Marketing Perspectives

• 1Does your business sell primarily to:?
• 1aTo a large number of businesses or just a very few?
• 2Is your customer base:?
• 3Do you think marketing and sales are:?
• 4(marketing perspective) Our business doesn’t need much marketing. Our products or services sell without having to do much.
• 5(marketing perspective) It is more important to focus on what the customer buys now, rather than what the customer will buy in the future.
• 6(marketing perspective) Our business has a separate, annual marketing budget item within the overall budget.
• 7(marketing perspective) Our current customers are the firm’s most important asset.
• 8(marketing perspective) Everyone in this firm makes customers a top priority.
• 9(marketing perspective) We rely heavily on experience when making marketing decisions.
• 10(marketing perspective) We invest in building long-term relationships with our customers.
• 11(marketing perspective) We quickly adjust to meet changing customer expectations.
• 12(marketing perspective) It is more expensive to retain a current customer than to acquire a new one.
• 13(marketing perspective) Customer demand is usually the reason we introduce a new product/service.
• 14(marketing perspective) Long-term growth is more important than immediate profits.
• 15(marketing perspective) We learn from our competitors.
• 16(marketing perspective) It is easier to get a new customer than it is to keep an older one.
• 17(marketing perspective) A marketing plan is a critical business tool.
• 18(marketing perspective) Most of our marketing decisions are based on what we learn from day-to-day customer contact.
• 19(marketing perspective) Our primary objective is to grow the business.
• 20(marketing perspective) We aggressively try to expand our present customer base.
• 21(marketing perspective) Adding innovative products or services is important to our success.
• 22(marketing perspective) We face tough competitors in our markets.
• 23(marketing perspective) It is important to rely on gut feeling when making marketing decisions.
• 24(marketing perspective) Introducing new products or services usually involves little formal market research and analysis.
• 25(marketing perspective) Our customers require us to be very flexible and adapt to their special requirements.
• 26(marketing perspective) We consistently look for new business opportunities.
• 27(marketing perspective) Our marketing decisions are based more on informal customer feedback than on formal market research.
• 28(marketing perspective) Our marketing efforts try to lead customers rather than respond to them.
• 29(marketing perspective) We work hard to establish reputation, trust, and credibility with our customers.
• 30(marketing perspective) We use our key industry friends and partners extensively to help us develop and market our products and services.
• 31(marketing perspective) Creativity stimulates good marketing decisions.
• 32(marketing perspective) We don’t think much about longer-term marketing objectives as much as we should.
• 33(marketing perspective) We usually introduce new products and services based on the recommendations of our suppliers.
• 34(marketing perspective) Most of our marketing decisions are based on exchanging information with those in our personal and professional network.
• 35(marketing perspective) We have to work very hard to reach our sales goals.
• 36AMy business places a strong emphasis on:? (innovative/proven)
• 36BIn the last three years, changes in my products or services have been:? (minor/dramatic)
• 36CMy business is inclined toward:? (low risk/high risk)
• 36DDue to the nature of the business environment in which you operate, is it best to:? (cautious/bold)
• 36EMy business typically:? (responds/initiates)
• 36FMy business is ________ the first to introduce new products or services, administrative techniques, etc. (often/seldom)

Volume 6, Issue 8, 2006
ISSN 1534-8326

Claes Hultman
Örebro University

Gerald E. Hills
University of Illinois-Chicago

William J. Dennis, Jr.
NFIB Research Foundation