SERVICE

MEANING:

A service is the action of doing something for someone or something. It is largely intangible (i.e. not
material). A product is tangible (i.e. material) since you can touch it and own it. A service tends to be an
experience that is consumed at the point where it is purchased, and cannot be owned since is quickly
perishes. A person could go to a café one day and have excellent service, and then return the next day and
have a poor experience.

CHARACTERISTICS OF SERVICES

Many organizations have service elements to the product they sell, for example McDonald’s sell physical
products i.e. burgers but consumers are also concerned about the quality and speed of service, are staff
cheerful and they coming and do they serve with a smile on their face?

There are five characteristics to a service:

Inseparable - Services are inseparable from the point where it is

Consumed, and from the provider of the service.
Intangible - Services are intangible and cannot have a real,
Physical presence as does a product. For example, motor insurance may have a certificate, but the financial
service itself cannot be touched i.e. it is intangible.
Perishable - Services are perishable in that, once it has occurred
It cannot be repeated in exactly the same way. For example, once a 100 meters Olympic final has been run,
there will be no other for 4 more years, and even then it will be staged in a different place with many
different finalists.
Variability - Since the human involvement of service provision
Means that no two services will be completely identical. For example, returning to the same garage time
and time again for a service on their car might see different levels of customer satisfaction, or speediness of
work.

MARKETING MIX
The marketing mix is probably the most famous marketing term. Its elements are the basic, tactical
components of a marketing plan. Also known as the Their P's, the marketing mix elements are price, place,
product, and promotion.

Product - It must provide value to a customer but does not have

To be tangible at the same time. Basically, it involves introducing
New products or improvising the existing products.
Price - Pricing must be competitive and must entail profit. The
Pricing strategy can comprise discounts, offers and the like.
Place - It refers to the place where the customers can buy the
Product and how the product reaches out to that place. This is done through different channels, like
Internet, wholesalers and retailers.
Promotion - It includes the various ways of communicating to
The customers of what the company has to offer. It is about communicating about the benefits of using a
particular product or service rather than just talking about its features.

THE EXTENDED MARKETING MIX INCLUDES

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 organization
wants to obtain a form of competitive advantage. Consumers make judgments and deliver perceptions of
the service based on the employees they interact with..
Process–
Refers to the systems used to assist the organization in delivering the service. Imagine you walk into
Burger King and you order a Whopper Meal and you get it delivered within 2 minutes.