Service Marketing

Service Marketing demands for a passion

for understanding customer expectation and perception and linking them to product design & delivering and operational planning.

Services are categorized under:

People processing object processing Mental stimulus processing Information processing

SERVICE LEVELS
Service is one part of product-service mix being offered to customers Service is an intangible offering with little or no transfer of physical products to the customer The main offering is the product but the supplier also provides some services Every product or service or any combination of a mix of the two, ultimately is supposed to provide service for customers

Services are Everywhere

Service Industries (communications, health care, transportation)

Manufacturing R&D Supporting Services (legal) Distribution Intermediary Repair

Commercial

Design

Consumer

Private business supporting services

Government Support Services (roads, education, public safety)

Service Sectors

Government Private nonprofit: museum and charities Business: Banks Manufacturing: legal staff Retail: customer services

Categories of Service Mix

Pure tangible good : consumer products Good with accompanying services: Computers Hybrid: Restaurants Service with accompany goods: Airline Pure service: massage,babysitting

Service Distinctions
Equipment-based or people-based Service processes: deliver it Clients presence required or not: surgery or care repair Personal needs or business needs Objectives and ownership: Profit or nonprofit

INCREASING IMPORTANCE OF SERVICES

Advances in technology Growth in per capita income A trend towards outsourcing Deregulation Increasing growth in retailing due to increase in propensity to consumer

 Services impact customers more directly than products do Marketing of services has to be more deliberate and considered Service provider has to carefully audit his resources and competencies Positioning must be razor sharp

 Service provider must define service very precisely and also design the appropriate service-product mix Promotion more challenging due to intangible nature of services Same basic service can be provided in vastly different service facilities providing different levels of amenities and luxuries

 Same service can be delivered in various ways

Marketing mix conveys the positioning of a service

NATURE OF SERVICES
Intangibility Inseparability Presence of other consumers Variability Perishability

MANAGING SERVICES
Managing service quality Companies rated higher on service quality perform better in terms of market share growth Big gap exists between the expectations of the customers and the level of the service they get Real barriers while matching expected and perceived service levels of customers

Does not understand customer requirements: Misconception barriers arise when companies misunderstand customer expectations No resources: A company may understand customer expectations but is unwilling to provide resources to meet them Bad delivery: The company is not able to deliver the expected service

Managements will: A management eager to improve quality is able to do it

Exaggerated expectations: Exaggerated promises may become a problem

 Meeting customer expectations Important to understand and meet customer expectations Consumers of services value not only the outcome of the service encounter but also the experience of taking part in it Access: Is the service provided at convenient locations and at convenient times, with little waiting period in availing the service?

 Reliability: Service provider should be able to deliver the promised service each time the customer decides to avail of it Credibility: Can customers trust the service company and its staff? Security: Can the services be used without risk?

Understanding customer: If the company understands the expectations and also has the capability to serve them, the customer is satisfied with the service outcome

Responsiveness: How quickly do service staff respond to customer problems, requests and questions? Behavior of employees: Do service staff act in a friendly and polite manner?

 Competence: Performance of the primary service will depend on the knowledge and competencies of the service providers Communication: Is the service described clearly and accurately? Physical evidence: The company should provide physical evidence to customers which will assure customers that they will be provided a good service

 Managing service productivity Measure of relationship between the various types of inputs that are required to produce the service and the service output Conflict between improving service productivity and raising service quality Technology can be used to improve productivity and service quality simultaneously

Customer involvement in production can be increased Important to balance supply and demand By smoothing demand or increasing flexibility of supply, both productivity and service quality can be achieved

 Managing service staff Quality of the service experience is heavily dependent on staff-customer interpersonal relationship Companies need to treat their employees well if customers have to be served well by their employees Nature of the job needs and appropriate personality characteristics to be defined sharply while selecting service staff

Socialization allows the newly recruited service professionals to experience the culture and tasks of the organization Maintaining a motivated workforce Customer feedback essential to maintain high standards of service quality Employees of service organizations must take pride in their jobs

POSITIONING SERVICES
Differentiate from competition on attributes that target customers highly value Entails two decisions: Choice of target market (where to compete) Creation of differential advantage (how to compete)

 Determine important choice criteria of customers carefully Most important decision of a service organization is selecting the factors on which it will compete Select a few factors and provide superlative performances in the chosen factors Target marketing Differential advantage

THE SERVICES MARKETING MIX

 The service Pure services are intangible Higher perceived risk in decision making process People, physical evidence and processes provide cues about the quality of the service Brand name affects perceptions of service Provide service trials wherever possible

 Promotion Intangible elements of service may be difficult to communicate Sales people should develop lists of satisfied customers to be used in reference selling Word of mouth is critical to success Acknowledge the dominant role of personal influence in the choice process and stimulate word of mouth communication

Persuade satisfied customers to inform others of their satisfaction Develop materials that customers can pass on to others Target opinion leaders in its advertising campaign Encourage potential customers to talk to current customers Communication should also be targeted at employees

 Price An indicator of perceived quality Important in matching demand and supply Price sensitivity key segmentation variable

 Place Distribution channels for services are more direct Production and consumption is simultaneous New technologies permit service companies to provide services without customers coming to their facility

 People Service quality is inseparable from quality of service providers Set standards to improve quality of service provided by employees and monitor their performance Training of employees crucial Adopt a customer-first attitude than putting own convenience first

 Employees of service organizations have to be adept in multiple roles Have empathy to judge the service requirement and mood of the customer Examine the role played by customers in service environment Seek to eliminate harmful interactions

 Physical evidence The environment in which the service is delivered Includes any tangible goods that facilitate the performance and communication of the service Strengthen cues that customers search for to judge the quality of services

 Process Procedures, mechanisms and flow of activities by which a service is delivered to customers Control variations in services by targeting smaller segment of customers Process and its visibility are both for customers important

Process should be employed only when it is required to provide a service and not because customers have come to expect it

SERVICE ENCOUNTERS
A terrible ending usually dominates a persons recollection of an experience Customers who are mentally engaged in a task do not notice how long it takes Customers desperately want to make sense of unexpected events

Study service encounters from customers point of view Finish strong Get the bad experience out of the way early Segment the pleasure, combine the pain Build commitment through choice Give people rituals and stick to them

SERVICE RECOVERY
Well-intentioned, prompt, and apt recovery can assuage angry customers Everyone in the organization must have the skill, motivation, and authority to make service recovery an integral part of service operations Production-oriented service-delivery systems have helped in achieving consistently high service standards

 Inevitable problems will still arise, by providing for service recovery Good service providers cover all the costs that a failure incurs Customers problem is an opportunity Companies must be responsive to customer complaints, and encourage them to complain Monitor areas of the organization which are likely to throw up problems more frequently

 Solve customers problems fast because service problems quickly escalate Train frontline employees and empower them Give employees the authority, responsibility, and incentives to help customers in unique ways Let customers know about corrective measures taken and the improvement achieved

INNOVATION IN SERVICES
Difficulties in applying traditional methods of research and development to services Experiments with new services are most useful when they are conducted live , though cautiously Improvements should be planned and experimented incrementally

 Personnel conducting the experiments must be motivated Successful experiment has to be persisted with Experiment only when it can be finally implemented Conducting live experiments risky and cumbersome, but may be inevitable

INNOVATION IN SERVICES
Difficulties in applying traditional methods of research and development to services Experiments with new services are most useful when they are conducted live , though cautiously Improvements should be planned and experimented incrementally

Personnel conducting the experiments must be motivated PPersonnel conducting the experiments Successful experiment has to be must be motivated Successful experiment has with persisted to be persisted with Experiment only when it can Experiment only when it can be finally be finally implemented Conducting live experiments risky and implemented cumbersome, but may be inevitable ersonnel conducting the experiments must Conducting live experiments risky and be motivated Successful experiment has to persisted cumbersome, but maybebe inevitable
with Experiment only when it can be finally implemented Conducting live experiments risky and cumbersome, but may be inevitable