Abstract

A recent survey points to a lack of access to professionalmarketing resources within the small and medium sizeenterprises (SMEs) in the fi ne and speciality chemicalsindustry. Only 20-30 percent of the companies haveaccess to internal or third party professional marketingsupport. The marketing function in SMEs generates criticalbusiness information such as market size and market sharefor various products. It helps companies differentiatetheir value proposition through elusive and yet valuablesoft interactions with the customers. The SMEs that havea defi ned marketing function can also deliver effi cientmarket communication programs. The availability ofmission critical information for strategic decision andmarket communications programs are an infallible signof better managed companies. Reciprocally, the lackthereof signals a serious internal weakness. Unfortunatelythe survey found that 70-80 percent of the SMEs didnot have any dedicated marketing resource. Thesecompanies opt for a surrogate marketing embeddedin the sales force. Without the marketing disciplinedapproach, sales will fail to deliver basic informationfor strategy defi nition, differentiate the market offeringand provide relevant information to customers duringsales calls. In conclusion, the study suggests that thevery absence of defi ned marketing resources on theorganizational chart of any SME raises the risk of investorsand provides the executive with a fi rst- aid treatmentagainst slow sales growth problems.