Marketing is a paramount aspect of business throughout the globe. Primarily, ideologies presented and argued by researchers show that the prevailing competition strategies cannot allow a business to operate without a marketing plan. In this regard, businesses are initiating ways to improve their marketing techniques in a bid to outcompete others, providing similar services. The technical approach of these arguments follows one direction where the competing parties implement various outstanding products and services to attract as many consumers as possible. The most recommended plans for marketing products include advertisements through channels such as social sites, media, sign and billboards, magazines and newspapers.
In perspective, there is another unique strategy of facilitating the marketing of the business as well as its products. The approach involves creating a brand that can help consumers to identify products or businesses. These tactics, among others, are vital to ensure that profit is maximized in all ways. In this light, the report evaluates JD Wetherspoon Pub in order to assess how it makes sales of products and reveals the most relevant styles used in carrying out this task.
Internal and External Merchandising Materials
Competition
Competition is one external factor that triggers businesses to develop sufficient strategies of availing products to consumers. Campbell and Craig (2008) focused on how this factor influences the development and success of a business. In this regard, the authors stated that competitors were the factors that affect businesses most profoundly. They argued that businesses are introduced amidst other big, old, and successful companies within the vicinity. JB Wetherspoon Pub has already earned customers’ trust, implementing loyalty programs, and a gained competitive advantage is owing to their ability to purchasing goods in bulk hence reducing the cost.
On the contrary, the business struggles to convince customers, who are already attached to the well-established companies, in order to earn their trust and loyalty. In this light, the authors reveal that consumers are essentially resistant to change like any human being (Reinecke 2009). This implies that customers are hardly prone to changing their loyalty from the bigger companies to purchase from smaller ones. Therefore, the pub has established about 900 pubs to serve consumers and avail their services and product sufficiently. The loyalty has also been achieved through winning awards and receiving positive surveys. In fact, the 5-star rating is the other tool that has profound meaning when reaching consumers. As a result, the business enjoys a lot of advantages, especially when getting customers who can prefer their goods to those ones of others such as Punch Taverns and Enterprise Inns.
Managerial Team
While considering the stiff competition that JD Wetherspoon Pub experiences from other counterparts, the development of these companies mostly relies on the managerial team, which is one of the most crucial factors of the business environment. In this case, the managerial team is mandated to develop, implement, and maintain highly effective marketing strategies in order to acquire customers from an already invaded market. Consequently, the ability of these managerial teams to implement effective marketing strategies essentially determines whether customers will seek the services or goods of the business in question (Reinecke 2009).
Failure to conceive effective strategies can lead to severe adversity of customers and the ultimate downfall of retardation on the development of such a company while efficient strategies can lead to fast development and progress. In this light, these strategies involving the development of effective management as established by Julie Wilson, who is the manager in JD Wetherspoon, are important. They provide confidence and preference that bring the customers often.
Employees
Additionally, human resource is among the factors that influence the progress of JD Wetherspoon Pub and determines its development. They are mandated to apply their expertise in various departments of the company to ensure that every component of operational functionalities is attended satisfactorily. Although they work individually, the functionalities of all employees are correlated since the organisational roles do not work in isolation. For instance, the roles of a public relation officer ordered to perform the duties of maintaining a good corporate image of a company are correlated to those ones of the marketing officer who markets the company’s products and services (Jackson & Sirianni 2009).
In this regard, the marketing officer experiences profound difficulties when marketing products if the company’s corporate reputation is disparaged. This correlation of employees calls upon them to adopt a team approach when accomplishing their roles which are directed to a common organisational objective (Schwarz & Hasson 2011)
. As a result, they are required to embrace an organisational culture that upholds unity among employees so that they can work in harmony. Failure to attain such unity among the employees impairs the development of the company and leads to a possible downfall. On the other hand, a harmonious culture purports growth, promotes good interpersonal relationship, and leads to ultimate progress of a small business bearing in mind that the individual contributions add up to an integrated input toward the common organisational objective which can be compromised by individual differences. The rules and regulation on the working conditions for the subject company are outright clear on such issues. Although the other factors of the business environment have influenced the merchandising of this company, managerial team, competitors, and employees are the explicit aspects of the business environment that impact the sale of products discretely.
Innovative Leadership
JD Wetherspoon Pub has the practices of innovating new products, services, and businesses strategies, which are among the most crucial determinants of successful businesses. Bearing in mind that the business must succumb to the prevalent competition from its counterparts, it has embraced a culture of innovations by developing a product, services, and strategies which are different from the existing companies.
In that regard, the well-established companies have already created brands of the product with certain qualities that target a certain level of customers. This implies that providing services and goods which are substantially or completely similar to the existing ones cannot attract customer to such a business since the emerging products lack an added advantage. As a result, it has come up with innovative ideas in order to attain and sustain the customers’ loyalty. If this loyalty is attained, the business progresses to enjoy a competitive advantage as compared to both small and other bigger companies.
Good Reputation
Since JD Wetherspoon Pub is well established in the market, it portrays and retains an appropriate impression to the customer so as to attract their attention. At this point, the high quality of the product, public relations, and the response have been vital in creating an appealing corporate image. In fact, this step is regarded as a critical stage of evolution of all businesses since the employees and owners are expected to elevate their standards beyond those ones of the existing companies (Helm 2010). When few customers come across high-quality commodities from the small company, they tend to propagate the information to their colleagues thus creating curiosity among the public, attract more customers, and ultimately create larger market share. However, this does not materialise spontaneously. Instead, the effect of good reputation has developed gradually leading to a profound attainment of customers (Schuler 2009).
Customer Oriented Strategies
In essence, it is evident that the most significant challenge of this business is to attract customers who have already been attached to other bigger companies. The entire business is oriented to the preferences, standards, and needs of the customer. For example, it has set the prices in accordance to the financial capabilities of targeted customers (Valenzuela, Mulki & Jaramillo 2010). Additionally, the owners have identified products and services which are relevant to the customers. Therefore, conducting this analysis can result to provision of commodities that customers do not require thus leading to downfall of the business.
Proficient Marketing
Nothing is as much important to a business as proficient marketing strategy which publicises the existence of the company amidst other well established ones. Further, marketing helps JD Wetherspoon Pub in revealing the clear difference in quality of the company and others. It implies that it can hardly develop if it does not adopt strategies that exempts those ones of their counterparts and coincides with the needs of targeted companies (Danaher, Bonfrer & Dhar 2009). Moreover, the marketing personnel have aimed at creating a good corporate image in order to attain comparative advantage as contrasted to both small and other huge businesses. It thus cannot be disputed that in practical situations marketing should be a preliminary and the most pertinent concern to the management of this business especially in reaching the consumers.
Product Advertisement and Promotion
The demand of Marlot wine from JB Wetherspoon Pub has been influenced significantly by the arising competition and new strategies of reaching people throughout the globe. In this regard, information technology has modified the ways of reaching people through social sites and other internet advertisement techniques. This has resulted to higher demand of the wine as compared to the target trends. In fact, Marlot has preceded other wines on the market which serve as complements. These wines include the Gale’s Strawberry Country Wine among others from different companies. In this light, the wine has been modified to meet the requirements of customers and improve the chances of preference basing on its aging and quality level. Furthermore, the prices of the wine are considered significantly to align with the current competition.
In some instances, the business avails Marlot in accordance to the clients’ specifications making it a rare company due to the flexibility. In a bid to accommodate these changes, the company has introduced various strategies which include reducing the prices of the wine. It is making varieties of Marlot wine with distinct specifications in order to segment the market. Also, the company has established the new marketing strategies through introduction of a website and the use of social media to advertise the laptops. It has a website that advertises its products further and ensures that there are billboard in populated areas.
JD Wetherspoon Pub promotes its sales through publishing awards and discounts to its customers. This has allowed the company to be competitive against the other competing ones in the market. However, a full exploitation of the marketing strategies can also incorporate networking as a way of advertising. Moreover, they can promote the sales of the wine through adding other products as discount to the customer.
Selling Techniques
Sale of products from JB Wetherspoon Pub is based on respect and quality. Primarily, a customer is server by a waiter or waitress who provides the menu and enquires when he or she needs something. This enquires is done ardently and immediately after a customer has sited. The bill required for the service is then issued when the customer is ready to leave. Furthermore, the waiters are always near the customers to attend any request made. While discussing selling techniques and considering the role of waiters, the focused perspective of defining quality service is considered. Particularly, the focused scope considers quality service as the actual attendance of customers. In regard to this context, quality service training has been regarded as a crucial undertaking in the hospitality industry (Denny & Seddon 2013).
Most pub, hotels, and restaurants have discovered the importance of training their waiters due to the underlying need to maintain a good corporate image. In essence, this training is concerned with imparting skills on how to approach, serve, and talk to customers during service. The skills are about how well the waiter can address the customers while maintaining professionalism and social boundaries. In addition, the training can be informal or formal depending on the overall setup. Informal quality service training happens unintentionally and there lacks specific objectives of learning. On the other hand, formal training involves objective and intentional learning that outlines how the students are trained and the expected outputs at the end of the training sessions (Erasmus 2009).
In essence, previous literature shows that formal training has been considered as a more effective way of imparting skills than the informal one (Flaxman & Bond 2013). Whereas this has been stated in such terms, informal training has been found to exist profoundly within the JD Wetherspoon Pub. It has seen many waiters become very proficient since it is based on practical learning and observation, as opposed to formal methods that incorporates much of theories.
However, there are deviations on the formality of some pubs owned by the organization. The pubs located in the airports have formal strategies especially because they accommodate VIP individuals. Finally, there is one recommendation that is prudent for this organization involving the service delivery. The management can establish a strategy to motivate the workers and boost their morale through such strategies as promotions and increment in salaries. Moreover, the employees should have a chance to propose changes and raise innovative ideas to facilitate flourishing of the business.
Training Program
It is important to enlighten employees about working in JD Wetherspoon Pub as a qualified person. In this regard, it is pertinent to present a training program for the persons working in these pubs. The training program should be free to all the workers. It can be conducted for one month as the employees proceed with their roles. The paragraphs below have the paramount topics and period suggested for the training of employees working in JB Wetherspoon Pub.
The training program can be a part time session where workers are taught how to handle the customers. It can be performed through have practical experiences. Essentially, the following topics can be discussed and evaluated during the training period.
Pre-sale Preparation
This is a foremost step that involves enlightening the employees about the products so that they can understand what they are selling. This can be conducted through preparing a brochure providing the information and teaching the employees about them. For instance, the employee must be conversant with a product named vodka, understand its differences with other beverages, know its compliments in the market, and be aware of its precautions before making the sale.
Prospecting
This is a process of identifying the buyers of a product through enquiring, observing, and analyzing consumer patterns. It training can be facilitated by an instructor who dictates the best way to perform this task.
Approaching
This strategy involves learning about the interested customers and understanding their behaviours. For instance, if the target customer is a young person, the trainee must know how to address him or her accordingly. The employees can be involved in the practice while serving the customers in order to attain the skills.
Presentation
A trainer can show the learners how to present a product in a manner that the customer can be convinced.
Demonstration and Handling Objection
The employee must master the products and understand how and why they are used. In this way, he or she can argue confidently since all the basic knowledge is available. This step should take adequate time of the training since objection is a major factor can compromise customer loyalty.
References
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