Service Marketing - Essay Example

? Reflective Essay-The Apple Store A) Back-end Flowchart B) Front-end Flowchart: 2. Explanation of significance of the service encounter Statistics state that Apple has a total of 326 stores, much more than the figure of 60 million people who visited Walt Disney Co.’s parks. Further, it has been observed that the annual sales of Apple have gone above the figure of $4,406 that does not take into account the online sales. These sales are much higher than the sales of jeweler Tiffany & Co. and therefore depict Apple’s success. Amongst its many operations, the back-end and front-end included, Apple believes in being spotless in every move so as to achieve success (Banker, 2011). With that in mind, Apple keeps a critical eye on the demands of its products. Comparing its operations with its rivals such as Best Buy, it has been observed that Apple has adopted a rather technical approach in the arena of service encounters and its related areas. It sells one brand that has comprehensible positioning, fewer products, and stores in hundreds as compared to the 4000 of Best Buy. The company believes that employees need to handle pressure to perform better customer service. However, with its increasing retail outlets, many of its employees have stated that the quality of its staff has been on a decline (Banker, 2011). Where it comes to meeting customer needs, from the design of the store to the post purchase behavior, every aspect has been responded creatively by Apple. Dividing its customers into various segments, Apple encounters some customers that are well aware of what they want. This segment immediately finds out the intended product they want to purchase, and pays for it. With the fast product selling process described earlier on one hand, the other hand has a group of customers who take it slow. More specifically, these customers browse and play with the products to decide their requirement. In order to tackle such a vast market, Apple therefore, follows a service design approach that consists of a floor plan and a genius bar that handles customer queries and gives them advice. Other than that, the design also consists of a check-out system for speedy service. For the layout of the outlet, an airy approach to associate to every need of the customer is followed. It is therefore the creativity and innovation in service encounters that sets Apple apart from its competitors. This is so because if the customer experience is low, the overall perception of the brand is also reduced (Ofir et. al, 2008). 3. Analysis of managerial implications Analyzing it implication on the managerial roles, surveillance is one of the key tools needed. More specifically, with surveillance being constant in nature, the role of the managers must also be to continuously prepare for cost control preparations for the new product and market. The managerial roles must consider a need to identify low costs of the inputs and outputs in improvement measures. Other than that, the costs are also related to innovation, technology, and information. Moving further on the implication factor, it has been observed that with the new markets, new tools for maximizing incomes must be considered. In this scenario, both markets that are the fresh market and the processed market, must be brought into the picture whilst the assessment. Moreover, buyer expectations in every situation need to be continuously monitored when alternatives are considered. To understand the cultivar selection and significance of the quality of the product is an important aspect in the discussion for managerial implications. It is important to understand that commitments to quality might be easier to change than the selection preferences. Where many customers consider service as a criterion before purchasing a product, adding delivery, commitment by the supplier, the packaging, specification bonding, and quality with service would be able to win even those customers who prefer other things. The overall package provided will therefore be able to win the company loyal customers (NMP, 2012). It has also been observed that a need to introduce more creative ways in customer service must be found out for survival, just like the training manuals of Apple that mention the philosophy of solving a customer’s problem rather than selling one. With such a philosophy followed, the company manages to gather customers that look forward to coming back and becoming a loyal customer. It therefore becomes imperative to control the process of customer experience at all levels, whilst communicating every response to the employee that he or she must make to the customer in a good manner. At Apple, the employees do not have a sales quota. Another important factor to consider is the fact that one needs to hold on to its employees in order to develop a talent pool. More specifically, Apple lets go of those employees who are late in their shifts three times in six months. In order to hold on to the good employees, Apple therefore shifts the employees who are not able to sell service packages along with the devices to other positions. Sale of such packages has been followed by every employee and when one cannot do this, either retraining, or the shifting to the other positions is carried out. In order to provide excellent service to the customers, and to attract and retain good customers, it is a managerial duty to train the staff according to the requirements of the jobs. Considering Apple’s role in this arena, it has been as exceptional as its role in other areas of its supply chain. The company favors on the job training of its employees and believes in continuously evolving. This is so, because rather than developing a prototype and later rolling it out, the Apple management continuously assesses the look as well as the feel of the store that states innovation and customer care from every corner (NMP, 2012). References Banker, S. (2001) App Stores Come to the Supply Chain Execution (SCE) Market, Logistic Viewpoint, Retrieved from http://logisticsviewpoints.com/2011/02/02/app-stores-come-to-the-sce-market/ Kim, A. (2011) How Apple Uses its Supply Chain as a Strategic Weapon, MacRumors, Retrieved from http://www.macrumors.com/2011/11/03/how-apple-uses-its-supply-chain-as-a-strategic-weapon/ National Market Perspective, Conclusions and Implications (2012) Retrieved from http://ohioline.osu.edu/rb1188/b1188_9.html Ofir, C., Raghubir, P., Brosh, G., Kent, B., Monroe & Heiman, A. (2008) Memory Based Store Price Judgments: The Role of Knowledge and Shopping Experience, Journal of Retailing, 84 (4), 414–23 The Wall Street Journal, Secrets from Apple's Genius Bar: Full Loyalty, No Negativity, Technology (2012), Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304563104576364071955678908.html Read More