1. The recent epidemic of Coronavirus has really affected the world very badly.

One of the sectors

worst affected are Travel & Tourism. SOTC India has seen a severe fall in business in the last few
months and does not see light at the end of the tunnel anytime soon. If the situation continues
this way, it may lead to them shutting down many of their branches and laying of many
employees. The sluggish Indian economy is not helping their case too. You are hired as a
consultant by them to suggest possible solutions and strategies in order to combat this
problem? Keep in mind IIHS and the service marketing mix.
Answer 1: Introduction: Services marketing is simply strategizing your marketing for the provision of
services both in the context of a business serving a consumer and as a business serving another
business. These include tax and accounting services, the hotel industry, airlines, telecoms, hairdressers,
tailors, dry cleaners, and so on. It may also include services that are contained in what is a traditional
physical product’s sales environment, such as tech and customer support.

A service is defined as any economic activity that is not tangible, not stored, and does not result in the
transfer of ownership. It is consumed immediately where the sale is made. With this definition in mind,
the three new Ps added to the traditional marketing mix give it a lot of new depth. Since you it is not
tangible and you have to consume it as soon as you buy it, there are a few factors that determine
whether the customer walks away satisfied. These are the environment in which the service is delivered,
the process through which the service is delivered, and the person who delivers0 the service.

Elements of Service Marketing Mix

1. Product – Unlike a product, a service is intangible and cannot be measured in terms of look, feel
and other qualities present in a commodity. However, it can be customized to suit the user
requirements and give a personal touch. However, the service product is heterogeneous and
perishable in nature just like a normal product and needs to be designed with the utmost care to
increase customer satisfaction. 
2. Pricing – The pricing strategy for services is difficult to achieve unlike in products, wherein the
final price depends on the raw materials, cost of production and distribution etc. However, in
service pricing, you cannot measure the cost of the services you offer that easily. For example, in
the education industry, how would you set the price of the quality of education imparted?
3. Place – The place where you choose to conduct your service business can make or break your
organizational growth. You need to understand how visible your setup would be to potential
customers and how frequently it would be visited by consumers. For example, would you set up
a fast-food centre near a college or office hub, where students and professionals can quickly
grab a bite or next to a big restaurant in a classy neighbourhood?
4. Promotion – The service industry usually has stiff competition across different verticals and your
business would need a lot of promotions to pass on the right message to potential customers.
While advertising, online and direct marketing are the best ways to promote your service you
need to have a good mix of communication channels to address a larger audience.
5. People – Your business is not just built on your goals, company vision and principles but also
depends heavily on your employees. It is the people who work for you who are responsible in
 creating happy and returning customers. People in your organization are the epicentre of the
quality of your services and need to have the best of talents to gain customer loyalty and trust.
6. Process – How efficiently your services are delivered to the customer is an important aspect of
your service blueprint and you need to emphasize on setting up a process for doing so. You need
to ask yourself “Do I want to have a process in place that is quick, reliable and easy to monitor
or one that is sluggish but necessarily passes through several layers of hierarchy?” In today’s
competitive world, companies are always in the race to deliver services quickly, efficiently and
with the highest quality.
7. Physical Evidence – While offering your services, you can either do it without adding a personal
touch or by differentiating your offerings by adding an element of delight to the customer. For
example, would you prefer to visit a bookstore that only has a stack of books with a cashier
nearby or one that also has a place to sit, where you can browse through the book you are
interested in and enjoy the light music in the backdrop while you make a choice? The ambience
of a bookstore or restaurant, the music, the friendly face of your travel host etc. are all part of
the physical evidence of a service and they are an important element of the service marketing
mix.

Strategies which SOTC India can follow to revive business are:

 The World Travel and Tourism Council has warned the COVID-19 pandemic could cut 50 million
jobs worldwide in the travel and tourism industry.
 Asia is expected to be the worst affected.
 Once the outbreak is over, it could take up to 10 months for the industry to recover.
 The tourism industry currently accounts for 10% of global GDP.

 Be mindful of the sectors within the tourism industry that rely on patronage for success:
Transportation, Accommodation, Food and Beverage, Entertainment, and Connected Industries
(travel agents, tour operators, etc.).
 Consider a no-contact drop-off delivery from local restaurants and businesses and don’t forget
to tip well.
 Purchase gift vouchers or gift cards for future hospitality visits when social distancing isn’t the
modus operandi.
 Don’t lose your curiosity and desire to learn about other countries and cultures, even if you have
to explore from your armchair currently. Experience the world through virtual tours, webcams,
and live streams; read books and articles on travel destinations that you’d like to visit in the
future; try recipes from local chefs in your community for cooking at home; take an online
course in wine and put your knowledge to use on a future vacation; and seek out ways to stay
connected to communities across the globe (like a travel-themed subscription box).
 Stay informed, as the news changes on a regular basis, by checking in with a trusted source like
the World Health Organization or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Conclusion: The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) reports that up to 50 million travel and
tourism jobs are at risk around the world due to the current pandemic. Not only does this impact people
who want to travel, but also, it effects people who have jobs in the travel industry. Travel and tourism,
according to WTTC, supports one in 10 occupations worldwide, generating 320 million jobs. We are, no
doubt, in uncharted territory. The travel and tourism industry in America could take a $24 billion loss in
foreign spending due to the rapidly spreading virus. There is a bright side, however, as the experts at
Tourism Economics expect a full recovery by 2023, based on how the travel industry recuperated from
past slumps, once the situation has stabilized.

2. The recent judgement by the Supreme Court with regards to AGR has forced Vodafone Idea to
pay a huge amount as fine before the deadline. This hurts the already bleeding company even
more. Post the entry of Jio, the telecom market has gone through a complete turmoil with the
low rates and growing taxation burden. The situation has turned so bad that Vodafone wants to
quit the Indian Market. The recent price increase has not helped improve the situation a lot. Can
you as a student of Service Marketing analyze the problem at hand and provide possible
solutions and revenue streams or methods to contain losses? Use the SERVQUAL Model to
analyze the same? Also use the concept of Customer Loyalty to your advantage?
Answer 2: Introduction: The Service Quality Model or SERVQUAL Model was developed and
implemented by the American marketing gurus Valarie Zeithaml, A. Parasuraman and Leonard Berry in
1988. It is a method to capture and measure the service quality experienced by customers.

Initially, emphasis was on the development of quality systems in the field product quality. Over time, it
became more and more important to improve the quality of related services. Improved service quality
could give organisations a competitive edge. In addition, service in general became more important, and
as a result, the SERVQUAL Model had a serious impact in the eighties. Back then, measuring service was
abstract and not easily quantifiable.

The SERVQUAL Model is primarily a qualitative analysis. If a satisfaction survey mainly depends on the
transactions between supplier and buyer, the observed quality is measured through generic,
environmental factors.

DESIGNED FOR SERVICE FIRMS

The SERVQUAL model was initially designed for use for service firms and retailers. In reality, while most
organizations will provide some form of customer service, it is really only service industries that are
interested in understanding and measuring service quality. Therefore, SERVQUAL takes a broader
perspective of service; far beyond simple customer service.
One of the drivers for the development of the SERVQUAL model was the unique characteristics of
services (as compared to physical products). These unique characteristics, such as intangibility and
heterogeneity, make it much harder for a firm to objectively assess its quality level (as opposed to a
manufacturer who can inspect and test physical goods). The development of this model provided service
firms and retailers with a structured approach to assess the set of factors that influence consumers’
perception of the firm’s overall service quality.

From the original questionnaire of almost 100 items, 25 finally remained that were considered
important by the consumers regarding customer service. In the end, this resulted in the following ten
dimensions that still play an important role in the SERVQUAL Model:
1. Reliability
2. Responsiveness
3. Competence
4. Access
5. Courtesy
6. Communication
7. Credibility
8. Security
9. Knowing the customer
10. Tangibles
The reliability depends on to what extent the service is accurate and honest. Responsiveness is about
promptly and adequately responding to customer questions or complaints. Competence relates to the
expertise an organisation has and the access determines if a customer can quickly and efficiently contact
the right department. Courtesy is the trying to be polite to customers and communication is about clear,
honest and prompt information for clients. Credibility is about to what extent the organisation’s
message is believable and reliable. Security is meant to add trust to the service and proper access for
the consumer. Knowing the customer includes a personal approach and responding well to customers’
needs and wishes. The tangibles are tangible information; that what is visible to the customers in the
form of for instance the visibility of staff (work clothes/uniform), the decoration and cleanliness of an
office building and all other facilities.

5 gaps
Both the communication between the customer and the service-providing organisation, as well as the
organisation’s internal communication, are of vital importance for the level of quality of the service. It is
good when organisations know the expectancy pattern of their customers. Therefore, the SERVQUAL
Model identifies five gaps that can arise between the customer’s needs and the service that a company
offers.
1. Knowledge gap
A gap arises when an organisation’s knowledge of customer expectations is lacking, preventing them
from approaching consumers in the right way.
2. Standards gap
The organisation has already formed its own idea about what the customer expects from their service. If
this idea is wrong from the start and does not correspond to what customers actually expect, there is a
significant risk that the organisation will translate it wrongly into a quality policy and corresponding
rules.
3. Delivery gap
A gap can also occur when the organisation offers service that is different from what the consumer had
expected. This also involves an incorrect implementation. For instance, in the way employees carry out
policy.
4. Communications gap
Sometimes, the external (marketing) communication that the organisation sends out, can create the
wrong expectations among customers. It also happens that the organisation communicates and
promises things that are not in line with what they can actually deliver.
5. Satisfaction gap
Dissatisfaction results from a (significant) difference between the service a customer expects and the
service they actually experience. Eventually, this will lead to the biggest gap in the experience of quality.

Service quality
Service quality is a concept that has aroused considerable interest and debate in the research literature
because of the difficulties in both defining it and measuring it with no overall consensus emerging on
either (Wisniewski, 2001). Besides, there are many different definitions of what is meant by service
quality.

Customer Satisfaction
There are several definitions of customer satisfactions that come from the different point of views of
researchers on customer satisfaction. For example, in opinion of Oliver (1981) ‘Satisfaction is a
psychological state resulting when the emotion surrounding disconfirmed expectations is coupled with
the consumer’s prior feelings about the consumption experience’. While Kotler (2000) defined
satisfaction as: ‘a person’s feelings of pleasure or disappointment resulting from comparing a product’s
perceived performance (or outcome) in relation to his or her expectations’.

Service Quality
Realizing the growing importance of services quality to compete on the service dimensions of the
augmented product, several scholars have examined the problems of measuring and managing service
quality.

Customer Loyalty
Customer loyalty mainly relates to consumers’ overall purchasing power. It is about what the seller can
offer customers in terms of money-saving deals and regular price discounts.
Boosting customer loyalty
Companies can boost customer loyalty by maintaining overall low prices. They can also offer multi-
purchase deals, special offers, and regular loyalty discounts.

These strategies will help prevent customers from buying goods and services from competitors.

Retaining customers
Customer retention refers to a company’s ability to retain its customers over a specific period. In other
words, ‘to keep them.’
Getting new customers is much more expensive than retaining existing ones. Some studies have shown
that it costs six to seven times more to acquire a new customer than to keep an existing one.
Not only do loyal customers help sales, but they are also more likely to buy high-margin supplemental
goods and services.

Drivers of customer loyalty

Personalization
 Studies have found a correlation between customer satisfaction and personalization. According
to the Bond Loyalty Report, 79% of customers in a survey indicated that they were very satisfied
with high personalization loyalty programs.

 The study also found that loyalty programs where customers felt recognized and special had 2.7
times more satisfied members.

Partnerships
 Over the last couple of years, more brands have been seeking out strategic partners to stay
ahead of their rivals.

 Partnerships help extend additional value to brands, which enhances both customer and brand
loyalty.

Social responsibility
A growing number of consumers want businesses to be active in their communities. If a company serves
as a driver of change, customer loyalty benefits considerably.

Conclusion: Customer loyalty is a measure of a customer’s likeliness to do repeat business with a

company or brand. It is the result of customer satisfaction, positive customer experiences, and the
overall value of the goods or services a customer receives from a business.

3. The recent decision by the Indian Government to divide the State of Jammu & Kashmir into Union
Territories and open it for investors of the world has been met with a lot of cheer by the Industry.
Kashmir sure has a lot to offer but it also brings with it, its shares of problems. Use the Service Branding
Model, Service Communication Model and Moment of Truth to your advantage?

a. You are a part of the planning team organizing a summit to invite investors from the service sector to
tap Kashmir’s potential. Can you suggest strategies in order to woo the investors?

b. Can you also enlist the hurdles that will come by and suggest possible solutions for the same?

Answer 3a: Introduction: Foreign direct investment (FDI) in developing countries has a bad reputation. In
some discussions, it is presented as tantamount to postcolonial exploitation of raw materials and cheap
labour. However, recent data shows that FDI in developing countries increasingly flows to medium and
high-skilled manufacturing sectors.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in developing countries has a bad reputation. In some discussions, it is
presented as tantamount to postcolonial exploitation of raw materials and cheap labour. However,
recent data shows that FDI in developing countries increasingly flows to medium and high-skilled
manufacturing sectors, involving elevated income levels . What’s more, many emerging economies have
built their growth on FDI flows.
Quality FDI
The trick is to attract “quality FDI” that links foreign investors into the local host country economy.
Quality FDI is characterised as:
 contributing to the creation of decent and value-adding jobs;
 enhancing the skill base of host economies;
 facilitating the transfer of technology, knowledge and know-how;
 boosting competitiveness of domestic firms and enabling their access to markets; and
 operating in a socially and environmentally responsible manner.
To achieve this, host countries cannot just wait and see what international market forces may bring to
them. Rather, they need tailored policies to overcome domestic imperfections that hinder the smooth
integration of indigenous and foreign firms into world-wide supply-chain networks.

Strategies for attracting quality FDI

1. Open markets and allow for FDI inflows. Reduce restrictions on FDI. Provide open, transparent
and dependable conditions for all kinds of firms, whether foreign or domestic, including: ease of
doing business, access to imports, relatively flexible labour markets and protection of
intellectual property rights.
2. Set up an Investment Promotion Agency (IPA). A successful IPA could target suitable foreign
investors and could then become the link between them and the domestic economy. On the one
side, it should act as a one-stop shop for the requirements investors demand from the host
country. On the other side, it should act as a catalyst in the host’s domestic economy, prompting
it to provide top notch infrastructure and ready access to skilled workers, technicians, engineers
and managers that may be required to attract such investors (Moran, 2014; Barnes et al., 2015;
Harding and Javorcig, 2012).Moreover, it should engage in after-investment care, acknowledging
the demonstration effects from satisfied investors, the potential for reinvestments, and the
potential for cluster-development because of follow-up investments.
3. Think carefully about sectors/activities to be targeted. Investment and location decisions of
suppliers may be dependent on those of prime multinational investors in the host economy
(McKinsey, 2001; Javorcik et al., 2006).
4. Put up the infrastructure required for a quality investor: such as sufficient close-by transport
facilities (airport, ports), adequate and reliable supply of energy, provision of an adequately
skilled workforce, facilities for the vocational training of specialised workers, ideally designed in
cooperation with the investor (Ibid.).
 5. Strengthen backward linkages from FDI into the indigenous economy. Allow for the
competitive pressure of foreign entrants on their local suppliers to raise competitiveness of the
latter (Rhee et al., 1990), and allow for multiple forms of direct assistance from foreign to
domestic firms, in the form of training, help with setting up production lines, management
coaching regarding strategy and financial planning, financing, assistance with quality control and
introduction to export markets.

Answer 3b: Investment Hurdles and how to overcome them

Noticed how the athlete concentrates on overcoming the hurdles? How they time their leap at the right
moment to sail smoothly over them? For these people the barrier is just a physical obstacle and not a
mental one. It is the mind which has to be geared to overcome barriers and this dictum holds true for
investors too.
It is often that investors behave in a manner which is just the opposite of what they should be doing in
the first place. Instead of concentrating on facts they are driven by rumors. They chase the
elusive winning stock and trip on the hurdle, losing money as a result. These mental hurdles which the
investors encounter can be overcome by identifying and eliminating them by following some simple
rules.

Emotional Imbalance
Emotion is a barrier which may look harmless and passive but it has the potential to wreck havoc and
bruise the investor financially. ‘Buy low and sell high’ is a simple mantra which investors need to follow.
They forget and instead often get afflicted by emotion, refusing to sell peaking stocks and ignoring
potentially promising out-of-favor stocks. Holding on too long to losing stocks in the expectation that
they will rise often never happens and financially the investor moves from a position of bad to worse.

Lack of Knowledge
The reluctance to understand the working of the investment market can cost the investor dearly.
Everyone wants to back a winner but sometimes this can be a malady; especially when such a winning
streak is not sustainable. Investors tend to back a stock which is currently strong without examining the
reasons for its rise. This will inevitably lead to the stock’s downfall.

Here are some useful steps which could turn investors to become agile and mentally fit hurdle runners:

Learn to monitor performances

‘Those who forget their history are condemned to repeat it’. Learn from mistakes and keep a track of
your performances. A rational approach would be to document the market and sector trend, the exit
target and the trailing stop. This record is a useful manuscript for identifying barriers and getting around
them.
Identify the weak behavioral patterns and rectify them:
Introspection is the right action which the investors need to undertake in order to find out their own
behavioral weaknesses. Specifically, examining the past investing pattern will help pin-point the
successful as well as the unsuccessful endeavors.

Stay committed to the changes necessary

What is to be changed is perhaps easier to identify than making the actual change. Bringing about a
change in one’s behavioral pattern needs unwavering focus. A half-hearted attempt will not yield the
desired result hence a temporary break from the investment routine is advisable to regain focus.

Gear up adequately to deal with losses

Coming to terms with losses is a point of maturity in the investor behavior index. How to cope with
losses which are a part and parcel of the process of investment is something which the investor has to
learn. Accepting the loss and moving on will augur well for the overall investment process.

Gather experience and expertise in one investing strategy

The data available on different investment strategies are overwhelming and can often become
intimidating for the investor. Under such circumstances it is always better to avoid trying to become a
‘jack of all trades’, rather mastering one investment strategy is a useful policy to follow. It may result in
the loss of some investment opportunities but will help the investor to gain confidence in the chosen
process.

Learn to weigh alternative possibilities

Assessing the market, learning the subtle nuances and taking action accordingly will lead to an
enhancement of the risk-reward evaluation process. Making a learned judgment based on the
probabilities and market behavior will yield positive results.

Adopt an objective approach

Often investors feel that the market will behave in a manner that they expect it to behave, however
more often than not, it is not so and the market behaves on its own terms. Investors will be best served
if they stick to an objective approach.
Conclusion
A hurdle racer becomes a champion because he is disciplined and follows the successful strategies. An
investor too can be a winner by training himself to form and follow the successful investment strategies.