The Marketing Plan

The Marketing Plan

Don’t panic. This is not a test.

It’s a tool to properly plan for your new endeavor as an entrepreneur. Do you think the most successful business owners made their fortunes purely by luck? When Richard and Maurice McDonald opened their hamburger stand, did customers just instinctively flock to buy from them?

No. It all starts with a plan. When proposing an entrepreneurial idea, every bank, venture capitalist or investor will require a business plan. Typically, the plan consists of: An Idea (that generates sales), a Marketing Plan, and Financial Analysis of Operations Costs and Revenue Growth.

Luckily, with the Everwell platform, you don’t need to reinvent an idea. You also don’t need to perform financial analysis. You just need a Marketing Plan.

What does the Marketing Plan consist of?

You must decide:

·      What type of client I am going to choose to pursue who might “buy” this idea?

·      Why will they buy from me?

·      What specific objectives I desire to achieve?

·      What activities will I do to meet these objectives?

Let’s review them one-by-one:

1.    What type of client am I going to choose to pursue?

When Swatch began in 1983, it was to compete between expensive mechanical watches of Europe, and the low-cost digital watches made in Asia. Affluent consumers wanted the $10,000 Rolex simply for the status, knowing they’d never replace the watch in their lifetime. Meanwhile, economical consumers wanted Casio for $10 just to be able to see what time it was—and if it broke, they just bought a new one. Swatch fit in the middle – for consumers who wanted a quality, stylish watch that spoke to youth and fashion.

You have a choice. You can pursue wealthy clients. You can pursue blue collar. You can pursue law firms. Or restaurants. Or manufacturing plants. Or new brands. But you can’t pursue everyone. That’s not a strategic marketing plan.

You have a choice. Everwell’s target market is businesses that have 10-49 employees. Choose the type of client that you relate to best. That you feel you can reach.

2    Why will they buy from me?

Since you are choosing your target type of client(s), be able to answer to yourself: Why am I choosing them? If you have zero interest in surfing, you really shouldn’t be prospecting businesses related to surf or skate culture.

Likewise, if you are 19 years old, and love wearing a Mohawk, how effective will you be in prospecting attorneys or accountants?

Don’t change who you are. But be realistic. Know who you are, and why the clients you choose will be more open to relating to you.

3.    What specific objectives do I wish to achieve?

No business survives without metrics. If you’re an entrepreneur, you start with a limited amount of capital. If you run out of capital, and/or you don’t generate any revenue, you’re out of business!

Ask yourself:

·      How much $ revenue do I need to make?

·      Which accounts do I want to close? In what priority?

·      Most importantly, why do I want to make this amount of money?

If you want to make $5,000, specifically to pay rent for three months, or to buy a car, or to fund a trip to Australia, then make that specific $ amount your objective.

4.    What activities must I do to meet these objectives?

…and the answer isn’t just “sell more.” You must understand what activities generate sales. The good news is these statistics through Aflac are already laid out for you.

·      It requires about 100 “cold” approaches to set 3 meetings

·      It requires about 20 “warm” approaches to set 3 meetings

·      It requires about 8 face-to-face meetings to close 1 account

·      1 account with 10 employees yields about $1,000 in revenue

Do the math. You’ll quickly be able to calculate the number of approaches you’ll need to generate the revenue you desire.

Good luck, and happy planning!