Strive Masiyiwa - Inspirational Business context - Marketing & Sales

Strive shares with you a few business tips if you want to get to the top of the market - Marketing & sales

Who is Strive Masiyiwa? 

Strive Masiyiwa (born 29 January 1961) is a London-based Zimbabwean businessman, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He is the founder and executive chairman of diversified international telecommunications group Econet Wireless.

He has won numerous accolades and gained international recognition for his business expertise and philanthropy, and is considered one of Africa's most generous humanitarians. Masiyiwa has used his wealth to provide scholarships to over 100,000 young Africans over the past 20 years through his family foundation. He supports over 40,000 orphans with educational initiatives, as well as sponsoring students at universities in America, The United Kingdom, and China.

Masiyiwa also funds initiatives in public health and agriculture across the African continent.

On his facebook account he has been sharing tips that have helped many in their quest for success business wise. Here we are bringing one of the post that I found could be useful to business people. 

The third most important skill in business – the ability to sell to a customer (Part 6)

Your marketing strategy

When I first got started, I sure knew how to sell, but I didn't know how to market… I must have been in business for about five years when I first really got into marketing. It happened during a particularly difficult time in our economy, when things were really down and business wasn’t really moving.

I tried to run some adverts in a local newspaper to create awareness of the things I did, but things did not really move as I had hoped. And when people did call, I seemed to get the wrong type of customers to the ones I wanted.

"I really need to teach you about marketing," my friend Enoch Hwande said to me.

"Oh, you mean I should advertise more?" He was the Creative Director of a major international advertising agency.

"No I'm not talking about advertising. I am talking about marketing."

"What’s the difference?"

"There is a huge difference, and you will not get very far in developing your business, if you don’t learn the importance marketing plays in a successful business. Right now, you think all you must do is go out and sell, or bid for tenders. If you want to build a really big business, you must really evaluate what your understanding of marketing is all about."

"Teach me, please!" I begged him.

"Look, if you really want to learn, then maybe you should consider a course. Why don't you let me whet your appetite by allowing you to come and see a campaign we’re developing for one of our big clients."

Over the next few weeks, he opened my mind to what goes on behind the scenes. I listened to highly-skilled marketing executives discussing and debating every aspect of their “marketing strategy."

__It was as sophisticated as discussions with my engineers on a product. I was almost in awe. It opened my eyes.

I remember how I would go home and sit with magazines looking at adverts, and not the articles! I'd sit watching television so I could discuss the adverts with my friend.

Then I started to buy books and magazines until there were more books on my shelf on marketing than any other subject.

"Did you see the latest campaign from Coca-Cola? Can we get together this evening and watch it together? I need to understand what they’re trying to say."

I was fascinated by both the art and science of marketing. I learned that to develop a really successful marketing plan meant thinking "big picture" while also doing detailed research.

Today there’s a whole new world of information available to you in your market analysis. It's possible to find online DATA and research information, and also online advertising you can study. That’s a huge advantage I didn’t have back then. Overall, your marketing plan should at least discuss the basics:

# Your target market (Who and where are your customers… past, present and future? Be precise.)

# Your customers (What matters to them most? Price, quality, prestige, etc.?)

# Your competitors (Who are they, and why are your products better/different? Remember the role of perception.)

# Sales strategy (What’s the best way to reach out to different customers in your specific target market? Who do your customers trust?)

# Advertising (By now, can you tell me the difference between sales, advertising and marketing?)

# Customer support (Listening is so important. The value of your brand depends on it!)

Once I start a new business, I start to think of who is going to drive our marketing. It’s as important as who is going to head the finance.

To be continued.....

You can follow Strive Masiyiwa for more business tips and widen your knowledge on his facebook acount-  Strive Masiyiwa Facebook Account