• What changes are taking place in our business environment? Are these opportunities or threats?
• What are our strengths and weaknesses?
• What do I want to achieve? Set clear, realistic objectives.
• What are customers looking for? What are their needs?
• Which customers are the most profitable?
• How will I target the right potential customers? Are there groups that I can target effectively?
• What's the best way of communicating with them?
• Could I improve my customer service? This can be a low-cost way of gaining a competitive advantage over rivals, keeping customers, boosting sales and building a good reputation.
• Could changing my products or services increase sales and profitability? Most products need to be continuously updated to maintain competitiveness.
• How will I price my product or service? Although prices need to be competitive, most businesses find that trying to compete on price alone is a poor strategy. What else are my customers interested in? Quality? Reliability? Efficiency? Value for money?
• What is the best way of distributing and selling my products?
• How can I best promote my products? Options might include advertising, direct marketing, exhibiting at trade fairs, PR or marketing on the web.
• How can I tell if my marketing is effective? A small-scale trial can be a good way of testing a marketing strategy without committing to excessive costs.