Lesson 7 Marketing

The first time she was alone with Waddington she brought the conversation round to Charlie. Waddington had spoken of him on the evening of their arrival. She pretended that he was no more than an acquaintance of her husband.

"I never much cared for him," said Waddington. "I've always thought him a bore."

"You must be very hard to please," returned Kitty, in the bright, chaffing way she could assume so easily. "I suppose he's far and away the most popular man in Hong-Kong."

"I know. That is his stock-in-trade. He's made a science of popularity. He has the gift of making everyone he meets feel that he is the one person in the world he wants to see. He's always ready to do a service that isn't any trouble to himself, and even if he doesn't do what you want he manages to give you the impression that it's only because it's not humanly possible."

"That is surely an attractive trait."

"Charm and nothing but charm at last grows a little tiresome, I think. It's a relief then to deal with a man who isn't quite so delightful but a little more sincere. I've known Charlie Townsend for a good many years and once or twice I've caught him with the mask off- you see, I never mattered, just a subordinate official in the Customs - and I know that he doesn't in his heart give a damn for anyone in the world but himself."

Kitty, lounging easily in her chair, looked at him with smiling eyes. She turned her wedding-ring round and round her finger.

"Of course he'll get on. He knows all the official races. Before I die I have every belief that 1 shall address him as Your Excellency and stand up when he enters the room."

"Most people think he deserves to get on. He's generally supposed to have a great deal of ability."

"Ability? What nonsense! He's a very stupid man. He gives you the impression that he dashes off his work and gets it through from sheer brilliancy. Nothing of the kind. He's as industrious as a Eurasian clerk."

"How has he got the reputation of being so clever?"

"There are many foolish people in the world and when a man in a rather high position puts on no frills, slaps them on the back, and tells them he'll do anything in the world for them, they are very likely to think him clever. And, then of course, there's his wife. There's an able woman if you like. She has a good sound head and her advice is always worth taking. As long as Charlie Townsend's got her to depend on he's pretty safe never to do a foolish thing, and that's the first thing necessary for a man to get on in Government service. They don't want clever men; clever men have ideas, and ideas cause trouble; they want men who have charm and tact and who can be counted on never to make a blunder. Oh, yes, Charlie Townsend will get to the top of the tree all right."

"I wonder why you dislike him?"

"I didn't dislike him."

"But you like his wife better?" smiled Kitty.

"I'm an old-fashioned little man and I like a well-bred woman."

"I wish she were well-dressed as well as well-bred."

"Doesn't she dress well? I never noticed."

"I've always heard that they were a devoted couple," said Kitty, watching him through her eyelashes.

"He's very fond of her: I will give him that credit. I think that is the most decent thing about him."

"Cold praise."

"He has his little flirtations, but they're not serious. He's much too cunning to let them go to such lengths as might cause him inconvenience. And of course he isn't a passionate man; he's only a vain one. He likes admiration. He's fat and forty now, he does himself too well, but he was very good-looking when he first came to the Colony. I've often heard his wife chaff him about his conquests."

"She doesn't take his flirtations very seriously?" "Oh, no, she knows they don't go very far. She says she'd like to be able to make friends of the poor little things who fall to Charlie; but they're always so common. She says it's really not very flattering to her that the women who fall in love with her husband are so uncommonly second-rate."

Lesson 7 Marketing

1. Answer the questions:

1. How can you define marketing?

2. Is marketing just a skill to sell a product?

3. What does marketing include?

2. Read the text and check if you understand the words in bold:

Definition of marketing

The marketing is the management process through which goods and services move from concept to the customer. It includes the coordination of four elements called the 4 P's of marketing: identification, selection and development of a Product, determination of its Price, selection of a distribution channel to reach the customer's Place, and development and realisation of a Promotional strategy.

Marketing departments can be composed of several specialized areas such as product marketing, communications, sales programs, research, customer analysis, product or service data analysis, graphic design and Internet marketing.

Marketing is based on thinking about the business in terms of customer needs and wants and their satisfaction. Marketing isn’t a skill to make customers pay for your product, it develops a demand for that product and fulfilling the customer's needs.

http://www.ehow.com/

http://www.businessdictionary.com/

3. Put the words from the box in the right sentence:

1. ... is a thing that is wanted or required.

2. ... is collection and estimation of data connected with customer needs and market trends.

3. ... is the desire of purchasers, consumers, clients, employers, etc., for a particular product, service, or other item.

4. ... is the indirect costs or fixed costs of a business that range from rent to administrative costs to marketing costs.

5. ... is the network of organisations, including manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers, that distributes goods or services to consumers.

6. … consumer is a consumer who increases or decreases consumption of a product according to changes of its price.

7. … is costs, such as rent, that are constant whatever the quantity of goods or services produced.

8. … is the portion of a market controlled by a particular company or product.

9. If a business ..., it earns more money than it spends.

Reading

4. Read the text quickly and match the paragraphs with the following headings:

1. Know Your Competition.

2. Know Your Costs

3. Know Your Customer

4. Monitor Your Pricing

5. Overpricing

6. Underpricing

5. Read the text again and say if the following sentences are True or False:

1. It is very important to price your product properly.

2. There are only two hardships you can meet in pricing.

3. If you price your product for too low, the customers can think that it has low quality.

4. If the price is too high, the customers can think that it has high quality.

1. You should undertake a market research to know your customer.

2. You can undertake some market research: ask your potential clients personally or hire a market research firm.

3. When pricing it is better to factor in only the price of one item.

4. The price of a product includes several components.

5. You can support higher price only if your product has additional value or higher quality.

6. You should always monitor your prices and profit.

6. Answer the following questions:

1. What can happen if you price your product correctly?

2. Why shouldn’t you set too low price?

3. Why shouldn’t you set too high price?

4. How can you conduct a market research?

5. Why is it important to know your target customers?

6. What costs should you factor in when pricing a product?

7. Why should you look at the competitors?

8. Do you need to consider regional differences in pricing?

9. What is the best way to monitor your prices?

10. How do you think, do small businesses need to be more careful when pricing their product?

11. Imagine that you sell handmade staffed toys, what price would you set up? What would you factor in when pricing?

How to Price Your Products

One of the secrets to business success is pricing your products properly. Price your products correctly and that can enhance how much you sell, creating the foundation for a business that will prosper. Get your pricing strategy wrong and you may create problems that your business may never be able to overcome.

At the same time, be aware of the risks that accompany making poor pricing decisions. There are two main hardships you can meet – under pricing and over pricing.

Pricing your products for too low a cost can have a disastrous impact on your bottom line, even though business owners often believe this is what they ought to do in a down economy. Remember that consumers want to feel that they are getting their "money’s worth" and most are unwilling to purchase from a seller they believe to have less value. Businesses also need to be very careful that they are fully covering their costs when pricing products.

On the other hand, overpricing a product can be just as unprofitable since the buyer is always going to be looking at your competitors pricing. Pricing beyond the customer's desire to pay can also decrease sales. Business people sometimes price too high from the beginning. They think that they have to cover all the expenses of people who work for them, the lease, etc. and this is the price to do all that.

Undertaking some sort of market research is essential to getting to know your customer. This type of research can range from informal surveys of your existing customer base that you send out in e-mail along with promotions to the more extensive and potentially expensive research projects undertaken by third party consulting firms. Market research firms can explore your market and segment your potential customers in detail - by demographics, by what they buy, by whether they are price sensitive, etc. Then you can figure out which segment you're targeting and price accordingly.

A fundamental principle of pricing is that you need to cover your costs and then factor in a profit. That means you have to know how much your product costs. You also have to understand how much you need to mark up the product and how many you need to sell to turn a profit. Remember that the cost of a product is more than the literal cost of the item; it also includes overhead costs. Overhead costs may include fixed costs like rent and variable costs like shipping or stocking fees. You must include these costs in your estimate of the real cost of your product.

It's also helpful to look at the competition - after all, your customer most likely will, too. Are the products offered comparable to yours? If so, you can use their pricing as an initial gauge, then, look to see whether there is additional value in your product; do you, for example offer additional service with your product or is your good of perceived higher quality? If so, you may be able to support a higher price. Be careful about regional differences and always consider your costs.

Another key component to pricing your product right is to continuously monitor your prices and your underlying profitability on a monthly basis. It's not enough to look at overall profitability of your company every month. You have to focus on the profitability (or lack of profitability) of every product you sell. You have to make absolutely sure you know the degree to which every product you sell is contributing to your goal of making money each month. Remember: "People respect what you inspect."

Adopted from: http://www.inc.com/guides/price-your-products.html

Date: 2014-12-28; view: 1003