SERVICE MARKETING

BY, BHAVITHRA ASOKAN

WHAT IS SERVICE ?
SERVICE IS ANY ACT OR PERFORMANCE THAT ONE PARTY CAN OFFER TO ANOTHER THAT IS ESSENTIALLY INTANGIBLE AND DOES NOT RESULT IN ANY OWNERSHIP OF ANYTHING.ITS PRODUCTION MAY OR MAY NOT BE TIED TO PHYSICAL PRODUCTS. PHILIP KOTLER SERVICES MARKETING IS MARKETING BASED ON RELATIONSHIP AND VALUE. IT MAY BE USED TO MARKET A SERVICE OR A PRODUCT

CHARACTERISTIC OF SERVICE MARKETING

It has 4 major characteristic

Intangibility

Inseparability

SERVICE MARKETING
Variability

Perishability

INTANGIBILITY

Services are intangibility cannot be seen, tasted, felt, heard or smelled before purchase. It draws inferences about : PLACE PEOPLE EQUIPMENT COMMUNICATION MATERIAL SYMBOLS PRICE

Intangibility is used in marketing to describe the inability to assess the value gained from engaging in an activity using any tangible evidence To reduce uncertainty.

INSEPARABILITY

Services are produced and consumed simultaneously. provider client interactions is a special feature of

service marketing

In Inseparability ,key quality of services as distinct from goods

VARIABILITY

It is otherwise called heterogeneity. Services are highly variable

The state or characteristic of being variable"

Eg: service firms

PERISHABILITY

Perishability is used in marketing to describe the way in which service capacity cannot be stored for sale in the future. Services cannot be stored.

Some Service firms:

Banking, stock broking

Health care

Restaurants, bars, catering

Insurance News and entertainment Transportation (freight and passenger) Postal service

Education
Wholesaling and retailing Laundries, dry-cleaning Repair and maintenance Professional (e.g., law, architecture, consulting)

Additional Ps of Service Marketing

People [employees]: selection, training& motivation of employees

can make a huge difference in customer satisfaction.

deliver their service. EG: Restaurants have developed such different Formats as cafeteria-style, fast-food, buffet & candlelight.

Process: Here service companies can choose different processes to

Physical evidence: Actual experience of service

RAILWAY

EG:

A reserved ticket Cheque book

Qualities of services
Search
purchase.

qualities: The buyer can evaluate before qualities: The buyer can evaluate after

Experience
purchase.

Credence

qualities: The buyer normally finds hard to

evaluate even after consumption

Differentiation in services
Offer: The Offer can include innovation features . Delivery: A service company can hire and train better
people to deliver its service. It can develop a more attractive physical environment in which to deliver the service.

Image: Images are differentiated through symbols &

branding.

Managing Service quality

Gap between management perceptions and consumer expectations. Gap between management perceptions and service quality specifications. Gap between service quality specifications and service delivery. Gap between service delivery and external communication. Gap between expected service and perceived service.

Determinants of service quality

Reliability delivering on promises Responsiveness willing to help

Assurance inspiring trust and confidence

Empathy individualizing customers Tangibles- physical representation

Managing product support services

The real differentiator of customer centricity in a commoditised world of financial products

Customer Service !

Drivers of Customer Satisfaction

Many aspects of the firms value proposition contribute to customer satisfaction:

The core product or service offered Support services and systems

The technical performance of the firm

Interaction with the firm and it employees The emotional connection with customers

Ability to add value and to differentiate as a firm focuses more on the top levels

CUSTOMERS HAVE 3 SPECIFIC WORRIES:

They worry about reliability and failure frequency. E.g.: a farmer may tolerate a combine that ll break down once a year, but not 2 or 3 times a year.

Customer worry about out- of- pocket costs of maintenance and repair. where here reliability is important. Customer worry about downtime duration. The longer the downtime, the higher the cost. The Customer counts on the selling sellers service dependability.

CONCLUSION
Thus to provide the best support, a manufacturer must identify the services that customer value and their relatively important.

Thank You
Marketing is all about creating a pull, sales is all about push . . .