7 P’s 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 fast-
changing 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, McDonald’s 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 Café. 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 Donald’s product portfolio primarily comprises of vegetarian and non-vegetarian burgers. The
vegetarian burgers like Veg surprise, salad sandwich, Mc Aloo Tikki Burger, Mc veggie burger are
offered to the customers. Non-vegetatarian 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.