Marketing Your Service: A Planning Guide for Small Business

Mike Schultz was a business teacher with the Peel Board of Education.

The authors point out early on in their book the difference between “service marketing” and other kinds of marketing. As they suggest, “If you’re like many service businesses and professional practices, broad, mass market techniques will not be effective. You have a specific market; therefore, a targeted approach and more personal contact are better suited to your marketing plan.” With the rapid growth of the service sector there is a real need for this type of self-help book.

The authors Withers and Vipperson provide samples of important marketing actions as carried out by “Case Inc.” These include such topics as Mission Statement, Target Positioning, and Marketing Action Plan.

The book is 140 pages in length and provides the reader with an abundance of practical worksheets (easily half the book). Its 12 main chapters deal with such topics as Developing a Marketing Plan, Gathering the Facts About Your Business and about Outside Influences, Setting Goals and Objectives, Target Markets and Positioning, and Implementing the Marketing Action Plan.

Like most good business books, this volume provides questions which must be asked in order to be successful. While both authors are from the State of Washington, this book knows no border.

The overall objective of this book is to increase the sales of service businesses. To sell effectively, you must let people know you exist and that you are better than your competition. This book will be a valuable tool for those who are inexperienced in marketing and unsure about how to market themselves.