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.

Customer focus

Very many companies today have a customer focus, otherwise known as market orientation. These phrases imply that the company focuses ll of its activities and products on consumer demand. There is the customer-driven approach, the market-change approach and the product innovation approach.

With the consumer-driven approach, the consumer wants brcome the strategic marketing decisions. No strategy is developed until it undergoes consumer research. Each aspect of a product, including the nature of the product itself, is affected by the needs of consumers. The starting point is the consumer. The reason for this approach is that it's pointless spending R&D budget developing products that people will never buy. Looking at the past, many products were commercial failures despite being technology breakthroughs.

The formal approach to customer-focused marketing is known as SIVA (Solution, Information, Value, Access). The SIVA system is basically the four Ps renamed and reworded with a customer focus.

Using the SIVA Model generates a demand or customer-centric alternative to the traditional 4Ps model (product, price, place, promotion) of marketing.

Product → Solution
Promotion → Information
Price → Value
Place → Access

The revised four elements of the SIVA model are:

Solution: is the solution appropriate to the customer's need?

Information: is the customer aware of the solution? and do they know enough to make a buying decision?

Value: does the customer know what it will cost, the benefits and their reward?

Access: Where can the customer purchase the solution? and how easily can they buy it and get delivery?

The SIVA model was originally proposed by Chekitan Dev and Don Schultz in the press, the Marketing Management Journal of the American Marketing Association. It was then presented in Market Leader, the journal of the Marketing Society published in the UK. In essence, the model focuses on the customer and how they, the prospect view the potential transaction.