INTRODUCTION

Although an LTO may have dedicated marketing and sales staff, everyone has a part to play in marketing and selling an LTO’s services. Furthermore, in order to manage an LTO successfully, it is important to have an understanding of what marketing involves, and how essential effective marketing is to achieving the goals of the LTO. Some people have a virtually intuitive entrepreneurial flair, which they deploy with great success. Others, however, are less blessed, and less successful, as is demonstrated in Vignettes 4.1 and 4.2 below and on p. 80. This chapter aims to provide a basis in marketing and sales so as to help avoid the ineptness illustrated in these vignettes, and to build on the successful marketing practice exemplified in Vignette 4.3 on p. 80.

Discussion of vignettes

In Vignette 4.1, marketing is driven by the need to meet sales targets. The salesman promised to meet the client’s needs without having first checked that the LTO had the capability of fulfilling the promise. This is symptomatic of an organization in which sales and marketing exist in isolation from academic staff, who are left trying to meet the shortterm goals of the sales staff. In this case, fulfilling the salesman’s promise did not involve any longer-term benefit for the LTO.

In Vignette 4.2, the LTO owner had noticed that competitors were offering a new product, so he decided to do likewise, but without having done a competitor analysis or a survey of the size and requirements of the market. His approach was to devise an offer, and hope that customers would buy it. This is a product-driven approach to marketing, and one which is quite widely followed. It is, however, not without risk, since it is based on an incomplete understanding of the market.

In Vignette 4.3, front-line staff – teachers and administrative staff – noted a small but potentially growing trend. They did some customer research, and estimated the potential size of the continuing market and the benefit to the branch of developing this segment for achieving the LTO ’s sales targets.