Building a business involves many skills and talents, often by several different people working together towards a common cause. When setting goals, strategies and tactics having the best resources available can be the difference between great success and just hanging on – or even avoiding failure. The ClearMatter team comes alongside you and your team bringing proven processes, technology and experience that can help your business achieve its full potential.

To get an idea of some of the areas that we look at during our Discovery process, we can review the old story of a circus coming to town to illustrate some of the business development processes that we review in your business.

Advertising.  Marketing.  Sales.
What are the differences?

elephant marketing at the circusLet’s look at a traditional example to understand the processes and elements that are the foundation of the ClearMatter Clarity™ Business Development Process.

Marketing Communications:
Let’s promote a circus:

  • If the circus is coming to town and you paint a sign saying “Circus Coming to the Fairground Saturday,” that’s advertising.
  • If you put the sign on the back of an elephant and walk it into town, that’s promotion.
  • If the elephant walks through the mayor’s flowerbed, that’s publicity.
  • And if you get the mayor to laugh about it, that’s public relations.
  • If you planned the elephant walk, that’s marketing.
  • If the town’s citizens go to the circus, and you show them the many entertainment booths, explain how much fun they’ll have spending money there, and answer questions, ultimately, if they spend money at the circus, that’s sales.

However, marketing involves much more than Marketing Communications.

Here’s how the circus story expands to show where Research, Product Development, and the rest of the components of the full marketing process fit in to provide a complete circle.

Research, Distribution and Customer Service:

  • If, before painting the sign that says “Circus Coming to the Fairground Saturday,” you check community calendars to see whether conflicting events are scheduled, study who attends the circus, and figure out how much they’re willing to pay and what kinds of services and activities they prefer, that’s market research.
  • If you invent elephant ears for people to eat while they’re waiting for elephant rides, that’s product development.
  • If you create an offer that combines a circus ticket, an elephant ear, an elephant ride, and a elephant photo, that’s packaging.
  • If you get a restaurant named Elephants to sell your elephant package, that’s distribution.
  • If you ask everyone who took an elephant ride to take a survey, that’s customer research.
  • If you follow up by sending each survey participant a thank-you note along with a two-for-one coupon to next year’s circus, that’s customer service.
  • And if you use the survey responses to develop new products, revise pricing, and enhance distribution, then you’ve started the marketing process all over again.