Remember when the 4 Ps was all you had to know to be a successful marketer: Product, Place, Price and Promotion? Well … the world has gotten a lot smaller and reaching people has gotten a lot easier. This adds some additional Ps to the mix.

The new Ps … People, Process and Positioning

When I talk about people, I am referencing both your customers and employees. Now that the world is smaller and geographic boundaries have been removed, your customers have so many options – this makes customer retention quite challenging. The way to retain customers is through relationship building. Relationship building is the job of your employees.

I read an analogy on relationship building; and think it is worthy of sharing: Compare how you behave driving in rush-hour traffic with how you drive down your own street past your neighbors. When you know you will see people again, or if you want to see them again, you treat them better. Share this with your employees and stress that they are the frontline when it comes to meeting customer expectations and building brand loyalty.

The original Ps hinge upon the Processes that you put in place. Once upon a time (actually not that long ago) packaged goods companies that relied on box stores to sell their good had no direct relationship with customers – think back to when the Apple stores did not exist. Now companies like Apple use their own brick and mortar, online, and social mediums to build direct relationships with customers. All these mediums take proper management, monitoring, and maintenance to be sure that customer expectations are met and brand loyalty is established.

The final of the “7” Ps refers to the overall experience of using the product or service. In other words, does the positioning of the product match the physical experience? The people you hire, the products you ship or service you provide, the price you charge, the promotions you choose, and the processes you put in place all contribute to the customer experience … and your overall success.

Leave a Reply