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The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Marketers

by Stephen W. McDaniel

With the publication ofMarketing Highway Technology and Programsin late 1990, the FederalHighway Administration (FHWA) acknowledged that the marketing concept understanding the

needs of the market and providing products or services that satisfy those needs has a role toplay in accomplishing the mission of the agency. In the administrator's statement at the beginningof this publication, then Federal Highway Administrator Thomas D. Larson wrote, "Marketing veryaptly describes what we need to do."1

Many federal officials who equated "marketing" with selling believed that marketing wasapplicable only in the private sector. But slowly, a broader perspective of marketing and its valueto the organization is emerging, and most officials now would agree with FHWA marketingspecialist Martha Soneira, who recently said, "Basic principles and techniques of marketing,typically associated with corporate America, also meet the needs of the public sector."2

In the "early days" of marketing in FHWA, the marketing effort was almost exclusively focused onfacilitating technology transfer, but recently, FHWA marketing specialists have been promoting

the use of marketing as a "business tool that can be applied across every discipline found withinan organization."3 This perspective is reflected in the principles of FHWA's Quality Journey tocreate and sustain continuous quality improvements and in the FHWA National Strategic Plan.

The strategic plan recognizes that "generally, [FHWA's] accomplishments result from cooperativeefforts rather than through compliance," and the plan is full of language such as "identify newinitiatives to meet emerging needs," "gathering input from our customers and partners,""committed to excellence in service to [FHWA's] customers and partners," and "[building] onongoing initiatives in quality, customer feedback, and program evaluation."4 All of this is part ofthe marketing process.

From 1991 to 1997, I conducted 30 marketing workshops across the United States for FHWA. Inthese workshops, I was privileged to interact with dedicated highway professionals who wereinterested in improving the agency's and their own abilities to develop innovative highwayproducts and programs and then to move them through the "system." I observed manyimpressive marketing efforts in various areas of FHWA.

Likewise, during my 25-year business and academic career (most of it spent as a marketingprofessor at Texas A&M University), I have been impressed by the marketing efforts of manycompanies in the business world. I have become increasingly interested in why some companies


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have more success than others. What separates the most successfulmarketers such as Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, DellComputer, and Wal-Mart from the less successful ones? What dohighly effective marketers do to achieve their successes?

Based on research and consulting projects I have done through the years

and from my own observations of companies' marketing practices, I puttogether a list of seven key success factors for marketing. These sevenfactors are what I see the good marketers doing. Borrowing semanticallyfrom Stephen R. Covey,5 I have entitled these success factors "The

Seven Habits of Highly Effective Marketers."

In this article, I present these habits, as well as some business and highway examples of each.My hope is that administrators, program managers, and others throughout the highwaycommunity will find these observations helpful in planning and implementing marketing efforts tosupport highway programs.

Habit #1: They are Customer-OrientedNo concept is more closely associated with what marketing should be about than focusing on the

needs of the customer. Although many people falsely associate marketing with the used carsalesman trying to push a lemon on to a victimized customer, the truth is that the goal ofmarketing, in its proper form, is to satisfy customers. As marketing expert Philip Kotler contendsin his best-selling marketing textbook, "The aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous. Theaim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well that the product or service fitshim and sells itself."6

So, marketing begins with finding out what customers want or need, developing that product,informing customers about it, then making it available to them. The business world is full ofexamples of products that have been successful, not because of "slick selling," but becausesomeone found out what people needed and then provided it to them.

A recent example is Colgate Total toothpaste. Introduced in December 1997 by the Colgate-

Palmolive Co., Total toothpaste, which contains a wide-spectrum antibiotic, is the first oralpharmaceutical ever approved by the Food and Drug Administration. A team of 200 scientists atColgate spent 10 years and $35 million developing Total toothpaste.7 Their charge was todevelop a good-tasting dentifrice that fought bacteria and did not get immediately washed away.With aging baby boomers increasingly concerned with gingivitis, the product targets consumersaware of this bleeding-gum problem. The idea of developing a product to meet a specificcustomer need has resulted in the largest marketing campaign in the company's history and asure blockbuster product.

Examples of customer-oriented marketing efforts are also found in the highway field. For morethan 15 years, FHWA's Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP), formerly the Rural TechnicalAssistance Program (RTAP), has been a model of being customer-oriented. LTAP centers haveestablished an impressive track record of helping local governments develop a sound

transportation system through training, technical assistance, and technology transfer. A relativelynew program component that is dedicated to meeting the distinctive needs of Native Americantribal governments shows how a customer-oriented program should work.

The Native American Local Technical Assistance Program (NALTAP), also known as the TribalTechnical Assistance Program (TTAP), has several customer-oriented objectives.8 The six TTAPcenters avoid holding their classes, workshops, and other training programs at the centers oreven hub locations. Instead, virtually all TTAP-sponsored programs are held where they are mostneeded and can be most effective at the customer's location. Through questionnaires,


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customer evaluations, and other forms of feedback, the centers regularly solicit opinions frompeople representing local tribal colleges and governing bodies. The TTAP centers focus onidentifying customers' needs and planning programs to respond to those needs.

Habit #2: They Know What's HappeningTo make good decisions, highly effective business marketers require good information from a

number of sources. To manage this information, businesses usually have some type of marketinginformation system composed of at least three parts: (1) an environmental scanning componentthat monitors the economic, demographic, political/legal, cultural, technological, and competitiveenvironments; (2) an internal marketing records system that provides reports on such importantitems as sales, orders, inventory levels, costs, prices, and accounts payable and receivable; and(3) a market research component that conducts market research studies on topics of particularinterest to marketing management.

One company that has consistently done a very good job of getting the right kind of informationfrom the right sources is Dell Computer. Founded in the mid-1980s by 20-year-old college studentMichael Dell, the company has become the darling of Wall Street. During the 1990s, Dell's stockprice has increased at a rate five times that of Microsoft a $1,000 investment in Dell in 1990would now be worth $300,000.

In 1992, Michael Dell became the youngest CEO everto make the "Fortune 500" list, and with a net worthtoday of more than $7 billion, he is one of the richestindividuals in the world. According to Fortunemagazine, "Michael Dell's distinctive edge is hisunderstanding of ... [the] landscape in the computerbusiness." Dell Computer's vice chairman adds, "Hehas an incredible sense of the market."

The following provides some idea of how this highlyeffective marketer has obtained this good feel for thecomputer business: "Dell ... spends one day each

week checking out the innovations at one of the site'stech facilities. He also spends a ton of time withcustomers, including a recent visit to Chicago wherehe participated in a sales presentation to senior

executives. For Dell, customer contact isn't just a question of boosting the business; it's stayingup on and in tune with an ever-changing market."9

Just as highly effective business marketers require good information from various sources tomake good business decisions, highly effective highway decision-makers likewise require goodinformation. The primary sources of this critical market information are the driving public, cities,states, industry, academia, and research, as well as other FHWA divisions and governmentagencies. One particularly commendable effort by FHWA in this regard is the InternationalTechnology Scanning Program.

Several teams recently completed information-gathering trips to nine countries to observeinnovative highway programs and practices that have the potential for transferability to U.S.highway systems. Finland and Sweden were the source for weather-related traveler information.Information on congestion management was obtained from The Netherlands. Traffic managementand transit program information was picked up in the United Kingdom. Bridge structureinformation was obtained from Japan, Germany, and Switzerland. And information-gathering tripsto New Zealand and Australia looked at road safety audits as a means to improve highwaysafety.10


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With so much information available, better access to and management of highway informationthat is most relevant to a specific highway issue are always needed. DataPave, a new softwareprogram, is an example of one such product. For 10 years, highway agencies have beencollecting data from thousands of long-term pavement performance (LTPP) experiments. Theprogram has a set of tools for searching, viewing, and manipulating the data, permitting a PC-user to access the entire LTPP database. As a result, virtually any information a decision-makermight like to have about an LTPP site can be quickly obtained. And this site information can beselected by key demographic characteristics experiment type, climate, traffic, geographiclocation, and others.11

Habit #3: They FocusTwo fundamental concepts critical to marketing success are market segmentation and targetmarketing.

Market segmentation involves conceptually breaking down the entire population of potentialcustomers into groups. These groups, or segments, are then viewed as possessing some sort ofhomogeneous characteristic related to their buying behavior. This characteristic, or segmentationcategory, might be related to demographics such as age, gender, location, or buying power or to some psychographic factor such as lifestyle, attitudes, or behavior.

Target marketing involves selecting the specific segment(s) within a segmentation category onwhich the marketing efforts will be focused. Market segmentation and target marketing recognizethat an organization cannot be all things to all people. Instead, the highly effective marketer mustfocus. And if there is more than one segment on which the organization desires to focus, then adifferent marketing effort may be required for each segment.

Several years ago, I served as a consultant to a small company that marketed devices thatattached to windows, giving them extra strength and providing protection from high winds. Informulating the best marketing strategy for this product, initial marketing research indicated thattwo demographic categories were probably the best on which to segment. The first wasgeographic location eventually targeting people who lived in hurricane-prone areas along theGulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. The second was type of property (residential or

commercial) eventually targeting facilities supervisors in high-rise commercial businesses. Theresulting target market of "businesses located in high-rise buildings in the 10 cities along the Gulfand Atlantic coasts that were most frequently hit by hurricanes" eliminated most of the U.S.population. But this process provided a well-defined target market on which to efficiently andeffectively focus the entire marketing effort.

In 1988, the South Carolina Department of Transportation (DOT) realized it had to do somethingabout the alarmingly high level of highway fatalities in the state the third highest in the nation atthe time.12 A public relations and advertising firm, Fisher Communications, was hired to developa statewide advertising campaign designed to call attention to the problem and to bring aboutsafer driving behavior. The result was a five-year campaign entitled, "Highways or Dieways? TheChoice Is Yours."

The hard-hitting television campaign was developed with a specific target audience in mind theperson with an attitude that says, "I'm a safe driver; nothing could happen to me." Depicting real-life situations, the campaign was designed to convince the person with a high level of self-perceived invincibility that they were not as safe a driver as they thought they were. For example,one spot showed a woman driving a minivan down the highway while looking in the rearviewmirror and putting on lipstick. In slow-motion and horrifying detail, the spot then dramaticallydepicts the fatal result.


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The South Carolina campaign was highly effective. Over a five-year period, the state experienceda 38-percent decline in its death rate. The number of highway deaths per 100 million miles (160million kilometers) of vehicle travel dropped from 3.7 to 2.3.

According to Fisher Communications president Kevin Fisher, the key to the success of thecampaign was the effective targeting of that driver who feels invincible behind the wheel. Many

people wrote or called the South Carolina DOT to say things like, "I feel like I just saw myself inthat television ad. I've done that, but never again!" Clearly, the targeting strategy hit its mark.

Habit # 4: They Are DifferentAny government agency, just likeany company, must have a basis fordistinguishing itself in themarketplace to justify its existenceor to compete effectively. A highlyeffective marketer differentiates hisproduct from everyone else's. Thisdifferentiating feature is called anorganization's "sustainable

competitive advantage." If abusiness or organization doesn'thave one, it won't be around long.

There are many bases for asustainable competitive advantage.The two most common are highquality and low cost. Suchconsumer brands as Mercedes-Benz, Rolex, and Maytag have achieved sustainable competitiveadvantages based on quality, while Southwest Airlines, Wal-Mart, and Timex have successfullydifferentiated themselves on the basis of low cost.

Southwest Airlines has done an excellent job through the years in differentiating itself in a highly

competitive industry. Begun in 1971 as a strictly regional airline serving only three Texas cities Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio Southwest Airlines has been successful in every newmarket it has entered. It now operates from 53 airports from Los Angeles to Baltimore.

Southwest Airlines has developed a highly effective system for keeping costs down and keepingkey services up. Although other airlines have tried to duplicate the Southwest model, none haveyet been successful. The following are some of the components of Southwest's model:

No meals on flights. Only one type of plane the Boeing 737. Cities' #2 airports are preferred. No travel agent bookings. High frequency between key cities. Short-haul flights. No tickets. No assigned seating. High pilot flight load. Short airport turnaround times.

The results have been impressive. Southwest Airlines has the lowest seat-per-mile cost in theairline industry, while routinely recording the highest customer satisfaction scores in the industry.As a result, Southwest Airlines is the only major airline to record more than 25 consecutive years


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of profitability. Southwest is a truly effective marketer that has successfully differentiated itself inthe marketplace.

In the highway field, the road weather information system (RWIS), a unique product that wasdeveloped through the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP), has a competitiveadvantage based on both quality and low cost. It is a better system than the alternatives, and it

also saves money. This snow- and ice-control technology monitors pavement and weatherconditions to provide the real-time information necessary for effective coordination of anti-icingand snowplowing efforts.

The benefits of this technology are significant and readily discernable. The amount of time spentby crews and equipment clearing snow and ice is dramatically reduced, and the amount of salt,sand, and other materials needed can be significantly reduced. One estimate shows that RWIStechnology, used in conjunction with anti-icing procedures, can result in annual savings of $416per kilometer in areas with 100 hours of storms per winter to $4,385 per kilometer in areas with900 hours of storms.

Reported case studies have verified the advantages of RWIS. The North Dakota DOT savedbetween $10,000 and $15,000 in four storms by cutting back on the use of sand on one bridge.

Another estimate shows that using the RWIS system along a 153-kilometer stretch of the WestVirginia Parkway saved almost $9,000 per storm.13

New highway technology andprograms are much more likely to beadopted when it can be shown thatthis new approach is significantlydifferent from the alternative approach.

Habit #5: They CommunicateMarketing has traditionally beenassociated more with communication with telling people what you've got

and why they should buy your product than with any other marketingfunction. Although not necessarilymore important, communication iscertainly the most visible part ofmarketing. Indeed the expression

"Madison Avenue," which is commonly used to refer to general marketing practices, has its originas the name of the street on which many New York City advertising agencies were located.Communication efforts are the observable signs of the various marketing efforts going on behindthe scenes.

One of the most effective advertising campaigns in recent years is built around the three words"Like a Rock."

In 1991, the Chevrolet truck division of General Motors had a major image problem. Althoughengineering tests showed that the Chevy truck was one of the most dependable and well-built onthe market, consumers did not perceive it that way. Marketing research studies consistentlyshowed that Chevy trucks were perceived as "wimpy" and as the least dependable, least durabletrucks on the market.

Without substantially changing anything about the product, the company instead radicallychanged its communication approach or advertising strategy. The Campbell-Ewald advertising


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agency came up with the perfect solution for the product's image problem Bob Seger, his 1984original composition "Like a Rock," and captivating visual graphics demonstrating the ruggednessof the Chevy truck.

Now in its seventh year, the "Like a Rock" campaign has catapulted Chevy trucks to the top of theindustry and has placed Chevy trucks in the same category of perceived quality as Mercedes-

Benz, Lexus, Cadillac, and BMW.

Speaking of pick-up trucks and long-running ad campaigns, the Texas DOT has had greatsuccess for more than a decade with a litter prevention campaign built around just four words "Don't mess with Texas."

Based on extensive marketing research efforts by GSD&M, an Austin-based advertising agency,the "heavy litterer" was identified: a pickup-driving male, 18 to 34 years old, who likes sports andcountry music, has an anti-authority disposition, and is not motivated by appeals to civic duty.Supplemented with more than $114 million in free public service broadcast time, TxDOTeffectively targeted this market segment with a television and radio campaign featuring well-known sports figures (then Houston Oiler quarterback Warren Moon, boxer and Houston nativeGeorge Foreman), country singers (Willie Nelson, Jerry Jeff Walker, and LeAnn Rimes), and

others who tended to be highly respected by these young macho men.

This no-nonsense campaign has received several awards, including the "InternationalBroadcasting Award" presented by the Hollywood Radio & Television Society for the world's besttelevision ad and an FHWA award given annually to the state agency showing the best anti-littereffort.

Most importantly, during the first five years of the campaign, visible roadside litter in Texasdecreased 72 percent and the number of cans along Texas roads dropped 81 percent.

Although extensive (and expensive) media advertising is usually not possible for promotinghighway programs and products, effective communication can, nevertheless, take place throughany media. In September 1997, we did a survey of 24 individuals attending the Lexington, Ky.,

meeting of the Extended Superpave Technology Delivery Team. We listed severalcommunication methods and asked the respondents two main questions: In your opinion, to whatextent has the Federal Highway Administration used each of these so far in promotingSuperpave? In your opinion, how effective is each of these methods for promoting Superpave?

Figure 2 displays the results of this survey. Two key findings are apparent. First, thecommunication methods perceived to be most frequently used by FHWA in promoting thisprogram are not necessarily the ones perceived to be most effective. Second, the FHWAcommunication methods perceived to be most effective, at least for this program, tended to bethose of a personal, rather than a nonpersonal, nature. Although one would probably want to usea combination of several communication methods to promote a highway program, the resultsfrom this survey show that a highly effective Superpave program marketer would want to makesure that such methods as training courses and presentations to groups are included in the

communication program. It may be that the communication methods judged to be most effectivefor this program would be similar for other FHWA programs.

Habit #6: They GrowHighly effective marketers do not accept the status quo. They are constantly exploring ways toincrease sales and achieve greater market penetration. This growth might come from newcustomers or from current customers buying more of the product and perhaps even using theproduct for purposes other than its original use.


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For most business marketers, growth typically occurs from getting more people to buy theproduct. This might come from convincing them to try it for the first time or getting them to switchfrom a competitor's product. In some slow-growth industries where the market may be rathersaturated, much of a company's marketing effort might be directed towards convincing othercompanies' customers to switch. Pepsi spends much of its advertising budget trying to convincepeople to switch from Coke. Burger King tries to change people's automatic response to stop atMcDonald's for a hamburger. And who hasn't been barraged by telemarketing and direct-mailpleas from credit card-offering banks and telephone companies telling us we'd be much happierwith them?

Sometimes growth occurs from finding new uses for a productand successfully communicating these additional uses tocustomers. For example, over a period of several years, theFlorida Orange Juice Growers Association has convincedpeople that its product really is "not just for breakfastanymore." Now it has begun a campaign telling people thatbecause orange juice can help to fight cancer, people shoulddrink more of it at one time.

Current print and television advertising shows people drinkinga small glass of orange juice, and the ad has the tag line"Fight Cancer." Then an oversized glass dramatically appearswith another tag line: "Fight Cancer Harder!"

Other examples include the classic Arm-and-Hammer bakingsoda ads showing consumers putting it in the refrigerator,down the drain, and in the cat litter box to combat smells andthe WD-40 ads showing people loosening bolts, stoppingsqueaking hinges, and even lubricating shower-door tracks.This type of creative marketing can be very effective for"growing" sales.

In the current political environment where government downsizing is probably viewed morefavorably than government expansion, growth of highway programs might at first appear to beundesirable. But one should realize that business downsizing is also currently in vogue, and yet,revenue, sales volume, and market share increases are still desired. We are not talking aboutorganizational growth; we are talking about the growth of the influence of the organization in themarketplace.

Highly effective marketers are those who use their resources more efficiently so that, assuming asocially beneficial product, the marketplace is better off from the greater use or adoption of theproduct.

Within FHWA, the Superpave Program has experienced impressive growth in recent years. Since1993, the FHWA Superpave Technology Delivery Team has formulated and implemented

strategies for getting the Superpave system adopted by the highway community. According tosurvey data compiled by the Superpave team of lead states, 93 Superpave projects wereawarded in 1996. The following year, 350 projects, an increase of 276 percent, were awarded. In1998, 1,339 Superpave projects were awarded a 283-percent increase over 1997 and a 1,340-percent increase over 1996.14


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In a headline reminiscent of the famousFlorida orange juice slogan, a recent FHWApublication proclaimed, "The SuperpaveSystem: Not Just for Roads Anymore."15 Thearticle described the growing popularity of theSuperpave system. Not limited to statehighway agencies and local governments,Superpave mixes are being used on parkinglots of businesses and churches.

Growth in the adoption of the Superpavesystem is clearly an emphasis of theSuperpave lead states team. In 1996,Superpave mixes made up just 2 percent ofthe hot-mix asphalt used by the states. Thisincreased to 16 percent in 1998. By the year

2000, the team goal is for Superpave mixes to account for 88 percent of national tonnageawarded.

Even the very best consumer product marketers would be envious of this superb level of growth.

Habit #7: They Build Customer RelationshipsThe last of the seven habits comes back around to where the first one began with thecustomer. Here the emphasis is on building and cultivating good, long-term relationships withcustomers. The highly effective marketer realizes that nothing is more important to the continuedsuccess of the organization than good customer relations. Therefore, much effort is placed on"relationship marketing."

Having good customer relationships is beneficial to both the organization and the customer. Forthe organization's benefit, satisfied customers will tell their friends, providing the most effectivekind of promotion possible positive word-of-mouth advertising. A good relationship with a

customer also increases the likelihood of getting future business from that customer. Customersare more likely to do business with someone they know and trust.

And having good customer relations can also lower costs for servicing a customer becausefinding and developing a new customer can be much more expensive than cultivating a presentcustomer. One study showed that companies can improve profits from 25 percent to 85 percentby reducing customer defections by just 5 percent.16

A good relationship is also beneficial to the customer. Customers view repetitive dealings with afamiliar organization as less risky. For example, when we built our second house, we went withthe same builder who had built our first house. The main reasons were that we knew what wewere getting and we had positive prior dealings with that builder.

At the most fundamental level, people want to be dealt with on a one-on-one basis. Relationshipmarketing addresses the basic human need to feel important. We appreciated doing businesswith a builder who knew our names and remembered our kids. And because the organization hasdealt with the customer before, the customer might receive more effective service delivery fromthe organization. Relationship marketing allows the organization to become more knowledgeableabout the customer's requirements and needs. Because the builder knew our preferences, hecould better meet our expectations and satisfy our needs.


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Figure 3 shows the five levels of relationship marketing.17 At the most"basic" level, a marketer sells the product or service but does not contactthe customer again. At the "reactive" level, the marketer sells the productor service and encourages the customer to call if they have anyquestions or complaints. At the "accountable" level, the marketer phonesthe customer a short time after the sale is completed to see whether theproduct/service is meeting the customer's expectations. The marketeralso solicits suggestions from the customer so that the organization cancontinuously improve its offering.

The last two levels of relationship marketing emphasize true customerrelations. At the next-to-the-last level of relationship marketing, themarketer is "proactive" and contacts the customer from time to time with

helpful information. Finally, the ultimate in relationship marketing is when the marketer andcustomer essentially have a "partnership." The marketer works continuously with the customer todiscover ways that lead to more customer satisfaction. This partnership arrangement begins atthe product/service idea stage and continues for as long as the product/service is still in use.Although not every situation lends itself to a partnership type of arrangement, many high-ticketand long-term projects do.

Through SHRP, FHWA has generallyattempted to build customer relationships anddevelop a "partnership" level of relationshipmarketing. From the very beginning, customer(state) input was obtained, along with inputfrom industry, academia, researchers, andother highway interests. FHWA worked closelywith the state and local highway agencies totest under real-world road conditions the 100-plus products identified by SHRP.Considerable effort was made to provide thetraining, demonstration, and other resourcesnecessary to use the products.

In the March-April 1998 issue of Public Roads,Michael Halladay, chief of the Technology Management Division within FHWA's Office ofTechnology Applications and manager of the SHRP Implementation Program, provides anassessment of SHRP. He stresses the important role of "creative partnerships" in successfulSHRP efforts. Under the subheading, "Partnership Is the Key," he refers to the second phase or"post-research phase" of the SHRP program. "The second phase built on the successfulpartnerships created during the research phase. The partnerships functioned through distincttechnical working groups (TWGs) and expert task groups (ETGs) composed of highway agency,industry, academic, and FHWA representatives, whose specialized guidance and careful planningensured that any products developed met specific, identified needs."18

Now as the products coming out of SHRP are being adopted,FHWA's role shifts to making sure that the products are performingproperly, are being used properly, and that any problems for theuser are being addressed. As customer relations are emphasizedand partnerships are cultivated, everybody wins.

ConclusionEffective marketing should not be limited to corporate America. Asshown by the small sample of highway products and programsillustrated in this article, the highway community can also benefit


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from the use of effective marketing strategies. Effective marketing should not be limited to amarketing department. Everyone in the organization, whether they are selling toothpaste orbuilding highways, must realize that they are involved in marketing.

Within FHWA, all employees must realize their critical role in helping the agency succeed in eachof the seven areas emphasized in this article. Pavement engineers must make decisions from acustomer-oriented perspective. Bridge engineers should know what is happening in their field, inthe highway community, and in their local area. Management should make sure that everyprogram has a focused approach so that specific target results can be achieved. Continual effortsshould be made to find the best way of measuring pavement stress or fixing potholes so that themethod is significantly different from the status quo or other available options. Every engineershould be continually growing in his/her professional development and should be contributing to

the continued improvement in the effectiveness of the agency. Highway researchers should usethe most effective tools available to communicate their research findings to others. Technicalsupport personnel should be willing to give that extra service necessary to build customerrelationships. In short, everyone in the agency must be doing marketing.

As the seven habits of highly effective marketers are implemented throughout FHWA, not only willbetter and safer highways result, but better relationships with the various partners of highwayagencies will be developed