5 EASY STEPS TO MARKETING YOUR COMPANY\'S PRODUCTS OR SERVICES.

1. The biggest challenge to a vendor who builds a unique service or simple a “better mousetrap” is
educating the marketplace on why they should chose your solution. Through my many years of
experience with Start-Up and Turnaround Management within the Security Industry I have used a
format using the 5 P’s:
Product
Pricing
Placement / Distribution Channels
Promotion
Positioning
This helps a company take a snap shot of themselves and where they want to be:
Product – What your product is and its usefulness in the industry(s) you serve.
Pricing – What your price points are and what the contribution of sales of this product is to your
bottom line.
Placement – What your channels are for going to market (Distributors, Manufacturer’s Reps,
Direct Sales, Online Sales). Included in this are your cost/benefit analysis of each. Also included
are your Credit Terms and Purchasing Procedures.
Promotion – What your vehicles are for creating awareness for your product or service.
Positioning – What your perception is for your product and how you define yourself to your
market.
There is, however, something left out of these time-tested tools for marketing your mousetrap! My
daughter taught me this years ago and I have yet to see a textbook spell this out as w ell as she did as a
ten year old.
If you ask her what the first rule of business is she will immediately say, “KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER!” A
successful marketer must take each one of these items and relate it to your competition:
Product – What is your product’s usefulness in the marketplace and how does it compare to the
competition? What are your strengths and flaws? What have you done to assure you strengths
outweigh your flaws?
Pricing – How does your price point reflect your product or service versus the competition?
What value do you bring that makes your price higher and/or worth a customer’s consideration
to switch to yours?
Placement – Are your products easy to purchase? I have seen so many better mousetraps that,
due to internal structures within an organization, are difficult to purchase. How many lemonade
stands would survive is you asked each passerby to fill out a ten-page credit application?
Promotion – Are you hiding your light under a bushel? Are you visible to your market in the
same arenas as your competition? Are you ignoring possible channels that could be fruitful and
that your competition is ignoring?

2. Positioning – What is the uniqueness of your product or service? Is it your brand name
awareness? Are you the “first-ess with the most-ess” so that competitors much rush to catch up
to you; or are you entering a mature and competitive marketplace and must create a
differentiating factor that would make your product attractive to a seasoned user?
Considering these simple five steps will help save you wasted time and resources. Don’t be afraid to
bring in a professional to help you answer them.
In Marketing there is an expression: “I know that half of my marketing budget is wasted. Now, if I could
only figure out which half to eliminate”. This is very true and by using these five steps you can save time
and money and get your “better mousetrap” in the hands of more satisfied customers!