Five P's: People

Last, but definitely not least, in this highlight of the five P's of marketing is people. I would argue that people are the most important aspect of your business and must be central to your overall strategy. This includes both who you hire and all of those who are in your community.

Who you choose to represent your business has such a dramatic effect on how it is perceived that firms spend vast sums of money to select employees and train them in a way that is consistent with their business principles. I would argue that the hiring process is one of the most important business processes you can have due to the impact each employee can have on your business and brand. In the context of marketing, there are several key categories we can use to think about how a hire will affect our brand building efforts.

Customer Service

When looking for how a potential employee will interact with customers, it is tempting to have a view that only external customers should be considered. I would disagree with this hiring strategy and would argue that evaluating customer service skills is one of the most important things you can do to build a strong culture and efficient workplace. Even roles that are not traditionally considered to have customer service skill requirements, such as finance, can benefit greatly from being staffed with those who excel in these skills. Taking the finance department as an example, they have multiple internal customers and by making sure these customers are getting high levels of service we can ensure a more cohesive business and see improved operational efficiencies. Not to mention a more collaborative company culture.

This is not to say that customer service skills are the end all be all for a role. Having top notch customer service skills without the core understanding of finance would be disastrous if hiring for the finance department. I would, however, argue that apart from the core technical knowledge needed to perform the role we must consider customer service skills to be the most important soft skill to look for in new employees.

Fostering a service centric mindset in your business will trickle through the organization and ultimately be felt by the customers. Going off our previous example, strong customer service by the finance department means that the operations team will be able to place purchase requisitions efficiently and get them approved faster. This trickles through to shorter lead times for operations to get materials they need and therefore shorter turnaround times for external customers who are ordering your products.

Employee Attitude

While having the right attitude can definitely lead to better customer service it is good to keep in mind what attitude you want to present to the customer. At first this seems rather obvious, present a friendly and helpful attitude to the customer and your business is sure to succeed. I would argue this is not the case, the attitude your team presents to the customers should be reflective of your brand image. The most obvious of these examples can be seen in restaurants who set their brand as being "cheeky" or "rude". We may not think that asking employees to be snarky and rude to customers is a solid strategy at first, but when it aligns with the brand image this can be a great way to stand out in the crowd. Additionally, think about the attitude you feel incertian luxury clothing stores versus more main street stores. The attitude presented by the employees is purposefully different to align with the brand image and give customers an enjoyable experience.

These factors, combined with the other areas I spoke about in the other four P's of marketing, determine how your business is viewed by your customers and the global community at large. We often get so focused on making sure our customers know where we stand and how we are perceived that we fail to take into account the bigger picture. Marketing is about more than just how do you sell more product and grow your business faster.

Marketing is about crafting a dialogue between your business and the rest of the community. By speaking in a way that reaches your community (local, national, and sometimes even global) you can position your business in a way that it can do good while doing well. There are countless examples of firms, big and small, successfully taking on initiatives larger than themselves not just to get good press but to do something that is truly good for the world. Marketing builds the channel so your people can talk to members of your community, learn what they need, and give them the goods and services they need to have a better life.

Afterall, in the end business is all about people.