We were seduced by the marketing of the Old Trolley Company in Washington last summer and decided to take a trolley bus tour of the city. The brochure said you could buy a ticket anywhere so I found a salesperson by a bus stop and asked to pay with a credit card. But his machine was broken and there was a long conversation about how I could buy tickets without paying cash. Eventually I walked away, planning to use a different tour operator, at which point he said I could buy the tickets with a credit card in the building behind him.
It seemed that his compensation was based on personally selling tickets. He made nothing when someone bought tickets from his office and he suffered when his credit card machine was broken.
The company very nearly lost a sale because, despite effective marketing, the delivery process was not set up to meet the needs of all prospective customers.
This is a simple example of how a good value proposition can be let down be a flaw in the marketing mix. In larger organizations, with more complex processes, marketing audits can map out the business flows and identify the gaps and risks.
Are you auditing your marketing? Send me your email address for a FREE white paper on conducting a Marketing Audit.
Earlier post on when a marketing audit is useful – Google Owns your reputation.
Just a thought.
Tim
PS: The tour was excellent and a great way to see a city the city. I shall have to do a bus tour of Ottawa next year and compare them.
Picture taken and licensed by EclecticBlogs.
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