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Skill + Determination + a Plan = Success
- 2. Skill + Determination doesn’t always = Success
- 3. Blue print – used as a reference before and during the building process, a plan or a guide.
- 5. Meeting with my E.D prior to preparing the marketing plan gives me the opportunity to understand the expectations and see if they match what I feel is realistic. - Dawn Sigmen Friendship Village
- 10. Goals should be specific and measurable.
- 19. Skill + Determination + a Plan = Success
Editor's Notes
- Good morning. Today we’re going to talk about how to create and implement a successful marketing plan. A couple of weeks ago while I was preparing for this session, my daughter was frantically trying to read 2 books for her excelerated reading program. She needed to earn 8 points in order to go on a field trip. She was basically trying to read what she would normally read in 2 weeks, in 2 nights. She was very determined, and I it broke my heart to try to convince her that it really wasn’t possible. But she wasn’t going to give up. The only problem was that she really didn’t have a plan. In addition to waiting until the last minute, she didn’t have a strategy…
- So no matter how hard we try success may be hard to come by unless we have a plan or a strategy. I admired her determination, but that along with her skill did not necessarily guarantee success. The purpose of this session is to help you create a marketing plan that will assure you the highest possible rate of success. Yes, in spite of the challenges or obstacles you may face, if you have a good plan you can achieve success, improve performance, and turn 90%occupancy into 98% occupancy rates. Whether you have never prepared a marketing plan before, or if you consider yourself the king or queen of marketing plans, I hope you will be able to take at least one or two pointers that will help you be more successful.
- Your marketing plan is your blueprint.
- Getting Started Who’s involved? How many of you are responsible for writing your community’s marketing plan now? How many are administrators? Marketing directors? If the marketing director is responsible, is the administrator involved at all? What about others. I would suggest that you get people involved in the process. It really helps with the buy in or ownership of the plan. Yes, you may be the one writing the plan, but you will benefit from the contribution by others.
- Dawn Sigmen get’s her executive director involved in the process.
- When? Preplanning – start 3 to 6 months prior. Meet with your administrator to go over what’s happened so far and project how you think you will end up. Preparation of plan – begin preparing your plan at least 60 days prior to the fiscal year starting. Allow time for reviewing and getting the necessary approvals.
- Pre-planning: (Activity) That take’s place up to 6 months prior. To prepare for the budgeted occupancy you may want to do a 6 month review. What’s happened in your current fiscal year? Notice any trends? Are things going well? Are you on target, or will you need to make some adjustments prior to projecting next year’s occupancy? (Use your leads management system to run reports) Determine Occupancy goals: Use the 6-month review when you meet with your administrator to discuss budgeted occupancy. Budget: Calculate your current cost per sale? Will you be able to produce the number of move-ins needed based on that cost per sale or are any adjustments needed. Then apply the number of move-ins needed for the upcoming year and see if it makes sense. Does the marketing budget need to increase?
- Now that you’ve done your pre-planning and determined what you need to accomplish – the overall goal, you are ready to prepare your plan. There are basically 4 components to the marketing plan:
- Situational Overview - taking a look back at what has happened in the recent past. (Do the research) Review statistical data. Use your leads management system, run reports, make some comparisons with the original goals, etc. . Competitive Analysis Get updated on your competition. Share information. Then determine your strengths and weaknesses compared to others. (Get other staff involved.) Objectives: Refer back to your pre-planning – set your sales and occupancy goals. Then apply smaller goals that you need to reach in order to achieve the occupancy goals. Example: Referral generation down – “increase referrals by 10%” Break it down into specifics that are measurable.
- Qualitative and quantitative
- Strategie s: Once you’ve determined your goals you are ready to develop strategies. Again you want to be specific. These need to be applied to the objectives that were set. Once you’ve determined your strategy, you can beak it down to tactics. (Tactical vs. Strategic) For example: The goal is to increase your closing ratio. What are the steps you are going to take to do that? Communications Whether you have an ad agency or are coordinating your advertising yourself, you need to prepare an advertising plan or communications plan. Positioning: How will you position your community – what will your theme be? Emphasize your strengths. Target Market: Who will you target? Location? Age? $? AL or IL Goals: What are your specific goals – what are you trying to achieve? How many leads, from what sources? Strategies – then lay out those specific strategies. Media, direct mail, events Develop a time line. And then prepare your budget using the allocated budget from pre-planning.
- It doesn’t stop there. I’ve found it’s important to determine how you are going to implement your plan. Now that its completed, you don’t want it to just sit on that shelf. (Refer to Dawn – use of it.) Have the necessary meetings with those involved. Develop an action plan for some of those strategies. Use your plan to hold people accountable. Make adjustments if necessary – working document.
- Group exercise – overcoming obstacles.
- To assure the highest possible success you must have a plan. Make sure you pre-plan and prepare your actually marketing plan document in advance of the fiscal year starting. Remember the four components: Situational Overview, Objectives, Strategies, Advertising Plan Execution – who Action Plan Accountability
- So no matter how hard we try success may be hard to come by unless we have a plan or a strategy. You can also make it a lot easier on yourself! Yes, my daughter did get her 2 books read and was able to go on the field trip, but it wasn’t necessarily due to her determination – her teacher gave her an extra day!