The basic strategy planning concepts are enduring and will always be at the heart of marketing. Manager who can quickly adjust the details of his efforts to better solve customer problems or respond to changes in the market can do better job for his firm – because he can make certain that his plans are really performing as expected.

Whether implementation decisions and activities are internal or external, they all must be consistent with the objectives of the overall strategy with the other details of the plan. There are three general objectives that apply to all implementation efforts. Other things equal, the manager wants to get each implementation job done: Better. Faster. At lower cost.

So, it’s important to be creative in looking for better solutions to implementation problems. That may require finding ways to better coordinate the efforts of the different people involved, setting up standard operating procedures to deal with recurring problems, or juggling priorities to deal with the unexpected.

Sales Analysis – a detailed breakdown of a company’s sales records – can be very informative. Detailed data can keep marketing executives in touch with what’s happening in the market. In addition, routine sales analyses prepared each week, month, or year may show trends – and allow managers to check their hypotheses and assumptions.

There is no one best way to analyze sales data. Typical breakdowns include:
1. Geographic region – country, state, city, sales rep’s territory.
2. Product, package size, grade, or color.
3. Customer size.
4. Customer type or class of trade.
5. Price or discount class.
6. Method of sale. – mail, telephone, or direct sales.
7. Financial arrangement – cash or charge.
8. Size of order.
9. Commission class.

The marketing audit is a systematic, critical, and unbiased review and appraisal of the basic objectives and policies of the marketing function – and of the organization, methods, procedures, and people employed to implement the policies. A marketing audit requires a detailed look at the company’s current marketing plans to see if they are still the best plans the firm can offer. A marketing audit takes a big review of the business – and it evaluates the whole marketing program. It might be done by a separate department within the company – perhaps by a marketing controller. But to get both expert and objective evaluation, it’s probably better to use an outside organization such as a marketing consulting firm.