Marketing Services

10 Key excerpts on "Marketing Services"

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  Marketing of Hospitality Services

  • Abhishek Singh(Author)
  • 2019(Publication Date)
  • Society Publishing

    (Publisher)

  SERVICE MARKETING CHAPTER 9 “Our jobs as marketers are to understand how the customer wants to buy and help them to do so.” -— Bryan Eisenberg—speaker and online marketing pioneer CONTENTS Summary ............................................................................................... 200 9.1 Defining Services Marketing ............................................................ 200 9.2 The Evolution Of Marketing ............................................................. 201 9.3 Planning For Services Marketing ...................................................... 203 9.4 The 8Ps Of Services Marketing ......................................................... 204 9.5 Concepts Of Services ....................................................................... 209 Marketing of Hospitality Services 200 SUMMARY This chapter focuses on the relevance of service marketing by highlighting some concepts of marketing as applied in the hospitality and tourism industry. The emphasis on the unique features of services makes the chapter relevant in the analysis services marketing. 9.1 DEFINING SERVICES MARKETING Service marketing is an organizational function that comprises a set of processes for creating, identifying, delivering and communicating value to the potential customers, and maintaining consistency in customer relationships in a way that benefits all the stakeholders of the business. A service is any form of intangible economic activity that an organization or an individual offers in the market. To objects for recipients and objects for which purchases have a responsibility, often time-based, services performed to bring about desired results to recipients. Service customers expect value from access to systems, networks, facilities, professional skills, labor, and goods, in exchange for time, money, and effort. In the process of getting the services, the service customers do not take ownership of any physical elements (Lovelock &Wirtz, 2011).

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  Service Management and Marketing

  Managing the Service Profit Logic

  • Christian Gronroos(Author)
  • 2016(Publication Date)
  • Wiley

    (Publisher)

  For a critical discussion of this updated definition, see Gr¨ onroos, C., On defining marketing: finding a new roadmap for marketing. Marketing Theory, 6(4), 2006, 395–417. 17. These are the three new service-oriented categories in a 7P marketing mix for services suggested Booms, B.H. & Bitner, M.J., Marketing strategies and organization structures for service firms. In Donnelly, J.H. & George, W.H. (eds), Marketing of Services. Chicago, IL: American Marketing Association, 1982. 18. These two additional categories were suggested by Philip Kotler in the context of megamarketing. See Kotler, P., Megamarketing. Harvard Business Review, Mar–Apr, 1986. 19. The newest marketing definition by the American Marketing Association, approved in 2013, reads: ‘Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, deliv- ering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.’ See https://archive.ama.org/Archive/AboutAMA/Pages/DefinitionofMarketing.aspx (6 March 2014). As a contrast the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) in the UK defines marketing strictly as a process: ‘Marketing is the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably.’ See http://www.getin2marketing.com/discover/what- is-marketing (6 March 2014). 20. See also Constantinides, E., The marketing mix revisited: towards the 21st century marketing. Journal of Marketing Management, 22(3–4), 2006, 407–438, where the author offers a compre- hensive critical analysis of the marketing mix approach, and also M¨ oller, K., Comment on the NOTES 301 marketing mix revisited: towards the 21st century marketing. Journal of Marketing Management, 22(3–4), 2006, 439–450, where the author points out positive aspects of the marketing mix.

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  Elements of Banking

  Made Simple

  • Julia Hoyle, Geoffrey Whitehead(Authors)
  • 2014(Publication Date)
  • Butterworth-Heinemann

    (Publisher)

  How were they to be brought to the attention of the public? 19.2 A definition of marketing Marketing may be defined as a promotion procedure for getting the right product, to the right place, at the right time, at the right price to yield a clear profit. For bankers the following thoughts arise from this definition. Products Our products are the financial services we can offer to customers. We must identify these services, and link them together into groups so that we have an interesting package to offer of four or five alternatives appealing to the various tastes, expectations and capacities of our clients. Marketing customer services 247 Places Unlike the manufacturer, who faces a physical distribution problem in getting his products to the places where they can conveniently be supplied to customers, our branches are already in every corner of the land, and our product may chiefly be described in literature which is easily distrib-uted. However, some products will be out of place in some areas and very effective in others. Branches in depressed inner-city areas, for example, need to be targeted with enterprise opportunities, which will be less essen-tial in prosperous suburbia. We must identify each product with the market areas where it is likely to be most strongly demanded. In view of the dynamic state of affairs in any locality we should keep such areas under review to identify present trends and future potential for each product in our array. Time Timing is often crucial in the market place, and there are several aspects to it. As mentioned above, present circumstances and future demand are an aspect of timing. Every area has its special features from the point of view of the age of the population, the credit requirements, the relative affluence of local industries, the needs of business for finance (both asset finance and working capital), etc. Every promotion has an optimum time, which influences market response.

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  Understanding Marketing

  • (Author)
  • 2010(Publication Date)
  • Harvard Business Review Press

    (Publisher)

  • Inseparable. Services are usually delivered and consumed simultaneously, so both the provider and the buyer influ-ence the outcome of the service delivery. • Variable. Services vary depending on who provides them and when and where they’re provided; thus, controlling their quality is difficult. • Transient. Services are used up on delivery, not stored for future sale. All these characteristics can make it difficult for customers to judge the quality of a service they’ve purchased (or are consider-ing purchasing). So how do you design market strategies that address these unique characteristics of services? Here are some ideas: • Select unique processes to deliver your service. For exam-ple, offer self-service instead of table service. Developing Your Marketing Strategy 45 • Train and motivate employees to serve customers well. This supports the marketing-orientation philosophy that “everyone’s a marketer!” • Develop an attractive physical (or virtual) environment in which to deliver the service. For example, an easy-to-use and engaging Web site encourages people to learn about your company and buy your service. • Differentiate the image associated with your service. An insurance company, for example, might use an image of a rock as its corporate symbol to signify strength and stability. By using your imagination and some creative thinking, you can design powerful market strategies even for services. Crafting a Marketing Communications Plan 47 48 Understanding Marketing E xecuting your marketing strategy calls for an effective mar-keting communications plan. Marketing communications simply means that you communicate to your target market about the availability, benefits, and price of your company’s products or services. Marketing communications covers the whole range of what most people think of the term marketing —advertising, direct sales, sales promotions, public relations, direct marketing, and so on.

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  The Small Business Planner

  The Complete Entrepreneurial Guide to Starting and Operating a Successful Small Business

  • Larry Wilson(Author)
  • 2020(Publication Date)
  • Morgan James Publishing

    (Publisher)

  Section 2:

  marketing

  Generating revenue and gaining customers for life .

  2.1 Key Marketing Terms

  Marketing is the actual managing of markets to bring about exchanges that satisfy needs and provide value

  . There are some terms in this definition that play a key role in understanding this process and require further explanation.

  Market is a set of actual or potential buyers of a product or service. These buyers share a particular need that can be satisfied through exchange.

  Needs represent a desire to fill a void – to obtain something that is lacking. Needs are satisfied with Benefits and people do not generally buy anything unless there is a need. Our job as marketers, is to determine who our customers are and what their

  core needs

  really are. Determining needs is detailed later in the Marketing Planning Process section. This is a good time to introduce a concept that will be repeated several times: “Your customer does not need what you are selling!” Yes, you heard right. But, your product or service must provide Benefits that satisfy the customer’s need. It may sound a little confusing now but it should come together for you later in this section.

  Value can be defined as the usefulness or importance of a product or service to the possessor. Value is always determined by the customer as a balance between price and quality. All marketers strive to provide value. Low price does not necessarily equate to value if the product is worthless to the customer or does not satisfy their needs.

  Benefits are attributes of a product or service that satisfy core customer needs. They answer the question, “What’s in it for the customer? ” Benefits will sell products and services.

  Features are often confused with benefits. Unlike benefits, features do not satisfy needs and do not sell a product or service. They simply differentiate a product or service from that of the competition and answer the question, “Why should I buy from you?

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  Marketing Library and Information Services II

  • Dinesh K. Gupta, Christie Koontz, Angels Massisimo(Authors)
  • 2013(Publication Date)
  • De Gruyter Saur

    (Publisher)

  However, as production and consumption of material goods tend to occur at different places and times, there is little scope for a relationship to develop between producer and consumer. This is not nec-essarily the case with the delivery and consumption of services; simultaneous production and consumption may be the norm. Grönroos (2007) suggests that in services marketing, the primary focus is on developing a relationship between service provider and customer, to ensure the customer does not have a single transaction or encounter with the service, but returns on numerous occasions, thereby building a long term and loyal rela-tionship with the service provider. Thus, the focus moves away from the tradi-tional exchange model, with its emphasis on generating numerous single trans-actions, towards one whereby the primary focus of the marketing effort lies in creating, sustaining and managing ongoing relationships with the customers. Services marketing is the first and foremost a perspective of how the firm can relate to its customers and other parties. It has an impact on how the business is developed and customers are managed. According to this perspective, market-ing is seen as the management of customer relationships, and of relationships with suppliers, distributors, and other network partners as well as financial in-stitutions and other parties. As a result, a key objective for service providers is to identify potential customers and seek to develop a relationship with them. Successful relation- Judith Broady-Preston 30 ship development requires service organizations to obtain information about customers’ needs, desires, dislikes, and preferences, which they then use to in-form and develop appropriate services and service delivery processes. Whilst relationship marketing may be relatively new in terms of a theoretical model, Fletcher (2001, 214) notes that “businesses of all sizes have managed relationships with their customers for centuries”.

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  CIM Coursebook 08/09 Marketing Management in Practice

  • Tony Curtis, John Williams(Authors)
  • 2012(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  Unit 8 Marketing Communications and Customer Service Learning Objectives

  5.1

    Plan the design, development, execution and evaluation of communications campaigns by a team of marketers, including external agencies and suppliers.

  5.2

    Use appropriate marketing communications to develop relationships or to communicate with a range of stakeholders.

  5.3

    Manage and monitor the provision of effective customer service.

  5.4

    Use marketing communications to provide support for members of a marketing channel.

  5.5

    Use marketing communications techniques for an internal marketing plan to support management of change within an organization.

  5.6

    Review and evaluate the effectiveness of communications activities and the role of the individual and the team in this process.

  Key Definitions

  Communications mix –

  The way in which a company allocates its marketing budget between the various communications media. It would include deciding on how much of the budget to allocate to the print, radio, visual and other forms of communications media. Understanding the communication process, as described by Kotler (2005), helps with understanding what motivates an audience and in determining what is the most effective medium or media.

  Customer service –

  The set of behaviours that a business undertakes during its interaction with its customers. It can also refer to a specific person or desk which is set up to provide general assistance to customers.

  Direct marketing –

  The sales technique in which the promotional materials are delivered individually to potential customers via direct mail, telemarketing, door-to-door selling or other direct means.

  E-marketing –

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  From Products to Services

  Insight and Experience from Companies Which Have Embraced the Service Economy

  • Laurie Young(Author)
  • 2008(Publication Date)
  • Wiley

    (Publisher)

  These people in turn sponsored many research projects into service phenomena and set up high quality institutes with industry. It is not too much of an exaggeration to say that there are now three academic ‘schools’ following this field: the American school, the Scandi-navian school and the French school. Each has a different emphasis but all co-operate in a wide body of research, much of which is conducted in tandem with people in actual service businesses in a variety of countries and economic sectors. There is, then, science behind the marketing of services. Business people wanting to adopt many of the approaches can generally rely on the applicability and relevance of much that is suggested. How, then, does a change to a more service orientated offer affect the marketing activities and function of a firm? How should principles and practices developed from the marketing of products be adapted so that they raise revenue from service offers? Specialists in this area suggest that there are a number of ways in which the nature of services requires a change in marketing approach. Differences between product and service marketing activities 1. The marketing implications of the intangibility of services The lack of a physical component affects marketing in several ways, the first being pre-purchase assessment. Some people find it hard to accept or engage with a concept until it is reality, presented to them in physical form. Human beings seem to need physical clues to help them assess benefits and compare value propositions. They like to see, touch, smell and test it. In fact, the comparison of physical elements (in a new car for example) often clinches the sale. So firms that market pure services must create mechanisms to make the intangible appear tangible. 272 F R O M P R O D U C T S T O S E R V I C E S Many create sales promotion materials which represent the service. For example, a recent trend in the British retail market is the sale of ‘experiences’ as gifts.

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  Service Management Principles for Hospitality & Tourism

  • Jay Kandampully, David Solnet(Authors)
  • 2019(Publication Date)
  • Goodfellow Publishers

    (Publisher)

  It is this guiding idea of focus that has marked the transforma-tion of service management from a sales-oriented task to a philosophical concept that directs a whole organization toward its goals. Thinking like customers, and anticipating the future needs of customers, are concepts at the leading edge of service management. From this, two activities that are fundamental to successful service organizations require further examination—internal marketing and relationship marketing. Internal marketing The service literature gives considerable importance to the people inside the organization who are often behind the success of service firms (see Chapters 4 and 8). The conceptual thinking behind this notion is very different from the traditional idea of employees as a ‘resource.’ In the manufacturing industry, marketing is devoted to developing effective product design, setting pricing, organizing promotion, and distributing goods . In the service business, however, the focus of marketing is very much on the ser-vice employees , since they are the only people who can create and maintain relationships with external customers. Some of the most successful companies such as Starbucks, Disney, and Southwest Airlines recognize their employees as their greatest assets. For example, at Southwest the common mantra is, “customers come second to employees and still get great service” (Laszlo, 1999, p.94) When organiza-tions associate value with their employees, those within the organization transform themselves into assets. Acquiring and maintaining those valuable assets makes the employees comparable to the firm’s valued customers. Service Organization Customer Contact Personnel Perceived Control Efficiency versus Satisfaction Efficiency versus Autonomy FIGURE 6.6 The service encounter triad © Kendall Hunt Publishing Company

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  Cross-Cultural Personal Selling

  Agents' Competences in International Personal Selling of Services

  • Anna Antczak, Barbara A. Sypniewska(Authors)
  • 2017(Publication Date)
  • Palgrave Macmillan

    (Publisher)

  2 Personal Selling in the Service Sector as One Marketing Promotional Tool 2.1 The Essence of Promotion, Its Functions and Goals Building effective customer relationships is not an easy task, and it is certainly a long-term process in which successful communication plays a very important role (sometimes even constituting the competitive advantage of the company). Promotion comprises all activities connected with communication techniques aimed at informing, influencing and persuading customers to buy or use a particular product or service. Promotion involves various activities of the company aimed at ensuring that customers are aware of the product’s existence as well as its positioning and persuading customers that the product is better than the competing one and reminding them why they may want to buy it. Promotion can also be understood as a set of means by which the company communicates with the market, and provides information about its activities and products (including services). Its task is therefore to strengthen the impact of each element of the marketing mix, reflecting the unique features of the product (including quality), packaging, price, appearance, availability, etc. © The Author(s) 2017 A. Antczak and B.A. Sypniewska, Cross-Cultural Personal Selling, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-55577-5_2 35 Currently, the marketing communication mix consists of eight tools: advertising, sales promotion, direct marketing, public relations and publicity, personal selling, events and experiences, online and social media marketing, and mobile marketing (Kotler and Keller 2016). Clearly, the communication mix has to be blended according to the purpose of communication and the objectives the company has set (McDonald and Wilson 2012). Of course, it is also related to many other factors such as the product itself and its life cycle, competition, market segmentation, marketing strategy and budget, target market, customer preferences, etc.

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