Services Marketing

One of the major world trends in recent years has been the dramatic growth of services. Services now generate 74 percent of U. S. gross domestic product. Services account for 80 percent of all U. S. jobs. Services are growing even faster in the world economy, making up a quarter of all international trade.

The service industry varies greatly, consisting of governments, private nonprofit organizations, and business organizations. One of the chief reasons for the growth of the service industry is the demand generated by the time-pressed consumer.

Nature and Characteristics of a Service

A company must consider four service characteristics when designing marketing programs:

1). Service intangibility (they cannot be stored for later sale). Services cannot be seen, tasted, felt, heard, or smelled before they are bought. The strategy for making the service offering more tangible is to try to draw the buyer’s attention to tangible features (place, people, price, equipment or communications that they can see).

2). Service inseparability (they are produced and consumed at the same time and cannot be separated from their providers, whether the providers are people or machines). Both the provider and the consumer affect the service outcome.

a). Provider-customer interaction is a special feature of services marketing.

3). Service variability (their quality may vary greatly depending on who provides them and when, where, and how).

4). Service perishability (they cannot be stored for later sale or use). Service perishability is not a problem when demand is steady. However, it is when demand fluctuates.

Marketing Strategies for Service Firms

Good service firms use marketing to position themselves strongly in chosen target markets.

Since the customer and the service provider interact to provide the service, the interaction must be controlled and constantly improved.

Successful service companies focus their attention on both their customers and their employees. They understand the service-profit chain (the chain that links service firm profits with employee and customer satisfaction).

The chain has five links:

1). Internal service quality.

2). Satisfied and productive service employees.

3). Greater service value.

4). Satisfied and loyal customers.

5). Healthy service profits and growth.

Successful service marketing requires internal marketing and interactive marketing. Internal marketing is marketing by a service firm to train and effectively motivate its customer-contact employees and all the supporting service people to work as a team to provide customer satisfaction.

1). For the firm to deliver consistently high service quality, marketers must get everyone in the organization to practice a customer orientation.

2). Internal marketing must precede external marketing.

Interactive marketing is marketing by a service firm that recognizes that perceived service quality depends heavily on the quality of buyer-seller interaction. The marketer cannot assume that they will satisfy the customer simply by providing good technical service.

Service companies face three major marketing tasks:

1). Competitive differentiation. This can occur by differentiating the offer, the delivery, and their images.

2). Service quality. By consistently delivering higher quality than the competition, the firm can make progress in customer retention. What are the customer’s expectations of service quality? A good service recovery system can turn an unhappy customer (a burned steak) into a happy one (the manager offers a free meal, an apology, and desert for the family). To have a good service system, the organization must:

a). Empower front-line employees (give them the authority, responsibility, and incentives) to make it work.

b). Be customer obsessed. Have top management commit to quality.

c). Set high service quality standards.

d). Watch service performance closely.

3). Service productivity. Increase productivity by training employees better. Work on quality as well as quantity of service. Use technology to help. Firms must watch pushing productivity at the expense of service quality.

a). A well-designed Web site can allow customers to obtain buying information, narrow purchase options, or make a purchase directly, saving service provider time.

b). Companies must avoid pushing productivity so hard that doing so reduces quality.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-30