MARKETING SERVICES

INRODUCTION
Definition
The American Marketing Association, defines services as activities, benefits, or
satisfactions that are offered for sale or provided with sale of goods to the
customer, that is, pre-sale and after-sales services. Berry states, ‘while a
product is an object, devise or physical thing, a service is a deed, performance,
or an effort’.

Service marketing is marketing based on relationship and value. It may be used to

market a service or a product. With the increasing prominence of services in
the global economy, service marketing has become a subject that needs to be
studied separately. Marketing services is different from marketing goods
because of the unique characteristics of services namely, intangibility,
heterogeneity, Perishability and inseparability.

In most countries, services add more economic value than agriculture, raw
materials and manu­facturing combined. In developed economies,
employment is dominated by service jobs and most new job growth comes
from services.
 Features / Characteristics of Services
1. Intangibility:
A physical product is visible and concrete. Services are intangible. The service cannot
be touched or viewed, so it is difficult for clients to tell in advance what they will
be getting.
2. Inseparability:
Personal services cannot be separated from the individual. Services are created and
consumed simultaneously. The service is being produced at the same time that the
client is receiving it.
3. Heterogeneity (or variability)
Services involve people, and people are all different. There is a strong possibility that
the same enquiry would be answered slightly differently by different people .
4. Perishability:
Services have a high degree of Perishability. Unused capacity cannot be stored for
future use. If services are not used today, it is lost forever. 
5. Changing demand:
The demand for services has wide fluctuations and may be seasonal. Demand for
tourism is seasonal, other services such as demand for public transport, cricket
field and golf courses have fluctuations in demand.
6. Pricing of services:
Quality of services cannot be standardized. The pricing of services are usu­ally
determined on the basis of demand and competition. 
7. Ownership: The users have only access to services. They cannot own the service.
 Problems in Marketing Services
1. A service cannot be demonstrated.

2. Sale, production and consumption of services takes place simultaneously.

3. A service cannot be stored. It cannot be produced in anticipation of

demand.
4. Services cannot be protected through patents.

5. Services cannot be separated from the service provider.

6. Services are not standardized and are inconsistent.

7. Service providers appointing franchisees may face problems of quality of

services.

8. The customer perception of service quality is more directly linked to the

morale, motivation and skill of the frontline staff of any service
organization.
FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE GROWTH OF SERVICE SECTOR
1. GOVERNMENT POLICIES: 
It is Govt. which makes mandatory for price levels, distribution strategies, defining
procedure attributes. 
Another important action taken by the Govt.‟s “Privatization” means the policy of
transform companies. The transformation of such operations like telecoms, airlines
has led to restructuring cost cutting and more market focused. 
PROS OF PRIVATIZATION: 
a. Increase the efficiency 
b. Increase in profits 
New change will require services firm to change their marketing strategy, operational
procedures, and HR policies. 
2. SOCIAL CHANGES 
Now a day there is a drastic change, two members are working, which requires to hire
individuals to perform tasks that used to be performed by a house hold member. 
E.g. Child care, Laundry, Food preparation 
Combinations of changing life styles like 
• Higher income 
• Declining prices for many high technology products –made for people to by
computers, Mobile phone etc. 
Increased imaginations into countries –U.S, Canada and Australia.
 
 
FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE GROWTH OF SERVICE SECTOR
3. BUSINESS TRENDS 
Many professional associations have been forced by Govt. to remove long-standing
bars on adv and promotional activities. 
Franchising has become wider spread in many service industries. 
Licensing of independent entrepreneurs to produce and sell a branded service
according to tightly specified procedures.
4. ADVANCES IN IT: 
Changes come from the integration of computers and tele-communication 
More powerful software enables firm to create databases that combine information
about customers with details of all their transaction, so that they can be used to
predict new trends, segment the market, new marketing opportunities. 
The creation of wireless networks and transfer of electronic equipments such as cell
phones to lap tops and scanners, to allow sales and customer service personnel to
keep in touch. 
5. INTERNATIONALISATION AND GLOBALIZATION: 
A strategy of international expansion may be driven by a sector for new markets or by
the need to respond to existing customers who are traveling abroad in greater
numbers. 
When companies set up operations in other countries they often prefer to deal with
just a few international suppliers rather than numerous local firms. 
The net effect is to increase competition and to encourage the transfer of innovation
in both products and processes from country to country.
 The Concept of service 
The service concept outlines how a service provider can realize the value and desired
outcomes of its services. The service concept can best be described as the way in
which an organization would like to have its services perceived by its stakeholders.
It describes the non-tangible aspects of service delivery and is an integral part of the
value proposition of service providers. 
The service concept consists of the holistic combination (i.e. all element should be
considered equally) of four dimensions.
1. Service operation: the way in which the service is delivered
2. User experience: the user’s direct experience of the service
3. Service outcome: the benefits and results of the service for the user
4. Value: the benefits the user perceives as inherent in the service, weighed against
the cost of the service.
The four dimensions of the service concept form a key to defining how the
stakeholders in an organization perceive the
• Value of services
• Minimizing the gap between user expectations and
• The service delivery operation
 Classification of services
1) Classification of service based on tangible action

2) Classification of services based on intangibility

 Classification of services
1. End users
a. Individual consumer.
b. Business to business.
c. Industrial ends users.
2. Degree of tangibility
a. Highly tangible.
b. Services linked to tangible goods.
c. Highly intangible.
3. People based services
a. People based services.
b. Equipment based services.
4. Expertise required
a. Highly professional services.
b. Non-professional.
5. Profit orientation
a. Non-profit.
b. Commercial.
 Designing of services
Service design is the activity of planning and organizing people, infrastructure,
communication and material components of a service in order to improve its
quality and the interaction between the service provider and its customers. 
Designing of services
 Blue printing
A service blueprint is an operational planning tool that provides guidance on how a
service will be provided, specifying the physical evidence, staff actions, and
support systems / infrastructure needed to deliver the service across its different
channels.  
 Use of Technology
Technology is influencing the practice of services marketing. It has resulted in
tremendous potential for new service offerings. It is shaping the field of service
enabling both customers and employees to get and provide customized services. The
technology has been the basic force behind the service innovation. Automated voice
mail, interactive voice response systems, fax machines, ATMs etc.,

Role Of Technology In Service Marketing

1. Easy accessibility of service
Accessing the Web via cell phones is possible nowadays. Thus, technology is a vehicle
for delivering existing services in more useful ways.
2. New ways to deliver service:
Basic customer service functions like bill paying, checking accounts records, tracking
orders, seeking information, etc.
3. Close link with customers
Financial services and Companies engaged in goods distribution install order
terminals, inventory control terminals of other equipment at their customers’
premises
4. Higher level of service
Customer relationship management
5. Global reach of service
The internet is just one big service which knows no boundaries.
6. Cost rationalization
Websites providing answers to specific disease, drug and treatment.
 Developing Human Resources
Role and significance of human element in service sector
1. Customer pull and maintenance.
2. Building the corporate image.
3. Sustained organizational performance.
Strategies for managing emotional labour
1. Use buffering.
2. Teach ‘display’ rules.
3. Offer staff assistance programs.
4. Teach problem-solving techniques.
5. Improve emotional intelligence.
6. Share knowledge.
7. Bring emotional labour into the performance evaluation process.
Criteria for an effective recruitment and selection programme:-
1. Qualified staff.
2. Legal compliance.
3. Workplace guidelines.
4. Pre-employment standards.
 Developing Human Resources
Develop people to deliver service quality:-
1. Need assessment.
2. New recruits.
3. Development.
4. Additional benefit.
Ways to motivate the employee:-
1. Job content.
2. Feedback and recognition.
3. Goal accomplishment.
4. Training.
5. Offer rewards.
6. Promote from within.
7. Team spirit.
 Building Service Aspirations
The service generating organizations building service aspirations in the process of
generating demand for the services. The aspirations may be generated in two
ways, namely, generating aspirations to serve the users and generating
aspirations to use the services.
Service aspirations of organization engaged in generating services focus on offering
quality services. Quality is generally conceptualized as an attitude towards service.