it will lose all its customers. On the other hand, if the company offers prices which are very low, it will make losses although it will have attracted many customers (Cohen, 1995). These two factors are mainly supported by the fact that; the company operates in a perfectly competitive market. Therefore, it is the objective of the company to run a pricing policy that is in accordance with the pricing policies of its competitors. In addition, it is also the objective of the company to run a pricing policy that will help it to maximize its profits while minimizing its costs. Another objective of the company is to ensure that it chooses the most profitable distribution channels. This is because; not all distribution channels will help the company to meet its goals and objectives. For instance, if the company chooses to distribute its services through salesmen, it has to choose people that are qualified and experienced. This way, the services will be well distributed to the customers. The distribution channels chosen by the company also depend on the services that are chosen by its competitors. The company has to choose distribution channels that match up those of its competitors. This way, it will be able to compete favorably with other businesses. Timeline is also a very crucial objective of the business (Wyoming, 1997). This is due to the fact that; a business has to specify the period within which it will achieve its objectives. If the business does not specify this period, it may leave some of its projects incomplete, or inefficiently done. Therefore, NCR Company has specified the period within which it will accomplish the objectives declared in the marketing plan. NCR Company wishes to achieve its goals within the first two years after the final presentation of the plan. With the statement of this timeline, it will be able to spread its projects efficiently throughout the whole period (Cohen, 1995). Strategies and Assumptions made In order to deal with its threats and weaknesses, NCR Company has identified a number of strategies which will help it to achieve its set goals. For instance, the company has decided to diversify its services and products in order to attract more customers. The assumption made in this case is that, competitors will not change introduce similar services to their companies too. In addition, the company also assumes that customers will be pleased with the new services that will be introduced. On the other hand, the company intends to use a number of strategies to attract its targeted customers (Wood, 2003). For instance, the company can advertise itself on the internet, using billboards, or TV advertisements. Methods such as direct mail will not be used since; they are time consuming and outdated. Marketing Budget The allocation of funds will mainly depend on the urgency of the project. This implies that; projects that are more urgent will be allocated more finances so that they can be handled quickly. The customer service plan might consume a lot of funds because, customers may be located in different areas and thus, spotting and reaching them may be very expensive (Luther, 2001). Financials The breakeven analysis of the financial statements of the company should be in such a way that the costs are equal to the profits. At this point though, the company will not be making any profits. The assumption made in this case is that the company will provide services to customers efficiently without incurring losses that exceed the profits. In a case where the financial stability of the company is unstable, the management might opt to obtain finances from external sources. For instance, the company can borrow low interest loans from a commercial bank or an investment company. Other strategies that can be embraced by the company to raise cash include sale of worn out long term assets, or obtaining of a bank overdraft form a local bank. Controls and Implementation In conclusion, the company will be able to achieve its objectives through management of its controls while implementing the whole plan. The NCR Company should also clearly analyze its potential risks in the process of implementation. References Cohen, W. A. (1995). The marketing plan. New York: Wiley. Luther, W. M. (2001). The marketing plan: How to prepare and implement it. New York: AMACOM. Wood, M. B. (2003). The marketing plan: A handbook. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Wyoming (1997). Marketing plan. Cheyenne, WY: The Division. Read More