Developing Service Marketing Strategy

In this light, Theodore Levitt suggested that “instead of talking on goods and services it is better to talk of tangibles and intangibles. For the goods market, the marketing mix is based on 4P: Product, Price, Place and Promotion, while the services market requires three additional P’s: process, people and physical evidence.
The factors that distinguish the services from the goods are: intangibility, inseparability, variability (heterogeneity) and perishability. Services are not tangible, hence they cannot be “owned”. They cannot be touched or seen, hence assessing their value and quality is a difficult thing to do.
Inseparability refers to the fact that services tend to be produced at the same time they are consumed. Because of this characteristic the client is watching the production all the way and expects the service to be provided in a specific way, which can pose challenges to the managing process. The management has to make sure that the front line people have the appropriate attitude, appearance and knowledge when delivering the service.
The quality and consistency of services are subject to great variability because they are delivered by people. Personal performance, people behaviour, experience, workload, knowledge and competency cannot be controlled. Therefore, maintaining the clients’ trust during lapses is crucial for the service’s market and success.
Services cannot be stored for future use, therefore they are perishable. If you miss a doctor’s appointment, that time cannot be recaptured. When the cinema tickets go unsold, the service’s value vanishes. Also, perishability affects performance. Demand is oftentimes seasonal, crisis driven or time sensitive. For example, you cannot sell a trip to the sea-side in winter (considering that tourists go to the sea-side to sunbathe).
For the goods market, the marketing mix is based on 4P’s: Product, Price, Place and Promotion, while the services market requires three additional P’s: process, people and physical evidence. The marketing mix concept became popular after Neil H. Borden published his article The Concept of the Marketing Mix in 1964. His marketing mix was formed by 12 ingredients which were later grouped by E. Jerome McCarthy into four categories marketers work with now.
But due to the services’ special characteristics listed above, the need for a 7P marketing mix emerged. The three additional P’s enhance the value of the services. When we talk about a service, we can’t identify any physical attributes. Therefore, a client will rely on material cues such as packages (i.e. cell-phone services), brochures (i.e. vacations) and even business cards (i.e. lawyers). In a marketing mix, the process is an element of service that ensures the consumer experiences what your company is offering. For example, a travel guide who assists the tourists while visiting a landmark is creating a process in which the consumers participate.
Because the people come in direct contact with the customer when selling a service, they become the most important part of a service. Training the personnel becomes one of the most important tasks of the Human Resource Management. Training should begin as soon as the individual starts to work for the company and emphasis should be placed on a continuous training programme as long as the person is employed in the company.
Gabriel Rise has been experiencing in

Gabriel Rise has been experiencing in