Bringing in Potential Customers - Coursework Example

Case Study on Furnishings for You Task a) The promotional activities that need to be taken into consideration for Furnishings for You must focus significantly on reaching out to new and potential customers while retaining the old ones. This could only be done when a synchronous message is drafted towards their domains. This will be made stringent in a manner that asks of the Furnishings for You team to reach out to the customers as and where they are. The promotional/marketing objectives are not any different to what have been propagated in the yesteryears. However, what will be deemed as a differential setting is the kind of reach that the new and potential customers are going to attain, especially from the realms of Furnishings for You. This could mean that bundle packages can be drafted in within the Furnishings for You so that the customers can be enticed into coming into the stores and checking out for their own selves as to what exactly they would require. This would attract them immensely well and ask of them to be on their feet at all times whenever there is a new deal or package in the stores. The aims and objectives of the promotional activity should always bank upon the aspects related with understanding where anomalies exist within such measures and how these could be made substantially better in order to produce results that Furnishings for You can eventually enjoy. The promotional activities that Furnishings for You must undertake should focus on giving something of value because it is much needed on the part of the customers who might not purchase something quite easily as compared to how the same came about when economic downturn had not set in within the geographical zones. There is a vast amount of difference now to what was experienced by Furnishings for You in the past and the role of Furnishings for You in such a situation is to extend itself to make sure that it is listening to the customer requirements and doing its best to win them back from time to time. b) The marketing communication or promotional mix tools which can be employed for the sake of Furnishings for You would rely specifically on bringing the customers back to the stores and ensuring that they purchase furniture at the same time. If they come back to the stores, this is indeed half the job done and hence focus should be on these tangents as far as the marketing communication and promotional mix tools are concerned. Indeed these will employ the usage of advertising, personal selling, sales promotions, direct marketing and a bit of public relations entities. Also the incorporation of the local business would see setting budgets in accordance with the needs and wishes of the target population. It will have a huge say in making up the comprehension that the local business needs to be catered to in a manner that is seemingly fit with its own domains and realms. The major role however would be of personal selling and sales promotions because these two would bank on zeroing in on people who are seen as potential customers for Furnishings for You. If they frequent the Furnishings for You stores, there is more chance that they will be able to indulge within the sale process. If these sales activities eventually come about, then there is no doubt that these two major points of the promotional mix have been adequately made use of. Also direct marketing can be focused upon because in such a scenario Furnishings for You would contact their old customers and ask of them to come back and visit the stores once again. This might have a slow response rate due to the fact that the consumer spending patterns have changed over a period of time but there would be areas that can be tapped for attaining success all the same. All in all, advertising and public relations must be employed as well even though their roles would be seen as not far fetched. Public relations will emphasize on a positive influence for the people who have already come into the purchase cycle as far as buying furniture is concerned and any positive influence would lead them into the Furnishings for You stores, which would be an accomplishment of sorts. c) The kind of media that shall be used by Furnishings for You must be based on the type of audience that they are willing to target. This would mean that direct mail is one preference which needs to be employed. Also putting up posters in and around the Furnishings for You stores would work wonders for the company. Furnishings for You is geared to achieve big heights if it knows properly where its potential customers frequent the most because then it would be easier for the company to reach out to them through inexpensive medium selection regimes. If they are coming from far and wide to the different Furnishings for You stores, then it would be viable to make use of a newspaper advertisement which could be put up. However, if the customers belong to a particular locality or area, then sending direct mail would suffice. The need is to understand what kind of media works best for the sake of Furnishings for You and then to move ahead and embed it so as to attain the desired results. As a suggestion for Furnishings for You, it would be advised to make use of media which has the best cost effectiveness and which reaches out to the right target audience. There shall not be any wastage which can make the job tougher for the people at the helm of affairs within Furnishings for You. The budget for the whole media undertaking should be in line with how well the media avenues and outlets have been satisfied and how the relevant target audiences are taken care of to achieve what is required under such settings. The stores need to carry out a message which is comprehensive, elaborate and reassuring for all the customers – existing as well as potential ones. This will make sure that there are no grey areas which have been left unplugged and more efficiency and productivity will be achieved without a doubt. Task 2 A new marketing mix for Furnishings for You would comprise of the same tools yet employed in a differential setting to what is being done at the present. Since Furnishings for You comes directly under the service/retail sector, it is pertinent to understand that it will cater to the audiences in a manner which shall fulfill their requirements through a hybrid (combination) of product delivery as well as service. The service/retail sector can be tricky at times and the best foot forward is to be sure which perspectives are being chosen to have a proper insight regarding Furnishings for You, which may or may not comprise of the four Ps only. Since marketing mix includes the product, price, promotion and place tangents (the four Ps), the need is to understand how Furnishings for You can benefit from these realms in essence. The product can be drafted in to make sure that only those items are available on the Furnishings for You stores which are in demand and to discard the ones which are not being sold in a manner that Furnishings for You would have liked to begin with. This would mean that there are issues that need to be taken care of as far as the product is concerned, one which comes under the aegis of the Furnishings for You stores and the company as a whole. The product at the end of the day remains a very significant metaphor for bringing the customers back to the stores and this is one aspect that cannot be denied its due right in entirety. All emphasis must be laid on the fact that Furnishings for You has a product ready and available to counter the kind of negativity that the potential customers might come up with at some point in time within the future. Similarly, price is an important consideration, more so because it sets the precedent for the potential customers to come and find out for their own selves. They will be able to discern the type of issues that remain etched within the product if the price is on the higher side or even on the lower one. Their decisions will be made based upon price more often than not. This is the reason why price has been given consideration every now and then, and especially when it contemplates the focus on a product, which in this case is any item from the Furnishings for You stores. The purchases will always be seen in the light of the prices that have been set and the reach of the potential customers. It is therefore mandatory on the part of the management of the Furnishings for You stores to have prices which are easily understood and dealt upon by the customers so that whenever they visit the Furnishings for You stores, they are always able to buy something for their own selves. In fact, it would be a better tactic to include bulk discounts which would embody the basis of selling more volumes and thus earning in the same fashion. This is hallmark of the service/retail sector and should be understood as such because the need is to find out where the service/retail sector is playing its vital part within the business scenario of Furnishings for You. The need is to set prices that will attract customers, and not allow them to run away as soon as they get to know the rates of the items. The newly proposed marketing mix for Furnishings for You stores would bank precisely on the promotional aspect as well. This will signify for an understanding which deals with how Furnishings for You is able to project itself in front of the customers and the desired ones. There is a dire need to comprehend the fact that a business is absolutely not a profitable entity if it is not being promoted the right way. If the customers do not know what kind of products are being made available at the Furnishings for You stores and how much discounts are there, there is no use to have a company that exists for them at all. Hence, what is needed within this marketing mix is to have proper arrangements for promoting the Furnishings for You stores so that the potential customers know beforehand that they have a company which looks after their furniture needs and which is aesthetically pleasing and socially viable. There are a number of reasons which can be suggested in order to defend the cause of promotion and none more so than marketing and advertising regimes itself. The last aspect of the marketing mix revolves around the place realm which is indeed a much significant pointer. What this suggests for is the fact that place is an important agenda item as far as Furnishings for You stores are concerned. These depict the kind of attention that must be paid towards the product coming from the locality that the stores are in. If the Furnishings for You stores are situated at a place which is demonstrative of an upscale locality with posh people living in and around, then the prices would be set in accordance with the societal considerations. The need is to find out what kind of localities are Furnishings for You stores are under and then to devise a strategy which will boost the image of the product and the prices that will be set in accordance with the same. There is a dire need to give attention to such realms because these are the make or break scenarios that engulf a business and what more than a furniture company that is trying to win back and allure new customers on a regular basis. Hence, the four important points of the marketing mix for the sake of the Furnishings for You stores outline how the new and proposed mix would be deemed as a success and where the grey areas remain to be dealt with in a proper manner. The need is always ascertained to find the best possible routes for attaining more sales and profits at the end of the day. Task 3 The PESTLE analysis of Furnishings for You would actually resolve quite a few quandaries. It will understand where the political, environmental, social, technological, legal and economic domains will be addressed so as to discern the proper basis for running the furniture basis. It will further integrate the related technologies to make sure that any loopholes are properly addressed and solutions found. The PESTLE analysis outlines the need to be aware of the underlying forces which shall play a positive role at boosting the domains of the business. It will cater to the growing needs of the time for which the business has been made aware of and will do its best to live up to the reputation. The PESTLE analysis also accounts for the varied perspectives from a number of settings – all of which remain significant for the overall functioning of this furniture business as a service/retail sector. Also as a marketing assistant working for Furnishings for You, I need to comprehend the fact that competitor knowledge is of great assistance to me on any given day. What this shall mean is that I must remain steady as far as finding out more and more about my competitors and devise ways and means to bring in more knowledge and help for my own company. If I have the relevant know-how regarding the competitors, then I will have a better idea as to how to touch base with some of the most important tools of marketing that shall be deemed as significant for the customers. Furnishings for You will be benefited immensely if all the actions and undertakings are geared to achieve the best possible results by drawing comparisons with the competitors and rival furniture companies. It will make Furnishings for You stand in a league of its own and thus set its own rate at which items on the stores would be sold. Similarly, the kind of industry that Furnishings for You finds itself in is also a pertinent consideration. This is because Furnishings for You has to make a name for its own self and this would not be possible without the efforts of the people behind the company. My role would be beefed up if I know for sure what the positives are and how the negatives can be kept aside to bring success for Furnishings for You in the long run. On the same token, knowledge regarding suppliers, customers and the external environment are very quintessential in order to master how Furnishings for You will make its way within the relevant thick of things. Furnishings for You has a job cut out as far as studying its related environment is concerned. This is so needed because it will set the precedent for achieving quite a few goals – all of which remain significant on any given day from a marketing standpoint. The role played by these stakeholders shall pave the way for attaining objectives which can either be broken into short term ones or based on the long term. The bottom line remains strongly attached to the fact that Furnishings for You has to attain a profit at the end of the day, and for this it must come about with alternate strategies. As the marketing assistant for Furnishings for You, I need to recommend the techniques to improve the situation at hand. This shall mean that I have the necessary know-how before I move ahead and make my mark. I must remain head on as far as my marketing regimes are concerned because these will dictate the exact basis of growth and development within the realms of Furnishings for You. The stores will be able to expand beyond a certain proportion if marketing is handled in an amicable manner. This is the duty of all concerned since the repercussions for falling out on this tangent are immense. What is even more significant is the manner under which Furnishings for You can exploit the positives that shall become apparent once marketing is used in an adequately sound manner. The need of the hour is to understand where anomalies lie and how best to counter them within quantified proportions. If this is done, the apparent weaknesses within the marketing discipline for Furnishings for You would be taken care of and the shortcomings shall be plugged at the earliest. Also competitive role would be lessened which remains a very significant aspect on any given day. Reaching out to the correct target audiences would mean that there are corrective solutions being drafted to make sure that Furnishings for You remains on the top of the minds of customers as well as the potential ones. This can only come about when there are proper marketing efforts which will pave the way for growth that shall eventually lead to success in the long run for Furnishings for You. For Furnishings for You, the situation can only improve once there is an identification of the problem. If the top management does not even comprehend that there is a problem in the first place, then it would be right to suggest that Furnishings for You would not be able to pace ahead as far as attracting new customers and making a mark for its own self are concerned. Thus it would be of paramount significance to find out where anomalies lie and how these shall be plugged to achieve results which are long-lasting and have a huge say within the uplifting of the image as far as Furnishings for You is related. Essentially speaking, Furnishings for You depends a great deal on the marketing efforts because it is important to project the furniture company in line with the socio-economic settings, which comprise of the kind of class that it caters to, the price ranges that are deemed as appropriate and the type of items that are readily available within its stores. The situation must be enhanced so that the shortcomings shall be done away with and thus the long term success for the sake of Furnishings for You is secured, which will have a pragmatic change within the Furnishings for You stores. The customers are the real stakeholders for whom the furniture company is in business and if they are given the respect that they so deserve, then the business for Furnishings for You will only elevate with the passage of time. Task 4 Personal selling is a much desired entity of any business, and more so when the stores are localized and have a differential feel at varied locations. For Furnishings for You, this aspect of the promotional mix gains an even more significant stature as it raises its image in the eyes of the potential customers. Personal selling takes the precedence over other areas of the promotional mix because an oral presentation is required here that essentially decides the fate of the business. In the case of Furnishings for You, this shall work wonders as the furniture company wants to win new customers who shall come and purchase furniture for their own selves. The personal selling premise can be deemed as an effective ploy if it involves the use of sales presentations to prospective customers. These customers will gain a better idea as to how Furnishings for You can offer furniture of top notch class to them. The need is to understand that the business reaches out to them in a one-on-one fashion. The pertinent question as to whether or not Furnishings for You is right in its stance to reach out to people individually comes out as an apparent solution for the customized feel that the prospective customers will gain at the end of the day. Furnishings for You can benefit immensely if personal selling is employed in an able and effective way to make sure that each and every customer feel that he is being valued and that he must visit the stores to see for himself the kind of furniture that is up for display. Needless to state that Furnishings for You will find it a key ingredient of the promotional activities that have been devised and which remain very quintessential towards understanding how the stores will be able to attract new customers on a regular basis. The personal selling premise is being spoken of more and more these days due to the fact that it has a very customized and personalized feeling attached to it. The customers believe that they are being seen as valuable individuals since they are given the respect and dignity to come forward and visit the Furnishings for You stores to buy items for their own shopping needs. There might be some critics of the different promotional activities and none more so than the tangent of personal selling but what is most pertinent here is to find out a way through which personal selling is able to make the final cut, and that too in an effective and efficient way for the sake of the business, which in this case include the Furnishings for You stores. In the end, it would be safe to state that Furnishings for You depends a great deal on the different promotional mix activities and it is important to outline which ones shall bring in the much needed success pointers in the long run. As far as the top management concerns within Furnishings for You are related, they must do all that they can to ensure that the customers come to their stores and the brand value of the furniture company is uplifted on a consistent basis. If such undertakings are given significance, there is no reason why one should feel awry with the kind of promotional activities that are eventually employed. The end goal is indeed to bring in potential customers, as many as possible. Read More