The traditional Seven Ps of Marketing

In addition to the traditional four Ps of marketing (Product, Pricing, Promotion and Placement), customer services marketing brings in an extra three, making seven in total. They are collectively known as the extended marketing mix. The extra three Ps are:

People: Anyone coming into contact with customers will have a definite impact on overall customer satisfaction. They may be part of a supporting service or directly involved in a total service. People are always very important because in the eyes of the customer, they are inseparable from the overall customer service . Because of this, they must be well trained, well motivated and be the right type of person for the job. Customers are also referred to under 'people', as they can have an effect on the customer's service experience, (eg at a sponsored event).

Process: This is the entire process in providing a service and the specific behaviour of the people involved, all of which can be crucial to the customer's satisfaction.

Physical evidence: Unlike product evidence, a service cannot be actually experienced before it is supplied, which makes it a very intangible item. This means that prospects could think that there is a greater risk in deciding whether to use a particular service. To reduce this perception of risk, and also to improve the opportunity for success, it is vital to provide potential cnew ustomers with the opportunity to see what the potential service would be like. This is normally done by providing physical evidence like as case studies or magazine articles.

B2B and B2C marketing

The differences between B2B and B2C marketing may seem obvious, but there are subtle distinctions between the two with substantial implications. B2B marketing generally entails shorter and more direct channels of distribution.

While B2C marketing is aimed at large demographic groups through mass media and retailers, the negotiation process between the buyer and seller is more personal in B2B marketing. Many B2B marketers commit only a small part of their promotional budgets to advertising, compared to B2B marketers.

Marketing to a business (B2B) trying to make a profit as opposed to an individual for personal use (B2C marketing) is similar in terms of the fundamental principles of marketing. In both B2C and B2C marketing situations:

Match the product/service strengths with the needs of a definable target market

Position and price to align the product/service with its market, often an intricate balance

Communicate and sell it in the fashion that demonstrates its value effectively to the target market.

Select the best channels for selling

These are the fundamental principles of the 4 Ps of marketing (the marketing mix) documented by E. Jerome McCarthy in 1960.

Business customers fall into four categories: companies that consume products or services, government organisations, institutions and resellers.

The first category includes original equipment manufacturers, such as car manufacturers, who buy components to put in their cars, and users, which are companies that purchase products for their own consumption. The second category, government organisations, is the biggest.

In fact, the UK government is the biggest single purchaser of products and services in the country. But this category also includes state and local governments. The third category, institutions, includes schools, hospitals, care homes, churches and charities. Finally, resellers include wholesalers, brokers and industrial distributors.

A B2C sale is to an individual. That individual may be influenced by other factors, but it’s a single person that pulls out their wallet. A B2B sale is to an organisation. And with that simple difference lies a web of complications that differ because of the organisational nature of the sale and which vary widely by firmographic (“demographic” for segmenting businesses) such as business size, location, industry and sales revenue.