The marketing audit: baseline for action - Marketing of Library and Information Services

Library Trends, Wntr, 1995 by Laura Cram

ABSTRACT

Most librarians do not appreciate that the only way for a service-based organization to succeed is to have a clear understanding of what services are in demand by the users and nonusers of the community. Customers not only appreciate, but challenge, providers who offer quality service. This article looks at the steps necessary to develop a solid base for planning, from the comprehensive community profile (including a competitive review) to the "perceived service quality," both from the point of view of customers and staff. Most managers do, indeed, know something about their communities, but discovering what makes it "live" the way it does is one of the more exciting aspects of the marketing audit. The value of knowing who and what is out there, as well as what strengths and weaknesses one's own agency and others have, will lay the groundwork for making decisions. Difficult questions regarding whether to focus on certain market niches where your strengths lie or whether to continue trying to serve everyone with the same level of adequacy become easier to consider. The SWOT analysis as a tool for evaluating specific data is examined: is it something to build on (strength), something to eliminate (weakness), something to anticipate (opportunity), or something to outmaneuver (threat)? Finally, barriers to effective diagnosis of the data are discussed.

THE MARKETING AUDIT: BASELINE FOR ACTION

Most information professionals today realize that changes in technology and social trends are overtaking them faster than they can be identified. The difficulty is that they of ten do not know what direction to take for fear that it will be a direction with no future. When economic growth provided a stable working environment, it was less important to take the right direction with the first step; they could always go back and try again if it did not turn out to be an appropriate action after all. The idiom of "practice makes perfect" seems less practical and affordable today, however, and there is growing pressure on making the right decisions every time one has to be made.

One of the changes in our society which has had a tremendous impact on libraries is the rapid growth of the service economy. Although most librarians would agree that their agencies are firmly placed within the service sector, many do not appreciate that the only way for a service-based organization to succeed is to have a clear, understanding of what services are in demand by the users and nonusers of the community. Customers not only appreciate, but challenge, providers who offer quality service today. And yet, "[b]ecause most libraries have no perceived competitors some provide a passive and reactive service to their clients. Libraries need to become proactive and create and capitalise on growth opportunities" (Paul, 1990, p. 65). To move in this direction, they need to acquire a better understanding of their role in, and the needs of, the community they serve.

Before someone knows the direction in which to head, however, libraries have to know where they are at present. They accomplish this by establishing a solid base of information from which to strategically plan. Crompton and Lamb (1986) argue that "[it] is an unfortunate trait of human nature that we rarely engage in any action until under pressure to do so. Perhaps the major reason for lack of effective marketing planning in public agencies has been the lack of a catalyzing crisis. Growth can be managed on an ad hoc basis; retrenchment cannot" (p. 45). They go on to suggest that:

an examination of environmental forces enhances an agency's

ability to be proactive by looking beyond the short term horizon

and considering the impact of changing ... conditions .... Without

an understanding of the potential impact of these forces, an

agency is constantly forced to react to crises instead of anticipating

shifts and formulating strategies to adapt to them. Good planning

has been described as a two step process: first figure out what

is inevitable, then find a way to take advantage of it. (p. 49)

The concept of taking advantage of the opportunities made possible by change is a marketing-oriented one; its traditional opposite concept, that of insulating oneself from changes which are regarded as problems and focusing instead on doing better what has normally been done, is a product-oriented one:

Early marketing models focussed on the product, often referred

to as "how to make a better mousetrap". This approach, still

evident in many libraries, is all about improving the product

or service and being the most efficient supplier in the

marketplace.... [Theodore Levin's 1960 article, "Marketing

Myopia"] actually turned the focus onto the customer to ask

what benefits are there for the customer. If there are no benefits

to the customer then no matter how good the product is, it will

not sell. (Wright, 1994, p. 14)

Unless a manager can become excited by the challenge of keeping services in line with the changing expectations of clients, the time and energy which must be spent to adequately prepare for change will not be worthwhile.