Back to Basics – Selling

Back to Basics – Porter’s Generic Strategies for Sales Execution

After understanding the 4Ps, sales persons and management would need to identify the strategies to help them create an identity as well as to give them an direction for competitive advantage. If they are clear, they would be able to be more effective during their go-to-market. Porter’s generic strategies would be the most fundamental.

The 3 Porter’s Generic Strategies are:

1. Cost Leadership Strategy
2. Differentiation Strategy
3. Focus Market Strategy

The strategy of choice would need to be articulated to the team where all would give consistent message and execution to the market thus building a brand and reputation in the market.

Back to Basics – Understanding the 4Ps for Sales & Management

4Ps (Product, Price, Promotion, Place) is the most fundamental concept that a marketeer would know. This is derived from Jerome McCarthy in 1960 and has since been used by marketeers worldwide. There are others concepts like the 4Cs (Consumers, Cost, Communication, Convenience) or 7Cs (Corporation, Commodity, Cost, Communication, Channel, Consumer, Circumstances) or newer 7Ps (4Ps plus addition of Packaging, Positioning and People).

However to make things simple, understanding 4Ps would be sufficient for Sales persons and leaders. Knowing the 4Ps would be the basis for them to become effective individual contributors and proficient leaders to deliver results for their organization.

Having clear knowledge on the 4Ps of their products or services, sales persons and leaders would be able to make strategic decisions to position their offerings & themselves smartly based on current products’ strengths, maximize revenue from market intelligence, reaching out to prospects effectively and choosing the right platform/location/methods to execute selling to their target audience.