Chapter 7

Developing the
Service
Communication
Strategy
 Chapter Objectives

• Discuss the steps necessary to manage the

firm’s service communication strategy effectively.
• Understand the special challenges associated
with developing service communications.
• Describe specific guidelines for developing
service communications.
• Appreciate the special considerations faced by
professional service providers and recommend
solutions to overcome these challenges.

© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 Opening Vignette:
TripAdvisor

• TripAdvisor became a very early adopter of user-

generated content as consumer reviews far outpaced
professional reviews within a short time of its founding
• Now touted as the largest travel site in the world,
TripAdvisor claims 60 million members and over 170
million reviews and suggestions about hotels,
restaurants, and other travel-related attractions and
businesses
• Positive reviews and personal recommendations can
have a very profound effect on the life of a single service
provider at a destination

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 Introduction

• Communication strategy: communicates the

firm’s positioning strategy to its target markets,
including consumers, employees, stockholders,
and suppliers for the purpose of achieving
organizational objectives
• Communication mix: the array of
communication tools available to marketers
including advertising, personal selling, publicity,
sales promotion, and sponsorships

© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 Communications Mix

Selling
Selling Promotions
Promotions
Personal
Personal Sales
Sales
Publicity
Publicity

Advertising
Advertising Sponsorships
Sponsorships

© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Figure 7.1: Managing the Service Communication
Strategy

© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 Selecting Target Markets

• The service firm must first analyze the needs of

consumers in the marketplace and then
categorize consumers with similar needs into
market segments
• Each market segment should then be considered
based on profit and growth potential and the
segment’s compatibility with organizational
resources and objectives
• Segments that become the focus of the firm’s
marketing efforts become target markets

© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 Establishing
Communications Objectives

• At the broadest level, the service firm’s

communication objectives seek to inform,
persuade, and remind current and potential
customers about the firm’s service
offerings
• The objectives of a firm’s communication
mix often relate directly to the service
offering’s stage within the product life cycle

© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 Figure 7.2: Product Life Cycle Stage and
Communication Objectives

© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Establishing Communications Objectives (cont’d)

• When developing communication

objectives, each objective should be stated
in SMART terms:
– Specific
– Measurable
– Achievable
– Relevant
– Time-bound

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 Figure 7.3: An Overview of Communication
Strategy Budget-Setting Techniques

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 Formulating the Service
Firm’s Positioning Strategy

• Positioning strategy: how the firm is

viewed by consumers compared to its
competitors; positioning strategy speaks to
the firm’s differential advantage
• Copy: the content of the firm’s
communication message
– Should be adjusted to appeal to the
international customer

© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 Setting the Communications Budget

• Ideally, the communications budget should

provide the resources needed for the
service firm to meet its established
communication objectives
– In other words, the firm’s communication
objectives should drive the budget

© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 Figure 7.4: Differentiation
Approaches for Effective Positioning

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 Media Strategies
for Targeting Nonusers

• If the objective is to reach nonusers of the

service, then the choice of communications
channel is to reduced to either:
– Media advertising
– Selling performed by a sales force rather than
a service provider
– Public relationships
– Sponsorships

© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 Media Strategies for Targeting Users

• Type 1 service staff: service staff who are

required to deal with customers quickly and
effectively in “once only” transaction-based
encounters where large numbers of
customers are present
– Exchanges consist of simple information and
limited responses to customer requests
– Examples: front-line personnel at fast-food
restaurants

© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 Media Strategies for
Targeting Users (cont’d)

• Type 2 service staff: service staff who deal with

numerous, often repeat customers in restricted
interactions of somewhat longer duration
– Requires some independent decision making on the
part of the staff member
– Communications are generally more intense than Type
1 situations
– Example: an effective wait staff person at a fine dining
establishment

© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 Media Strategies for
Targeting Users (cont’d)

• Type 3 service staff: service staff required

to have more highly communication skills
because of more extended and complex
interactions with customers
– Example: staff members who are likely to be
qualified as professionals

© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 Media Strategies for
Targeting Users (cont’d)

• Role/self conflict: experienced when

employees are asked to perform a new
role that is inconsistent with their self-
concept
• Direct conflict: occurs when an employee
is asked to perform two contradictory roles
such as being both efficient and effective

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 Monitoring, Evaluating, and Controlling
the Communication Strategy

• Lagged effect: when demand for the

service is infrequent, and therefore the
success of the communication strategy
may not be realized until a later point in
time

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 Special Challenges Associated with the Service
Communication Strategy

• Mistargeted communications: occurs when the same

communication message appeals to two diverse market
segments
• Managing expectations and perceptions
– The firm’s communications are often interpreted as explicit
service promises on which consumers base their initial
expectations
• As a result, service firms should be ready to deliver what is
communicated in their promotional messages
– Technical service quality is an objective level of performance
produced by the operating system of the firm

© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 Special Challenges Associated with the Service
Communication Strategy

• Advertising to employees
– Since employees often produce the service in close proximity to
customers, employees should be considered internal customers
who are as much as a target audience as traditional external
customers
– In order for service firms to succeed, they must first sell the
service job to the employee before they sell the service to the
customer
• Selling/operations conflicts
– In many cases the service providers who produce the service
also must sell the service, and questions arise concerning the
strategic implications of turning does into sellers

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 Specific Guidelines for
Developing Service Communications

• Develop a word-of-mouth communications

network
• Promise what is possible
• Tangibilize the intangible
• Feature working relationship between
customer and provider

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 Figure 7.5: The Impact of Intangibility:
Different Communication Strategies for Different Types of Products

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 Specific Guidelines for Developing Service
Communications (cont’d)

• Reduce consumer fears about variations in

performance
• Determine and focus on relevant service
quality dimensions
• Differentiate the service product via the
service delivery process
• Make the service more easily understood

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 Developing Communication Strategies
for Professional Service Providers

• The 10 most frequent problems encountered include:

1. Third-party accountability
2. Client uncertainty
3. Experience is essential
4. Limited differentiability
5. Maintaining quality control
6. Turning doers into sellers
7. The challenge of dividing the professional’s time between marketing and
providing services
8. Tendencies to be reactive rather than proactive
9. The effects of advertising are unknown
10. Professional providers have a limited marketing knowledge base

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 Special Considerations for Professional Service
Providers

• First impressions are everything

– Halo effect: an overall favorable or unfavorable
impression based on early stages of the service
encounter
• Create visual pathways that reflect the firm’s
quality
– Visual pathways: printed materials through which the
professional image of the firm can be consistently
transmitted, including firm brochures, letterhead,
envelopes, and business cards

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 Establish Regular
Communications with Clients

• Letter of welcome for new clients

• Handwritten, personalized messages
• Newsletter

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 Develop a Firm Brochure

• A firm’s brochure should include:

– An overview of available services
– The firm’s history
– The firm’s philosophy
– Profiles of personnel

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 An Informed Office Staff Is Vital

• Since the staff is in constant, direct contact

with clients, failure to communicate
effectively with the firm’s staff is readily
apparent and quickly erases all other
communication efforts to project a quality
program

© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.