The Fifth P

What is the fifth P in the marketing mix?

It ties together your promotion strategy with the products you have to offer and I call it personal selling. How often have you encountered poor service, or been the victim of poor sales techniques? I can think of many encounters I've had with sales people that have turned me off to whatever it was they had to offer. What about the sales person that follows you around the store? Have their activities or lack of professionalism forced you to leave? It has made me find the closest exit door, even when there was a great deal right around the corner.

Personal selling is a skill that requires practice and an understanding of the products offered, and the customers you are offering them to. Some of my best sales people have been confident, enjoyed people, and had an ability to roll with the punches and deal with objections in a confident manner.

If you don't have adequate personal selling skills, you can throw your 4 P's out the door. Unless, of course, you are dealing with a commodity like gasoline where the price has been severly monopolized. In most competitive environments, personal selling will influence a deal.