Services Marketing Issues - Coursework Example

Services Marketing Contents Services Marketing Contents 2 Introduction 3 Discussion 4 Conclusion 9 References 10 Introduction Services marketing can be considered as providing useful services to a large number of people. These services can be considered as intangible in nature because the receiver of a service cannot actually touch it or see it. So in this regard it can be considered that the marketing of services brings with it its own set of challenges for the marketing manager of any organization. A product is considered to be tangible because it can be touched and felt by consumers. Whereas services tend to be intangible in nature and it has to be consumed at the point of its purchase. It cannot be owned by any person due to its nature of perishabilty. There are 4 major characteristics of services as follows that affect the marketing strategies of organizations in a significant manner as follows. I) Intangibility: Services are considered to be intangible. They are not like physical products which can be seen, smelled, and tasted before they are bought. II) Inseparability: Services are considered to be produced and consumed at the same time. If the service is rendered by any person, he or she is also considered as part of the service. Since the receiver of the service is also present as the service is being produced, the interaction between provider-client is considered as a special feature of services marketing. III) Variability: Services are considered to be highly variable in nature because it depends to a significant extent on who provides them and when and where they are provided. IV) Perishability: The main characteristic of service is that it cannot be stored. It has to be consumed at the point of its purchase. Discussion It is intended to start a new service marketing firm named as ABC Service Excellence Limited. The aim of the company is to provide quality consultancy services in the field of investment and taxation. There are numerous issues that the company has to consider with regard to providing quality services to its consumers. The inability of service organizations to mass produce services is considered to significantly affect those organizations that are catering to institutional consumers more than those catering to individual consumers. The costs of services are also considered very difficult to calculate as the duration of the benefits of services increase. The association of indirect and direct costs with services are considered less precise and also difficult as the service tends to extend over a longer horizon (Ashford and Beamish, 2005, pp. 31-35). There are numerous strategies and practices that are adopted by organizations with regard to overcoming the problems that are associated with providing efficient services to consumers. These strategies and practices are described as follows. I) Pricing: It is considered that service organizations tend to adopt cost oriented strategies with regard to pricing of services as compared to demand and competition oriented pricing strategies. The costs of services may be difficult to calculate but service marketing organizations are increasingly estimating costs to ensure that those costs are covered (Kolb, 2008, p. 97). The pricing strategy of competition oriented pricing may not provide any guarantee to service organizations regarding covering of service costs. Demand oriented pricing is considered to be very difficult to implement and it also does not provide any guarantee with regard to covering service costs (Desmond, 2003, p. 49). II) Advertising: The use of advertising by service organizations that are catering to consumers is considered as more important than that of those organizations that are catering to institutional consumers (Tuten, 2008, p. 55). The providing of services by organizations that require the presence of consumers during the service delivery process is considered to use advertising in a significant manner such as newspaper and television advertising. The use of advertising by service organizations where its services can be terminated or initiated by consumers from a distance is considered to use advertising less significantly (Avlonitis, 2001, p. 71). A possible explanation in this regard could be that services that are considered to have enduring benefits are considered as more expensive and hence it requires significant involvement in the part of buyers. In such cases, advertising in newspapers and television are considered not to have any significant impact on consumers. Advertising in newspapers and television have a significant bearing on lower priced services which are considered to be lower involvement purchases for consumers. In such cases, benefits tend to be immediate for consumers. III) Personal selling: Organizations catering to institutional consumers tend to select personnel with much care as compared to organizations catering to individual consumers. It is such because selling to institutional consumers can be considered as difficult as compared to individual consumers (Mady, 2011, pp. 192-199). IV) Institutional image: Organizations tend to emphasize on designing facilities to achieve their image or marketing objectives. They specify the dress codes of consumer contact personnel in an attempt to project a unique organizational image (Broderick and Picton, 2005, p. 69). The organizations that cater to individual consumers are considered to significantly stress on the factor of design facilities. V) Consumer orientation: It can be said that organizations catering to institutional consumers are more prone to research of the needs of consumers as compared to organizations that cater to individual consumers. Institutional consumers need long term relationships with organizations to get involved in any service transactions (Bowhill, 2008, p. 53). It is generally regarded that service organizations catering to institutional consumers are more marketing oriented as compared to organizations that cater to end consumers. VI) Strategies for fluctuating demand: It has been found that there is a significant variation in the use of strategies with regard to organizations catering to institutional consumers and organizations catering to end consumers. Matching of supply and demand is considered very important with regard to services that require consumers to be present during the service delivery process as compared to those services where the presence of consumers is not that critical (Henry, 2008, p. 83). In this regard, it can be said that the benefits of such service accrue over a longer time horizon. ABC Service Excellence Limited wants to target the middle and high end consumers with regard to their investment issues and tax related problems. The consumers in this regard will definitely expect that the company will provide them with expert advices with respect to their tax related and investment problems. If consumers find quality solutions to their problems with regard to their investment and tax issues, they will definitely return to the company again for such problems (Shanker, 2002, p. 73). The company will consequently acquire a significant brand image in the field of investment and tax services. The consumer base of the company will also increase to a significant extent if it is able to provide quality service in the field of investment and taxation. The company will also be able to attract a significant extent of customer loyalty and able to retain consumers for a longer time horizon. When consumers are retained for a longer term, they tend to refer the company’s name to their friends and relatives (Bhattacharya, 2009, p. 41). This will result in the company acquiring a huge number of consumers which will play an important role in the enhancement of the performance of the company (Solomon, 2012, p. 61). In today’s competitive scenario, organizations tend to compete strategically by providing quality services to consumers in an attempt to achieve greater differentiation with regard to their competitors (Blythe, 2008, p. 74). Successful organizations are those organizations which have a dominant focus on the services dominant paradigm with respect to investment in technology, people, policies of human resources, and pay related to performance of employees with regard to services that are offered by organizations (Hill and Jones, 2007, p. 79). It is very important because the behaviours and attitudes of employees are said to significantly influence the quality of services that are offered by organizations. The marketing mix comprising of 4Ps has been widely used with respect to marketing of products by organizations. It consists of process, product, promotion, and pricing as factors that tend to significantly influence the purchase decisions of consumers (Roy, 2011, p. 31). But as services are considered to possess unique characteristics, the marketing mix of services is considered to have physical evidence, people, and processes as the main factors that constitute the service marketing mix. People refer to all the individuals that are considered to be directly or indirectly involved in the process of consumption of services (Maylor and Blackmon, 2005, p. 94). People can be considered as consumers of the organization who tend to consume the services that are offered by organizations. Organizations tend to make an increasing effort with regard to enhancing the benefits that are offered by services of organizations. Their main purpose in doing so is to increase the usefulness of services such that consumers tend to have more interest in services that are provided by organizations. The company ABC Service Excellence Limited must remember in this regard that people tend to look for value for money when they search for services that are offered by organizations (Porter, 2008, p. 57). Physical evidence of a service refers to the environment in which the delivery of service takes place between organizations and consumers. It includes all the representations that are considered as tangible such as letterhead, brochures, reports, business cards, internet presence, equipment, and signage (Cole, 2003, p. 93). Process refers to the flow of activities, procedures, and mechanisms by which organizations tend to deliver services to consumers. It is very important for the organization ABC Service Excellence Limited to effectively manage the process factor because services tend to be perishable in nature. It also must remember that services cannot be stored and as such it may face a considerable challenge with regard to over or under demand of services. The extended marketing mix for services can be considered as product, place, price, promotion, people, process, and physical evidence. Product essentially refers to the service that is provided by an organization (Kotler, 2003, p. 78). It should be considered as valuable by consumers and should provide them with high perceived value. Place is considered as very important in marketing of services by organizations. The ambience and location of ABC Service Excellence Limited should provide a positive impact on consumers who are planning to use its services. Price is also an important factor that is to be considered by the company ABC Service Excellence Limited. The consumers should not feel that the price is excessive with regard to services that they are getting from the company. The company should also use promotion in an efficient way to increase its performance in a significant manner (Henry, 2011, p. 87). It should communicate the benefits of its services in a very easy way such that it is easily understood by consumers. Technology may play an important role in this regard to effectively communicate the services that are offered by the company ABC Service Excellence Limited. The company in this regard can focus on the use of telecommunications to reach to a diverse range of consumers. Conclusion The company ABC Service Excellence Limited wants to target the middle and high end consumers with regard to their investment issues and tax related problems. The consumers in this regard will definitely expect that the company will provide them with expert advices with respect to their tax related and investment problems. The providing of quality solutions by the company is considered to be of utmost importance with regard to its building a positive brand image in the minds of consumers. In today’s ever changing environment where competition is considered to be highly intense, organizations tend to compete strategically by providing quality services to consumers in an attempt to achieve greater differentiation with regard to their competitors. ABC Service Excellence Limited should focus on issues such as investment in technology, people, policies of human resources, and pay related to performance of employees with regard to services that are offered by the company. It is very important because the behaviours and attitudes of employees are said to significantly influence the quality of services that are offered by organizations. References Ashford, R. and Beamish, K., 2005. Marketing Planning 06/09. London: Routledge. Avlonitis, G., 2001. Strategic Industrial Marketing. London: Routledge. 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