Reflection on Service Marketing and Management - Essay Example

Reflection Paper Introduction: "People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." - Bonnie Jean Wasmund I have quoted this true saying and also have tried to adopt it in my personal life. After making my major project on Service Marketing and Management, I believe that people will never forget about the services given by any service based organizations like restaurants, beauty parlors, consultancy firms etc. And when it comes to the restaurant or the food industry you have to put your ‘Customer first’ or ‘Customer is the King’. I have learnt that hospitality is the most important thing after the food quality. Good hospitality leaves a lasting impression on your customer and covers the thin line of distinction between the ok and the good restaurant. Good hospitality is something that encourages your customer to not only be a faithful customer but also be a brand ambassador by involving himself in mouth publicity. As far as the learning curve goes, I enhanced my technical knowledge by engaging in the designing of logo for ‘The Diners Park’ in Photoshop 7.0 that not only demanded technical commitments but even a lot of creativity which I think that I have done proper justice with these The logo that has been designed has been shown below for quick reference:- Come to the Diners Park and Feel the difference!! Dining at its Best... Service Marketing and Management I took a hypothetical restaurant named as’ The Diners Park’ and have put all my efforts starting from its planning, designing, launching to the capital and revenue generation and unique promotional strategies to the customer satisfaction Designing the blueprint of the restaurant was harder than I thought it was going to be. Real outcome can be achieved only after doing the things practically. I learnt that it takes hard work to start up any project and that too in real life is very difficult. It was quite a learning experience. However, I did learn things about myself that I can rely upon in future endeavors. First of all, I discovered some of my weaknesses and also some of my strengths. I believe much of my strength lies in my decision making ability, risk management, stress management, HR management and finally dealing with the customers. Earlier my leadership style and the decision making process was not that good but slowly I learnt many things from the outside world. One of the key things that needed to be borne in mind was the budget. The project made me realize that this is not a cakewalk. I had to use my networking skills to its best to identify the right people to provide the requisite goods. It involved multiple vendors and loads of small owners and therefore a lot of haggles which in turned helped in the development of the communication skills and that art of negotiation which is considered as the key to success by most business leaders. Although time and budget were limited but that interned groomed me up for handling the pressure situation and gave me a confidence to work in shoe string amount. Another interesting part was to meet different people from varied fields and gain knowledge by sharing mutual views. In this course of time I had a meet with different marketing vendors and learnt quite a lot about different marketing strategies. I came to know the amount of hard work that needs to be put in by the marketing guys in creating the brand value in the eyes of the customer. Creating a brand image not only requires the application of logical skills but it also demands a huge creativity from the marketing team and while finalizing the logo for the restaurant, I thought that I have started to follow the right path. The amount of learning in every field that has been provided by the project is exemplary. Right from finalizing the nitty-gritty’s of the restaurant idea, doing a practical research on the profit that can be attained from the business by doing a proper survey of the things to marketing and promotion was an unforgettable period. It gave me the motivation and strength to even a kick start a venture if things go in a proper fashion. I think I have developed enough self confidence with the strength of knowledge to stand upfront against any adverse conditions. One of the major challenges I faced were the special characteristics of services which make it different and unique from goods; that are: Intangibility, Inseparability, Perish Ability and Variability. Services unlike goods cannot be seen, touched, heard, smelt before they are actually consumed or experienced, also services have to be produced and consumed simultaneously; services cannot be stored and services are highly variable i.e. there is no standard form in which it could be made but, it is because of communication and promotional strategies we as a marketer use that make wonders. So if there is a healthy and wise communication between the service provider and the consumer and unique ideas to promote the service; it will enhance the expertise and skills of the owner which in turn will enhance the profit. Promotional Strategy: Made attractive pamphlets and distributed through the volunteers to our target customers. Published & telecasted a print or an electronic advertisement of ‘The Diners Park’. Offered some food vouchers through contests or college fests. Offered free gifts like soft toy or a coffee mug to food lovers especially to kids. Opened an open Kitchen Restaurant. You can see through a glass, the making of your delicious, mouth watering food. Most importantly, made them feel great through ambience and aroma of the food so that a good word of mouth can be spread. I also thought of launching a website named as thedinerspark.com as we know that technology plays a very important role in the delivery of service today. We would prepare menu cards including today’s special on the website and promote it through Pop-Up screens. In order to promote our brand and products made I thought of providing Visi coolers to canteens and pubs which will display the range of several snacks with the Brand name DP. Customers can have a look and choose which type of snack they want. But providing Visi coolers need an extra capital and an investment. Also the pubs, Canteens, mess and other restaurants must assure us to take a good care of our Visi coolers. I learnt and implemented Total Quality Management (TQM), and its eight key elements: 1. Ethics 2. Integrity 3. Trust 4. Training 5. Teamwork 6. Leadership 7. Recognition 8. Communication Before entering into a new market I did Primary Market research and its conduction was the most Herculean task for me: It should be original and collected for a specific purpose, or to solve a specific problem and our purpose was to enter lavishly in the market of food. We considered taking interview the most proper and interacted primary research. We organized; Telephone Interview then we also conducted Face to face Interview. We appointed some of the market researchers; mostly they were college students and gave them our target market list. They then contacted them and took their appointment to conduct the face to face interview. We made several questions; some were open ended questions and some were close ended questions and based on that made questionnaire. Price and Financial Analysis: Pricing and Financial Analysis part was one of the most difficult marketing decisions to be taken by me in order to make the blueprint of the service industry. The basic process is to set a price of service is calculating your costs; estimating the benefits to customers and the limits on how much they’re willing to pay; and comparing your products, services, and prices to others that are similar i.e. with the competitors. Conclusion: Overall, I felt that it was an effective session in understanding the nitty-gritty’s that a venture does involve. This project made me learn my strengths and gave an opportunity to capitalize on that. It also reflects the weakness that I need to improve in due course of time. I have found that I am decently alright with my marketing skills and creativity and with the flavor of IT blended with marketing, I could flare well. However, during the course of the project I thought I may not be that good at making analytical decisions which I think is the required area of improvement. But, I have learnt a few things about managing the things through service marketing and management. I have tried to put whatever my tutor has taught me in Marketing and some additional technical things which I have treasured being an IT professional. This Reflection Paper helped me to identify the self- reflection after the whole session of service marketing and management. At the end I would say that I agree with Sir Geoffrey Chow who says that it would help me in my professional life. Thank You!! References: Kotler, Philip. 11th ed. (2003) Marketing Management. New Delhi: Pearson Education(Singapore). Primary Marketing Research. Marketing Teacher. [Accessed 13 February2009]. Padhi, Nayantara. (2002, December 30). The Eight Elements Of TQM. iSixSigma.com. Available from [Accessed February 4, 2009]. Khera, Shiv.(1998). You can win. New Delhi: Macmillan Ltd. Read More