7Ps of Marketing: People (Smart Monday/People)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing, and it is Smart Monday.  We’ve got a great topic for you today in our continuing series of the 7Ps - the “7Ps of Marketing: People.”

We’ve talked a lot about the 7Ps of Marketing.  It’s a great tool to assist you in developing a strategy to achieve goals within your organization.  Today we are going to talk about People.  When you really think about it, do your customers buy your product or are they buying into the people in your organization who represent that product?  There’s an argument both ways.

Having the right kind of people in your organization can be a huge asset with respect to the enhancement of your brand.  Your brand can be severely diminished if you have people in your organization who are not truly brand ambassadors and are not representing your products or company values in the right way.

One aspect of your goals in relation to personnel is ensuring employees understand that they are brand ambassadors.  What they say and do, as well as how they interact with your customers is critical as it becomes part of the perception of the brand in the mind of the customer and, is also critical to creating a positive experience for customers.

How do you enhance your brand through your people?  You should start with yourself, “brand you” if you will.  Everything we’ve been talking about with respect to branding applies to the individual.  You can enhance your own personal brand and your relationship with your customers. 

You should also consider all the touch points where employees engage your customers.  It might be face-to-face in a sales capacity or customer services.  Often it’s on the phone or via the Internet.

We’ve talked about place or the distribution of your product.  Everywhere your product is distributed there is a person or an experience representing your organization.  Ensure those encounters are as favorable as they can be.  People are an essential part of the 7Ps of Marketing.  To truly enhance your brand, and potentially sell more product, looking at every interaction with your customers is key to success.

You may identify a need to create training around how to be a great brand ambassador for your organization.  Consider it for yourself, for the people in your organization, and perhaps even for people outside your organization who are representing your product. 

That concludes our Smart Monday.  Stop by tomorrow for Strategic Tuesday.  If you need more branding assistance, feel free to contact me to discuss a possible one-on-one service engagement.  That information is at the end of the blog.  I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing, and we’ll see you next time.

James Glover: (505) 501-1330 or onceadaymarketing@gmail.com