Marketing Essentials: Gap Analysis. Using functional roles to identify and resolve marketing dilemmas.

In a prior post titled "What do marketers really do? The functional roles of marketing" I outlined the 4 functional and strategic roles of marketing. You will see that every organization's success is dependent on the satisfactory execution of all four roles. In addition to using these roles to understand the differences between a real marketer and a guerilla marketer or a telemarketer, we use these roles to guide our daily activities, and we also use these roles to understand the reasons for missed opportunities or customer dissatisfaction. The practical application of the 4 functional roles of marketing is called Gap Analysis. There are several gaps, some are simply academic, but the three basic marketing gaps are defined as

Gap 1. A disconnect between research and advertising.
Gap 2. A disconnect between advertising and delivery.
Gap 3. A disconnect between delivery and support.

Because a gap is always a disconnect between 2 functional roles, this means there are always 2 probable causes of every missed opportunity or customer dissatisfaction and, therefore, at least 2 solutions for these, too. Let's look at some examples of each gap.

Pretend you work for Starbucks and you just received a memo from the corporate office: "Our store in Louisville has been open 4 months and we haven't broken even yet. As a matter of fact, our daily traffic is sometimes single-digit. What's wrong there?" When traffic is the problem, then it's a Gap 1 scenario, which means something was wrong with research or advertising. Research may have wrongly indicated that the consumers in the area could afford Starbucks, that competition was weak, that the prices were acceptable, or that consumers didn't have adverse opinions about corporate chain stores. Maybe the wrong consumers were interviewed. Is it possible no one conducted research and someone just assumed Starbucks would succeed on very corner? In any case, you are promoting something that customers may not want. As you can see, a lot can go wrong with research. The marketer has to review the research methodology to see if the data is valid or if false conclusions were made. On the other hand, research may be solid, but advertising was not executed well. You may have something customers really want, they just don't know that you have it. Maybe the outdoor signs haven't been installed yet, were installed improperly, are too small, or are always being stolen. Maybe the logo is offensive to locals. Maybe the advertisements are in the wrong magazines, in the wrong language, or have the wrong address on them. A lot can go wrong with advertising, too. A seemingly simple case of low traffic can have many causes and also many solutions.

Pretend you work for an online retailer and you are standing behind one your webmaster viewing site logs that show incredible traffic to your website. At first you're giddy about the number of page views and unique visitors, but then you notice that the number of orders is flat and sales are stagnant. When traffic is not the problem, but orders and revenue are, then you are dealing with a Gap 2 scenario, which means something is wrong with advertising and/or delivery. This advertising issue is different than the one described in the Starbucks example above, because customers are responding to your advertisements which indicates they probably understand your message and want your product. When traffic is not the problem, but sales are, it could be that your advertisements promise something customers want, but you don't have. The marketer has to review the advertisements to make sure that what is being promised matches with what can be delivered. On the other hand, your advertisements may reflect accurately what you're supposed to have, but customers may have a hard time finding the product they seek, the product may be sold out, your site may have too many errors, the online shopping experience may be confusing, the price may be wrong, you may not accept a certain credit card type, or you may not provide enough product information to help customers feel comfortable about making a final purchasing decision. The marketer has to review the experience to identify and resolve the reason(s) customers are exiting. Again, you see that a simple problem of traffic but little or no revenue can have 2 causes and 2 or more solutions.

Pretend you work for Ford. Like all automakers, service accounts for more than 30% of your profit. You are reviewing a report from the National Auto Dealers Association (NADA) that shows more than 50% of new Ford owners do not have their cars serviced by the Ford dealer where they bought their new car. Instead, they are bringing their new Ford to a local mechanic. This is a bad trend, but no mystery. You are an experienced marketer and you know that when traffic or sales are not the problem and frequency is, then you're dealing with a Gap 3 scenario. Something is wrong with delivery or management. Something may have happened during delivery, i.e. during the the customer's purchasing experience. Maybe an employee was not nice or your dealership was not clean, but the price was right so the customer purchased his new car vowing never to return. Maybe the sales person forgot to tell the customer about your professionally-staffed service bay. Maybe the customer visited your service bay and your mechanics were slovenly, misbehaving, or confrontational with another customer. Much can go wrong during the delivery phase that impacts a customers attitudes about your company. The marketer needs to assess the customer experience and resolve the issues that may lead to lost sales. On the other hand, everything can go perfectly during the sales process, but you can misstep on the customer management side. Maybe you simply forgot to thank the customer for being a new customer, maybe you forgot to send the customer a service reminder, or maybe you sent a service reminder but the phone number was wrong or busy and the customer couldn't make an appointment. Maybe the customer wanted to make an appointment, but you don't offer a free courtesy car and a competitor does. Again, much can go wrong post-purchase that the marketer has to address in order to appease the customer and maximize revenue.

In each of the examples above, we showed how lost revenue and customer dissatisfaction are linked to a disconnect between 2 functional marketing roles. There are always 2 probable reasons for a marketing dilemma and, therefore, always at least 2 solutions.