(Last of 2 parts)
When I was teaching marketing for a year, I always emphasized to my students that sales target should only be secondary to bottom line target. If you are selling P100 million a year and raking in a net profit of P20 million, it follows that the succeeding year, your target should be a profit higher than P20 million. During crises, your focus should shift from the 4Ps and 3Cs towards retaining a profitable net sales at year end. No matter how many times your sales increase as long as your profit remains the same or less, then you are selling but not profitably.
This rule, however, may not be true for many industries, e.g. real estate, wherein for the first three years of construction there is no income and selling starts on the 3rd to 5th year. On the 6th to 10th year, sales come in with incremental increase until the 10th year. Same is true with education industry, wherein as enrollment increases, the recovery for initial investment shortens as the number of students increases.
During the pandemic, there were new industries, especially in the service sector, that were created and still lead the market today. Marketing books discussed the meta space, an invisible market that dissolves the third party and has made the business direct from producer to consumer. Lazada and Shoppe invaded the Philippines by online sales of various products. These products are produced locally or abroad. The likes of Lazada, Grab and Food Panda have been reliant on the existence of the internet to deliver their services. The traditional means of selling through sales channels has been eliminated with buyers ordering directly via online ordering platforms.
In the past, it may take years to attain a million sales. Today, others have been selling millions in a couple of minutes, and the more focused you become, the faster you climb the ladder of success. The use of facebook to sell products and services has eliminated the need for expensive tri-media advertisements. Even in the field of politics during elections, the candidates spare themselves from spending millions in less than a minute television ad. Former president Rodrigo Duterte has proven that you don’t need ABS-CBN or GMA 7 to win an election. This might have been the reason he influenced congress to abolish the former during his term.
The world is not controlled by politicians but by businessmen who address the wants and needs of a nation. These businessmen shun away from politicians but contribute to their winning an election, in order to advance their personal agenda. Lots were sold in bargains, and legislations were filed in congress to favor their interests.
Subsequently, men who are in business and their staff that design their marketing and sales plans have no other objective but to make their product No. 1 or a market challenger. Selling is the prime mover of change, and if you want to be actively involved in this field, you must first master your 4Ps and 3Cs. ||
