Chapter
Why you should read this book
How to use this book and
what you will get from it
A straightforward seven-stage path to competitiveness through enhanced marketing
Clear definitions and direction for the SME
Why should I care about marketing? I want to know more about being exceptionally competitive!
Marketing: what it is; and just as important, what it is not
A short and essential history
Using the book in conjunction with the futureSME initiative
02 The reality: Addressing stress for the SME owner, manager or executive
Achieving a sound sleep at night...
The reality for SMEs and turning things to your advantage
Changing ‘cannot’ to ‘can’
03 Competitiveness and the SME: We want it; but how do we get it?
Forget ‘Pareto’s principle’?
What are competitiveness and creativity,
in terms of their use to me?
What SMEs think about competitiveness
What marketing does for SME competitiveness
Competitive SME and marketing
OK, so where do we start? – using the tools in this book
Quick marketing audit
(© Copyright David James Hood: Competitive SME)
04 Increasing your confidence: Leveraging what you have
Communicate, communicate, communicate
‘I just don’t have anything to say’
So what makes a great story?
How you can actually use feedback to be
a major differentiator
05 Maximizing SME management: Making better decisions: Investments and predictions
What is ‘success’ in managing an SME?
Knowing your direction, goals and objectives
Making decisions that matter
Self-creating markets and the new reality
Strategy and measurements
for decision-making
Cost-plus and cost-accounting are the enemy of the SME
Decision-making and improving judgement
Do not neglect marketing when concentrating on sales!
Customer relationship management (CRM)
Incoming or ‘in-bound’ conversations
06 Your unique selling proposition: Agility, the ‘adaptive organization’, profit and revenue improvement
Advantage and ‘the product’
Resourcing to create advantage
It is a knowledge economy now!
07 Real market presence: Marketing on a budget; branding, positioning and the SME
Assessing your market: marketing and market research
Market/marketing research template
Have you fully clarified the value proposition?
The total product concept
Looking at your proposition from the OUTSIDE IN
Notes on using the value matrix
Statements and ‘stories’ supporting the value proposition
Testing the ‘force’ of the proposition
Steps to checking your value proposition
‘Branding’ and ‘imagineering’
What can branding do for me?
SME branding: perceptions, positioning and segmentation
Important evolution of modern segmentation
A simple brand management cycle template
Social networking and ‘the new reverse customer convergence and segmentation’
Managing the ‘social’ media: engagement
08 What do we really need to do? Planning to win
Investment in sales and marketing capabilities
Marketing plan and planning: it is not just writing a document for
the shelf in your office
When writing your marketing plan
Components of a great
marketing plan
Positioning and perceptual maps
The core challenge and conflict for your customer
Developing your proposition and propelling it into the market
09 Grasping the opportunity 1 (MARKETING): ‘Changing the currency’
What is the primary pain for your customer?
Moving to a ‘change in currency’
‘Moving from margin myopia’
10 Grasping the opportunity 2 (SALES): ‘Changing to managing the INCOME (revenue) PIPELINE’
Move from anticipating loosely-predicted targets based on sales transactions to focusing on
‘a crafted pull from the market’
Changing sales targeting and management
Changing the way we look at sales
Improve post-sale service to existing customers
Stop thinking about sales as
‘units of delivery’ or transactions
11 Quick wins (rather than quick fixes)
Change 1: What you think of marketing and its role as the means to competitiveness
Change 2: Sensing your market
Change 3: Less of an obsession with our competition
Change 4: Review what success means and our strategy to achieve it
Always ask for testimonials
Cautioning about ‘quick fixes’...
Tackling your immediate concerns and improving now
12 Optimizing your proposition and making more money: Bringing it all together!
A cyclical planning process for the SME
The competitive marketing triangle
Using the competitive marketing triangle as the strategic dashboard for your organization
Lastly, and most importantly – how to measure word of mouth and optimize it
The whole Competitive SME process
Marketing Audit Checklist
David James Hood PgDIM PgDED PGMN
Competitive SME
：Building Competitive Advantage Through Marketing Excellence for Small to Medium Sized Enterprises
Disclaimer: Any content in publications that violate the sovereignty, the constitution or regulations of the PRC is not accepted or approved by CNPIEC.
