Marketing and innovation

Today I want to discuss a very powerful statement made
by management guru Peter Drucker.

It is very rare for me to quote management theories and thinkers.
I find that too many management thinkers and academics are too
removed from the realities of day to day business. And of course
when it comes to entrepreneurial businesses they are even less
clued in.

But I want to make an exception today. I want to discuss a quote
by Peter Drucker. Peter Drucker is considered by many to be a
guru's guru and the father of modern management theory. His
works in the 1950's 60's and 70's still influence the way
management is practised today. Here's his quote:

"Because the purpose of business is to create a customer, the
business enterprise has two -and only two- basic functions:
marketing and innovation. Marketing and innovation produce
results; all the rest are costs. Marketing is the distinguishing,
unique function of the business."

I think he hit the nail on the head. Most business owners (and
especially large corporations) get their priorities wrong. They
focus on everything but creating customers. They often get
customers despite their poor marketing, not because of it.

As for innovation, I think that this is an extremely overlooked
(specially in the Middle East), yet immensely powerful, aspect of
business. One definition of innovation is "the introduction of
new ideas, goods, services, and practices which are intended to
be useful."

You as a business owner must constantly innovate. Come up with
new or improved ways of doing everything in your business. Not
only should you innovate with your products and services, but
also internally with your business processes.

Say you own a sandwich shop. One way to innovate would be to
come up with ways to reduce waste without compromising the
freshness of your ingeredients.

When it comes to sandwich deliveries, one way to innovate would
be to have a new computer system linked to your phone lines which
shows the customer's details on the screen when they call.
Another innovation would be to set up a system of automatic
delivery based on your customers' past patterns of purchase.

Another innovation would be to have your delivery person include
special offers for your customers' friends so they can refer
people to you. A further innovation would be to reward current
customers for bringing you new customers.

The next innovative step would be to have an online ordering and
processing system. Followed perhaps by an SMS ordering system.
The list goes on and on.

Focussing on marketing and innovation will really bring your
business to a new level. You will be setting new standards and
your business will be head and shoulders above the competitors.
They will be using ancient methods of doing business whereas you
will be on the forefront of innovation, enjoying a great
lifestyle and counting the large amounts of cash coming in every
month.

One more thing before I finish today. Being innovative does not
necessarily mean using new sophisticated technology. It just
means trying out new ideas and concepts, and measuring their
results. An innovation might be to reorganise your customer
order taking process and improving your filing system.

So to summarise , be a great marketer and a
great innovator.

Next week we'll talk about The Very First Question I Ask My
Clients.

Dedicated to your success,

Suhail G. Algosaibi, MBA, MCMI, AP
http://www.RadicalMarketing.com