MDS Self-Assessment
Find Out How Your Business Stacks Up To
The 7 Success Factors of Market Development
For each question enter a number from 0-5; 0 = "Not at all" to 5 = "Yes, definitely"
(SUGGESTION: There are no right or wrong answers - choose quickly and move on.)
FREE Phone Consultation**
**To evaluate your fit for any of these services, go ahead and take this MDS Self-Assessment, then fax or email it to steve@IntellidonMarketing.com (be sure to include your contact information).
Print PDF version before proceeding for future reference and to keep for your records. Clear Vision of Priorities & Goals
___ Objectives. Do you have short-term and long-term objectives for market share, revenue, profits, product introduction, brand development and other initiatives defined in writing and understood within your organization?
___ Priorities. Have you prioritized your objectives and allocated the appropriate resources to back up those priorities?
___ Goals. Do you and your staff have specific, measurable goals defined to measure how well you're doing to achieve those objectives?
___ Vision. Do your objectives, priorities and goals support the long-term vision you have for your business?
Asset Assessment
___ Asset Value. Have you taken the time to assess the value of the "assets" (tangible & intangible) in your company that make a direct contribution to creating customers?
___ Products & Services. Have you identified all "product or service" assets that may have untapped potential that could be leveraged better to generate incremental new business?
___ Brands. Have you exploited all known opportunities to leverage your "brands" to attract new customers?
___ Marketing Channels. Have you exploited all known opportunities to leverage your marketing and sales "channels" to attract more prospects and new customers?
Market Opportunities
___ Market Research. In recent years, have you surveyed or conducted any market research to better understand your customer's needs, wants and desires?
___ Product Benefits. Do you understand the key benefits of your products and services, and know for sure how well your marketing communications speak to the benefits your customers are looking for?
___ Sales History. Do understand your customers buying patterns and trends from an analysis of your company's sales history over time?
___ Market Segmentation. Are you company's sales and marketing efforts focused on those market segments that have the highest return on your marketing investments?
___ Competitive Position. Do you know your market share and leadership position compared to your competition?
___ Market Penetration. Have you identified which markets are under-tapped and which product lines are under-penetrated?
___ Touch Points & Gaps. Have you determined every possible point of contact & Media where information on your products or services come into contact with your target audience and whether or not it's feasible to fill your communication gaps?
Marketing Strategies
___ Positioning. Are you maximizing your competitive strengths in your marketing efforts. In other words, have you defined your unique selling propositions and are you using them to beat your competition?
___ Prioritizing. How well are you allocating your resources into those products or services that you've identified as priorities?
___ Competition. How well can you identify exactly who you are competing with and what you are competing for within your core market segments?
___ Strategies Defined. Do you have defined strategies for each part of your marketing effort, including target markets, pricing, product,/services, sales channels, branding/positioning, communications, Internet, public relations and media?
___ ROI Expectations. Have you clearly defined the return you expect to receive or goals you expect to achieve as a result of your marketing efforts?
Marketing Tactics
___ Tactics. Are your communications activities consciously designed to support each of your marketing strategies and have you reviewed all available alternatives?
___ Communication Gaps. Are you taking advantage of your most valuable "touch points" and plugged "gaps" in your communications opportunities?
___ A.I.D.A. Are your messages designed to create Attention, Interest, Desire and Action with your target audience?
___ Brand. How well does your "brand" resonate in the mind of your prospects?
___ Creative Review. Have you evaluated each marketing activity to ensure that the communication message is designed to accomplish the purpose of the marketing strategy it supports?
Marketing Action Plan
___ Hard-Copy Plan. Do you have a written plan that is being used as your master plan for implementing your marketing priorities, strategies, tactics, timelines, resource and budget allocations?
___ Budget. Have you determined specific costs and allocated budget dollars to support those tactics?
___ Time line. Do you have specific start and end dates for each marketing activity?
___ Resources. Do you have the necessary resources (including human) to get the job done according to your planned activities?
___ Status Checks. Do you have periodic status checks to determine where you are in relation to your plan goals and making the necessary adjustments as environmental changes occur in your marketplace?
Marketing Metrics & Testing
___ Metrics. Do you have specific metrics or methods of measuring the success of your marketing activities?
___ Testing. Are you testing using A/B Spit Testing and/or Mutlivariate Testing methods to consistently improve the return on investment of your marketing activities?
___ Internet. Are you tracking your visitor activity and responses to your online calls to action, prospect generation or sales activities?
Print PDF version before proceeding for future reference and to keep for your records. FREE Phone Consultation**
**To evaluate your fit for any of these services, go ahead and take this MDS Self-Assessment, then fax or email it to steve@IntellidonMarketing.com (be sure to include your contact information).
