Marketing training: what is it?
No business can survive without customers, which is why marketing is so important. However it is is important to keep in mind that marketing is about a lot more than just selling products, it has a huge impact on the way that the company is run. It is important for a consultant to understand this which is why they need to have marketing training.
In order to understand what marketing training is and why you would need it as a consultant it is necessary to first look at just what marketing is. There seems to be a general belief that marketing is about selling products, this is really only a small part of the task. Marketing is really about identifying who the customer is, determining what they want to buy, selling them the product, and ensuring that they are satisfied so that they will buy again. It also involves things like branding, and establishing a reputation for your business. In large part marketing will underlie everything that a business does.
Obviously if marketing is critical to the success of a business a consultant is going to have to be well versed in the field. The marketing plan and the business plan work together so you can't change the way that business is done without also changing the way that the marketing is done. A consultant who doesn't understand this is not going to be successful and his clients are not going to be satisfied.
The first part of marketing training is the part that will deal with the parts that are directly related to selling to the customer. That would be determining just who the customer is and how to reach them (through both offline media as new media like Twitter & Facebook). This is a challenge that a lot of companies struggle with simply because there are so many other people trying to get that same customers attention. Once you have determined how to reach potential customers you have to be able to explain to them why they should buy your product. Most marketing plans do this very poorly which is why they need a consultant that can help them to address their problems.
The other big part of marketing training is focused on branding and business development. Unless you want to compete solely on price you are going to have to give people a reason to buy from you. That means that you are going to have to find a way to make your company stand out from your competitors. You are also going to have to build a relationship with your customers. This is done in large part through the brand that you build and the way that the business is run. This is why a consultant has to be trained in marketing, they have to understand how the way that the business is run affects the marketing.