Growing your business: How to relate with your clients

The 4Ps of marketing, also known as the producer-oriented model, have been used by marketers around the world for decades. Defined by marketer Jerome McCarthy, the 4P’s advocate a focus on Product, Price, Promotion and Place.

However, the growing influence of the web has made these classic principles look a bit archaic in light of the new relationship businesses have with customers.

The new framework can be summed up in the acronym S.A.V.E: Solution, Access, Value and Education.

1. Focus more on Solution than Product.

Customers don't care about product features or usability of a product if it fails to solve their problem. It's not about the features your product has but the problems customers need solved. Solve their problem better than anyone else and you will end up with a product your customers cannot live without.

Previously there was a greater focus on the features and benefits of a product.  Keep in mind, a product will go faster if it solves a problem. This forces the entrepreneur to interact more with the client when creating a product so that it matches the problem the prospective client wants to solve.

2. Focus more on Access than on Place.

I am sure you have heard “location, location, location” being very vital when setting up your business.  Well, with most people having high speed internet at their finger tips, most clients are looking for how fast they can access your products.  This does not mean you close shop and sit behind the computer but rather think through how you can have a cross channel delivery system and a payment system.  Clients want to be able to get your products at the comfort of their homes and pay via credit card or mobile money. You should consider having those options.

3.  Focus more on Value than Price.

If you articulate the value of your product well, the better you will get paid.  With so many options, the client is always looking for a great deal which includes a good price and top value. How well a product or service solves the problem of the client will determine how well you are paid.  A low price is not enough. Clients decide how much to pay based on perception of value. 

PassionProfit has free monthly talks every 3rd Saturday, PassionProfit Lab, where people interact, gain value and start a relationship with us.  Someone called and asked if the event was free or there was a fine print, she felt there is no way PassionProfit can give a free talk and if we actually did, there were strings attached. This leads me to the 4th point.

4. Focus more on Education than Promotion

The old methods of marketing were strictly limited to interruption marketing, but today’s entrepreneur has the opportunity to be involved with customers' needs at each point in the evaluation and purchase cycle. That is one of the reasons we give the free talks, issue a weekly newsletter and write articles such as this one. Educating prospective clients consistently is a great way of getting them to know you and build credibility.

Even as you continue with the 4Ps of marketing, find a way to S.A.V.E. your marketing strategy by applying the insights you have gained from this article. Photo: www.clickstartdigital.com.au

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