Service Marketing Triangle

Company

Internal Marketing Enabling Promises

External Marketing Making Promises

CustomersProducer Producer Customer

Keeping Promises Interactive Marketing

The services marketing triangle shows the 3 interlinked groups that work together to develop, promote and deliver services. Between the three points of triangle there are three types of marketing that must be successfully carried out for a service to succeed external and interactive marketing. All these activities resolve around making and keeping promises to customers. For services all three types of marketing activities are essential for building and maintaining relationships with customers.

External Marketing Making Promises

Through its external marketing efforts a company makes promises to its customers regarding what they can expect and how it will be delivered.

Interactive Marketing Keeping Promises

This is the most critical type of marketing activity from the customers point of view. Interactive marketing occurs in the moment of truth when the customers interact with the organization and the service is produced and consumed. Promises are kept or broken and the reliability of service is related every time the customer interacts with the organization.

International Marketing Enabling Promises

Service providers must have the skills, abilities, tools and motivation to deliver. They must be enabled. Promises are easy to make but unless provided with tools and rewards for good service, the promises may not be kept. This is important as the employee satisfaction is linked with the customer satisfaction.

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Airways

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SERVICE

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ENABLING

PROMISES

MAKING

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KEEPING

One can better understand the working of airlines by looking at its marketing triangle. There are three entities in the entire transaction:

1. Customer: He is the person who wishes to satisfy his needs i.e, transportation from one destination to another. Here, the customer is a passenger or a potential passenger.

2. Company: This is both the dreamer and the offerer. It here refers to the various airlines which offer its aviation services to the customers to satisfy their demand for transportation from one destination to another, for example: The Indian Airlines. Here, the company makes a promise to its customers to

deliver

the

right

quality

service.

3. Provider: The service providers are finally the people who interact with customers. They keep the promise that the airline operator has made to its customers by delivering the finest services. They are the ones who carry out final transactions. The customer actually comes in contact with the service provider and not the company. For example: the air-hostess and the crew.

The interaction between these three parties while providing the service takes place in the following manner: The company is established with the basic objective of providing the specific transport service. Thus the airline industry with players like Indian airlines, Jet airways, Sahara airways etc came into being. The air service provider that is the company communicates with the customer and makes him aware of the services. It makes promises to the customer by advertising through various medias. For e.g.: the TV ad of Indian airlines advertising its new sleep-in seats.

The customer who gathers knowledge about the service approaches the company for availing his service in order to satisfy his need. This interface of the customer with the company is through the customers interaction with the providers of the company. The company enables its promises to the customers through setting up facilities to deliver the promises by setting up ticket and enquiry counters. The outcome of the to be transaction is determined by the interaction between the provider and the customer. Hence the company aims at offering its providers with the required infrastructure and training to optimize the quality of the transaction. For e.g.: Yearly employee training programs and performance appraisals are done by Sahara airlines.

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All three sides are essential to complete the triangle. All three marketing activities represented by the sides of the triangle are critical to efficient delivery of the service, even if one of the sides is out of place, the triangle will be distorted; in other words the total marketing effort cannot be optimally supported.

Service Marketing Triangle of Airline Industry

Services marketing can be explained with the help of the Service Industry Triangle. There are three entities in the whole transaction process.

CUSTOMERS

Customers refer to the persons who have certain needs, wants and desires. The company makes promises to its customers. In the Airline industry, the customers refer to those persons who feel the need of travelling from one destination to another. The customers are further classified as Individual and Institutional. Institutional customers are those corporates who need their employees and executives to fly very often. Hence they have block bookings (reserved bookings) with the airliners.
COMPANY

The company is the dreamer and the offeror. The company dreams up an idea of service offering which will satisfy the customers expectation. The company is established with the basic objective of providing the specific transport service. Thus the airline industry with players like Indian airlines, jet airways, Sahara airways etc came into being.
PROVIDERS

These are finally the persons (staff) who interact with the customer. They are the ones who carry out the final transaction. This interface of the customer with the company is through the customers interaction with the employees of the company. In order to keep its promises, the company enables its employees to through setting up facilities to deliver the promises that is by setting up ticket and enquiry counters. Hence the company aims at offering its providers with the required infrastructure and training to optimize the quality of the transaction. For eg: Yearly employee training programs and performance appraisals done by Sahara airlines.

The commercial airlines service industry extremely competitive, safety sensitive and high technology. People, employees and customers must be the arena of an organizations core competence.

In the service industry, service personnel come in direct contact with their customers in the course of production and consumption of the services.

Because people provide most services, the selection, training, and motivation of employees can make a huge difference in attaining customer satisfaction. Ideally, employees should exhibit competence, caring attitude, responsiveness, initiative, problem solving ability, and goodwill.

The airlines hire the right personnel with the essential requirements. They recruit the right people develop, and train them to deliver quality service. These employees are motivated in a manner that they stick to the organization; they are treated more as customers, rather than employees

The Airline sector is divided into two categories, Internal and External customers.

Internal Marketing means "Enabling the Promise"

Internal Customers: While delivering services the airline ensures that the services are delivered as promised and this rendering of service satisfaction is often totally in control of the frontline staff. The quality of service that the frontline staff provides is highly dependant on his/her ability to communicate their credibility. Being a Hospitality line the employees are given extensive training to provide caring and individualized attention to customers. There are many people involved with the successful working of the airline industry. The various types of airline personnel include: FLIGHT CREWS: These are the trained people who play a very important role from the time when you check in your baggage till you board the aircraft. They ensure the smooth functioning of everything and guide you through the entire process. They form 85 percent of the airlines labour force. The Flight crew includes: Pilots Flight Attendants Reservation Clerks Airport check-in and gate personnel Security guards and In-flight security personnel

The service contact personnel in the airline industry are the Flight Attendants who are expected to have a pleasing personality and must also be polite while service handling. While on the other hand the cock pit crew/ Pilots are considered as low contact personnel hence they are required to posses highly technical and analytical skills. The Reservation clerks play a very important role as they check the tickets, allot the seat numbers and

also place the destination tags on the baggage; hence they should be highly attentive while doing their work. The Airport check-in staff must be extremely helpful as that is where the evaluation of the hospitality of the airline can be gauged from at first

GROUND STAFF: These are the main people who work behind the scenes and play a very important role to ensure smooth functioning of the entire procedure right from handling the formalities on the airport to helping the passengers board the aircraft. All these functions are handled impeccably by the ground staff. The Ground Staff includes: Avionics technicians/ engineers Flight dispatchers who track all the airlines flights Baggage handlers Gate Agents

PDC (Prolog development center) The PDC (Prolog development center) has implemented a Staff Scheduling System; this system was adopted for the ground staff as creating good staff schedules is often a complicated process. It is difficult to clearly appreciate the many possible combinations of duty periods, duty hours, time-off-in-lieu requirements, holidays etc. that will ensure each person works the correct number of hours. First and foremost it is important that internal and external rules are correctly implemented while maintaining adequate manning levels and ensuring a fair distribution of the various shift types. Scheduling restrictions (financial or other) may exist and must be taken into account. Why Use a Staff Scheduling System? Creating a good staff schedule is often a complicated process. Especially when the airline industry never sleeps. Manning is 24x7x360. The business involves many employees with different agreements and they must be confident that they get paid correctly. First and foremost it is important that internal and external rules are applied, there has to be adequate manning and lastly the personnel must be available when the traffic requires it. On an Organizational level PDC- Staff Plan, provides their clients many Advantages in the terms of: Cost savings in terms of less salary bonus, over time and time-off-in-lieu Significant reductions of administration Efficient cost management through a flexible staff scheduling (no over manning and no under manning)

The Advantages that PDC-Staff plan provides the employees are in the terms of:

 Fast and safe scheduling of duties and shifts Better overview of manning, time expenditure, time-off-in-lieu, etc. Relief of administrative work Thus, efficient staff scheduling saves great resources and thus time to focus the efforts on other areas. In addition, time will be saved in the scheduling process itself What are airlines looking for? In making a decision about the employment of cabin crew, all airlines consider three prime elements: Eligibility An airline may have eligibility tests depending upon its own specific requirements. These are facts that can be determined either by physical or by documentary Evidence. Some of the Eligibility checks likely to be included are: Does the candidate meet the required age profile? Does the candidate meet the required height/weight profile? Has the candidate attained required educational (or other) qualifications? Is there documentary evidence to support the qualifications the candidate claims to have? Has the candidate acquired adequate experience in a customer service or public contact role? Can the candidate speak a second language? To what level of proficiency can the second language be spoken?

Suitability This is clearly more difficult to assess than eligibility. Airline managers will be looking for people who can best fulfill the role of a Cabin Crew .The minimum requirement is for: 9. Technical knowledge 10. Maturity 11. Adaptability 12. Judgment 13. Tact 14. Diplomacy 15. Grooming 16. Attitude Airlines will also be looking for people whose performance will not be adversely affected by the disadvantages of the job and will readily accept direction/training. Specific requirements Eligibility and Suitability are relatively basic requirements, which must be met in all cases. Every Airline sets its own specific requirements; some airlines pay much emphasis on the appearance and personality of the person while others may look at the experience and knowledge. Some airlines may prefer have trained and experienced personnel while others may want fresh recruits. Put simply, airlines are looking for the right people for their current circumstances. Do not be too disheartened if you do not get in at the first attempt. You can always try again - or apply to another airline! It is also true that candidates fail to be recruited by an airline at one attempt, and then succeed at a later date. This is usually because the candidate has acquired better interview technique, or extra skills, experience or confidence. It can also be because the airline itself has revised its person specification.

CREW PROFILE AND COMPLIMENT

The senior most person on any flight is the Commander. His is the last word where the flight & its crew or the passengers are concerned. The Cabin crew Senior or the In Flight Supervisor is the senior most Cabin Crew, but takes orders from the Commander. The Crew complement on board is the total number of crew including both the Cockpit & the Cabin Crew. This number is preset where the Cockpit/ Flight deck crew is concerned for a particular type of aircraft. The number of Cabin Crew an airline has on an aircraft depends on a number of factors:2. Type of aircraft - for any aircraft there is a minimum Cabin crew complement required depending on: The number of emergency exits on the aircraft The number of passengers on board the aircraft. 5. The type of food & beverage service to be provided to the passengers. 6. Right duty time length of the flight. On some long haul flights when the flying time exceeds the flight duty time (the max number of hours a crew can be on duty), then there are two sets of crew on board. This is found ONLY on International sectors on extremely long sectors. 7. Today a few airlines have started new services like baby-sitting, on-board masseurs, tailors etc, which require extra crewmembers on board. More often than not, airlines start new service procedures that do not require additional crew or other staff, but to capture a good market share, Airlines often launch such services that are NOT sustained over a period of time. The Hierarchy where the Cabin Crew is concerned may vary a little from airline to airline depending on their individual policies. For example in some airlines the air hostesses retire much before

Advantages of the Job As with the role itself, the perceived advantages of being a cabin crewmember are often quite different from the actual benefits. Below is a list of what cabin crew & others see as being the real advantages: Travel This is what attracts many people to the job in the first place. Cabin crew goes to places they always dreamed of, and find interest in destinations they would not necessarily have chosen to go to. Camaraderie-Solidarity & Friendship with other Crew members The camaraderie, team spirit, and sense of belonging together that the majority of crew has when they are flying is unique. Despite being a very diverse group of people, your colleagues are likely to be sociable and out-going, and will help to make the job a lot of fun. Variety and Interest - Absence of monotony This is certainly not a 9 - 5 jobs, and no two working days are likely to be the same. The sheer dynamics of different crew, passenger profiles, destinations and roster structures ensure that there will always be variety. Appreciation This is one career where the appreciation is almost instant after a 'good job done'. Despite all the things that can go wrong on a flight, many passengers do show their gratitude of the crews' efforts, either when someone has done their best for them individually, or especially when the whole team has pulled together well. The better airline management teams also acknowledge consistently good performance, or outstanding individual service.

Personal Development Airlines usually have high standards of initial and follow up training, and some provide self-learning facilities or schemes thus helping the crew to develop their personalities and all develop themselves in other aspects. Other benefits Most Airlines provide a number of other 'perks' along with the usual handsome salary they give a crewmember. Most major airlines to provide ground transportation and a good standard of accommodation for crews who are staying overnight at destinations away from their 'home base'. Free medical attention for cabin crew I their family members (in some cases) are also provided. Free staff travel tickets are another BIG bonus given. Airlines have schemes whereby all their staff are able to travel free on the 'employer' airline or at extremely advantageous prices on other airlines. Airline staff also benefit from a range of discounts, from hotel chains, shopping malls, duty free shops, insurance companies and financial service institutions. Uniform Airlines usually provide items of uniform clothing to all their public contact staff free of charge. Disadvantages of the job Air cabin crew is a wonderful job, and can provide an interesting and rewarding career, but as with any job there are drawbacks as well. Travel Limitations and Risks This is almost the reverse of Travel' as an advantage of the job. As a crew member you do not choose where you go to, or how long you stay there. Crew also face the usual risks present for any other traveler, such as theft of personal belongings, mugging, poor hygiene standards in other stations/cities, bites/stings from insects and animals, and risk of contacting infectious disease. Customer Service Negatives Good customer a disadvantage Good customer a disadvantage service is a prime role pf cabin crew, but nobody would describe as anything other than of the job. service is a prime role of cabin crew, but nobody would describe as anything other than of the job.

Dependence upon the support of other departments, including planning, maintenance, and catering, cleaning and logistical units is very high. Any breakdown in the chain (for example dirty toilets or insufficient catering) lead to a feeling of being let down and having to take the burnt of passenger complaints.

External Marketing means "Setting the Promise"

External Customers: These are the main customers for the airline industry as they generate revenue to the same. Hence Customer Satisfaction plays a very important role. The customers should always be kept at pedestal by looking into their needs and acting on them immediately and also providing them with exclusive services. This would earn goodwill for the airline and ensure the smooth running of the business. The customers are categorized on the basis of their need and preferences: Customer Segmentation

Most airlines use a very traditional segmentation strategy, dividing passengers into first class, business travelers and economy travelers. But, nowadays most of the airlines offer only two classes the business class and the economy class. The customers subsequently also be divided as per the scope of the market .This ia a process of subdividing a market into distinct subsets of customers that behave in the same way or have similar needs. Each subset may conceivably be chosen as a market target to be reached with a distinct marketing strategy. This includes preparing a method of identifying a group of consumers, within a broader market, that has similar characteristics and needs. Segments can be identified by examining geographical, demographic, psychographic, and behavioral differences.

Segmentation of the aviation industry can be done under the following factors:

Geographic segmentation Geographic segmentation calls for dividing the market into different geographical units such as nations, states, regions etc. the company can operate in one or few areas or operate in all but pay little attention to local variations. Most of the domestic airlines, their market segment consists of the customers whos destination are major commercial cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkatta etc. apart from these the airlines also concentrate of tourists destinations like Goa, Agra etc. The reason behind this is that such sectors have major traffic and are profitable sectors. However Indian Airlines, being the National Carrier of the country, flys even to the unprofitable sectors and concentrates on the segment of people flying to such destinations.

Demographic segmentation In demographic segmentation, the market is divided into groups on the basis of variables such as age, family size, family life cycle, gender, income, occupation, education, religion and social class. There are several reasons for the popularity of demographic variables to distinguish customer groups. One reason is that consumer needs, wants, usage rates and brand preferences are often associated with demographic variables. Airlines like Kingfisher targets the affluent class and the executives from multi national companies, business community etc. However in the case of Air Deccan and other low cost airlines, their segment is the population from the lower middle class and the middle class. Thus it can be said that Kingfisher targets the classes whereas the no frill airlines target the masses. Psychographic segmentation Psychographics is the science of using psychology and demographics to better understand consumers. In this segmentation customers are divided into different groups on the basis of psychological, personality, lifestyles or values. People within the same demographic groups can exhibit very different psychographic profiles. The airline tries to work on the psychology of the people. Kingfisher concentrates on the segment of people who do not mind paying a higher price, but would like to have the best of comforts. Whereas the low cost airlines targets those customers, who believe in value for money services and account for every rupee that they spend. Behavioral segmentation In behavioral segmentation the customers are divided into groups on the basis of their knowledge of, attitude towards, use of or response to a product or a service. It refers to grouping consumers in terms of their relationship with the product, for instance their usage rate, the purpose of use, their willingness

and readiness to buy, etc. Segmentation of customers on the basis of airlines Business Class They are crucial for airlines' profitability. With less spare time and more cash in their pockets, they agree to pay a premium price for a premium service. The premium prices they pay provide wider and more comfortable seats, better choice of meals and seats, luxurious lounges. If the airline is also providing the first class including the business class and the economy class then it will provide additional services to the first class travelers in addition to the other services. These services may include fully reclining seats, workstation and TV surrounded by private dividers

Economy Class They represent a totally different market. The most important consideration for most of them is the price. The lower the airfare, the more people will fly the respective airline. By and large, with the exception of wealthy travelers, this segment will not pay extra for premium services and will agree to change several planes during their trip if this option costs less than a direct flight.

Through Jet Airways, return ticket passengers on metro flights (both economy and business) can avail a discount at all Taj and ITC hotels in South India. Also Sahara has a fanatical assortment of gifts being handed out (its Take Offer). Braun Mixer grinders, CTVs, cameras, handy cams, mobile phones and even free holiday packages are up for grabs as a part of their sales promotion campaign. Also, theres something called marketing bonanzas. Some airlines give free tickets to customer so as to make them aware of their services. These tickets or any other gift voucher are given so as to attract a lot of people. This is a very interesting way of catching the headlines of customers. Example Go Air was sending SMSs to any number that they have won a free ticket from Mumbai to Goa or Delhi. Kingfisher has also sent messages to people for free ticket. Jet lite announced its Summer Special Bonanza promotion for online bookings through its website. Even Air Deccan used this approach of giving gift voucher worth Rs.250 and a saving of Rs.99 per ticket if booked thorugh Air Deccans site. The offer was valid for bookings made between 22-May-08 and 10Jun-08 and for travel in the same period. There was also a 2 nights, 3 day holiday package to be won in the offer period. Jet Airways, India's premier international airline, has announced a special promotional package for students flying to its destinations in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Europe or Asia. Jet Airways' special promotional package is valid for outbound travel on or before October 31, 2008. Existing, as well as new, students will receive a whole host of benefits including excess baggage allowance and special fares. Students availing of this offer will be allowed to carry an extra piece of baggage, with each piece not exceeding 23 kilos, on flights to the US, Canada, UK & Europe; and an additional 10 kilos on flights to Asia (Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok), on Jet Airways' online destinations. With Jet Airways special promotional package, students will also receive exclusively designed Student Kits', in association with its partners. These may be collected after the purchase of a ticket at any of Jet Airways' city sales offices around India. Each kit contains a Matrix mobile connection with free talk-time worth Rs.4000 in the US, UK, Singapore and Australia, ICICI Bank Travel Cards for hassle free transactions across the world, a free Tata Indicom Wi-Fi Roam Card enabling internet connectivity from over 50,000 hotspots in the US ,UK, Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, France and Japan; Bajaj Allianz Travel Insurance with special privileges and low premiums and VIP vouchers worth Rs.500/- on purchase of VIP travel accessories. Jet Airways also offers students an ergonomically-designed seat with hammock style head rest and foot

support, the airline also provides its Economy passengers a personal reading light, on demand In-Flight Entertainment and access to over 200 hours of Hollywood and Bollywood movies, regional films, and television and short programmes. Thus Jet Airway plans to tap mass-students travelling abroad during this period.

Interactive Marketing means Delivering the promise

COLOUR AND STAFF DRESSING Increasing importance is given to the cabin crew and the ground staff uniform. Designers are given contracts to design the uniform and the colors are such which symbolizes the airlines motto. Colour is a visual identifier and thus attractive color scheme catches the eye of the passenger. The staff dressing also helps to differentiate one airline from other. Just by looking at the staff, the passenger assumes the standard of the airlines. JET AIRWAYS

To position itself as a global airline, Jet Airways introduced fresh airline uniform for the cabin crew designed by Italian designer Roberto Capucci. Their uniform reflects distinctive international look capturing spirit of new India and a meeting point between East and West

IN FLIGHT MEALS Airline passengers always have a certain standard of living and are very hygienic about the food. However, in-flight meals have often been the butt of many jokes over the years for their perceived lack of nutritional value. In airlines, the passenger prefers variety in the meal offered, noticing the nutritional value. They also see as to which caterers is serving the food; the way the food is served and handled. This is one critical aspect where even the service recovery cant help to retain the passenger because even the slightest of the mistake by the chef or by the cabin crew, or compromising on the quality of food might prove very dangerous for the passengers health. This, in turn, will spread a bad reputation of the company. JET AIRWAYS Jet airways have different menu options onboard for Premiere and Economy class passengers. The following specialty meal options are available on Jet Airways: Strict Vegetarian (STVG) Jain Meal (JNML) Diabetic Meal (DBML) Low Cholestrol (LFML) Low Sodium (LSML) Low Calorie (LCML) Low Protein (LPML) Non Lactose Meal (NLML) No Salt (NSML) This shows the passenger that Jet Airways do care about their health , thus creating a goodwill among the passengers.

IN FLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT

To make long flights more enjoyable, several major commercial airlines offer in-flight entertainment and information systems to their passengers. This is increasingly gaining popularity in the airlines sector because the passengers here, unlike other modes of travel do not have any other source of entertainment. In airlines, the interaction among passengers is also minimum. So, this is one of the tangible tools of attracting or pulling the passengers towards an airline.

JET AIRWAYS Jet Screen, Jet Airways' In-flight entertainment system is available on both business and economy class on several Jet Airways flights. Jet Airways has also installed state-of-the-art Panasonic 3000i Audio Video on Demand (AVOD) on every seat in some of its flights. In addition to video channels, up to 8 audio entertainment channels playing latest Bollywood songs, International Pop songs, Ghazals, Indian and Western Classical, etc. are also available on Jet Screen.

SEATING In airlines, passengers mostly stay glued to their seats. So, its very important to have a comfortable seating in the flight. Specially , in long distance journey the passenger has to spend a lot of time on the seats, thus the passenger should have full satisfaction with the seats provided, as in, there should be enough leg space, there shouldnt be any back problem, comfortable head space and more importantly , the seats should be clean. JET AIRWAYS Jet Airways is the first airline in the world to install new ergonomically designed seats that offer more space, reduce pressure on the passengers body and has adjustable "Hammock" head rest and a unique foot net which gives added support, especially on long journeys.

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