Marketing’s 5 P’s

Wait a minute. There are only 4 marketing P’s, right? Product, Price, Place, Promotion. There, that puts an end to the silly 5 P nonsense.

Unfortunately, too many CEOs, CMOs, small business owners, marketing firms,  you name it, think in the same terms as that first paragraph. They are focused on all the stuff, crap, junk (well, to some it is) they sell, and forget completely about to whom they are reaching out.

Anyway care to guess what the 5th P is? Anyone?

The Most Important Marketing P - PEOPLE

Why of course, it’s PEOPLE. People are who buy products and services. People are who refer us to others. It’s the people we engage with every day of our lives that ultimately sign our paychecks. (And I don’t just mean the people in accounting.)  Serving and supporting people is the very reason that each and every one of us is in business. Yet, that focus on people seems to get lost in all of the cool new gadgets, exciting new social media tools, profits and losses, customer service: I could go on.

Yes. All of these tools, channels, and business functions are important. But when we lose track of the people we are serving, things can become an ugly mess. Hell, just look at Congress. I digress. We have to remember that all of the above mentioned laundry list of tools are just that, TOOLS. Tools can be used either as a building force or a means for destruction. Just ask my wife about me with a hammer in my hands and you’ll understand.

Social media, SEO, Analytics, videos, podcasts, telephones, mobile devices, brand analysis, trade shows, they are all part of the toolbox of business. However, while we all seem to think we know how to use the tools, reading and understanding the blueprints are a whole other story.  That’s where attitudes and egos seem to get right in the way of our relationships with customers, and for that matter, employees.

I see employees who are beaten down and treated like dirt, yet expected to want to love their abusers and provide excellent service for their companies. Not going to happen. Employees become disengaged or angry, then take it out on customers during direct interaction or via the aforementioned Social Media.

CEOs, managers, etc. wonder why their employees are bashing them and causing harm to the company’s reputation by making their grievances public. Hmmm? They wonder what to do to quell public customer dissatisfaction. How do we get all of this negative talk off the Net? They blame the tools, the employees, the customers, yet rarely if ever look within to see what it is they are doing, or not doing, to cause or exacerbate the problem.

If they were willing to be a bit introspective, they would find that it’s likely they are focusing on the 4 marketing P’s they remember from business school and not the all important 5th P they learned about in kindergarten.

Please understand that I’m not dismissing all of the important tools that help us all build our brands, engage and retain more customers, and grow profits. We can find vast amounts of those tools and tactics on the Internet. Hey just use Google. However, Google will not help with our focus. And that focus should be laser-like on that most important of all the marketing P’s – PEOPLE.