Marketing – what is the essence of it?

My marketing lecturer at university was a radical. I was lucky to have been in his first class as a lecturer. He was well short of middle aged yet well founded in marketing businesses. Sadly, he died well before his time. Even before I finished my degree.  Pleasingly, his key lesson about the essence of marketing will stay with me.

His view was that there are three comments about what the essence of marketing is.

Find out what the customer wants, give it to them and make a profit.

Everything else is overkill. So what does each element mean?

1. Find out what the customer wants.

Too often a business owner will create a product and then try to flog it to death to a client, any client. This doesn’t work in a post-industrial revolution market because there is more stuff available than what any consumer can buy. This is why they are choosey and they choose to only buy what they want, albeit they may only want it for an instant before they buy something else.

Rather than use the ‘build it and they will come model’, which only works in movies, it is better to understand what is needed. What is actually needed is to recognise the client and their problems. Identify their problems and produce a service or product that will solve the problem.

Be sure to create some prototypes to increase your chances of success. This will save you time, effort and money whilst ensuring your solution is spot on for what the client will lap up.

2. Give it to them.

This is where the 5 P’s of marketing come into play.

Price

– identify the price that a client will say they will pay…. Then add 10%. Psychologically a person will usually pay 10% more than what they say. This is because most people don’t trust giving honest answers about what they would pay for something. Watch the dance between a buyer and seller of a car or house to see what happens.

Oftentimes I think the world would be a better place if we just honestly said what we would really pay. Then there are entire cultures that barter for significant periods of time ensuring that ‘face’ is saved during the sales process. Try asking for a fixed price on something when you are off the tourist strip in most Asian countries and see what response you get. Yes, I digress.

Promotion

– it’s about selling the sizzle. Remember the difference between feature and benefit. No one buys a miniature pot with holes in it but we will all buy a strainer to keep our tea leaves out of our tea.

Package

– what will it look like when the client either picks it up or has it delivered.

First rule for distribution managers is to be with the clients when they receive your first item off the line. Ensure what they get is what you sent. I remember when I received a package from Australia Post and it had a size ten bootprint on it, not to mention crushed contents.

Place

– this is where the client buys it from. It could be bricks and mortar or virtual through the web. Ensure the experience is consistent with your brand and values. No one wants to go to a medical specialist appointment in the back of a garbage truck. It just isn’t consistent with expectations.

Product

– we have already discussed this but as a reminder – be sure it is what people want. You can include variants along the lines of quality and features. One size strainer for tea and another for draining pasta.

3. Make a profit.

Profit is not a dirty word. We touched on price earlier and the amount a client will pay is the benchmark. If you are lucky the amount the client will pay is more than what it cost you in total to get the product or service to them. However, most times the cost itself is more than what a client will pay. This forces you to go back to design and work out how to either reduce the cost or increase the value.

You can increase the value by revisiting the promotion of the product and include elements that make a client realise the cost of the product so that they will raise their price expectations.

I remember reading Larry Burkett’s book “Business By The Book” and he discusses one way of aligning client pricing expectations with sale price. He suggests giving the client a brochure which honestly explains the cost of getting the product to them. This includes rent, staff, design and taxes. Then he asks the client to pay what they believe would be a fair price based upon the actual cost and what the client would feel is a fair profit margin. Gutsy yes but it is a great way for a client to appreciate the value you provide.

So that is my lecturers philosophy about the essence of marketing. Find out what the client wants, give it to them and make a profit.

If you have a business question and want a straightforward answer then phone/text 0421 253 771, email ask@consultantinaflash.com.au, book online on our webpage or message us on Facebook at Consultant in a Flash! We will be happy to give you what you want in 15 minutes for $15.