The formula deals with these items, product, price, promotion, place, packaging, positioning, and people. As products, markets, customers, and needs change rapidly, we must continually revisit this formula to make sure we are on track for achieving the maximum results possible in today’s economy.

To start, we need to develop the habit of looking at our product as though we were an outside marketing consultant having been brought in to help our company decide whether or not our product is right for the market at this time. Ask critical questions such as: Is your current product or service, or mix of products or services appropriate and suitable for the market and the customers in this economy of today?

The next part of the formula has to do with price. We must continue to examine and reexamine the prices of the products and services we sell to ensure they are still priced appropriate to the realities of the current market. Sometimes we will need to lower our prices. At other times, it may be appropriate to raise our prices. Many businesses have found the profitability of certain products or services does not justify the amount of effort and resources that go into producing them. By raising our prices, we may lose a percentage of our customers, but the remaining percentage will generate more profit on each and every sale.

Once we have priced our product now it is time for us to start thinking about promoting! This is the third part of the marketing formula. Promotion includes all the ways we tell customers about our products or services and how we market and sell to them. Small changes in the way we promote and sell our products may lead to dramatic changes in our results. Experienced copywriters may often increase the response rate by simply changing a few words in our promotional materials.

Another important part of the marketing formula is the place where our product or service is actually sold. Develop the habit of reviewing and reflecting upon the exact location where the customer meets the salesperson. Sometimes a change in place may lead to a rapid increase in sales.

Packaging is an element of the marketing formula. Always stand back and look at every visual element of the packaging of our product or service through the eyes of the potential prospect. People form their first impression about us within 30 seconds of seeing us or some element of our company. Small improvements in the packaging or external appearance of our product or service will often lead to completely different reactions from our customers.

Let’s look at positioning. We should be thinking continually about how we are positioned in the hearts and minds of our customers. How do people think and talk about us when we are not in their presents? How do people think and talk about our Business? What positioning do we have in the marketplace, in terms of the specific words people use when they describe our offerings to others?

Finally, our people will be the most important part of the formula. Think in terms of the people inside and outside of our business who are responsible for every element of the sales and marketing strategy and activities. Our ability to recruit, hire and retain the proper people, with the skills and abilities to do the job we need to have done, is more important than everything else put together.

Starting today, position yourself in everything you do as the most believable and credible supplier of your product or service within your industry.

“Remember, Success is always Within Reach”

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