SERVICE

MARKETING
DESIGNING AND MANAGING SERVICES
SERVICES SECTOR-A SNAP SHOT

Dominant sector in Delhi with a share of

87% in the Gross State Domestic Product
SERVICE MARKETING

“There are no such thing as service industries. There are

only industries whose service components are greater
or less than those of other industries. Everybody is in
service.”
Theodore Levitt

“A service is any act or performance that one party can

offer to another that is essentially intangible and does
not result in the ownership of anything. Its production
may or may not be tied to a physical product”
Kotler, 2004
THE NATURE OF SERVICES

▪ Regardless of the “product”, there is a services

component to the offerings of all firms
▪ In some cases, a service is the principal purpose
of the transaction, as in the rental of a car, a
haircut, or legal services -- we refer to this as the
core service
▪ In others, service is performed in support of the
sale of a tangible product -- these are referred to
as supplementary services
CATEGORIES OF SERVICE MIX

▪ Pure tangible good

▪ Tangible good with accompanying services
▪ Hybrid
▪ Major service with accompanying minor goods
▪ Pure services
THE GOODS-SERVICES CONTINUM

Readymade Repairs: Air Insurance

FMCGs
Clothes Auto-mobiles Restaurants auto, Trave Consulting
l Teaching

MOSTLY GOODS MOSTLY SERVICES

CHARECTERSTICS OF SERVICES

▪ INTANGIBILITY
Cannot be seen, tasted, felt, heard or smelt before
Difficult to sample and to evaluate
For example, how could you sample a haircut or a
flight to Mauritius?
▪ Service companies demonstrate their service quality
through physical evidence and presentation
“Tangibilizing the Intangibles”
▪ Through proper designing of place, people,
equipment, communication material, symbols, price
 ELEMENTS OF PHYSICAL EVIDENCE

PHYSICAL FACILITY
▪ Interior
▪ Exterior
Design
Building design
Equipment and facilities
Architecture
Décor
Signage
Layout
Parking
Atmosphere (lighting, music,
Surrounding environment ▪ Other tangibles air temperature, etc.)
Landscape Staff Uniforms
Brochures
Stationery
Company logo
Tickets, Business cards
CHARECTERSTICS OF SERVICES

▪ INSEPEBRABILITY
Refers to the fact that the provision of the service,
and the experience of it, occur simultaneously
Typically produced and consumed simultaneously

▪ Strategies for getting around the limitation

Learn to work with large groups
Learn to work faster
Use Technology to reach a larger audience without
sacrificing interactivity
CHARECTERSTICS OF SERVICES

VARIABILITY
▪ Indicates that a service performance is unique to the
customer, or group of customers, being serviced.
▪ A level of inconsistency is inherent in service
provision.

Steps to increase service quality control

Good hiring and Training
Standardize the service performance
Monitor customer satisfaction
PERISHABILITY

▪ Offerings that cannot be saved, stored, resold, or

returned.
▪ It is not possible to delay the consumption of services.
▪ Those not sold can not be stored – Demand fluctuates
firms have problem
Strategies on the demand side
Differential Pricing
Non peak Demand
Complementary services
Reservations
CHARECTERSTICS OF SERVICES
(cont)

PERISHABILITY
▪ On Supply side
Part-time employees
Peak time efficiency
Increased consumer participation
MARKETING MIX FOR SERVICES

Product
Price
Place
Promotion
Process
Physical Evidence
Personnel / People
SERVICES DIFFERENTIATION

Ordering ease
Delivery
Customer Training
Maintenance & Repair
Determinants of service quality

Reliability – Delivering on promises

Responsiveness – Willing to help, prompt
service
Assurance – Inspiring trust and confidence
Empathy –Individualized attention to
customers
Tangibles- physical representation
MOMENTS OF TRUTH

It is the customer – service encounter

Every positive or negative experience of the
consumer would have fall-out on the overall
service experience
In services, the last experience remains
uppermost in your mind. Therefore, it is not
enough to be good, you have to be
consistently good
CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS

It pays to resolve customer complaints

On an average only 5 % dissatisfied customers complain.
Others simply go over to the competitor
A satisfied consumer speaks to an average of 3 people on
his her experience
A dissatisfied consumer gripes to on an average 11
persons about his/her unpleasant experience