The various areas in the services marketing where variability could occur include: Customer services where the

e front line customer directly deals with the customer over the phone or electronic chatting. Back End processes involved in the delivery of services which may include hardware, software processes, logistical support (mail, delivery system), material handling Within the provider system and organization there are also support staff (back office, back-room, backstage) management. They are not normally in contact with external customers but only interact with internal customers. They indirectly affect customer service IT maintenance contracts frequently offer a range of service packages (e.g., from basic with response in 4-6 hours, to premium with immediate, on-call support). Service contracts which offer a range of tiers of service offerings like basic, premium, elite etc which may drive priority of delivery/availability of services. E-services that encompasses web sites, portals, ordering systems, email interaction and other electronic communication means like fax, blog etc. (Re-Think Marketing: 2002, Gummesson, 2007) From a customer and competitor viewpoint, the service production system should be such that customers understand it, accept it, and are attracted by it. This is especially important as customers increasingly operate the systems themselves, for example websites and ticketing machines. If the customers feel that a system is too complicated or feel insecure,

they will avoid the purchase or find other ways. A severe problem today is customerfriendly websites and security in payment systems. (Gummesson, 2007). Since e-services are electronically based, and are often provided on a machine-tomachine basis, variations in quality provided from one customer to the next should be minimal. In addition, other e-services purposely monitor customer-service conversations to assist customer service training initiatives as typical problems are identified, resolved, and appropriate responses to customer complaints and inquiries are formalized. Finally, e-services can be thoroughly tested before they are introduced into the marketplace to minimize the occurrence of mistakes in real time. Furthermore E-services have the advantages of being flexible, extensible, easily customizable, highly interactive enriching the customer experience (Hoffman, 2003). Heterogeneity in services is originally based on staff performance, but Zeithaml and Bitner (2003) noted that no two customers are precisely alike and they have unique demands. In addition, other customers' presence may affect the performance (Lovelock & Gummesson 2004). Therefore, the main reason to exclude heterogeneity is the fact that eservices have to be highly standardised and they do not allow variation caused by personnel. Even though an e-service is differentiated and offered to various segments, it most often consists of standardised elements (see Lehtinen and Jrvinen 1996; Vuorinen et al. 1998; Jrvinen et al 2003). Thus, heterogeneity is nearly vanished from e-services with the exception of the elements of response time during the time of day or day of the week when the customer hits/access may increase/decrease affecting the overall performance and response times.

Since e-services are electronically based, and are often provided on a machine-tomachine basis, variations in quality provided from one customer to the next should be minimal. In addition, other e-services purposely monitor customer-service conversations to assist customer service training initiatives as typical problems are identified, resolved, and appropriate responses to customer complaints and inquiries are formalized. Finally, e-services can be thoroughly tested before they are introduced into the marketplace to minimize the occurrence of mistakes in real time. Furthermore E-services have the advantages of being flexible, extensible, easily customizable, highly interactive enriching the customer experience (Hoffman, 2003).

Re-Think Marketing: 2002, Services Marketing: Four Factors that Affect Your Customers http://www.rethinkmarketing.com/articles/ServMktg.htm Jrvinen1, Raija; Lehtinen,Oulevi, 2004, FRONTIERS OF E-BUSINESS RESEARCH 2004 Gummesson,Evert : 2007, Exit Services Marketing Enter Service Marketing, The Journal of Customer Behaviour, 2007, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp.113-141.
Zeithaml, V. & Bitner M. J. 2003. Services Marketing. Integrating Customer Focus across the Firm. 3rd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill. Lovelock, C. & Gummesson, E. 2004. Whither Services Marketing? In Search of a New Paradigm and Fresh Perspectives. Journal of Service Research, Vol. 7, No. 1. 20-41. Lehtinen, U. & Jrvinen, R. 1996. Electronizing Distribution Channels. The Change Process of Industrialization, Electronicing Channels and Renewing Organizations in the Service Sector. In Ropo, A. & Eriksson, P. & Hunt, G. (eds.) Global Perspectives on Processual Research on Management and Organization. Tampere: University of Tampere, School of Business

Administration Series C6. Jrvinen, R. & Lehtinen, U. and Vuorinen, I. 2003. Options of strategic decision making in services. Tech, touch and customizations in financial services. European Journal of Marketing. Vol. 37, No. 5/6. 774-795. Hoffman, Douglas, 2003, MARKETING + MIS = E-SERVICE, COMMUNICATIONS OF THE ACM June 2003/Vol. 46, No. 6

Review: http://smallbiztrends.com/2009/12/customer-service-trends-2010.html The 10 Customer Service Trends for 2010 http://gmj.gallup.com/content/20764/Unlocking-Customer-Service-Excellence.aspx

It is very difficult to make each service experience identical. If travelling by plane the service quality may differ from the first time you travelled by that airline to the second, because the airhostess is more or less experienced. A concert performed by a group on two nights may differ in slight ways because it is very difficult to standardise every dance move. Generally systems and procedures are put into place to make sure the service provided is consistent all the time, training in service organisations is essential for this, however in saying this there will always be subtle differences.

5. Heterogeneity
Heterogeneity of Services
Heterogeneity reflects the potential for high variability in service delivery (Zeithaml et al 1985). This is a particular problem for services with a high labour content, as the service performance is delivered by different people and the performance of people can vary from day to day (Rathmell, 1966; Carman and Langeard, 1980; Zeithaml, 1985; Onkvisit and Shaw, 1991). Onkvisit and Shaw (1991) consider heterogeneity to offer the opportunity to provide a degree of flexibility and customisation of the service. Wyckham et al (1975) suggest that heterogeneity can be introduced as a benefit and point of differentiation.

People often try to overcome some of these difficulties by ensuring that the physical manifestations of the service (the people running it, the library building, printed search results, web pages etc) indicate the quality of the service. The people running the service are more likely to inspire confidence in the service if they are responsive, reliable, courteous, and competent. If the information centre looks shabby and disorganised, or if the website is difficult to navigate with broken links, then users may assume that the services provided by the centre are slapdash. Sometimes called "heterogeneity," services quality and consistency are subject to great variability because they are delivered by people, and human behavior is difficult to control. Personal performance and quality can vary by time of day (people get tired), time of month or year (during tax time for CPAs), workload, experience, attitude, knowledge, and other factors. Maintaining client trust during lapses (which will happen) is critical. Additionally, variability is why it can be risky to have one person make the sale and establish the relationship, and another deliver the service. The original contact person is the one who reduced risk for the client; when someone else delivers the service, the client may become agitated or wary. Heterogeneity This characteristic emphasises that service encounters involve individuals service providers and consumers. Moreover, service encounters take place again and again, at different times. As a consequence, there are likely to be variations in service provision, by virtue of the participants, the time of the encounter or the circumstances. Heterogeneity clearly has wide-ranging implications for the operational side of service provision: Service personnel service delivery and customer satisfaction are highly dependant upon the activities and actions of those members of staff in the front-line, who actually perform, and are seen to perform, services. Service personnel must therefore be competent to perform services. They must be made aware of service standards and be able, or enabled, to achieve those standards. Service standards must be established and made clear, to assist quality control and more effective management of service encounters, in particular evenness and equity of service delivery.

Marketing Response
Services marketing professionals particularly can overcome variability by developing special service packages. For example, the level of quality to be received can be deliberately limited. IT maintenance contracts frequently offer a range of service packages (e.g., from basic with response in 4-6 hours, to premium with immediate, on-call support). Standardizing some service offerings enables the organization to be very specific in noting service and quality deliverables, thus decreasing variability and meeting client

expectations simultaneously. When this method is used, variability can become a point of differentiation as it enables flexibility and services customization. When promoting services, marketers can overcome client concern about service consistency in two ways through team introductions and through positive referrals. The sales leader should make it clear that a qualified team will work with the client, and schedule face-to-face introduction and discovery sessions to smooth the next-phase transition process. Additionally, positive word-of-mouth referrals, written testimonials and case studies, or referenceable accounts can dispel client concerns about variability. Because things can and do go wrong, the services producer should know how to deliver a professional client response. How quickly the response is delivered is critical. The objective is to maintain client trust so shifting blame, explaining it away, or ignoring it can further damage the relationship. The services producer should provide an apology, fix the problem or situation quickly, make up for the inconvenience with additional free services or a token of appreciation, and determine the reason for the error and fix it at the root even if it means people or process changes. Finally, research shows that employee satisfaction is the most important factor in providing high quality service. Potential client interaction problems can be minimized through adequate training, empowering employees to make more customer-focused decisions, and rewarding them for positive customer-oriented behavior. Also, establishing employee feedback mechanisms so that management can hear and take action on issues of concern will strengthen employee perceptions of the company, increase satisfaction, and result in better client interactions.

Heterogeneity in services is originally based on staff performance, but Zeithaml and Bitner (2003) noted that no two customers are precisely alike and they have unique demands. In addition, other customers' presence may affect the performance (Lovelock & Gummesson 2004). Therefore, the main reason to exclude heterogeneity is the fact that eservices have to be highly standardised and they do not allow variation caused by personnel. Even though an e-service is differentiated and offered to various segments, it most often consists of standardised elements ( Lehtinen and Jrvinen 1996; Vuorinen et al. 1998; Jrvinen et al 2003). Thus, heterogeneity is nearly vanished from e-services. Interaction in e-services materializes in the interaction between customers and service providers. Many e-services have eliminated personal interaction and customers are interacting only with their computers. We call this automated interaction. In addition, Bitner et al. (2000) suggest that technology is eliminating interpersonal service encounters altogether. In that sense all kinds of reservation systems (hotel, flight/railroad

tickets, packaged tour and food take-away) represent automated interaction, whereas banks, insurance companies and financial advisers offer some e-services that are linked to human interaction even though not often in-time basis. Some real estate agents have also partial human interaction service, but not all of them. Our term mostly automated in Table 1 refers to connecting partial human interaction to automated interaction.