7 Ps of service marketing Once you've developed your marketing strategy, there is a "Seven P Formula" youshould use to continually evaluate

and reevaluate your business activities. These sevenare: product, price, promotion, place, process, physical environment and people. As products,markets, customers and needs change rapidly, you must continually revisit these sevenPs to make sure you're on track and achieving the maximum results possible for you intoday's marketplace. Product To begin with, develop the habit of looking at your product as though you were anoutside marketing consultant brought in to help your company decide whether or notit's in the right business at this time. Whenever you're having difficulty selling as much of your products or services as you'dlike, you need to develop the habit of assessing your business honestly and asking, "Arethese the right products or services for our customers today?"Is there any product or service you're offering today that, knowing what you nowknow, you would not bring out again today? Compared to your competitors, is yourproduct or service superior in some significant way to anything else available? If so,what is it? If not, could you develop an area of superiority? Should you be offering thisproduct or service at all in the current marketplace? Prices The second P in the formula is price. Develop the habit of continually examining andreexamining the prices of the products and services you sell to make sure they're stillappropriate to the realities of the current market. Sometimes you need to lower yourprices. At other times, it may be appropriate to raise your prices. By raising their prices,they may lose a percentage of their customers, but the remaining percentage generates a profit on every sale. In business, as in nature, whenever you experience resistance or frustration in any partof your sales or marketing activities, be open to revisiting that area. Be open to thepossibility that your current pricing structure is not ideal for the current market. Beopen to the need to revise your prices, if necessary, to remain competitive, to surviveand thrive in a fastchanging marketplace. Promotion The third habit in marketing and sales is to think in terms of promotion all the time. Promotion includes all the ways you tell your customers about your products or

services and how you then market and sell to them. Small changes in the way you promote and sell your products can lead to dramatic changes in your results. Even small changes in your advertising can lead immediately to higher sales Large and small companies in every industry continually experiment with different ways of advertising, promoting, and selling their products and services. Place The fourth P in the marketing mix is the place where your product or service is actually sold. Develop the habit of reviewing and reflecting upon the exact location where the customer meets the salesperson. Sometimes a change in place can lead to a rapid increase in sales. You can sell your product in many different places. Some companies use direct selling, sending their sales people out to personally meet and talk with the prospect. Some sell by telemarketing. Some sell through catalogues or mail order. Some sell at trade shows or in retail establishments. Some sell in joint ventures with other similar products or services. Some companies use manufacturers' representatives or distributors. Many companies use a combination of one or more of these methods. In each case, the entrepreneur must make the right choice about the very best location or place for the customer to receive essential buying information on the product or service needed to make a buying decision. People An essential ingredient to any service provision is the use of appropriate staff and people. Recruiting the right staff and training them appropriately in the delivery of their service is essential if the organisation wants to obtain a form of competitive advantage. Consumers make judgments and deliver perceptions of the service based on the employees they interact with. Staff should have the appropriate interpersonal skills, aptititude, and service knowledge to provide the service that consumers are paying for. Process Refers to the systems used to assist the organisation in delivering the service. Imagine you walk into Burger King and you order a Whopper Meal and you get it delivered within 2 minutes. What was the process that allowed you to obtain an efficient service delivery? Banks that send out Credit Cards automatically when their customers old one has expired again require an efficient process to identify expiry dates and renewal. An efficient service that replaces old credit cards will foster consumer loyalty and confidence in the company.

Physical Evidence Physical Evidence is the element of the service mix which allows the consumer again to make judgments on the organisation. If you walk into a restaurant your expectations are of a clean, friendly environment. On an aircraft if you travel first class you expect enough room to be able to lay down! Physical evidence is an essential ingredient of the service mix, consumers will make perceptions based on their sight of the service provision which will have an impact on the organisations perceptual plan of the service. McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving nearly 47 million customers daily. At one time it was the largest global restaurant chain, it has since been surpassed by multi-brand operator Yum! (KFC, Taco Bell and others) and sandwich chain Subway. In addition to its signature restaurant chain, McDonalds Corporation held a minority interest in Pret A Manger until 2008, and owned the Chipotle Mexican Grill until 2006 and the restaurant chain Boston Market until 2007. On August 27, 2007, McDonald's sold Boston Market to Sun Capital Partners. The company also operates other restaurant brands, such as Piles Caf. The company has also expanded the McDonald's menu in recent decades to include alternative meal options, such as salads and snack wraps, in order to capitalize on growing consumer interest in health and wellness. Each McDonald's restaurant is operated by a franchisee, an affiliate, or the corporation itself. The corporations' revenues come from the rent, royalties and fees paid by the franchisees, as well as sales in company-operated restaurants. McDonald's revenues grew 27% over the three years ending in 2007 to $22.8 billion, and 9% growth in operating income to $3.9 billion. Most standalone McDonald's restaurants offer both counter service and drive-through service, with indoor and sometimes outdoor seating. Drive-Thru, Auto-Mac, Pay and Drive, or McDrive as it is known in many countries, often has separate stations for placing, paying for, and picking up orders, though the latter two steps are frequently combined; McDonald's primarily sells hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken products, french fries, breakfast items, soft drinks, milkshakes, and desserts. In response to obesity trends in western nations and in the face of criticism over the healthiness of its products, the company has modified its menu to include such healthier alternatives as salads, wraps and fruit. Major Competitors

Burger King - Second largest burger chain Subway (restaurant) - Largest single brand restaurant chain Yum! - Largest multi-brand restaurant chain

THE 7 P's Of Mc DONALDS' PRODUCT: Mc Donalds product portfolio primarily comprises of vegetarian and nonvegetarian burgers. The vegetarian burgers like Veg surprise, salad sandwich, Mc Aloo Tikki Burger, Mc veggie burger are offered to the customers. Nonvegetatarian burgers include Chicken Mc grill, Mc chicken burger, Fliet of fish and chicken maharaja burger. Along with these french-fries, veg pizza mc puff, wrap chicken Mexican, wrap paneer salsa, potato wedges, soft serve pineapple and choclate ice creams, Mc swirl soft drinks, coffee and Mc shakes are also offered to increase the variety in the product portfolio. Mc Donalds also provides mean combos with medium fries and medium soft drink, happy mean with small soft drink, econo meals with small soft drink and value meals with potato wedges and small soft drink. PRICE: Mc Donalds vegetarian burgers are priced between Rs 20 and Rs 48. Wrap paneer salsa is priced at Rs 45-50. The non vegetarian burgers are priced between Rs 30 and Rs 60. Wrap chicken Mexican is priced at Rs 55. Medium French fries are priced at Rs 28, potato wedges at Rs 20, soft serves at Rs 35, mc swirl at Rs 12, medium soft drinks at Rs 20 and medium shakes at Rs 45. PROMOTION: At Mc Donalds the prime focus is on targeting children. In happy meals too which are targeted at children small toys are given along with the meal. Apart from this, various schemes for winning prices by way of lucky draws and also scratch cards are given when an order is placed on the various mean combos. In fact, the various econo meals and value meals also signal to the customer that buying separate items results in greater value for money for the customer. PLACE:

Mc Donals outlets are very evenly spread throughout the NCR region. Mc Donalds does not offer home delivery but its outlets are very readily accessible. Mc Donalds also offers take away drive through facilities. PEOPLE: The employees in Mc Donalds have a standard uniform and Mc Donalds specially focuses on friendly and prompt service to its customers from their employees. PROCESS: The food manufacturing process at Mc Donalds is completely transparent i.e. the whole process is visible to the customers. In fact, the fast food joint allows its customers to view and judge the hygienic standards at Mc Donalds by allowing them to enter the area where the process takes place. The customers are invited to check the ingredients used in food. PHYSICAL EVIDENCE: Mc Donalds focuses on clean and hygienic interiors of is outlets and at the same time the interiors are attractive and the fast food joint maintains a proper decorum at its joints.