Unfortunately, no one saw fit to sit down with this individual to obtain his input or even his recognition of the responsibility. A year passed and the planning group got together to review results and begin the design of the marketing plan for the next year. The marketing plan is based on poor data or poor interpretation of the data. Clearly, marketing strategy or action decisions based on faulty information are likely to yield less than optimal results. In one case, the sampling plan for a hospital-conducted community attitude study was not well designed, seniors were overrrepresented, resulting in a biased analysis.
Staff turnover causes a lack of continuity.
In recent years, the rate of turnover among senior healthcare managers has become quite high. This includes the senior marketing executives in all types of healthcare organizations. The objectives established for the marketing plan are unrealistic. Market objectives are the quantifiable, measurable targets that are being aimed for by the organization, such as enrollees, ER market share, number of referral sources or preference share. A marketing plan can fail if the objectives established are wholly unrealistic given the resources available, level of competition and time allowed.