INTRODUCTION TO SERVICES

MARKETING
: UNIQUENESS AND CHALLENGES

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Economy of India
 The economy of India is the tenth-largest in the
world by GDP and the third-largest by
purchasing power parity.
 India is the 19th-largest exporter and the 10th-
largest importer in the world.
 Industry accounts for 28% of the GDP and
employs 14% of the total workforce.
 India is 13th in services output. The services
sector provides employment to 23% of the work
force.
Tangibility Spectrum

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Session Objectives:-
 What is a Service?
 Why Service Marketing?
 Service and Technology
 Uniqueness and Challenges of Services
 Service Marketing Mix
 Staying Focused on the Customer

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WHAT IS A SERVICE?
Why Service Marketing?

 Services dominate U.S. and worldwide

economies.
 Service as a business imperative in goods-
focused businesses.
 Deregulated industries and professional service
needs.
 Service marketing is different.
 Service leads to profits.

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 The Services Marketing Triangle
Company
(Management)

Internal External
Marketing Marketing

“enabling the “setting the

promise” promise”

Employees Interactive Marketing Customers

“delivering the promise”
Source: Adapted from Mary Jo Bitner, Christian Gronroos, and Philip Kotler
SERVICE AND TECHNOLOGY

 New service offerings

 New ways to deliver service
 Enabling both customers and employees
 Extending the global reach of services
 The internet is a service
 Comprehensive definition

 Services are economic activities offered by one party

to the other. Often time-based performances which
bring about desired results to recipients, objects, or
other assets for which purchasers have
responsibility.

 In exchange for money, time and effort, service

customers expect value from access to goods, labour,
professional skills, facilities, networks and systems;
but they do not take ownership of any of the
physical elements involved

( Lovelock, Jochen and Jayanta )

Characteristics of Services

Intangibility Heterogeneity

Inseparability Perishability

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Search, Experience, and Credence Qualities

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Challenges and Questions for Service
Marketers
 Defining and improving quality
 Designing and testing new services
 Communicating and maintaining a consistent image
 Accommodating fluctuating demand
 Motivating and sustaining employee commitment
 Setting prices
 Organizing to facilitate strategic and tactical decision-making
 Finding a balance between standardization and personalization
 Protecting new service concepts from competitors
 Communicating quality and value to customers
 Ensuring the delivery of consistent quality service

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SERVICES MARKETING MIX
Traditional Marketing Mix

Elements an organization controls that can be

used to satisfy or communicate with customers:
 Product
 Price
 Place
 Promotion

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 Expanded Mix for Services – The 7 Ps

 Product
 Price
 Place
 Promotion

 People
 All human actors who play a part in service delivery and thus influence the buyer’s
perceptions: namely, the firm’s personnel, the customer, and other customers in
the service environment.
 Physical Evidence
 The environment in which the service is delivered and where the firm and
customer interact, and any tangible components that facilitate performance or
communication of the service.
 Process
 The actual procedures, mechanisms, and flow of activities by which the service is
delivered—the service delivery and operating systems.

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FOUR BROAD CATEGORIES OF

SERVICES
Four Broad Categories of Services

 Based on differences in nature of service act

(tangible/intangible) and who or what is
direct recipient of service
(people/possessions), there are four
categories of services:
 People processing
 Possession processing
 Mental stimulus processing
 Information processing
Four Categories Of Services