Chalk.com is an education SaaS company that offers curriculum planning tools to teachers and schools. It currently has 20 employees and markets mainly in North America, with most sales coming from the US east coast. Chalk evaluates three alternatives to expand: growing its direct sales force, expanding geographically into Europe, or offering a freemium version of its product. After weighing each alternative against criteria like cost, growth potential, and revenue, growing the direct sales force is recommended as it will allow Chalk to reach more decision makers and has the highest potential for growth and revenue. An implementation plan outlines hiring sales staff, creating sales processes, and optimizing the sales funnel over the short and long term to capitalize on this
DESIGN OF THE NEW INTERNATIONAL SALES & KEY ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT SKILLS TRAININ...inkamsErasmusProject
The "IN.KAMS-International Key Account Management & Sales"
Erasmus + Project aims to realize, pilot, disseminate and systematize a new University-based learning program focused on International Sales & Key Account Management.
This presentation is the task 1 of the Intellectual Output One, concernimg the design of the new training curriculum.
Integrated Marketing Campaign Proposal - Synchrony Financial Business Leaders...Ashley Peterson
This IMC proposal was developed for IMC 636 - Campaigns (Capstone) at West Virginia University.
This integrated marketing campaign proposal was developed to increase awareness of the Business Leadership Program and strengthen the Synchrony Financial employer brand in the minds of today’s Millennials. The “Every Team, Every Office, Every Community” campaign lets current participants tell their own story to make sure that Millennial job seekers see the BLP brand promise in action and stand prepared with an answer to “What’s next for me?”.
The Corp2College agency brand was developed for the purposes of this course.
Companies of all sizes (SMB to large ones) are finding the current economic environment challenging. Business growth is slow or almost stagnated, new customer gains are far and few, customer spend has become very unpredictable and hence managing capacities is posing a big challenges. Browne & Mohan consultants based on their experience of guiding companies have compiled strategies that can be adopted to successfully maneuver the low tides. We suggest product or service offering changes, organizational changes, employee engagement changes, partner and ecosystem changes, sales and marketing structure changes that are appropriate to most companies.
DESIGN OF THE NEW INTERNATIONAL SALES & KEY ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT SKILLS TRAININ...inkamsErasmusProject
The "IN.KAMS-International Key Account Management & Sales"
Erasmus + Project aims to realize, pilot, disseminate and systematize a new University-based learning program focused on International Sales & Key Account Management.
This presentation is the task 1 of the Intellectual Output One, concernimg the design of the new training curriculum.
Integrated Marketing Campaign Proposal - Synchrony Financial Business Leaders...Ashley Peterson
This IMC proposal was developed for IMC 636 - Campaigns (Capstone) at West Virginia University.
This integrated marketing campaign proposal was developed to increase awareness of the Business Leadership Program and strengthen the Synchrony Financial employer brand in the minds of today’s Millennials. The “Every Team, Every Office, Every Community” campaign lets current participants tell their own story to make sure that Millennial job seekers see the BLP brand promise in action and stand prepared with an answer to “What’s next for me?”.
The Corp2College agency brand was developed for the purposes of this course.
Companies of all sizes (SMB to large ones) are finding the current economic environment challenging. Business growth is slow or almost stagnated, new customer gains are far and few, customer spend has become very unpredictable and hence managing capacities is posing a big challenges. Browne & Mohan consultants based on their experience of guiding companies have compiled strategies that can be adopted to successfully maneuver the low tides. We suggest product or service offering changes, organizational changes, employee engagement changes, partner and ecosystem changes, sales and marketing structure changes that are appropriate to most companies.
A new marketing paradigm for creating global efficiency and competitive advan...Nurbek Achilov
Journal of Accounting and Marketing
Topic of publication: A new marketing paradigm for creating global efficiency and competitive advantage of countries
SCHOLARSHIP OF THE MARKETING DISCIPLINE AND PROFESSION IN KENYAOsman Chesula
Abstract- The purpose of this paper was to critically examine the scholarship of the marketing discipline and profession in Kenya. The paper empirically analyses secondary literature and scholarly articles related to scholarship in the marketing field. From the results, it is clear that several challenges are facing marketing scholarship in the country. Specifically, the declining number of marketing scholars and lecturers mainly attributed to leaning institutions concentrating on research and neglecting the teaching aspect. The results provided are not exhaustive and therefore there is need for further research preferably primary descriptive study on the subject in order to shed more light.
Index Terms- Scholarship, Practice, Teaching, Research
Managing Marketing Processes_Marketing Plan AssignmentRobin Teigland
Marketing Plan Assignment for the Managing Marketing Processes course in the MGM program at the Stockholm School of Economics, http://www.hhs.se/EDUCATION/MSC/MSCGM/Pages/default.aspx
2013 was a year sealed with great achievements. 2014 promises to be an even greater! The IIMP Newsletter brings you all news about our organization and its members.
Investigating the Influence of Firm Characteristics on Export Marketing Strat...Waqas Tariq
The export performance has been studied to a great extent while fewer researches have focused the export activities of developing countries. Firm characteristics have always been found to impact export performance considerably. Furthermore, the marketing strategy applied by the firm has been an important issue related to performance. In this paper, the relationships among firm characteristics, export marketing strategies as well as export performance were investigated on the export of medical disposable products in Malaysia. Data was gathered from 22 firms by the means of a questionnaire for which the reliability of 0.85 was achieved. The statistical Chi-Square test for independence was applied for testing the hypotheses via SPSS. The results indicated that several internal firm factors namely, market knowledge, commitment, international experience and innovation affected the application of adaptation strategies. Moreover, the use of adaptation strategies and the export performance were significantly related. Finally it was concluded that firm characteristics could influence export performance indirectly and through marketing strategies.
The pervasiveness of digital technologies is reshaping aftermarket. e-tailing is gnawing away the market for spare parts as more people are buying online, social media is influencing the consumption of aftermarket services and customers are demanding deeper 24*7 experiences. In this article Browne & Mohan consultants showcase the drivers of digital transformation and adoption for aftermarket.
Sales is an area where many companies find the outcomes belie investments and outcomes. Many companies attempt sales transformation in a piece-meal fashion. In this paper, we discuss the framework for sales transformation and five fundamental levers of sales transformation.
A new marketing paradigm for creating global efficiency and competitive advan...Nurbek Achilov
Journal of Accounting and Marketing
Topic of publication: A new marketing paradigm for creating global efficiency and competitive advantage of countries
SCHOLARSHIP OF THE MARKETING DISCIPLINE AND PROFESSION IN KENYAOsman Chesula
Abstract- The purpose of this paper was to critically examine the scholarship of the marketing discipline and profession in Kenya. The paper empirically analyses secondary literature and scholarly articles related to scholarship in the marketing field. From the results, it is clear that several challenges are facing marketing scholarship in the country. Specifically, the declining number of marketing scholars and lecturers mainly attributed to leaning institutions concentrating on research and neglecting the teaching aspect. The results provided are not exhaustive and therefore there is need for further research preferably primary descriptive study on the subject in order to shed more light.
Index Terms- Scholarship, Practice, Teaching, Research
Managing Marketing Processes_Marketing Plan AssignmentRobin Teigland
Marketing Plan Assignment for the Managing Marketing Processes course in the MGM program at the Stockholm School of Economics, http://www.hhs.se/EDUCATION/MSC/MSCGM/Pages/default.aspx
2013 was a year sealed with great achievements. 2014 promises to be an even greater! The IIMP Newsletter brings you all news about our organization and its members.
Investigating the Influence of Firm Characteristics on Export Marketing Strat...Waqas Tariq
The export performance has been studied to a great extent while fewer researches have focused the export activities of developing countries. Firm characteristics have always been found to impact export performance considerably. Furthermore, the marketing strategy applied by the firm has been an important issue related to performance. In this paper, the relationships among firm characteristics, export marketing strategies as well as export performance were investigated on the export of medical disposable products in Malaysia. Data was gathered from 22 firms by the means of a questionnaire for which the reliability of 0.85 was achieved. The statistical Chi-Square test for independence was applied for testing the hypotheses via SPSS. The results indicated that several internal firm factors namely, market knowledge, commitment, international experience and innovation affected the application of adaptation strategies. Moreover, the use of adaptation strategies and the export performance were significantly related. Finally it was concluded that firm characteristics could influence export performance indirectly and through marketing strategies.
The pervasiveness of digital technologies is reshaping aftermarket. e-tailing is gnawing away the market for spare parts as more people are buying online, social media is influencing the consumption of aftermarket services and customers are demanding deeper 24*7 experiences. In this article Browne & Mohan consultants showcase the drivers of digital transformation and adoption for aftermarket.
Sales is an area where many companies find the outcomes belie investments and outcomes. Many companies attempt sales transformation in a piece-meal fashion. In this paper, we discuss the framework for sales transformation and five fundamental levers of sales transformation.
This is a presentation that investigates Billboard Magazine and shows information about it and the publishing company. I have researched different aspects of Billboard.
MKT 421 EDU Education Your Life / mkt421edu.comkopiko13a
FOR MORE CLASSES VISIT
www.mkt421edu.com
Purpose of Assignment
A well planned distribution channel system is a key component of the marketing mix that helps meet customer demands and achieve company goals. This assignment will analyze the role channels
Salary data for more than 125 interactive, design, marketing, advertising and public relations positions
A formula for localizing salaries for your market
Hiring trends and best practices
Job descriptions for in-demand creative positions
Business PaperDescriptionThe business analysis paper sh.docxRAHUL126667
Business Paper
Description:
The business analysis paper should focus on the use of information systems within a company of your choice. You should pick a company for which information systems played a key roll in making that company successful, and the paper should focus on how information systems contributed to that success. Your paper should answer the following areas:
· Industry Profile: What is the industry? What value does the industry provide to its customers?
· Include an analysis of the competitive landscape of the industry in terms of the Porter Competitive model. You will learn about Porter's 5 forces early in the quarter. Your paper should discuss each of the five forces that effect the competitive landscape of your company's industry. Discuss why each of the forces plays a strong or weak role in the industry and give evidence to support your argument.
· Be careful to define the industry correctly. To do so, ask the question "with whom does your company compete?" Be careful that the definition is not too narrow. For instance, Charles Schwab is a discount broker and they obviously compete with other discount brokers like Quick and Reilly and Fidelity. But, they also compete against full service brokers and deep discounters. There is also a risk of defining the industry too broadly. For instance, total retailing in the U.S. is over $2 trillion a year. This includes everything that is sold to a consumer--groceries, automobiles, fast food, clothing, etc. There are sub-sections to the retail industry and these provide a better definition since they are consistent with the criteria cited above regarding who companies compete against. Automobile dealers do not compete with McDonalds or Safeway.
· Company Profile: What business is your company in, and what value does it provide its customers. In what ways is it different than its competitors? How has it's history shaped what it can offer its customers?
· Information Technology: How does the company use IT to support or enable its business processes and competitive strategies? What technologies in particular does it use? Does the company use existing technologies,develop its own technology, or some combination of both? How much of the company’s success do you attribute to its use of IT and/or the company’s early adoption of IT into their business processes? Is it used to enhance or differentiate their product, reduce costs, or both?
· Leadership: Who are/were the key leaders of the company? What decisions did these leaders make, in particular decisions relating to the deployment of IT? What opportunities did they identify that helped make their company what it is today.
· Market and Financial Performance: What is the company’s revenue and profit, and how has it evolved over the years? How does the company’s performance compare to its competitors? You may also want to include other industry specific measures of performances, like cost per available seat mile (CASM) for airlines or sales ...
Chapter 2 Developing Marketing Strategies and PlansNishant Agrawal
Developing Marketing Strategies and Plans
Value Delivery Process
What is the Value Chain?
Core Business Processes
Core Competencies
What is Holistic Marketing?
Levels of a Marketing Plan
Corporate Headquarters Planning Activities
Retail Media Allocation by Bobsled, an Acadia companyMarcos Pueyrredon
Estudio sbre Retail Media Allocation realizado por Bobsled Marketing que brinda información práctica y valiosa para las marcas, informando sus decisiones estratégicas relacionadas con todo lo relacionado con los medios minoristas (asignación, inversión, etc.).
El mensaje clave de este reporte es:
"Las marcas deben construir una estrategia en torno a su verdadero objetivo a nivel de marca, producto o minorista, y la etapa de embudo en la que se encuentran sus consumidores".
Disrupted Links in the Performance Management Process at Omega, I.docxmadlynplamondon
Disrupted Links in the Performance Management Process at “Omega, Inc.”
Omega, Inc., is a small manufacturing company whose sales success or failure rests in the hands of sales representatives employed by franchised dealers operating independently. Omega faces a challenging situation because it does not have control over the people working for the independent dealerships. It is the performance of these individuals that dictates Omega’s sales success. To make things more complicated, until recently there was no clear understanding of the role of the sales representatives and there were no formal sales processes in place. Sales representatives varied greatly in terms of their level of skill and knowledge; most put out little effort beyond taking orders, and they did not feel motivated to make additional sales. Finally, franchises varied greatly regarding their management strategies and follow-up with Omega.
Recently, understanding the need to improve the performance of sales representatives, Omega agreed to partially fund and support a training program for them. The network of franchise owners in turn agreed to work together to implement a performance management system. As a first step in creating the performance management system, the franchise owners conducted a job analysis of the role of the sale representatives, wrote a job description, and distributed it to all sales representatives. The franchise owners also adopted a franchise-wide mission statement based primarily on the need to provide high- quality customer service. This mission statement was posted in all franchise offices, and each franchise owner spoke with his employees about the contribution made by individual sales on achieving their mission. As a second step, the managers set performance goals (i.e., sales quotas) for each employee. Then, all sales representatives attended extensive training sessions. The employees received feedback based on their performance in the training course and then were reminded once again of their sales quotas.
Back on the job, managers gave feedback to their employees regarding their standing in relation to their sales quotas. Since the employees had no way of monitoring their own progress toward their quotas, the performance feedback consisted of little more than a reiteration of monthly sales goals. There was no performance appraisal form in place, so discussions were not documented. This lack of feedback continued, and although sales quotas were being met for the first few months, franchise owners received complaints from customers about the low quality of customer service they were receiving. Subsequently, sales began to decline.
Furthermore, many orders were often incorrect, forcing customers to return items to Omega.
While the new performance management process was an improvement over no performance management (at least initially), the franchise owners were still far from having a system that included a smooth transition between each of the ...
IEEE GlobalSpec is pleased to provide you with this Marketing Planning Kit to help you evaluate the effectiveness of your
current marketing choices, calculate the value of existing marketing programs, understand today’s marketing landscape,
and plan more effective strategies for 2019. Our intent is to help you define and achieve your marketing goals and
objectives for the year ahead.
MBA 6601, International Business 1 Course Learning Ou.docxaryan532920
MBA 6601, International Business 1
Course Learning Outcomes for Unit VI
Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:
8. Examine the major marketing considerations applicable to international business.
Reading Assignment
In order to access the following resource(s), click the link(s) below:
Dev, C. S., & Schultz, D. E. (2015). From the four Ps to the four ‘why’s’. Marketing News, 49(9), 40–47.
Retrieved from
https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direc
t=true&db=bth&AN=109289010&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Seeds, D., & Khade, A. S. (2008). Transforming a multi-national corporation from a centralized organization to
a decentralized organization. Journal of International Business Strategy, 8(3), 99–104. Retrieved from
https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direc
t=true&db=bth&AN=35637667&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Van Meir, C. (2016). Branding benefits: Apply the four Ps of marketing to make benefits more engaging.
Benefits Magazine, 53(3), 34–39. Retrieved from
https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direc
t=true&db=bth&AN=113183936&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Unit Lesson
There are two ways to look at global marketing strategies. One way is to look at a company’s marketing
orientation. Marketing orientation refers to the philosophy that guides a company’s marketing strategies. In
the United States, marketing orientation started with the production concept (1920s) and evolved to the
present day holistic marketing concept. Along the way, several distinct variations emerged that seem to work
well in the foreign markets. These orientations depend on the types of products produced and the types of
buyers purchasing the goods. The second way to study global marketing strategies is to analyze the
marketing mix of the product. The marketing mix is the 4 Ps: product, place, price, and promotion.
Marketing Orientations
There seem to be five types of marketing philosophies that have managed to stay significant. Typically, a
company’s marketing strategy will depend on whether the company is production oriented, sales oriented, or
customer oriented. A combined strategy of all three yields a strategic marketing concept. Last and still
emerging is the force of social marketing, sometimes referred to as nonmarket strategies.
Production orientation: The production concept focuses on products that are mass produced, have a low
price relative to disposable income, come with a standard design, have low risk of product failure, and a short
window from purchase to consumption. These types of products require advertising and sales promotion to
pull them through the distribution channel. Consequently, manufacturers achieve high production efficiency,
low costs, and mass distribution. This type of product could be a low value-add ...
1Costco Case Analysis 05212019Dr. Saboli.docxdrennanmicah
1
Costco Case Analysis
05/21/2019
Dr. Sabolic
Submitted as partial fulfillment for the requirements of MGMT 483 BT
Team members:
Abdulaziz Samkary
Chihong Hieng (Dylan)
Abdullah Alhuwaimani
Maha Alnami
Costco Case Analysis
1. Competitive Strength Analysis
Business Model
The business model of Costco is basically using a membership of warehouses club. The memberships of the club is providing to their customers the ability to shop at Costco stores and have the access to buy the products with the lower price.
The strategies that Costco using them to make money:
1. The Price is less than the competitors, which attract the customers, as well the high quantity of all the products.
2. Scarcity the number of products in shelves. For example: comparing Walmart to Costco, Walmart carry 150,000 items, Costco only carry 4,000. They limited the number of products to give more value to their products.
3. They having their own private label power, in order to provide their customer an economical options for their shopping lists. In addition, it’s 10-20% lower than other brands.
4. They have 4 types of membership model, that includes customer discount, and offers such as gas station and groceries. As a fact Memberships is the most effective strategy that Costco Considered.
5. They are using marketing in their magazine, coupon mails, and weekly emails from Costco.com.
What is happening now, today?
· They applied strategies and techniques that helped the company making more money, as well hire more employees and lead the company to succeed.
· The website covers about 90% of the products that are in the store.
· They offer organic food.
· Costco memberships could replace Netflix subscription.
2. SWOT
Strength:
Costco is one of largest retailer in the U.S. and seventh largest in the world that offer membership warehouse club. Costco offers wide selection of merchandises and wide range of products in high volume with low prices to its membered customers. The company has many stores location in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Korea, Japan, UK, and many others. It also offers e-commerce website for customers to order products online, this way it allows customers to have more access to Costco’s products and more convenient. Costco is able to provide low prices for its merchandises by buying directly from the manufacturers, this way it also allows Costco to eliminate the traditional middle distributor and increase in inventory turnover. It also has its own in-house brand that produce high quality products with better value compare to its competitors.
Weakness:
Costco offers limited variety of merchandises and brands in stores, which limit the freedom for customers to have more choices when purchasing products. It also has different operation schedule compared to others retail stores. Costco only open from 10am to 8:30pm and it also has an earlier closing hours on the weekend, which could be inconvenient for its customers who want .
Similar to BU632 Chalk.com North American Market Research (20)
Premium MEAN Stack Development Solutions for Modern BusinessesSynapseIndia
Stay ahead of the curve with our premium MEAN Stack Development Solutions. Our expert developers utilize MongoDB, Express.js, AngularJS, and Node.js to create modern and responsive web applications. Trust us for cutting-edge solutions that drive your business growth and success.
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Kseniya Leshchenko: Shared development support service model as the way to ma...Lviv Startup Club
Kseniya Leshchenko: Shared development support service model as the way to make small projects with small budgets profitable for the company (UA)
Kyiv PMDay 2024 Summer
Website – www.pmday.org
Youtube – https://www.youtube.com/startuplviv
FB – https://www.facebook.com/pmdayconference
[Note: This is a partial preview. To download this presentation, visit:
https://www.oeconsulting.com.sg/training-presentations]
Sustainability has become an increasingly critical topic as the world recognizes the need to protect our planet and its resources for future generations. Sustainability means meeting our current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs. It involves long-term planning and consideration of the consequences of our actions. The goal is to create strategies that ensure the long-term viability of People, Planet, and Profit.
Leading companies such as Nike, Toyota, and Siemens are prioritizing sustainable innovation in their business models, setting an example for others to follow. In this Sustainability training presentation, you will learn key concepts, principles, and practices of sustainability applicable across industries. This training aims to create awareness and educate employees, senior executives, consultants, and other key stakeholders, including investors, policymakers, and supply chain partners, on the importance and implementation of sustainability.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. Develop a comprehensive understanding of the fundamental principles and concepts that form the foundation of sustainability within corporate environments.
2. Explore the sustainability implementation model, focusing on effective measures and reporting strategies to track and communicate sustainability efforts.
3. Identify and define best practices and critical success factors essential for achieving sustainability goals within organizations.
CONTENTS
1. Introduction and Key Concepts of Sustainability
2. Principles and Practices of Sustainability
3. Measures and Reporting in Sustainability
4. Sustainability Implementation & Best Practices
To download the complete presentation, visit: https://www.oeconsulting.com.sg/training-presentations
Personal Brand Statement:
As an Army veteran dedicated to lifelong learning, I bring a disciplined, strategic mindset to my pursuits. I am constantly expanding my knowledge to innovate and lead effectively. My journey is driven by a commitment to excellence, and to make a meaningful impact in the world.
In the Adani-Hindenburg case, what is SEBI investigating.pptxAdani case
Adani SEBI investigation revealed that the latter had sought information from five foreign jurisdictions concerning the holdings of the firm’s foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) in relation to the alleged violations of the MPS Regulations. Nevertheless, the economic interest of the twelve FPIs based in tax haven jurisdictions still needs to be determined. The Adani Group firms classed these FPIs as public shareholders. According to Hindenburg, FPIs were used to get around regulatory standards.
Discover the innovative and creative projects that highlight my journey throu...dylandmeas
Discover the innovative and creative projects that highlight my journey through Full Sail University. Below, you’ll find a collection of my work showcasing my skills and expertise in digital marketing, event planning, and media production.
Top mailing list providers in the USA.pptxJeremyPeirce1
Discover the top mailing list providers in the USA, offering targeted lists, segmentation, and analytics to optimize your marketing campaigns and drive engagement.
Recruiting in the Digital Age: A Social Media MasterclassLuanWise
In this masterclass, presented at the Global HR Summit on 5th June 2024, Luan Wise explored the essential features of social media platforms that support talent acquisition, including LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok.
3.0 Project 2_ Developing My Brand Identity Kit.pptxtanyjahb
A personal brand exploration presentation summarizes an individual's unique qualities and goals, covering strengths, values, passions, and target audience. It helps individuals understand what makes them stand out, their desired image, and how they aim to achieve it.
Event Report - SAP Sapphire 2024 Orlando - lots of innovation and old challengesHolger Mueller
Holger Mueller of Constellation Research shares his key takeaways from SAP's Sapphire confernece, held in Orlando, June 3rd till 5th 2024, in the Orange Convention Center.
3. 3
Company Background
Chalk.com is an education SaaS company that offers a suite of productivity apps
for K-12 teachers, aims at bringing personalized learning into teachers’ workflow and
providing all the tools they need in one integrated platform. Founded by William Zhou in
2012, Chalk.com currently operates mainly in North America and has been used by over
150000 teachers and 20000 schools worldwide, with headquarter in Kitchener, Ontario,
Canada.
Chalk has about 20 full-time employees and 3 full-time sales persons. One of
them is responsible for B2B clients. Chalk has strong customer support service, its
customer service team can help clients to install the software and provide tutorials in
person or by remote and help clients to walk through the learning curve.
Chalk.com Dashboard is an integrated platform that enables teachers to see all
aspects of their classroom in one place and help them make daily schedules more
effectively. It also allows administrators to see analytics and reports of their school, and
then connect teachers through a single interface. Currently, Dashboard consists of three
components. Planboard provides teachers with a user-friendly way to plan lessons and
edit with curriculum standards and attachments. Markboard uses different assessment
4. 4
styles to score assignments and test with built-in curriculum standards to track learning
progress. Attendboard is still being developed and will be used to record class attendance.
By combining these apps all together, Chalk.com becomes a powerful predictive
analytics engine that helps to drive student success.
Chalk has both B2B and B2C sales channels, which are targeting individual
teachers and schools’ administrative departments. In terms of pricing strategy, Chalk.com
has both a free version and paid version to offer, consisting of basic fee plus premium.
Free version is open to individual teachers for trial, and paid version is sold to
districts/schools for $500 to $2000 annually per license. 80% of their market is now
focused on the US east coast, mainly in Florida, and the largest revenue source is charter
and public schools, but most of their current clients are private schools that contribute
small deals.
Their major competitors include BYOC (build your own curriculum),
KnowledgeHook (focus on Ontario area), Rubicon. However, Chalk.com’s competitive
advantage resides in its integrated solution.
Chalk.com largely depends on inbound marketing via multiple channels to
generate leads due to the limited budget, such as to create content on blogs, Facebook,
LinkedIn, and Twitter. It uses Google Analytics to measure advertising ROI. The biggest
challenges they are facing now include how to convert market leads to sales leads, how to
get politicians on board, how to strengthen its uniqueness to differentiate itself from other
competitors as well as how to fit into district needs and implementation.
5. 5
Current Marketing Strategy
Geographic Market
Since the education system in the U.S is more standardized, Chalk.com’s current
major market is the U.S market. Based on the fact that the education system differs from
state to state, Chalk.com plans to conquer the U.S market states by state with a priority of
targeting the east coast. The very possible next state that has a huge potential is Florida.
Customer
There are 2 groups of customer, which are teachers and districts/schools. The
huge number of over 140000 teachers is mainly the free users of Chalk.com’s free
curriculum development software and they are not willing to pay ever since Chalk.com
tried to charge them in the very beginning, but received very negative results. The second
group of 30 districts/schools is the major profit generator for Chalk.com. Although
having a large customer pool, up-selling from teachers to districts/schools seems to be
6. 6
impossible for Chalk.com. How to convert the huge teacher customer base to sales is a
big question for Chalk.com.
Marketing Strategy
Chalk.com uses Inbound/content marketing on LinkedIn and Facebook, search
optimization on Google, world-of mouth, and trade shows. Due to the tight budget and
the difficulty of delivering the product in one picture, Chalk.com did not choose any
print-ads or billboards to advertise. In order to take both teachers and schools into
consideration, Chalk.com found it is hard to satisfy both customer groups. To be more
profit-driven, Chalk.com is shifting its main focus of content marketing to be the paying
customer group, which is composed of districts and schools.
Pricing Strategy
The current pricing strategy is charging from $500 to $2000 annual flat rate plus
an annual fee of $100 per teacher. This pricing strategy makes Chalk.com’ service be
much cheaper than any competitors’ for customers like small private schools. Hence,
Chalk.com just made several successful deals with small private schools and is still
digging deeper into this market.
7. 7
Alternative Evaluation
Decision Criteria
Given the nature of the education industry, Chalk’s pricing model, and market
competition, the four critical decision criteria below have been identified in order to
evaluate Chalk’s immediate expansion opportunities. Each criterion has been assigned a
weight of importance between 1 and 5, where 5 is the highest value.
Criteria Explanation Weight
Cost of
Implementation
As a young startup Chalk does not have significant access
to funding. Thus the solution must be as cost effective as
possible while maximizing the ability to achieve the
following criteria below
5
Growth
Potential
One of the most important things Chalk must do as a young
company is establish a large market presence. Early access
to the market can help prevent competitors and allow for
future revenue opportunities
5
Revenue
Potential
While revenue potential is significant, Chalk must first
establish a market presence and customers. Adjustment of
business models can be done following the market growth
4
Time to
Implement
Chalk must be able to act quickly in order to grow their
business due to the uncertainty of additional seed rounds, as
well as the potential threat of market entry. This must
however come at a later priority from growth and revenue
potential
3
8. 8
Alternatives
The following alternatives are based on the aforementioned criteria and analysis
and it is in Chalk’s best interest to consider the following three alternatives.
1. Grow Direct Sales Force Presence
In order to reach a larger number of decision makers in school boards of districts,
Chalk can grow their direct sales force. Their currently limited sales force is unable to
attend all of the events and conventions that these decision makers find important. They
are also untrained in sales methodologies, and may not be fully optimizing their sales
process. An addition of two to five junior members, and a mid-level sales member can
substantially allow them to grow their presence. The largest concerns here are the
expenses of hiring and staffing new employees, and the slow time to implement a full
sales funnel. The largest benefits are the ability to substantially grow product reach
without changing the product and the potential to earn substantial revenue with new
customers.
2. Expand Geographically
Limited geographical segmentation and reach creates a barrier for Chalks
expansion. As such, Chalk may be able to expand into greater geographic regions while
9. 9
maintaining the same target market, service offering and pricing plan. The same
marketing activities including LinkedIn and Facebook advertising can be used to reach
decision makers in European markets. This would be able to effectively increase growth
as there are many districts that are currently underutilizing technology in their curriculum
planning in Europe. This would also greatly increase revenue potential. The biggest
concerns however are the time to implement this solution given language barriers,
cultural and process differences, and the cost of implementation as maintaining business
in a different continent would add quite a bit of work to sell, support, and target new
customers.
3. Offer Freemium Service
Chalk has noted they are having difficulty entering districts due to the nature of
their tiered service which many decision makers will not purchase due to a lack of
knowledge of the benefits. As such, Chalk could change their service and pricing model
to offer a free service to school district that contains a subset of activities, or a limited
number of performable actions. This service can then charge for upgrades including more
licenses, more actions to be taken, and more integrations with third party software. Such
models have been successful for a number of technology companies such as Slack. This
may increase their growth potential as the uptake from districts would likely increase, and
a simple change to their model would not take a substantial amount of time in
comparison to the other options. However, a big concern is the cost of implementation.
Such a change would require more development and pricing efforts, and the revenue
potential may decrease as some boards choose to use free software which may need to be
supported.
10. 10
Weighted Alternatives
Each alternative has been weighted against the decision criteria in a scale of 1 to 5
based on Chalk’s ability to execute against the criterion, where 1 is the lowest value and
5 is the highest. These were then multiplied by the weight of importance for each
criterion, and then totaled to give a total net score for each alternative.
Alternatives and Ability to Execute (1-5)
Weight
(1-5)
Grow Direct
Sales Force
Expand
Geographically
Offer
Freemium
Service
Cost of
Implementation
5 3 2 3
Growth Potential 5 4 5 4
Revenue Potential 4 5 5 3
Time to Implement 3 4 3 4
67 64 59
11. 11
Recommendation
By weighing the ability for Chalk to execute on each strategy in accordance to the
decision criteria, it is apparent that the alternative of growing the direct salesforce is most
beneficial for Chalk. As evidenced through the analysis of this report, Chalk suffers most
from lack of direct face to face sales reach with the important decision makers
responsible for implementing any technology solution. Though their efforts in online
targeted marketing through LinkedIn, AdWords and Facebook have had some limited
success in building their inbound pipeline, these efforts alone will not be able to reach the
full scope of the sales volume Chalk will need in order to dominate the market.
Additionally, their limited ability to send representative into schoolboards and trade
shows is a missed opportunity for reaching district administrators.
By growing their sales force and focusing on a strong outbound sales process to
complement their inbound initiatives, Chalk can effectively grow their market potential.
Top accomplish this, Chalk must look to hire one experienced sales team leader with a
knowledge in outbound and inbound activities that can help them establish processes and
incorporate sales tools into their marketing process. Efforts should be focused on
establishing a direct criteria for lead qualification and conversion into opportunities in
12. 12
order to maximize sales efficiency. This team lead can also help Chalk create additional
promotional material that can be used in order to source their leads. With a clear funnel
and lead targets, qualification and lead graduation process, and sales material that can
assist in the process, Chalk can start to immediately drive their outbound inside and
outside sales efforts.
The sales efforts should target the United States and Canada due to the immediate
proximity, similar culture, market familiarity, and large market size. These areas have
many school districts, both private and public, which can be targeted and assigned
contacts into their lead funnel. Outbound efforts can then range from email campaigns,
trade shows attendance in person, direct reach outs through LinkedIn, and even cold
calling. All efforts bust be able to identify and qualify the correct leads. Those that
graduate would then receive additional attention and would be pushed through the sales
process with high value services being offered. All sales staff must have a vast
understanding of the market needs as well as the solution in order to correctly convey the
benefits.
Chalk must also consider growing their direct support team. This team must be
able to handle requests from premium service customers as the continued customer
success can directly lead to more inbound leads through word of mouth. Given that chalk
has a working product that provides direct benefit, an understanding of targeted
marketing tactics, and a limited but growing ability to service customer needs, adding a
direct sales element for outbound and inbound optimization is the most important thing
for their success moving forward.
13. 13
Implementation
Chalk must move as fast as possible to implement the strategy in order to
maximize their benefits and create an immediate revenue flow which can be used to
continue their efforts. The implementation plan has been divided into three phases. The
Immediate phase is what must be done in the first month, the mid-term phase is between
month two and six, and the long-term phase is what must be done after six months to
ensure continued success.
Immediate Phase
The first thing Chalk must do is begin the hiring process one mid-level sales role.
The job duties of this role should include creating the official sales process and
implementing tools, staffing of junior sales force, and setting leads and targets. This
member must be hired within the next few weeks and must be trained on the product and
the industry. Immediately after being hired, the member must first create the sales
process and set a marketing/sales funnel up for clarity within the organization. Simple
and cheap CRM systems such as Pipedrive can be implemented to assist in the
qualification and graduation process. All efforts must also align with current marketing
efforts aimed at direct influencer and decision maker targeting. This new member must
also work with marketing to outline their outbound campaign tasks such as cold calls and
14. 14
trade show attendance. In this phase the marketing team must also focus on creating all of
the material necessary to support the sales staff in their efforts, such as use cases, product
promotional material, and digital asset optimization. Ultimately, within the first moth of
execution, Chalk must be at a good foundational position with their sales process that will
allow for optimization, growth and tweaking moving forward.
Short-term Phase
After the first month Chalk must focus on optimizing efforts and growing their
sales team with junior members. At this point there must be a direct outbound process
that the sales team can begin to follow in practice in order to grow their funnel. They
must identify and contact the cold leads that they build into their funnel. There will be a
limited success rate in converting these leads, however depending on the qualification
process, they may already be able to see some results. Efforts must be prioritized at
growing the top of the funnel in order to have a strong flow further down the funnel. As
leads begin to respond and become opportunities, more effort will be required to convert
their leads into sales. Cold calls, email campaigns, trade shows and other techniques that
have been established in the first phase must be executed upon in this phase. Thus, it is
essential that this phase is also used to create more sales staff listings and train all new
recruits on the product and established process. Within these six months Chalk can expect
a few direct sales, but their success will be dependent on the ability to convert their leads
and serve their needs face to face.
Long-term Phase
The long term phase will be focused on optimizing the entire sales and marketing
process in order to increase the qualification, conversion, and win rates. This will be an
15. 15
ongoing process where Chalk will receive both internal and customer insights which they
can then use to continually improve their efforts. In this phase it is expected that Chalk
will have many qualified opportunities which will require sales teams to convert to wins,
and which will require implementation efforts at school boards. Chalk must be optimized
enough to have smooth and quick sales flow, but flexible enough to make adjustments to
their processes and practices where necessary. At this point they will continue to grow
their sales and marketing team, as well as their customer support team to service their
customers. Revenue earned can be reinvested into the company to develop the additional
tools that Chalk sees their customers will need in the future. This should be a rapid
growth stage where product focus is vital in order to maintain current customers,
dominate the United States and Canadian markets, and allow for expansion into new
geographic regions.
16. 16
Appendix – Interview
Where are you currently in your road to success?
2 months ago entered Communitech REV program
20 employees after founding in 2012
Sales team of 3
1 sales person responds to big clients
Where are most of your sales?
85% from east coast
Exponential sales growth in Florida
Who are your competitors?
Rubicon, BYOC, KnowledgeHook, etc.
How many users do you have?
140000 free users
How many paying users?
30 paying school districts/schools
How are you marketing your product?
Search engine optimization
Pay per click advertising on Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn
Email
What are your biggest marketing challenges?
Lack of money and sales team size
School district demand and conversion of free users to paying users
Advocacy program to promote the product to school districts
Have you considered working with politicians this election to promote education?
Network is too undeveloped to know the right people
Attending educational events to grow network
Motivated to contact important decision makers of school boards
Have you considered traditional advertising with billboards near schools?
Not enough money to pay for this
17. 17
Who are key decision makers involved in purchasing your product?
Superintendents of school districts and principals of schools
School boards
Influence of teachers on their superiors
Why not push demand with parents?
Lack of influence of parents on decision makers in school boards
Do teachers want to truly use this product?
The older teachers prefer not to use it, but appreciate the simplicity of learning it
Teachers who want to use it understand the benefits of software for education
Do you have the ability to grow your sales team?
Have appropriate funding to pursue expansion
Understand commission pay to encourage effort from sales team
Are you listening to your customers for their needs and suggestions for improvements?
Most teachers are happy with the product
Attempting to make iterative improvements to reduce the learning curve