3 step you should take which facilitate your functional marketing decisions.

Focus of the week- Business
Topic- 3 step you should take which facilitate your functional marketing decisions.
Writer- Iyere Joy

Facilitating functions of marketing are those function which provide favorable environment or make possible the performance of these marketing functions. In other word these function aid in the performance of other activities concerned with exchange of title and physical supply. These include standardization and grading financing and risk taking.

Standardization and Grading
This refers to the actual setting up of basic limits or grading according to which product like agricultural product must conform. Grading means the actual sorting of supply of a given commodity according to the established standards. Both standardization and grading are two related activities. Each government has a basis for establishing standards. There must be a certain quality available to be able to conform to standard measurement. This is not peculiar to farm product. For instant, cloths both must meet certain specification such as length width color and stuff. Equally all those buying at the same time from the same market must pay the same price.
Standardization and grading mean much to the consumer and even the industrial buyers. Buyers want good of uniform quality which they can buy from time to time with the full confidence that such goods so specified will meet their needs and requirement. The costing of buying and selling will be reduced because the need for inspection and samples will be reduces. The cost of transportation and storage will be reduced because only those measuring up with the requirement will be handled. It will also be easier to carry in the same vehicle goods belonging to difference people. Grading makes financing easier, for bank loan will be easier if the bank know precisely the grade of goods being finances. Every fact about the goods will be know and this facilities decision taking. Risks will be reduced through lodging and other risk absorbing devices.

Financing
Capital is essentially required to carry inventories, to sell on credit, with promoting sales or meet pay rolls and to pay for equipment and supplies require carrying out a marketing process. Frequently, customer’s makes purchases and payment deferred to a late date. In this case, the sellers grant credit to the buyer and bear the burden of financing. Where his own funds are inadequately. He sources for funds through banks and other credit dispending outfits under specific condition and terms.

Risk taking
There are many unavoidable risks involved in marketing goods and services. Those that perform the marketing function must bear these as the goods two terms. First, it should be noted that market research is only and aspect of the various activities called marketing research. Market research is concerned with the identification of actual and potential buyers in numbers, location and types. Identifying buyers in types demands finding out the characteristics of the consumers, their habit, preference and motives. This is called consumer researched.

Marketing research therefore covers market sized, studies and studies on consumer’s behaviors and characteristics. Is concerned with finding out the marketing and knowing the consumer. Marketing research on the other hand is a wider term comprising market research and research into competition and the suitability of company product, price, promotion and distribution. It covers all investigation for the purpose of making decisions or evaluating decision relating to markets, marketing methods, and suitability of product or services. Marketing research includes the analysis of cost, opportunities, constrains, competitive advantage and profitability.