.3 Service Management and Service Marketing
The special character traits for services is described within the field of service marketing is describes as intangibility, contemporary consumption and production, heterogeneity and also the fact that the service cannot be saved.(Grönroos, 1998). Intangibility means that a service is a performance in contrast to a actual product which can be seen, smelled and touched. (Zeithaml, 1985). A service which is consumed and produces at the same time leds to the fact that the consumer most certainly is participant in the production which in turn leads to the consumer being part of the service as it is ’produced’,(Zeithaml, et al., 2006) however the level of interaction differs depending on what kind of
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This is why services is claimed to be heterogen.(Ziethaml, 2006). Instead Vargo et al. (2004) claims that services as well as products includes more or less character traits and that services therefore can not be separated from products, yet products rather should be seen as a tool to the service. With these claims Vargo et al. (2004) means that service oriented marketing concepts will be superior to the traditional marketing. Also Grönroos (1994) made this claims, that a paradigm shift in the field of marketing is currently happening and that the new service marketing theories will therefore be a part of the a new path of aspecting marketing as a whole whereas the classical marketing mix is a out-dated model. The new service marketing theories are more oriented towards long-lasting …show more content…
A long-lasting relationship is seen to be more profitable than constantly trying to attract new customers to single purchases. The focus in service marketing is therefore to create a valuable long-lasting relationship with the customer(Grönroos, 1994).
2.3.1 Service quality
Service companies have no final product to deliver. Instead they only deliver a process to it’s customer, even if a part of the service company also delivers a final product due to the process. From the customers point of view, the service process can be seen as open because the customer can interact in the process and affect the final result of the process. Therefore the perceived value is affected by the service from the service process as a result of the actual process. Another aspect which also affects the perceived quality of the service is the image of the company which can influence the perceived quality positive, neutral or negative depending on if the customer views the company as good, neutral, or bad. (Grönroos, 1998). Service quality can although not be definite as a single measurement but Ziethaml et al.(2006) means that service quality includes five
High levels of customer satisfaction will not guarantee future sales, but are more likely to result in repeat future sales than indifferent or poor customer service. Moreover, satisfied customers are more likely to try out other products/services in the firm’s range, or recommend it to friends and family. Build on customer loyalty Customer loyalty is valued highly by most businesses and can be
According to Business Studies ‘’Customer service is one of the most important ingredients of the marketing mix for products and services. High quality customer service helps to create customer loyalty. Customers today are not only interested in the product they are being offered but all the additional elements of service that they receive from the greeting they receive when they enter a retail outlet, to the refund and help that they receive when they have a complaint about a faulty product that they have paid for’’ (Business Studies, n.d).
Customer Value is a very important factor to all businesses let along business that supply products or services to the public. Value is relative to each individual customer but many researchers have found a simple way of defining customer value. Customer value equal the result produced for the customer plus process quality divided by the price to the customer plus the costs of acquiring the product (McMurrian & Matulich, 2016). The customer must purchase the product or service and experience it for the company to be able to benefit from the feedback. The four mechanisms within customer value, the results, process quality, price and customer access cost, are all very important for a company to understand in order to fully understand customer value.
The characteristics of a service are intangible, inseparable, perishable, heterogeneous and lack ownership. The marketing mix of a service is not perceptible and as the features of a service is distinctive to the features of a product, it has additional elements which are process, people and physical evidence.
According to Kotler et al (2013), there are four characteristics involved in services that marketers must consider when designing marketing programmes. These include intangibility, perishability, variability and inseparability. These characteristics are vital for producing services and differ to those required for products.
Zeithaml, Valarie A, Berry, Leonard L, & Parasuraman, A. (1996). The behavioral consequences of service quality. Journal of Marketing, 60(2), 31. Retrieved April 1, 2011, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 9401886).
As the customer is the subject of relationship marketing, marketing should emphasize on customer needs, while customer value may “one-dimensionally in term of need satisfaction” (Hackley, 2009, p.64). From the “one-dimension” concept, marketing can regard as an integrated process, which utilizes techniques to develop and produce products to meet customer requirement, including market analysis and market targeting (Arndt, 1980, p.390). For example, it is effective to use relationship management software to track and analyze costumers’ preference to attract and satisfy more customers in relationship marketing. However, the “one-dimension problems-solving discipline” just completes the part of selling in transactional marketing, it may also ignore the customer demand of which is not included in the target market. What’s more, relationship marketing not only focuses on the short-term commodity trading, but also long-term service quality and forward-looking strategies. The significance of relationship marketing is far more than the exchange, because the exchange will be of common occurrence once the mutual trust mechanism has been established. Moreover, marketing would not end at the completion of the transaction, but following a series of after-sale service and the stabilization of
Strive to earn customers’ long-term loyalty by working to deliver more than promised, being honest and fair to provide exceptional personalized service that creates a pleasing business experience.
It's very well known that a companies success is not only dependant on the possession of a good product or service, but the key aspect to a successful business is excellent customer service. As the market grows, now more then ever companies are emerging, they are offering very similar types of products and services. Successful customer service can be a way a business becomes original and unique, it can be the key to attracting and maintaining loyal customers. Good customer service can start-up a business while bad customer service can harm a company. An average customer that experiences an issue will complaint to 9-10 people about the problem. A customer that received support to their problem and a potential solution will tell at least five
Relationship marketing focuses on creating and maintaining customer relations (Shani and Chalasani, 1992, p. 34). Berry (1995, p. 237) argues for the value of the protection of the customer base and the costs of replacing old with new customers. (. 1992, p 34) defines Chalasani Shani and relationship marketing in a formal way: "[...] an integrated approach to identify, maintain and build a network with individual consumers and continuously strengthen the network for the benefit effort mutual on both sides, through interactive, individualized and value-added for a long time contacts. " Three factors have been examined as drivers and prerequisites for building relationships are trust, commitment and satisfaction (Morgan and Hunt, 1994; Hawkins and Vel, 2013 ;. Palmatier et al., 2007; Bejou et al, 1998). Morgan and Hunt (1994, p. 24) argue that the parties place more value on a relationship that involves trust. Morgan and Hunt (1994, p. 23) also argue that if there is a commitment in the relationship, it is desirable for the customer to put effort into maintaining it. A third factor that can be added to these drivers is satisfaction. Satisfaction has been considered as a "fundamental principle" (Bejou, et al., 1998, p. 170) for relationship marketing. Convinced by these strong arguments about the
Providing a good service to one’s customer is the first step in generating consumer loyalty. Not providing a good service to a customer will only lead the latter to look elsewhere with his purchase. Customer satisfaction is a key component in having a customer that will return for future purchases. The organization need to research on its market and adapt to its demands. They need to investigate into the purchasing behavior of their audience. The customer buying behavior is about investigating what people buy, the reasons they buy and how the buying process goes on (Kotler, 1994) and they need to research thoroughly.
Service Quality: This dimension is the last and final factor of the value it appears when the customer has made up his mind to purchase a product or service. Service quality decides the relationship between the customer and the store.
A service encounter is defined as a moment when a customer interacts with a service or product for the first time. It is the customer’s actual interaction with a service company. It is identified as a key component of the current agenda for service marketers. More than half of the world’s multinational corporations employ in providing services, thus the scrutiny of service encounters is becoming increasingly significant. Research evidence indicates that customers generally compare their expectations with the performance of service industries and they are influenced by the quality of service they receive. The scope of this essay is to discuss about the view that customers don’t buy products they focus on solutions and also about the consumer’s behaviour pattern regarding services provided. Further, it will be noted how businesses are trying to improve the service quality to attract customers leading to an increase in the economic competitiveness.
Customer Relationships is about building a relationship of trust and convenience. A customer wants the company they are working with to be intuitive. To know their needs before they do. They want to feel respected, they need to believe you are honest and have integrity. This relationship breeds comfort and familiarity and causes the consumer to continue to do business with your company. This relationship that is built develops a personal relationship, like a friendship and it is one that the consumer cannot get from the store down the road and it is that personal touch of sincerity, of knowing their needs, of servitude that will turn them into lifelong branded customers.
we would be tempted to believe that is a simple, linear relation between satisfaction and loyalty. According the research of (Jones & Sasser Jr., 1995) , relation satisfaction and loyalty is different according to time and circumstances. Unless they are totally satisfied, there is always a chance you will see your customers be lured away (Jones & Sasser Jr., 1995).