Marketing

Marketing is the process of planning, designing, pricing, promoting and distributing ideas, goods and services, in order to satisfy customer needs, so as to make a profit.

Companies point out how the special characteristics or features of their products and services possess particular benefits that satisfy the needs of the people who buy them.

The four Ps

The four Ps are

Product: deciding what to sell

Price: deciding what prices to charge

Place: deciding how it will be distributed and where people will buy it

Promotion: deciding how the product will be supported with advertising, special activities, etc.

The four Ps are a useful summary of the marketing mix, the activities that you have to combine successfully in order to sell.

Marketing

We must be smarter at devising packages of services that our customers want and pricing them

attractively. Set the marketing department free to shape new packages. Don't confine it to coming up with cute names for offerings designed by engineers and accountants.'*

This sums up the position of marketing in many companies, where it is often seen as a fancy name for selling or advertising. But, as the quote shows, marketing people should be involved not just in promoting sales but in all aspects of the marketing mix:

• product: deciding what products or services to sell in the first place

• prices: setting prices that are attractive to particular groups of customers (segments) and that are profitable for the company

• place: finding suitable distribution channels to reach these customer groups and

• promotion: all the activities, not just advertising, used to support the product - everything from pre·sales information to after-sales service.

These are the four Ps of the marketing mix, the 'levers' of a company's marketing machine, levers that it can adjust in different ways for different products and different buyers.

Another way of looking at this is from the point of view of customers, with the four Cs. From this perspective, the marketing mix is expressed in terms of:

• customer solution: offering the right product to satisfy particular customer needs

• customer cost: the price paid directly by the customer to buy the product, including the 'price'

involved in not buying another product of the same or another type

• convenience: distributing the product in the way most suitable for each type of customer

• communication: exchanging information with the customer. Customers are informed about products through advertising, sales literature and so on, but customers also communicate with the seller, for example through customer helplines. This is a good way for sellers to find out more about customers and their requirements and to change or improve their offer.

Thinking of the marketing mix in these terms helps sellers maintain a customer orientation - a focus on customer needs.

Teamwork / How to create an effective team

Teamwork is the process of working collaboratively with a group of people in order to achieve a goal. Teamwork is often a crucial part of a business, as it is often necessary for colleagues to work well together, trying to do their best in any situation.

Teamwork means that people cooperate, using their individual skills and providing constructive feedback, despite any personal conflict between individuals.

One of the most important functions of a manager is to build a team which will perform effectively and contribute to the success of a business.

The art of team-building has been studied by many people, but the most interesting work has been done by Dr Meredith Belbin. According to him, a team needs the following nine role types:

(1) Coordinator/Chairman: who clarifies goals, coordinates resources.

(2) Finisher: who searches out errors, keeps a feeling of urgency in the team, delivers on time.

(3) Implementer: who translates concepts into practical plans.

(4) Monitor/Evaluator: who sees all options, evaluates ideas, judges correctly.

(5) Plant: who proposes new ideas, solves difficult problems.

(6) Resource investigator: who explores opportunities, handles external contact.

(7) Shaper: who gives coherence to team work, overcomes obstacles.

(8) Specialist: who provides knowledge and skills.

(9) Team worker: who builds bridges, fosters team spirit, and calms rough waters.

However, a successful team need not be made up of nine members since some people may be more than one personality type. A team of three could work together very successfully if, among them, the members combined the nine personality types.