You’ve probably heard about them from a friend, a textbook, or even at school.
I know it sounds like a boring topic that’s common sense, but there is more to it than meets the eye.
And no, it’s not just for large companies… the smaller you are, the more important for you it is to leverage the 4 Ps.
So before we dive into it, let’s first break down what they are…
What are the 4 Ps of marketing?
The 4 Ps of marketing is a famous concept that summarizes the 4 basic pillars of any marketing strategy: product, price, place, and promotion.
It sounds simple and it really is (the harder part is implementing it, which we will get into later).
The idea behind the theory is that if you implement them, you will generate more sales. But sadly nothing is that easy. :/
The origin of the concept, also known as marketing mix, goes back to 1960 when McCarthy introduced it in his book Basic Marketing: A Managerial Approach.
I know that’s ages ago, but it is just as valid today.
Let’s dive into each P…
Product
The product is what the company sells.
It might be a product like a soft drink in the beverage industry or dresses in a clothing store. Or these days it may even be software
It could also be services, such as consulting or a paid speaking gig or even a therapy session.
In short, the product is everything that is made available to the consumer.
In the 4 Ps strategy, defining this means understanding what your offer needs in order to stand apart from competitors and win over customers.
In other words, what makes your product so great or unique? Because if you don’t stand out it’s going to be hard to thrive.
For example, you may know about my product Ubersuggest, but you probably already know about a handful of my competitors?
So what’s the big thing that makes my product stand out from everyone else?
I don’t focus on features… I don’t have 100s of reports… instead, I focus on usability. My goal is to make Ubersuggest really easy to use, especially if you are new to marketing.
On the flip side, my competitors focus on ad agencies and really advanced marketers. I built something for a different target market, even though I am in a crowded market place.
How to create an amazing product that your customers love

What’s the biggest problem I can help you solve? (This will give you an idea on what your product needs to do)
What’s your favorite marketing product and why? (You’ll want to replace the word “marketing” with whatever industry you are in… this question gives you an idea about who your competition is and what they are doing right)
Why did you come here today? (This will tell you why people come to your site and what they are looking for)
How can we make our product better? (This is great if you already have a product up as you will get real feedback)
What don’t you like about COMPETITOR ABC? (Replace competitor ABC with your competition’s name… this question tells you where there is an opportunity)I want you to pay special attention to the last question. It really helps you identify how you can differentiate yourself from the competition.
Now, before you go and build a product (or make yours better if you already have one), don’t invest too much time and money without getting feedback.
For example, if I were to add a new feature to Ubersuggest, I wouldn’t just build it. I would get it designed, show you first, get feedback, and then adjust from there.
That way I won’t waste months’ worth of time building a product you don’t want to use.
Price
Price is simple, it refers to how much you charge for your product (or service).
And although it’s simple to understand, it’s really hard to come up with the “right” price. The one that doesn’t just drive the most amount of sales but also drives the most profit.
The real question is, how do you want to be perceived?

Executive coaching may be regarded differently by different people. While there may still be some people for whom the concept of “coaching” may carry connotations of remediation, for the most part, this outdated idea has fallen by the wayside. Executive coaching is assisting top executives, managers, and other identified leaders to perform, learn, stay healthy and balanced, and effectively guide their teams to successfully reach desired goals and exceed individual and corporate expectations. Enabling leaders to unlock and unleash their full-potential so they bring greater value and abundance to the people and entities they serve.

The core principles that drive decision-making for prioritizing and mitigating risk are likely embedded deep in most risk managers’ brains, but as with many other bits of knowledge a review of the basics can be both reinforcing and refreshing. Our day-to-day work keeps us so busy we may not have the opportunity to provide basic education to organizational leaders, members of our department, physicians and staff about exactly what risk management is. Reinforcing these principles can help demonstrate how a robust risk management program supports achievement of the organization’s mission and vision.

The five basic risk management principles of risk identification, risk analysis, risk control, risk financing and claims management can be applied to most any situation or problem. One doesn’t realize that these principles are actually applied in daily life over and over until examples are brought to light. Using everyday examples in education programs as a way of introducing the principles, and then transitioning to scenarios and problems faced in patient care and healthcare operations, can be an effective teaching tool when promoting the contributions that risk management makes to the organization’s success.

Risk identification is just what it sounds like – what risks are presented to me/my patient/my organization with the scenario in front of me? Using the everyday example of riding in or driving a car, one might identify the risk of having an accident due to poor maintenance of the car, failure to keep gas in the tank, speeding or driving under the influence. Other identified risks may be the risk of damaging property – either the car itself or someone else’s property. There is a risk of financial loss if there isn’t proper liability insurance in place, or if one gets a speeding ticket, and so forth.

The analysis of the risks identified begs one to ask, what is the worst that could happen? Put another way, how often could these adverse events happen (frequency), and if it does happen, what’s the worst it could be (severity)? In our car scenario, the worst that could happen is someone loses their life. Additional analysis may determine the risk of being in an auto accident is low because the driver is never on the highway, only drives in good weather during daylight, on roads with speed limits of 30 miles per hour or less, in a well-maintained car, etc. As one can see, the analysis part of the risk management process should take the individual through several of these "what if" questions to help arrive at potential frequency and severity of an event.

Risk control offers opportunities for risk avoidance, risk prevention and risk reduction. The risk avoidance technique in our car example would be to not own a car or ride in a car. In reality, a minimal amount of risk still exists in that one could be hit by a car as a pedestrian, but in some scenarios, risk can be completely avoided. Risk prevention aims to reduce the frequency or likelihood of the event or loss. This might mean preventing car breakdowns by following maintenance and inspection schedules, keeping air in the tires and gas in the tank and following all driving laws. Risk reduction aims to lower the severity of a particular loss that has already occurred, for example ensuring property damage to another person’s vehicle is repaired quickly so the time they are without a car is limited. The risk control program implemented will consider the various strategies already in place, and may introduce new techniques based on the findings of the analysis activity.

The fourth principle, risk financing, is a way to finance losses that the risk control techniques implemented did not stop from happening. In our example, even with all the proper maintenance on the car, safe driving, etc. an accident may still occur. By having appropriate automobile insurance, funds are generated by the insurance company to pay for the losses, or in this case, damage to the car.

The fifth principle is claims management. When a loss occurs, a claim may be filed to recover damages. In the car example, a claim may be filed with the driver at fault’s insurance company to recover for the damage that occurred. If the driver at fault was not insured, a different course of action may be necessary to hold the driver personally responsible for paying for the damage.

When educating others in the organization about risk management, using an example such as the one outlined above can help make sense of what they may otherwise think of as a bit of a mystery. Engaging the audience with photos of scenarios can help start the conversation and enlist their feedback by posing different questions. Bring the education closer to home by using a healthcare example and walking through the five steps. For example, the scenario of a patient coming through the emergency department who needs to go directly to the operating room provides many points to discuss with risk identification, analysis and control. This also offers an opportunity to discuss the risk financing in place through the professional liability program and an employee’s obligations for reporting adverse events and near misses.

Using the claims management principle, elements of medical negligence can be presented and applied to a potential adverse outcome scenario. While the first application of the five risk management principles may not be perfect, continuing to apply them in an educational framework in as many situations as possible will help to reinforce the understanding of how risk management works.

As healthcare risk management programs continue to evolve into an enterprise risk model, these basic principles still apply. Integrating each of the five elements into the decision-making process to manage uncertainty in the organization while adding value and maximizing opportunity to meet the mission and vision will continue to ensure the backbone of the risk management program remains intact.