Market and Planning

 As you know, the opportunity to capitalize on a strong customer base has incredible potential ­ it is not, however, without its challenges. Along with the opportunity comes competition. Every company has an individual goal of meeting their customer/distributors needs and this will pose two challenges:

• First and foremost, how do you get the word out to your customer or distributor base that you not only exist, but that you have a compelling offering?
• Second, and no less important, how do you make sure you have an edge over your competition?

At Excel, we specialize in helping you solve both of these problems. As such, we not only understand some of the issues you face, but can also anticipate some issues you have yet to face. Communication with your customer base will be key to your success and the following three areas should be addressed as soon as possible:

Promote Your Products: Some companies are open to the opportunity of a strategic partnership, which allows you to take full advantage of their marketing dollars to promote your products. Back in February 2002, we partnered with a ceramics manufacturer who specializes in coffee cups. During the months of March and April, we featured this supplier's product on our site and promoted the cups using a pay-per-click strategy. This allowed us to rank number 1, 2, or 3 on EVERY major search engine on the Internet. We received over 78,000 hits to the site, which generated a significant number of orders for this supplier's cup. We are always looking for a partner and your products could be our next featured items!

 Prepare a Targeted Campaign: Who would be a strong candidate for purchasing your products? We can begin this process by conducting a post card mailing that will serve two purposes. First, we can begin to create name recognition ­ letting your customer base know you are out there. Second, we can begin to develop an e-mail database of your customers that will promote you cost effectively and we can then manage a periodic communication effort to keep in touch with those customers ­ letting them know what specials you may be running and helping them better understand your products.

Marketing Plan Development: Have you developed a complete plan for 2003? Who to target and how? How much of a sales increase are you looking for? At Excel, we take all of these factors into consideration and help you develop a strategic plan for communicating with your current customer base, developing new prospects, and achieving your overall growth goals.

Campaign Strategy & Timing

Once a strategic plan is developed, we work closely with you to develop specific implementation plans. What campaign is right for your targets and when should it be deployed? Using our firsthand knowledge and experience, we develop a tactical plan to make your strategy work. How many times have you heard the saying, "Plan your work; work your plan." We believe in this philosophy in its entirety. It is imperative that a plan be in place to ensure that the goal of the plan can come to completion. Under normal circumstances, we suggest a six month to one year plan be established. Remember one important element, plans can be tweaked and even changed over the course of your marketing time frame. Many factors play into these tweaks and changes, economy, inventory levels, special pricing, etc. Always be open to change, often times it takes you to places you never expected. Timing is crucial! Planning your work out 6 months to a year is necessary to initiate timing strategies. Besides location, timing is everything. It gives you a chance to see the plan developed. Timing can show you:

• What type of Marketing Media needs to be implemented and when.
• What should follow up a campaign and when is the best time for that follow up.
• What is the best time of year to target a certain product or service.

Market Segmentation

Do you "shotgun blast" your prospects? The more targeted your message can be, the more receptive the audience will be. Don't waste your catalog, collateral, or communication dollars by blanketing an entire target population. Excel can help to define and develop individual market segments with respect to their needs and market pressures relevant to them specifically. Just one example shows the power of targeting: We had a customer come to Excel Printing Services, Inc., they are nationally recognized speakers who inspire elementary and high school students and staff about the passions of education and encourage community involvement. They came to Excel Printing Services, Inc., wanting to target elementary and high schools across the country to acquire contracts for these types of motivational seminars. After a brief discussion about their marketing efforts, we came up with the following idea: They were targeting Principals at individual schools. Our suggestion to them was to set up a seminar at the Regional Principals Conference. This way, they can have all of the targeted prospects in one room at one time. After taking our advice, we put together a marketing plan that focused on the coordinators of the Regional Principals Conference and sent out an informational printed postcard regarding their program. They were invited to give a seminar at the Principals Conference where they booked 39 separate seminars from one presentation. That is the power of hitting your target market!