Businesses of every type succeed based on fundamentals, and if those fundamentals aren’t in place, failure is almost inevitable. But when they’re present and coupled with plain hard work, success is likely.

These fundamentals are narrowed down to 3 P’s in marketing, and we will fully talk about them in this article.

• What is the 3 P’s of Marketing?
• What is the 7 P’s of Marketing?
• What are the 4 P’s and 4 C’s of Marketing?
• Why are the 7 P’s of Marketing Important?
• What is the Most Important Marketing mix?
• 3 P’s of Sales
• Additional 3 P’s of Marketing Mix
• 3 P’s of Marketing Communication Strategy
• 3 P’s of Business

What is the 3 P’s of Marketing?

People

Of the three “P”s, “people” are the most important. Without good people, good processes and good products only do so much. Simply put, the “right” people are effective while the “wrong” people can destroy a business. And what’s “right” for one business may not be for another.

Read Also: What is Marketing Integration?

Furthermore, you can’t just look at someone’s résumé or college transcripts and tell that he or she is the right person. Sure, you can judge qualifications, but effectiveness is something businesses will pick up on (or not) in person, when they interview a job candidate interview and see how he or she interacts.

Process

How well does a business develop and deliver the processes that make it run? Assuming a business has hired the right people, the second element necessary for success is having processes that make sense. Neither should they be needlessly complicated. Suppose you’re in the publishing business.

Your product may be books, but the processes that go into turning outlines into drafts into manuscripts into proof copies have an enormous bearing on how efficient and effective the creation of those books is. In most businesses, processes must adapt with the times, or the business risks being left behind by competitors.

Product

In many cases, a company’s product is a tangible item: a tool, software package, article of clothing, or food product. But sometimes the product is a service, such as tax accounting, legal advice, or cleaning services.

A great product alone isn’t enough to make a business successful, but it is essential because people simply won’t buy irrelevant or inadequate products (or services).

But with efficient, well-engineered processes for delivering those products or services, and a team of outstanding people to make sure it all gets done and that customers are taken care of, a great product can transform a business from struggling to thriving.

What is the 7 P’s of Marketing?

The 4Ps were designed at a time where businesses were more likely to sell products, rather than services and the role of customer service in helping brand development wasn’t so well known.

Over time, Booms and Pitner added three extended ‘service mix P’s’: Participants, Physical evidence and Processes, and later Participants were renamed, People. Today, it’s recommended that the full 7Ps of the marketing mix are considered when reviewing competitive strategies.

The 7Ps helps companies to review and define key issues that affect the marketing of its products and services and is often now referred to as the 7Ps framework for the digital marketing mix.

How can I use this model?

Although it’s sometimes viewed as dated, we believe the 4Ps are an essential strategy tool to select their scope and is particularly useful for small businesses. For startups reviewing price and revenue models today, using the Business Model Canvas for a marketing strategy is a great alternative since it gives you a good structure to follow.

Companies can also use the 7Ps model to set objectives, conduct a SWOT analysis and undertake competitive analysis. It’s a practical framework to evaluate an existing business and work through appropriate approaches whilst evaluating the mix element as shown below and ask yourself the following questions:

• Products/Services: How can you develop your products or services?
• Prices/Fees: How can we change our pricing model?
• Place/Access: What new distribution options are there for customers to experience our product, e.g. online, in-store, mobile etc.
• Promotion: How can we add to or substitute the combination within paid, owned and earned media channels?
• Physical Evidence: How we reassure our customers, e.g. impressive buildings, well-trained staff, great website?
• People: Who are our people and are there skills gaps?
• Partners: Are we seeking new partners and managing existing partners well?.

An example of a company using the 7Ps strategy

Take a look at HubSpot as an example, which was founded in 2006; Hubspot now boasts over 86,000 total customers in more than 120 countries. Comprised of Marketing Hub, Sales Hub, Service Hub, CMS Hub, and a powerful free CRM, HubSpot adds value for customers in every aspect of the 7Ps.

What does a successful marketing mix look like?

This is a top-level overview; you would take this into greater detail and ask the following questions:

1. Products/Services: Integrated toolset for SEO, blogging, social media, website, email and lead intelligence tools.

2.  Prices/Fees: Subscription-based monthly, Software-As-Service model based on number of contacts in database and number of users of the service.

3. Place/Access: Online! Network of Partners, Country User Groups.

4. Promotion: Directors speak at events, webinars, useful guides that are amplified by SEO and effective with SEO. PPC Social media advertising, e.g. LinkedIn.

5. Physical Evidence: Consistent branding across communications.

6. Processes: More sales staff are now involved in conversion.

7: People: Investment in online services.

8. Partners: Hubspot looks to form partnerships with major media companies such as Facebook and Google plus local partners including Smart Insights who it is collaborating with on research in Europe.

What are the 4 P’s and 4 C’s of Marketing?

One tenet of marketing that has been going through a metamorphosis over recent years is that of the marketing mix and more specifically, the 4P’s. It seems that where P once reigned supreme, the 4C’s are now where it’s at.

With origins dating back as far as the early 1940’s, the 4P’s can be attributed to marketer and academic, E. Jerome McCarthy. Known as the Original Marketing Mix, they provided a decision-making framework when it came to the following marketing aspects:

• Product
• Price
• Place
• Promotion   

In 1990 the 4C’s were born:

• Clients / Consumers
• Costs
• Convenience
• Communications

This proposal came about at a time when there was a deliberate shift being made from mass marketing to a more niche kind. The consumer (not the product) was now king and marketers had to adapt accordingly.

Nearly three decades have passed since the coining of the 4C’s. During that time, they have continued to grow in relevance in comparison to their P counterparts, but why is this?

P’s or C’s

Following the shift in marketing mix approaches, marketing methods also had to adapt. The decline in a one-size-fits-all mass marketing ideal meant the 4P method of marketing (where the emphasis is on the seller and what they want to sell to you) was no longer viable. The growth of niche marketing and the 4C’s was instead a better fit, taking into account the wants and needs of consumers.  

Once the differentiation of approaches are outlined it becomes clear that, when it comes to marketing your school, the 4C’s marketing mix is a better fit for you and what you are trying to achieve.

For a parent, the process of choosing the school they will be sending their child to is a unique one – as unique as their child, in fact! Likewise, the same decision-making process is an extremely personal one. And unfortunately, the 4P’s are just not personal enough.

Customer vs Product

In the customer vs product discussion we need to look at what it is you are actually selling.

An education, opportunities and fond memories of a childhood well spent are not a product. The intangibility of what you offer to every pupil who matriculates through your school means you cannot easily market your product. But the 4C’s have the solution to this. If you can’t focus on your product, you can focus on your customer. 

Having the client as your focus in your marketing strategy is incredibly important, particularly when it encourages you to better understand your customer – not just how you can get them to buy what you’re selling.

What do your parents want by sending their children to your school? What do your pupils want? By crystallising the answer to this question, your school can ensure you are offering the core experiences and services that appeal to your target audience.

• What subjects matter most to your pupil’s parents?
• What will aid your students the most in the future?
• Which extra-curricular activities will turn out well-rounded individuals into society?
• Which ways do your parents want to be interacted with, and for what purpose?
• What kind of careers do your parents and pupils envisage for themselves? 
• What languages will be of most relevance in the world in 15 years time? 

These are just some of the kind of questions that present themselves when the focus from your marketing mix is on the customer and not simply your (intangible) product.

Costs vs Price

While an acceptable price point for your product is an important part of any marketing mix, when there is a more consumer-centric focus we realise, that for your prospective parents, it will not be the sole financial consideration that will be taken into account.

When a parent decides to enrol their child at your school, they know that paying for the services and benefits you will provide will not be a one-time purchase. By paying their deposit, by submitting their application, they are agreeing to pay fees for the foreseeable future.

They are aligning themselves with the decision that they will be required to pay for uniforms and trips, and to attend and donate to your charity events, among other things.

Further to this, while we are aware that competition in the marketplace is healthy, encouraging businesses offering similar products to up their game and vie for buyer attention, a sole financial competitor strategy is not the way to go.

According to Rory McClean (Web Marketer and Digital Analyst with Custom Fit Online), when you “rely strictly on the price to compete you are vulnerable to competition – in the long term”.

If the only financial considerations you are taking into account are your school fees, you are leaving yourself open to another school (with a better marketing strategy) swooping in to tell your prospective parents why their school is better than yours.  

Using the cost aspect of the 4C’s as opposed to the price of the 4P’s you will be able to illustrate a more realistic approach when marketing to your prospective parents – one that is more in-line with their considerations and obligations.

Yes, they know private schooling is an expensive business but your marketing team can take the time to assure parents that the value you will imbue into their children will far outweigh their financial outlay. This can be measured in the: 

• the skills they will acquire
• the friends they will make
• the grades they will achieve
• the notable universities they will be able to apply and be accepted into.

Further to this, you can also highlight financial aid to those it may be relevant to – leading us nicely on to the next element…

Convenience vs Place

Have you ever heard the saying, “If you don’t like where you are – move! You are not a tree!” While this is sound advice for an individual with the ability to get up and move, it is not something that can really be applied to your school. Your building is your building, your school is your school!

Once again, it immediately becomes clear that ‘place’ does not really have a place in your marketing strategy. On the other hand, the customer-oriented approach of convenience is something that can most certainly be employed by your marketing team.

In the context of the 4C’s, convenience is about making the process of your customers buying, accessing of or using your product as easy as it can possibly be. To do this, you again need to take into account the needs and habits of prospective parents and pupils.

The most obvious area in which you can provide convenience for parents and pupils is via your website. You can do this by providing the information that is going to be of most relevance to them, in the most convenient and easily-accessible way.

Our analytics show there are key pages on your school’s website that will generally experience higher levels of traffic from prospective leads. In descending order with highest levels of traffic at the top, these pages are:

1. Admissions
2. Fees
3. Welcome from the Head / About Us
4. Opening Morning / Day Events
5. Bursaries and Scholarships
6. Contact 

Using this above information, your marketing team can ensure the most sought after information about your school and pupils is made easily accessible. If the information that matters to your prospective parents also matters to you then the task of converting enquiries to enrolments should become that much more achievable. 

Communications vs Promotion

Promotion of a product can at times be considered a manipulative facet of marketing in the eyes of consumers. It is propagated by the seller, and as such can be deemed untrustworthy in its account.

Communication on the other hand implies a shared conversation between both the buyer and the seller. Used alongside the proliferation of social media, and its adoption by schools as a communication method, your ‘advertising’ can not only be achieved with incredible ease but also prove to feel extremely authentic. 

Communication is so much more than advertising though. It is every single way your school is able to interact with parents and pupils. The most prolific of these methods is of course your school’s social media platforms.

The sharing of your #SchoolStories helps those interested in establishing relationships with your school to really begin to understand you and your pupils on a personal level. This in turn can eventually lead to greater brand loyalty.

It is a perfectly feasible notion that parents will now be looking to connect with your school via the various social platforms you subscribe to, in order to begin getting an idea of who you are and what that could mean for their child long before their intended enrolment.

Employing a plethora of communication methods (social media, emailing lists, etc) and coupling these with other methods of promotion will go a lot further than promotion on its own – both in terms of engaging with your target audience and staying ahead of the competition. 

While the original 4P’s still have a place within the marketing mix (they still pose important factors to think of when marketing a product or service), it is arguable that they do not fit in with the needs of today’s marketing objectives.

The 4C’s have more relevance, particularly when it comes to marketing educational institutions and other companies offering intangible products and benefits.

The abstract nature of what you offer as a school, coupled with the fact that you are offering something extremely personal to your target audience, means you will have to really understand your audience. The 4C’s help you achieve this in a way the 4P’s could not, especially if employed as a sole marketing method.  

Having said that, it is also really important to remember that every business, product or service out there is different. As such, they may call on a marketing mix as unique as they themselves are, a mix that amalgamates the eight elements we have discussed in this article.

When making these kinds of decisions, there are a number of variables to take into consideration. The one thing that won’t change is the fact that marketing as an industry will continue to evolve. In order to stay ahead of the game, marketers need to ensure they continue to ‘mix it up’ in the most relevant ways.

Why are the 7 P’s of Marketing Important?

Each aspect of business builds upon marketing. Marketing is a significant role player in the performance of business. The importance of marketing can be understood through the points mentioned below:

Exchange and progression of goods — Marketing is highly beneficial in deportation, transaction, and progression of goods and services. Products and services are contrived available to consumers by numerous intermediaries like wholesalers and vendors. Marketing is profitable for manufacturers and consumers both.

Rising the living standard — Through the availability of continuous supply of goods and services to customers at a nominal price, marketing has a significant role in establishing the living standards of the society. The community consists of three genres of people that are wealthy, middle, and poor. All the things which are accounted by these three classes of society are outfitted by marketing.

Increase in employment — Marketing is a complicated practice involving numerous people in under one segment. The chief marketing activities include buying, selling, transporting, storing etc. Every function comprises of different activities which are performed by a large variety of individuals.

Hence it helps in raising the level of employment. According to the sources, almost 40% of the whole population is reliant on marketing directly or indirectly. The widened role of marketing has immensely increased the employment level for people.

Opening of income and revenue -Marketing caters various opportunities to bring in profits in the practice of buying and selling the products and goods, through slashing time, place and tenure utilities. That income and investment can be used as profits in future ventures. Marketing must be given the utmost significance, as the initial and conclusive survival of the company gambles upon the potency of the marketing operation.

Support for Making Decisions — A businessman goes through several complications during the process of creation and distribution of goods and services. He/she requires the exact and relevant information and queries related to their product and service. Marketing process ease this complexity of businessmen by forming a direct link between manufacturer and consumer.

Opening of new ideas — Marketing concept is deeply dynamic and progressive. It has altered and modified several aspects for the better functioning of certain activities. With the changes in taste and preferences of consumers marketing accord understanding and apprehension accordingly.

Advancement of Economy — Marketing is considered and characterized as a wizard that sets the economy whirling. An organized marketing structure helps the economy to rise and lessens the burden of a weaker economy.

What is the Most Important Marketing mix?

Now, more than ever, the world is awash with hundreds of different products to choose from. As consumers, we’re spoilt for choice.  But in this day and age, the best marketing in the world can’t mask a bad product. The is why the product choices we make have drastic marketing implications for the business.

Every new product carries advertising messages attempting to convince us why their products represents the best purchase decision. While spoilt for choice, we also face the burden of a never-ending supply of advertising campaigns pushing products at our overloading brain.

These campaigns become more intrusive every day with messages invading our social media feeds, web browsing, viewing habits, and more. Advertisements are everywhere, escape is near impossible.

But peaking behind the veil of these promotional messages, we see a product that most often we do not need or want. Minus the really remarkable product. Marketers can do all the promotion and advertising they want, but if the product isn’t remarkable and does not satisfy a need or a want in a unique way, then as consumers we will mentally ignore it.

We believe this highlights why the product is the most important aspect of the four P’s of marketing –  Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. Without a product, you cannot implement any one of the other three elements of the marketing mix. And great products are easy to market as they serve both a need and want.

What is a Product

Let’s start by defining what exactly encompasses a product. It’s reasonable to surmise that a product is anything tangible or intangible which in most cases a consumer is willing to pay money for. The product brings us back to the basics of marketing. It’s a company’s revenue stream and lifeblood. The product satisfies a consumer’s need and/or want.

Products come in numerous forms. Convenience products are popular allowing consumers to make quick purchase decisions (most often habitual purchases). These products normally satisfy our basic needs.

An example is milk – a simple product which consumers aren’t overly fussy about. With these kinds of products brand name and recognition can make the difference between success and failure.

Other products entail a high purchase decision such as a new car. People spend more time researching and weighing up their options when the product is more expensive or risky. The third type of product is speciality products which appeal to a certain market segment e.g protein bars for gym enthusiasts.

Your job before developing any product is to decide what type of product you’re creating. What need does it serve? Is there demand – does it cater to a want or desire? Is there a gap in the market for this product? I would suggest a speciality product type for most new SME’s due to the competitive environment.

This type of product allows you to cultivate a niche market serving a small but impassioned customer base. These customers then spread the word about your brand as they become passionate brand advocates. This culminates in the product becoming trendy and finally, we witness mass market exposure.

Creating a product

Before you diverge into the world of entrepreneurship, you must decide what needs your product satisfies which isn’t currently being met in the overcrowded marketplace. How will your product be different? Any product worth developing needs to provide additional benefits other than the basic functions in order to stand out.

Additional benefits may be intangible. This is where marketing and storytelling come into the equation. Although the product is the most important part of the marketing function, it needs other elements intertwined in order to succeed, such as promotion, place, and price. E.g Starbucks make coffee, but when consumers go to Starbucks they’re not just buying a cup of coffee.

They’re buying all the additional benefits that come with it such as perceived high-quality taste and a relaxing atmosphere. Other additional benefits come in the form of after-sales service, warranties, free delivery, installation etc.

Marketing a Product

For your product to be successful, market research needs to be conducted in order to see if there’s a market for the product. Victorious products are designed to meet the consumer’s needs. Researching the market will help you find these unfilled needs.

This is a good starting point to find the target audience and their demographics. If you find only a very small market segment for your product, that doesn’t mean you should abandon the project.

Instead, tailoring your message might be the best idea and promoting to compliment these peoples’ world views. Aligning brand personality to match these people’s self-image is always a good marketing strategy.

Read Also: What is Call Tracking Marketing?

If your product is different and innovative then you’ll attract early-adopters in the growth stage of the product cycle. An example of early-adopters, spreading products like wildfire, is seen in the book on Consumer Behaviour by  Vishwajeet Prasad.

In this book, he illustrates how rap music originally spread swiftly among urban youths because of the low costs of recordings. Later, it became popular among different segments spreading to the mass market worldwide. The same can be seen in herbal teas.

When green tea and decaffeinated teas first launched there wasn’t a large market for the product. Ordinary tea kept most people happy.  By identifying one small segment looking for something different and targeting them, another profitable segment emerged.

3 P’s of Sales

Today’s buyers have access to a virtually endless supply of information, and, as a result, place an unprecedented burden on sellers to demonstrate value. In order to meet this challenge and have successful sales interactions, sales reps must change the way they sell and dedicate themselves to the buyer’s success.

There are three P’s today’s sellers must adopt to have successful sales interactions:

1. Personalization

Personalization is an essential part of the modern selling process. One of the major reasons buyers lose interest is that the information they receive from sales reps is simply not relevant to them. In fact, another Forrester report revealed that 78% of executive buyers claim salespeople do not have relevant examples or case studies to share with them.

Therefore, in order to differentiate themselves from the competition and impress buyers, sales reps should always personalize their outreach and presentations. From prospect outreach to product demos, reps should tailor each interaction according to specific buyer information such as company, role, industry, and stage in the buying process. By focusing on the buyer, reps can create interactions that are relevant and valuable.

2. Problem-centricity

Extraordinary sales reps must also be focused on the buyer’s business problems. However, only 20% of sales reps who call on executive buyers today are focused on problem-solving.

It’s no wonder, then, why so many executive buyers are unhappy with their sales interactions. Reps that address business problems during each interaction can change this by positioning themselves as an important resource to prospects.

Additionally, focusing on the buyer’s problems will drive future sales conversations and build trust. Focusing on the customer’s problems will help move the sale along, which creates value for buyers who most likely want to solve their problems as quickly and effectively as possible.

3. Proactivity

Finally, sales reps should be proactive when preparing for sales conversations. They should brainstorm a list of possible objections for their interactions and how to overcome each of them. Amazing sales reps are also proactive in helping their buyers.

These reps help their buyers by providing insights and validating industry- and role-specific pains and challenges. These reps helps their buyers improve their business and simultaneously increase their chances of winning the deal, as roughly 75% of executive buyers usually pick a vendor that helps them shape a vision.

Sellers who prepare for each sales interaction with a specific customer in mind are more capable of defining a problem and shaping a vision for that customer and company.

Ample access to information has empowered today’s buyers to guide the sales process, and in effect, apply high selectivity when it comes to vendor evaluations. This selectivity challenges sales reps to adjust their selling approach from feature-focused to buyer-focused.

Adopting these three P’s of sales interactions will help sales reps make the adjustment and begin having more productive, successful sales interactions.

Additional 3 P’s of Marketing Mix

While the original four P’s still apply to service businesses, these additional aspects are equally as important. In this section, we will cover some details of the three forgotten P’s.

1. People

Who provides services to customers? In most cases, it’s people. The quality of the service being provided by a company’s people largely contributes to the customer’s overall experience, which is why many service-based businesses view their employees as an investment.

When it comes to the people aspect of a service business, there are two types of marketing involved: internal marketing and external marketing.

A great service business realizes that in order to offer customers the best experience possible, its employees must be on board, which requires internal marketing. This is why service businesses are usually prepared to invest additional time and money to ensure that their employees are well-trained and engaged.

External marketing involves the interaction between employees and customers. This is where elements like training, sales scripts, and employee image come into play.

2. Process

For every service-based business, there is a process that happens behind the scenes to make that service possible. Your processes contribute to the overall experience you offer and are also a great way to differentiate yourself from the competition.

What do your processes look like, and how do they make you unique? Does it make your service faster than the competition? More affordable? More memorable? More reliable?

It’s true that processes look different for everyone, but the one thing that is important for businesses of all kinds is that these processes remain consistent, ensuring that your customers’ experiences are also consistent.

Creating a service blueprint can be a great way to not only maintain consistency but discover potential opportunities to improve your processes and therefore the experience that you offer.

A service blueprint draws out each step in your processes, including actions that are visible to the customers, and ones that happen behind the scenes. Being able to view the big picture can make it easier to spot opportunities that would have otherwise gone unnoticed.

3. Physical environment

Since services are intangible, businesses often make up for this by putting additional effort into the physical environment where the service is being offered. Basically, the physical environment is the appearance and overall vibe of the area where the service is received.

When choosing a restaurant, customers will consider its ambiance – lighting, decor and so on. When choosing a hair salon, customers may consider whether the waiting room has comfortable seating and reading material available. A sign advertising a great deal on oil changes may tempt customers to choose one mechanic over another.

Service businesses can take advantage of their surroundings to make the experience more memorable, simple, tempting, extravagant or comfortable for customers.

Depending on your business and your goals, altering your business’s physical environment could be as simple as acquiring some assets and materials to add to your space, such as signage to make it easier for customers to navigate your building.

Sometimes, it means re-inventing your space by investing in special decor or interior design. Hiring a professional interior design service, such as Kelowna’s the Hatch which specializes in design for commercial spaces, often pays off for service businesses!

3 P’s of Marketing Communication Strategy

An organisations marketing communication strategy are represented by 3Ps: Push, Pull and Profile.

Push strategy: This strategy promotes products to retailers or wholesalers in order to force the product line down the distribution line.

Pull strategy: This strategy is the opposite to push strategy where communication reaches to consumer or end user first with an aim to attract the retailer wholesaler channel to purchase the product line.

Profile Strategy: In order to satisfy an organisations promotional goals profile strategy is used. This strategy mostly aims towards satisfying stakeholder needs.

Use of communication strategies:

Push Strategy:

Main focus of push strategy is to use minimal or no advertising to get the product to the buyers. This strategy acquires customers by personal sale (Wind, 2009). One of the places can be tradeshows where products are shown to interested business.

In trade shows distributors get to know about product line up of a company with their business expertise they work on which product will suit them better and which product they want to represent.

Features of push strategies:

• In case of low brand loyalty product categorization.

• In situations where there are many substitutes available in the market.

• Comparatively innovative products to be marketed.

• Purchase of the product is mostly impulse.

• Consumer has prior knowledge of this product and has reasonable knowledge about the product.

Push strategy for Samsung works in different phases of the year. In 2012 Samsung showcased some of its prime products to the distributors. Samsung tablet with S-pen was among the top list of products that people businesses wanted to buy.

Pull Strategy

Using pull strategy marketing efforts are made to attract end users or customers. Lot of promotions are used, customers are given offers to buy the product at a better rate. Campaigns includes contests, free samples, social activities etc. In pull strategy if organisation add advertisement with the campaign then the whole costing becomes significantly higher.

Features of Pull strategy;

• The product demand as high

• Product line can be differentiate from other products on the basis of real or emotional features.

• Brand loyal consumers are the first line of customer who shows higher involvement in product purchase.

• Associated brand loyalty is higher.

• Often consumers make decisions of brand choice before even they are in store.

Samsung released first of its kind ‘Phablets’ in 2012. These were mobile devices with tablet computer’s capacity. In an attempt to enter the niche market Samsung advertised the product with enough time in hand. Used extensive promotional techniques so that consumers feel they need one of those devices.

Profile Strategy:

For the organisations interest it is vital to keep up good relationship with its various stakeholders. Using profile strategy awareness, perception, attitude and reputation of a company is build. Tools used are

• Public relations

• Sponsorship

• Corporate advertising

In cases of international market, nature of the foreign market is often determinant of the extent to which push, pull and profile strategy can be used. To overcome repetition in activities and better market reach different marketing strategy is adopted in each different markets. Some of these markets are highly fragmented whereas some of them are concentrated.

For Samsung profile strategy is useful before they meet with public and other stakeholders.

Having just one strategy may not give you as good of a return as you wish for. You might need to balance all strategies to create a satisfactory marketing mix that entices customers to buy your products. Some customers react to one type or the other depending on their stage in the decision-making process.

The bargain hunters might react to the Push marketing tactics while the socially-aware buyers might respond to the Pull marketing. Corporate companies may be swayed by associating themselves with organisations who have strong Profiles such as Apple.

If you have a product that requires a lot of convincing to buy, then mixing the strategies up will help to ensure that consumers can’t resist your offer.

3 P’s of Business

Why are the 3 Ps of business so important? Without good people in the right roles, your small business will struggle to serve customers, dampening your potential revenue.

If you don’t put effective processes in place for sales, production, billing, accounting and customer relationship management (CRM), your overhead costs will increase, reducing profitability.

And if you don’t have products or services that meet the needs of your market, it won’t be long before your small business is forced to close its doors.

1. People

People form the foundation for any successful small business. “Businesses are based on relationships and relationships are based on people,” says Marcus, “So, surround yourself with good people.”

That wasn’t the case at a Los Angeles company offering pet grooming, boarding and products. Even though most employees were dedicated to their work, the owner kept them on a short leash, blaming them for mistakes, and treating them worse than the four-legged guests in their kennels.

So, Marcus was not surprised to learn the small business was struggling. After all, it illustrates his thinking: “The customer is not No. 1 to me. They’re No. 2, right behind the employee.”

People issues can also come into play at the top of the organization, especially in family-run businesses. For instance, Marcus found that one of the reasons a New York retailer was struggling was the difference in opinion between the father, who lived in Florida, and the son, who managed the store.

Marcus also talked with the co-owners of a manufacturing company in Georgia founded when they were husband and wife. But after they divorced, the emotional rancor and conflict was hurting the business.

As Marcus says, “If you have trust with somebody, it can survive any downturn, any mistake, any problem. And if you don’t have trust, it won’t matter how good the business is. It will fall apart eventually.”

2. Process

Why is process the second of the 3 Ps of business? It’s because your people need to work in the most efficient and productive manner.

That means looking at your operational processes carefully to understand every step from receiving an order to delivering the finished product or service. As Marcus says, “Control your cash, stick to your core business, and know your numbers.”

That wasn’t the case for a Georgia-based cooler company until Marcus stepped into the picture. The owner had developed an excellent line of high-quality coolers, but the company was losing money. One of the key reasons: lack of an effective inventory system in a disorganized warehouse.

That led Marcus to educate the owner about the importance of improving the inventory process in order to improve profitability for the innovative business.

Restaurants also need to have efficient processes in place. A small New York Mexican restaurant was having a difficult time obtaining its specialty dishes because it relied on one manufacturer, who gave priority to his bigger customers.

At a New Jersey Italian restaurant, Marcus found that the kitchen space was small and overcrowded. He recommended a renovation and expansion that added more space to the “production” area, while accommodating more patrons. The result was a big jump in revenue. As Marcus says, “Performance is the best way to shut people up.”

3. Product

With your people and processes in place, now it’s time to take a close look at your products. Whether you serve consumers (B2C) or businesses (B2B), your small business needs to offer the right products for your customers. As Marcus says, your product line should be practical, purposeful and profitable.

However, some businesses develop their products in a casual or haphazard manner without listening to customer feedback. For instance, Marcus found the owners of a California online t-shirt retailer were more focused on acquiring other businesses than expanding their own brand.

Other product-related problems stem from an unrealistic approach to the market. A specialty dessert store in New York, for example, had carved out a niche in a very competitive market.

But Marcus found the owner had tried to expand too quickly while still tinkering with the product line. Once those fundamentals were in place, thanks to Marcus’ advice, the owner was able to move ahead with success.

Having a strong product line opens the door to other new business opportunities as well. Just ask the married co-owners of a food company in Kentucky. They developed their own line of barbecue sauces for their restaurant, and turned to Marcus for advice on growing their small business.

He suggested bottling their proprietary BBQ recipes and selling the sauces online as well as in their store. The result was a new revenue stream to add to the business’ current product line. As Marcus says, “Performance is the best way to shut people up.”

As the owner of a small business, it is easy to get caught up in the day to day responsibilities of your role. A key employee might be unable to work for a few days, a customer might ask about a delayed shipment or you might get an RFP for a potentially big sale. Those are just a few of the things that can command your attention in today’s always busy world.

But try to take a few moments each day to step back from all the activity and take a different perspective. How well are you doing on the 3 Ps of business? Are your people, processes and products in alignment or do you need to make some adjustments? Paying attention to those 3 Ps can keep you moving toward that all-important fourth P – profitability.

Conclusion

The next time you are creating an advertisement for one of your product lines, you should take a helicopter view of your product and look deep into the product core. Is your product really satisfying an underlying need or desire?  Is your product remarkable and if so what makes it remarkable?

What are the unique selling points? What can your product do better than competitors? It’s these questions, as marketers we need to ask ourselves. Without a really good product, all the promotion and price changes in the world won’t make your product successful.