Command Spanish Analysis
Mission Statement
The mission of Command Spanish is to provide high quality occupational Spanish language and cross-cultural training and training programs to English-speakers throughout the Grand Valley. Command Spanish offers a service that will equip businesses with desperately needed job-related Spanish-language training which will allow the businesses to better understand its Spanish speaking customers.
Corporate Objectives
The current marketing goal of Command Spanish is to increase communication among businesses and its Spanish speaking customers. Increased communication will allow companies to provide better customer service and improve safety for Spanish speaking people. Current marketing objectives are to spread awareness of its occupational Spanish classes and convey the need the business community has for this service because of the increasing Spanish speaking population of the Grand Valley.
These goals and objectives are consistent with the mission of Command Spanish and the increasing demographic shift of Hispanics has created a stronger need for occupational Spanish classes in the Grand Valley. Command Spanish is relatively new to the Grand Valley and little marketing has been done; advertising has mostly consisted of word of mouth promotion.
Review of Current Marketing Strategy and Performance
Command Spanish has a strong product to offer the Grand Valley as many businesses have noticed its customer base expanding in Spanish speaking people. The marketing strategy has not yet been carried out, and therefore, this is little awareness of Command Spanish in the community.
There are few direct competitors and the quality of service offered by Command Spanish creates an advantage over competitors in the market. The customers have confidence with the service they are provided due to the constant communication between the instructor and client.
Channels of distribution for the occupational Spanish classes are one-on-one or group classroom settings or through the Internet. The instructor uses various resources including aid books and audio CDs to enhance the service delivery and to benefit clients.
Current and Anticipated Organizational Resources
The most important resource that Command Spanish has is the experience and knowledge that the instructor possesses of the Spanish language. The instructor is nationally certified as a Command Spanish Certified Instructor and has taught the Spanish language for over 15 years. Command Spanish also invest financial resources in research and design to develop new courses to meet demands for customers in many different industries. Currently Command Spanish has around twenty different courses and new ones are constantly being added.
Moreover, Command Spanish has recently created a new and innovative e-Training program which is based on Command Spanish’s exclusive, revolutionary Language Power-Lock System. It claims that the “seven brain-compatible, interactive processes” unites to provide contextualized, purposeful learning opportunities. It employs an integrated “switchback method” to engage the learner through visual, auditory, and psychomotor pathways.
This is an effective system for the learning and long-term retention of practical Spanish language for the workplace because the interactive learning processes is easy and user-friendly. It is anticipated that resources for new courses and innovative e-Training programs will continue to be a priority of the organization. On the other hand, resources for marketing budget have been limited and are not likely to increase.
Customer Environment
Current and Potential Customers
The customers or potential customers for Command Spanish’s services are any corporate or government entities that do, or may in the future, do business with or employ Spanish speaking people.
These customers are non-Spanish speaking people in the workforce. Potential or current customers either work or have businesses in the Grand Valley and desire to have job-related communication with their Spanish speaking customers or employees. Most of these customers do not feel it is necessary to be fluent in the Spanish language in order to improve their business, but would benefit from knowing at least the Spanish language that is work related.
Other customers may purchase this service because they do not have the time to learn more than the amount of Spanish that simply allows for job related communication. The language classes that Command Spanish teach eliminate the tedious grammar instruction found in most other language programs.
Customer Needs
Command Spanish offers many different courses for customers and are able to customize for each business including those businesses in the construction industry, financial institutions, schools, health industry, law enforcement, retail sales, those interested in Spanish for basic workforce or travel, and the community.
Construction supervisors can benefit from the Command Spanish classes because miscommunication can cost time and money; with occupational Spanish language training, supervisors can communicate expectations and maintain a safe work environment. Financial institutions such as banks, loan offices, and insurance companies can adequately communicate with Spanish speaking customers by learning common phrases in determining transactions such as deposits, withdrawals, or cashing checks.
The health industry can also better assist the Spanish speaking community from Command Spanish classes. The courses offered in relation to the health industry include hospital nurses, medical office nurses, physicians, emergency medical services, physical therapy, respiratory therapist, dentist, and dental hygienist.
Each course is tailored more specifically to the business. For example, the nurses and physicians learn Spanish that pertains to calming patients, initial assessments, routine in-bed and out-of-bed procedures, and taking vitals or collecting blood or urine samples. Physical therapists learn Spanish that helps them communicate body position, basic physical commands and physical treatment.
Paramedics and Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) are trained to communicate with Spanish-speaking persons in order to make an initial assessment of the situation upon arriving at the scene, determine the main complaint, gather a history of any existing health issues, communicate body commands to make assessment and treatment and acquire patient identification for the request or refusal of transport permission.
School teachers that have periodic interaction with Spanish speaking students can better handle the classroom with knowledge of classroom management phrases, and general instruction management phrases. It is also advantageous for them to know some of the basics such as greetings, numbers and the alphabet.
Librarians can better assist with simple phrases of checking out books and directions on how to use catalog finder. Retail sales employees would greatly benefit from being able to communicate matters dealing with the register such as returns, exchanges, refunds, credit card transactions and numbers.
Customer Purchase Patterns
Customers who purchase Command Spanish services are typically the managers of the company who recognize that their employees could better suit customers with the knowledge of key job related Spanish language. Employees may influence the purchase decision of Command Spanish by requesting this type of training.
Other customers include managers or supervisors who need to communicate to their employees such as in many construction companies. Many companies have money set aside in a training budget that would cover this investment. Because Command Spanish instructors have the ability to adjust courses to be appropriate for each customer, the length and number of classes to schedule can be negotiated to fit around the business’s schedule.
Command Spanish provides a common phrase sheet and other supplemental information in a packet and it is important for the students to use it to practice what they have learned. Instructors also offer for students to call in the future if they have any questions or additional products may be purchased such as books and CDs from Command Spanish website. These products can be purchased directly off the Internet or through Command Spanish instructors.
As more Spanish speaking people move into the Grand Valley, more businesses will realize the need for Command Spanish services. Social perceptions of the need to accommodate for the Spanish speaking population may also increase demand. Command Spanish currently does not do promotional events and most marketing has been through advertising of word of mouth.
Command Spanish bases price on the length of the class and number of students. Due to the poor economy, Command Spanish instructors have worked with many customers on price and been able to provide a discount for large classes.
Customers select Command Spanish classes because it is differentiated from traditional Spanish speaking training programs. It is efficient in meeting the company’s needs with training that is customized specifically to each occupation and then personalized through Command Spanish’s classes. It is also unique in the sense that Command Spanish has done extensive research to put together dialogs and phrases that will by widely recognized among all Spanish dialects.
Cross-cultural training is also addressed in the occupational Spanish language classes for English-speakers. Command Spanish adequately meets the needs of customers that are looking for occupational Spanish classes as opposed to being fluent in the language and Command Spanish classes are faster and less expensive than learning the entire Spanish language.
Most competitors offer courses or products that teach the Spanish language in a broad scope instead of occupational based. The demand for occupational Spanish is expected to increase in the near future as the number of Spanish speaking persons increase. Customers can develop long term relationships with Command Spanish instructors since they have the opportunity to call whenever they have questions.
Command Spanish instructors can further this long term relationship by calling customers to touch base on how they are doing with the Command Spanish. It can be very beneficial for Command Spanish to stay in contact with previous customers to show that interest in customer success with the product. Furthermore, it can also keep their perception of Command Spanish high which could possibly lead to word of mouth promotion for Command Spanish.
Rationale of Noncustomers
Noncustomers may not know Command Spanish classes exist. Others may not purchase the product because they do not realize how much their ability to communicate to Spanish speaking customers could improve their business. Especially in this economy, some companies that realize they have a need might not purchase Command Spanish’s services because they cannot afford it. Companies that already have an employee fluent in Spanish may not see a need for other employees to know any Spanish.
With the Spanish speaking population rising, many firms find it necessary to seek out an employee that can communicate fully to their Spanish speaking customers. However, hiring cost can be expensive and even companies with employees fluent in Spanish may be able to meet the rising demand by having their English-speaking employees trained in Command Spanish to avoid hiring costs of another fluent Spanish speaking employee.
Awareness of Command Spanish classes can gain customers that do not know about his services. Furthermore, educating customers on what Command Spanish offers through the classes and the direct benefit it can have on the business can change the perceptions for those businesses who may not think they need it.
The External Environment
Direct Competition
Within the Grand Valley the only major direct competition for Command Spanish, is Spanish Now, located at 203 Grand Ave, Grand Junction, CO. Spanish Now is a business which offers fast and easy Spanish lessons to the general public as well as business groups (Spanish Now, 2009). There are four level courses available to take; each course builds on the previous one. Each course focuses on teaching everyday conversational needs.
Each level course is 16 hours long and occurs two days a week. There is a $10 registration fee and each course runs from $150 to $160. Spanish Now also offers a business course where a company can gather up to eight people in a group and learn Spanish based on their business needs (2009). Everyone must take a level one course and then a course will be set up for their specific needs.
Cost depends on the location of the class but can start as low as $40 an hour. Spanish Now also offers private lessons, lessons for children, special courses and well as a translation service. Customers are able to go to the Spanish Now facility register and takes classes there. They have also built a website where customers can view their services and are given instructions on how to register. They can also be contacted by email (2009).
Profluent (2009-2011) can also be considered a direct competition for Command Spanish. Profluent not only teaches Spanish to employees dealing with the Spanish speaking population, but they also teach Spanish to those who need to be able to communicate between employees.
Profluent teaches Spanish using a “Total Physical Response” method, which encourages the use of body language to “act out” the commands, that way they learn the language mentally as well as physically (Profluent, 2011). Profluent has two courses and each course is 18 hours long and $199.99.
Profluent is not a local competitor, but they send instructors to wherever they are needed. The only way they market their services is through word of mouth as well as their website. Someone may also become a consultant for Profuluent and earn commission to help spread the word (Profluent, 2011).
Online Competition
As more and more people gravitate to online resources, major competitions for Command Spanish are the thousands of websites that offer Spanish lessons. Many of these websites are also free. Customers can learn Spanish in the privacy of their own homes and at their convenience.
The target market for these classes includes anyone who wants to learn Spanish and has access to a computer and the Internet to do so. The major marketing done for these online lessons are through its websites, on-line companies are dependant on people who want to learn Spanish and turn to the Internet themselves for help. Online Spanish lessons, however, lack the one-on-one contact between the instructor; Command Spanish incorporates conversations between students.
Language Learning Software
Visual Link Spanish is another competitor for Command Spanish. Visual Link Spanish has sold over 130 countries around the world and is currently being taught in corporations, government agencies, and universities. The language is learned in themes, which include “Basic Needs”, “Location”, “Survival Expression”, and “Communication”. Each Spanish word is then linked to a moving image to help store the word in the brain.
The words are then broken down into groups and chosen to form sentences. This is a much faster and easier way of learning Spanish. Visual Link offers 11 free online lessons. Visual Links also has a course on workplace Spanish. By using the program employees are able to learn full sentences related to their business and are able to communicate to customers.
Visual Links Workplace Spanish course teaches employees to ask and answer questions from customers. Companies are also able to a personalized “Workplace Spanish” module created. The course includes two CD-ROMS with interactive computer lessons, 10 audio CDs to review what has been learned and a conversational manual to practice anywhere. Visual Link also offers the whole course on a MP# player. Prices vary depending on the order.
Rosetta Stone (1999-2011) is another competitor for Command Spanish. Rosetta Stone provides software to help one learn a new language as well as incorporating the Internet. They believe in the natural method of teaching a new language, no translation just direct language. They also believe that is should be fun and easy.
Rosetta Stone targets its products to several different types of people. They offer five different categories for learning a foreign language, personal, governmental, corporate, educational, as well as home school (Rosetta Stone, 2011). Rosetta Stone markets online, in stores, as well as through TV advertising.
They are a multimillion dollar company and are the “leading language-learning software in the world,” (Rosetta Stone,1999- 2011). Their Marketing budget far exceeds anything Command Spanish could compete with. They provide Kiosks in malls and have knowledgeable sales reps available to customers. The closest Kiosk to Grand Junction, CO is in Denver. Prices vary upon location.
Those Who Speak Spanish
Although Command Spanish teaches Spanish, another competitor would be those in Grand Junction who are already capable of communicating with the Spanish speaking population while on the job. Many businesses through the Grand Valley look to hire those who are fluent in Spanish, because of the savings on training for each employee, as well as the potential of losing customers because employees are unable to communicate.
Within these businesses, it is possible that they may only have one or two bilingual employees, so incorporating lessons to all employees would allow for more convenience not only to customers, but within the business as well.
Some businesses may market to through its advertisements, billboards or signs within the community, that it has bilinguals on staff. This competes with Command Spanish in an indirect way because these businesses are not teaching Spanish they are merely informing the public that they have Spanish speaking employees for customer convenience and don’t need the services offered by Command Spanish.
Economic Growth and Stability
Mesa County and Grand Junction are still trying to recover from the 2007 recession and it was not until 2009 that the recession took a toll on Mesa County. The decline in oil and gas industry had a large effect on the rest of the county. Due to oversupply and decreasing prices, many commercial businesses have taken dramatic hits.
According to the Department of Labor and Employment, Mesa County has been projected to grow on average of .7% from 2009 to 2019. New job openings has been estimated to reach about 779 per year and replacement job openings is estimated at 1, 467 per year. By 2019, general employment for Mesa County is to reach 71, 284 jobs (Department, 1998-2011).
Command Spanish focuses on teaching Spanish to businesses to be able to communicate better to the Spanish speaking population. As long as there are customers who mainly speak Spanish, there will be a market for this type of business. Spanish has become the unofficial second language of the United States.
This requires more employees to understand and communicate with the Spanish speaking population. More than 40 million Hispanics live in the US today and that number continues to grow every year. This trend is creating demand for Spanish speaking employees (Bilingual? 2007).
Banks, Mortgages, Hospitals and retail companies are all experiencing demand for Spanish speaking employees. Rather than only being able to hire one or two bilingual employees, companies can pay a much smaller amount to have everyone on their staff communicating with the Spanish speaking population.
Command Spanish’s customers are optimistic about the economy because they are putting forth a better service for their customers and adding value to their businesses. Businesses that spend money on their employees are enhancing their products or services in order to gain a better return. By teaching their employees Spanish, these businesses are also engaging in a wider range of customers which can lead to higher profits because more of the population is purchasing there services.
Selling goods and services to multicultural markets is now requiring that more and more employees become familiar with other languages. As the Hispanic population grows, so does their buying power. Despite the recession the Hispanic buying power has been estimated to grow to $1.3 trillion in 2014 (“U.S. Directory”, 2006). If companies are wishing to gain more profits from these consumers, they must learn to adapt to their needs.
Political Trends
The biggest political issues that could affect Command Spanish are the changes in immigration laws. As of now, Visas cannot be re-issued in the United States. H-1B work Visa which allows the holder with a Bachelor’s Degree to work in the United States for up to 6 years has reached its limit and no more of these are being offered for this fiscal year (Madison, 2011). Many immigrants also fear laws, like the one passed in Arizona, which allow police to check for legal status, will soon pass in other states as well.
More immigrants may stay in hiding to avoid being deported, which can reduce the need to communicate with Spanish speaking customers. Fortunately, even with immigration being limited, the Hispanic population continues to grow with higher birth rates as immigrants are younger today (El Nasser, 2008). Command Spanish is a small company in the Grand Valley, so political influence from the company is not likely.
Legal and Regulatory Issues
Command Spanish is a licensed provider of Command Spanish. The instructors is certified to teach the materials offered by the Command Spanish Company. The legal issues concerning Command Spanish would be copyright infringement.
Instructors or other companies may not take credit for the materials being used in any course or provide services to another instructor’s exclusive area of operation. Instructors must maintain a current license to teach. Currently there are no international marketing, therefore changes in global trade agreements or laws do not affect these opportunities.
Technological Advances
Today customers are able to receive Spanish lessons from many different venues. There are online websites with interactive lessons, as well as a huge variety of cd-rom software and several different teaching methods. Videoconferences and webinars have also aided in the distribution options in teaching and learning Spanish lessons.
Sociocultural Trends
In 2009, 15.8% of the US population was made up of Hispanic and Latino Americans. The United States Census population projected that in 2010 that number would rise to 16% and by 2050 it would be at roughly 30% (“Demographics”, 2011). In 2009, 9% Hispanics accounted for 9.1% of the total United States’s buying power and have a combined disposable income of $978 billion buy 2014 their buying power will top $1.3 trillion (U.S. Directory of Latina Owned Businesses, 2006).
More and more businesses are finding bilingual employees to be very valuable. Financial Institutions, private banks, the insurance industry, and companies dealing with consumer goods are most interested in Spanish speaking professions (Rigoli, E., 2007).
With the buying power of Hispanics increasing, more and more consumer goods are being translated into Spanish as well. For example, labels on food packaging and many directions are printed in both English and Spanish. Furthermore, the self-checkouts at the grocery stores have an option button for Spanish and automated phone services have the option to listen to selections in Spanish.
Businesses are beginning to understand that today Spanish is becoming America’s second language and rather than just a courtesy to those who do not speak English, it has now become a necessity to accommodate for Spanish speaking customers.
The attitude of the general population towards immigration and the adaptation of the Spanish language have been debated for years. While many feel that it is a good thing to accommodate for Spanish speaking people to allow many people from different backgrounds to communicate better with day to day activities, there are also many who feel if these individuals are going to live in America, then they should learn English.
If marketed right, expanding knowledge of another language may prove to be a great thing. Not only is it convenient for customers, but for the employees as well. Companies that are able to adhere to the Hispanic population’s needs and become more marketable, as well as more profitable because they attracting more customers to their businesses.
SWOT analysis
Quantitative Assessment of the SWOT matrix for Command Spanish
Strengths
Command Spanish provides quality service to its customers by customizing the classes to meet individual business needs. Not only is the instructor certified, but has over 15 years of teaching experience. The phonetic teaching style used has had a great amount of research done and proven effective.
Another strength of Command Spanish is that the learning experience is fun for the customers. This helps customers engage in the learning process and have an enjoyable time without being overwhelmed. Conversational learning is also incorporated, which allows the students to interact with each other in Spanish. Repetition helps students to learn the material faster with more accuracy and gain confidence in speaking it.
Weaknesses
The main weakness of Command Spanish is the low customer awareness. Because it is a new company in the Grand Valley and little marketing has been done, there is little brand recognition of the company. Even with a limited marketing budget, these weaknesses can be converted into strengths simply by marketing and networking to the business community.
The most cost effective way for Command Spanish to market to its business customers is to join the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce. The basic level of membership offers some marketing such as a listing in the printed and online directory, business referrals via Chamber staff, website, publications and other members. Moreover, it allows access to over 300 annual Chamber networking events.
Some business may perceive the cost of Command Spanish classes to be expensive training. However, Command Spanish has a strong product that is needed in the Grand Valley as more Spanish speaking people move to the area.
Command Spanish can change this weakness into a strength by communicating to businesses how costly it is to lose Spanish speaking customers to competitors who can communicate effectively and accommodate them. Once the business community realizes how advantageous occupational Spanish can be for attracting and retaining Spanish speaking customers, Command Spanish will gain more customers.
Opportunities
Command Spanish has the opportunity to further word-of-mouth promotion by developing long term relationships and calling past customers to check on how they are progressing with the occupational Spanish they learned and see if they have any questions. Not only will this develop a relationship with customers, but it will also keep Command Spanish at the front of their minds and in a positive light to recommend to other businesses.
One of the opportunities Command Spanish has to get in touch with many of the businesses in the Grand Valley is to join the Chamber of Commerce. This is especially important as the Spanish speaking population increases and their buying power rises because businesses in the Grand Valley need to be able to communicate effectively to accommodate these customers to stay competitive in the market. Command Spanish has the opportunity to capitalize on this need.
Threats
One of the major threats facing the organization is competition. One way Command Spanish can and has been managing the threat of competition is by differentiating themselves in the market. Command Spanish targets a specific niche of occupational Spanish learning for businesses.
Command Spanish needs to emphasize the value of customer service in having a real person to listen and make sure students are speaking it correctly as well as answer questions. The confidence level of the students knowing they are pronouncing the words correctly is going to have a great impact on the success they have with learning the Spanish words and actually using them in the workforce.
Another similar threat of competition that has been ushered in through advanced technology is the numerous online resources that aid in teaching Spanish. Many of these resources are free. Command Spanish has already lessened this threat with their innovative Language Power-lock System for its e-Training classes. Besides that, Command can market its personalized customer service through tailoring the material to each individual business, which is something that the online resources cannot offer.
Hiring bilinguals in place of training current employees is also a threat, but by effectively communicating the benefit of having all employees learn occupational Spanish can change this threat into an opportunity, especially since hiring and training cost for new employees can be very expensive.
Another factor that may keep some businesses in the Grand Valley from getting the Command Spanish classes is that some may not have the decision making power to purchase the training without corporate approval. By providing enough information for managers to believe their store has a need for occupational training, may allow them to convince corporate it is necessary.
The poor economy is a threat to all businesses, but by effectively demonstrating the cost of losing customers and expressing the importance for companies to differentiate themselves to increase business of the increasing Spanish speaking population, can lessen this threat for Command Spanish.
Competitive Advantage
The competitive advantage of Command Spanish is based off customer intimacy. Command Spanish works to know and understand their customers’ needs. Businesses have discovered that with the fast pace business world and an increase in the Spanish speaking population, there is a strong desire for occupational Spanish instead of being fluent in the language.
Command Spanish uses its strengths of teaching and expertise and matches it to the opportunity and need for workplace Spanish communication to create a strong competitive advantage.
Command Spanish is very flexible and offers customization to meet its customer’s needs which also gives them a strong competitive advantage over their competitors. Not only does Command Spanish have a vast array of material that covers many different occupations, they listen to the customer to determine which phrases will be necessary to learn in order to properly communicate.
Furthermore, Command Spanish has worked at understanding their customers and studied the most successful way for them to remember and confidently speak the Spanish they learn. They have invested in research and design to create a system using phonetics as an easy and effective way to learn and have recently developed a new e-Training program called Language Powerlock System.
Command Spanish constantly exceeds customer expectations by going the extra distance to spend time with the students to ensure that they are speaking correctly and have confidence to use their skills in the workplace.
Not only is the instructor nationally certified, but he also has years of experience teaching. Furthermore, customers have the convenience of having the classes taught on-site which can drastically reduce travel cost for the clients. With this strong competitive advantage, Command Spanish is able to gain market share and succeed over competitors.
Strategic Focus
With several internal strengths and quite a few external threats, Command Spanish’s strategic focus is diversification. Command Spanish has a great deal to offer its customers, but some external factors affect the ability to pursue an aggressive strategy. By using a diversified strategy, Command Spanish should be able to capitalize on its strengths and avoid some of the external threats.
A diversification strategy targets new segments of customers and expands product lines to differentiate from competition. Command Spanish can target educational businesses around the grand valley, such as ITT Tech or Western Colorado Community College, and join with them. ITT Tech focuses education in specific careers, so Command Spanish could teach those students the Spanish they would need to know within the career they are going to school for.
Western Colorado Community College offers several certificate programs as well as well as technical programs. Also, instead of Command Spanish going from business to business, targeting whole industries at a time could potentially bring a larger profit as well as a wider range of customers. Larger conferences could be held for the example the banking industry, lodging industry, or medical industry. Pricing could be charged on a per person basis.
Expanding product lines to include general Spanish courses at different levels including home school or private lessons would also help Command Spanish to put into action a diversification strategy. Furthermore, families going on vacation or mission trip groups would benefit from crash courses before their trip; Command Spanish could offer this as a new product line for travel Spanish.
Another service that may Command Spanish could expand into would be translation services. For companies that are not interested in Spanish courses, Command Spanish could still appeal to them by offering translation services.
In implementing a diversification strategy, Command Spanish would be able to increase profits by reaching more customers targeting different customers and expanding product lines. Command Spanish has a lot to offer with a distinct way of learning Spanish and great customer service, making it possible to increase profits and brand awareness without having to implement a more aggressive strategy.
Moreover, Command Spanish will be able to lessen some external threats, as well as capitalize on strengths of broad and in-depth knowledge of the Spanish language and culture.
Marketing Goals and Objectives
Through the goals and objectives listed below, Command Spanish will accomplish a diversification strategy.
Goal 1: Create more awareness throughout the Grand Valley.
Objective 1: Join the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce. Attend at least three Chamber meetings and network events a year.
Goal 2: Target whole industries rather than just specific businesses.
Objective 2: Advertise to specific industries and hold conferences to teach larger groups. Hold a conference, invite businesses and explain the benefits of Command Spanish to those businesses.
Goal 3: Create alliances with educational businesses throughout the Grand Valley.
Objective 3: Join with ITT Tech, Western Colorado Community College or Colorado Mountain College to teach occupational Spanish to students. Book at least 4 classes every semester.
Goal 4: Expand product line.
Objective 4: Offer private or homeschool lessons to children, as well as general Spanish courses at different levels. Product line can also be expanded to offer crash courses for upcoming business, personal or mission trips, and translation services.
Goal 5: Increase sales volumes of material that compliments Command Spanish
Objective 5: Place emphasis on the books and CDs that complement the course by direct ordering through the instructor.
Marketing Strategy
Primary Target Market
Command Spanish’s primary target market consists of businesses throughout the Grand Valley and western slope areas. These businesses either work with or wish to work with the Hispanic community. Industries targeted for Command Spanish include but are not limited to construction, wholesale, retail, food/accommodation services, finance, administration, educational services, as well as health care services.
These businesses can range from multimillion dollar corporations to local mom and pop shops who are all trying to reach a wider range of customers throughout the community. These businesses care about their customers as well as their employees. They all understand diversification as wish to tap into the Hispanic community and better service providers to accommodate the Hispanic community’s needs.
Identifying Characteristics
Many employers of these jobs are well educated with college degrees can range in age from 18 to late 60’s. These businesses should have between 5 and 30 employees working under a group of managers. These businesses should have the funds to afford the Command Spanish services. Most businesses within the target market have Internet access as well as a location for the classes to take place.
Basic Needs and Requirements
These businesses need a service to provide Spanish lessons to their employers. They are somewhat on a time schedule and need lessons to be quick and precise to what they need to know.
These would include customized material to fit their specific needs. Many businesses may either be losing customers and therefore need to expand the customer base, or other businesses may want to tap into the potential buying power the Hispanic community has to offer. These businesses may also be filling their training budget and find the services of Command Spanish to be affordable as well as convenient.
The service may also be seen as a value –added attribute to those businesses. The need for industry specific Spanish may also have been suggested by the employees thus influencing the company to attain those types of services. Educational directors of technical schools may feel the need to have specific industry based Spanish curriculums offered at their facilities. Students or teachers may have suggested such programs therefore; the school may feel the need to offer those classes.
Purchasing/Shopping Habits and Preferences
The purchase and shopping habits for Command Spanish’s primary target market shops for services monthly to yearly. For those businesses who continuous employee training, the type of service Command Spanish offers would only be one type used for those businesses. Management of those businesses would research this type of service as well as determine the benefits before purchasing industry Spanish classes.
This would not be an impulse purchase. Businesses may continue to purchase these types of classes annually depending on the turnover for its employees. Other businesses may only purchase this service once. Educational services may purchase these classes per semester or on a yearly basis.
Product strategy
The product strategy is to differentiate from others by providing the highest quality of service using the best methods of delivery. Unlike its competitors, the Command Spanish products are specifically tailored for occupational purposes and not just for a broad understanding of Spanish.
The major features and benefits of the Command Spanish training program is that it is brief and yet sufficient. It has an exciting approach to learning a conversational style and uses a wide variety of interesting modern tools such as CD’s, Internet, books and videos to enhance learning. It is customized to the needs and ability of every customer. The attention given to every student is a very strong characteristic as it shows the commitment of the company to the success of every customer.
Command Spanish strives to create brand equity through strong customer relationships. The company instructor Mr. Sandoval is well renowned and respected and he delivers personalized training to all his customers. In addition, the curriculum is well researched and incorporates dialogues and phrases that are widely recognized among all Spanish dialects.
Pricing Strategy
Command Spanish positions itself toward businesses and employers, who in their consumption habits, have demonstrated that price is not their number one concern. Value of the product and relevance to individual company needs are critical.
By positioning Command Spanish as an affordable solution to satisfy the communication barrier between companies and its customers, Command Spanish will be seen as a necessary tool for attaining and achieving customer base for companies. Currently, Command Spanish cost structure is based off of cost-plus pricing where the price is set based on average unit costs and its planned markup percentage. The only fixed cost Command Spanish must cover is the licensing fee.
Variable consist of the material which is tailored specifically for each industry. Pricing had been set at $439 per person, but recently lowered to $300 per person due to the economy. Because of the monopolistic competition, Command Spanish can individualize its prices to its customers which give it some control to overcome the threats imposed by the wide range of substitute products.
Command Spanish can offer gradual pricing and offer a 10% discount to students after a group of 8 people from a company sign up. This will create an incentive for companies to encourage more employees to take the class. Another price strategy is spouse pricing where employees who brings a spouse can receive 10% off them and the spouse. This may also increase the effectiveness of the class, as the students will have their spouse to practice the Spanish language they learn at home together.
Distribution and Supply Chain Strategies
Command Spanish marking channel structure is exclusive distribution. There is only one instructor that has the sole right to teach Command Spanish within the Western Slope. There is a simple supply chain with headquarters to get the materials needed for classes quickly and efficiently. While most of the Command Spanish courses are taught on site making it convenient for customers, Command Spanish also has the ability to offer video-conferences and webinars for an additional charge.
Integrated Marketing Communication (Promotion) Strategy
The current strategy heavily depends on word of mouth to promote the company and its products. Word of mouth advertising should be continued in addition to print advertising such as businesses cards and well-designed brochures that can be placed in businesses in the Grand Valley.
Hotels that regularly attract business customers, the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce, the Convention Center, and the airport would be ideal places to promote Command Spanish. Personal selling can be done throughout the educational institutions, construction sites, and financial industries. The company can sponsor or co-sponsor events such as sports to increase visibility and take opportunity of the event to explain itself and its products.
It should extensively use the power of free advertising presented by new social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Groupon and Linkedin. The popularity of these sites with young well educated tech savvy people presents a good marketing opportunity. The company can also use branded items such as pens, writing pads, mouse pads, and office calendars to increase visibility.
Secondary Target Market and Marketing Program
Secondary Target Market
Secondary Product Strategy
The Command Spanish workplace Spanish courses aligns well with the needs of business customers. For other market segments, Command Spanish can diversify the product line by offering general Spanish classes at different levels. This will reach the younger generation through home school or private lessons. Many parents realize that children pick up languages far easier at a younger age. Since most schools do not teach language classes until middle school or high school, Command Spanish can capitalize on this unreached market. Crash courses for mission trips or family vacations can reach other segment of the population that would not have a use for workplace or business Spanish courses. These courses can be personalized to the Spanish speaking area that each group plans on traveling to. To reach those businesses that do not communicate with the Spanish speaking population enough to desire Spanish speaking courses, Command Spanish can offer translation services.
Secondary Pricing Strategy
To reach Command Spanish’s secondary market, it can offer home school or private lessons for $600 for a semester long course. Many home school children receive a stipend that can be used for elective classes such as this. Crash courses for mission trip groups or family trips can be priced at $500 per group of 5 for a 5 hour personalized course. Translation services can be priced per hour at a rate of about $1.50 a minute for telephone interpretation or $80 a page for document translations.
Based off Translation Services USA and Language Translation, Inc., these prices are in line with competition (cite). Although telephone interpretation is set a little lower assuming it will only be offered certain times of the day or certain days of the week. This may require the instructor to leave this time free from scheduling any other classes. This pricing strategy can be altered based on demand.
Secondary Distribution Strategy
Primary and secondary distribution strategy is done through on site classes or seminars. Although for an additional charge, videoconferences or webinars can be arranged. Translation services for documents can be accomplished through e-mail or FedEx. Telephone interpretation can be through three-way calling. The client would simply ask the Spanish speaking customer to hold for a translator and three-way call Command Spanish for services.
Secondary Integrated Marketing Strategy
Integrated Marketing Communication will be the same for primary and secondary markets. The Grand Junction Area Chamber will help network to create awareness and gain customers. The brochures created can include information for both primary Command Spanish workplace Spanish, as well as information for its extended product line. The budget of $2,685 is dedicated to the Integrated Marketing Activities.
Marketing Implementation
Given the diversification focus on the marketing plan implementation of these marketing goals will be done through the organizations culture. Command Spanish has a centralized culture, therefore; the implementation of this plan will be done through one person. This person will be in charge of ensuring that timelines are met and the completion of the overall plan. The marketing strategy has become part of the overall mission and vision of Command Spanish.
Evaluation and Control
Formal Controls
Prior to implementation of the marketing strategy, resource allocation decisions need to be made based on manpower and capital available for each tactical implementation activity chosen. The above table shows the assigned responsibility, required budget and estimated time completion for each activity.
Process Control
Based on Command Spanish’s organizational structure the most important process control is to commit to the marketing activities it wishes to implement.
Output Controls
Based on the firms marketing objectives, performance standards should be set to ensure accurate assessment of the marketing activities. Performance standards should include information such as how the client heard about the Command Spanish, numbers of customers before and after the marketing activities were implemented, and the effectiveness of the course based on individual customer needs.
One such way to obtain some of this information is to collect a comment card that can be included in course handouts. This comment card should include name, contact information such as e-mail address or phone number, questions as to how they heard about Command Spanish, and how students would rate of the course.
Assessing the effectiveness of the each course, can be done by communicating with the customer after a certain amount of time in regards to their perception of how beneficial they perceived the course to be. Follow up contact is critical for achieving excellence in customer intimacy as well as evaluation controls. By recording a measurement of clientele before and after the marketing activities are implemented, can provide an assessment of effectiveness of how
To ensure proper implementation of Command Spanish’s marketing strategy, procedures must be in place to evaluate outcomes relative to the objectives.
Objective 1: Join the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce. Attend at least three Chamber meetings and network events a year.
This objective will be assessed through internal company records as to whether membership for the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce was obtained and how many social or networking events were attended. It is anticipated that at least one conference can be scheduled through networking at these events.
Objective 2: Advertise to specific industries and hold conferences to teach larger groups. Hold a conference, invite businesses, and explain the benefits of Command Spanish to those businesses.
This objective will be assessed by the number of conferences performed each year, Records will also be kept of the number of brochures handed out to promote conferences.
Objective 3: Join with ITT Tech, Western Colorado Community College or Colorado Mountain College to teach occupational Spanish to students. Book at least four classes every semester.
This objective will be assessed by the relationship and alliances Command Spanish has with ITT Tech and Western Colorado Community College. It is anticipated that four classes a year can be scheduled through these alliances.
Objective 4: Offer private or home-school lessons to children, as well as general Spanish courses at different levels. Product line can also be expanded to offer crash courses for upcoming business, personal or mission trips, and translation services.
This objective will be assessed by internal records of how many private or home school lessons were booked over the year, as well as the number of crash courses booked. Assessing the translation service’s success will be based on how many documents were translated and how many minutes a year were spent on interpreting.
Objective 5: Place emphasis on the books and CDs that complement the course by direct ordering through the instructor.
This objective will be assessed by the number of clients recorded for all product lines before and after the marketing plan was implemented.
Implementation Timeline
The chart shown below is a 6-month timeline of when each marketing implementation should begin. It would be too overwhelming to start everything at once therefore it has been broken down. Research may need to be conducted has to pricing and whether or not these strategies would be right for Command Spanish, therefore they may have dates to begin after the proposal has been presented.
Contracts from ITT Tech or WCCC should be established for the summer that way classes can begin when the school semester begins. Most people travel during the summer, therefore it is critical to begin offering crash courses, for those travelers.
Gradual pricing, spousal pricing, or discounted pricing can begin as soon as Command Spanish is willing to offer it. This may take a little research to determine how much a discount can be offered and the amount that should be offered for translation and private lessons. These prices should continue until management decides otherwise. Investment in the IMC activities should start as soon as possible.
Marketing Audits
References
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