CHAPTER 3: SERVICE MARKETING MIX- THE 7 P S. of the market or the customers facilitating them to design a good market plan.

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1 CHAPTER 3: SERVICE MARKETING MIX- THE 7 P S Summary: Marketing a service needs for example requires absolute understanding about the customer, what drives or would attract the customer to purchase the service etc. Hence the organization needs to conduct a good analysis of the market. It needs to understand several critical aspects of the market or the customers facilitating them to design a good market plan. Organization need to know who are their customers, what would motivate or what motivates them to make a purchase, how do they choose a particular product or service, what are the benefits the customers are looking for in a product or service etc. In addition to this an organization for having an effective market planning or strategy should also know who the competitors in the market are. The concept of marketing mix is one of the most interesting aspects of marketing. It is also one of the most important subjects in the marketing. The traditional marketing mix focuses on four areas product, place, price and promotion. When we refer to the marketing mix, it can be best defined as the most appropriate mix of the various variables i.e. product, place, price and promotion. The marketing mix is often crucial when determining a product or brand's offer. There are various factors which are considered 1. The price 2. The product 3. The place or distribution of the product 4. and the promotion of the product

2 However in case of marketing mix for services there are additional P s since services have different variables. The additional P s are people, physical evidence and process. To create the right marketing mix, an organization needs to ensure that the product or service they want to market should have attractive features. For example the packaging etc. A service product consists the core and the peripheral services. Core services are the primary benefit offered by the service provider and the peripheral is the secondary benefit offered by the service provider Then the price must be right Factors such as customer expectation, the technology and infrastructure being used to produce the goods or services, target segment, location of the offerings, competitors pricing strategy etc determine the pricing strategy. The right price drives revenue for the organization. Customer also is a key determinant in defining the price. It is the customer perception of the value of the product or service being offered which the customer relates to the pricing. In short the customer would consider the price to be right if the value of the meets or exceeds the value as defined by the customer. The chapter also shared the four pricing strategies such as Skimming strategy, Penetration strategy, Bundling strategy and differential pricing strategy. The services have to be made available at the locations which would enhance the sale of the service. The location of services, the physical facility the visibility of the place is critical. The choice of the location has to be seen from the customer point of view which would determine the success of the service being offered. Factors such as what kind of service would be offered, the target segment etc. would influence the decision to identify the place for service offerings. Promotion is that activity which is used to enhance communication to the customers of the offerings. It is important that the customers are made aware of the existence and availability

3 of the services by promotion. A promotion which informs the customers about the availability of the service in the market, where it is available, the features etc. creates an awareness of the product. A good promotion mix would entail aspects as the channel for advertising, leveraging service brand name, leveraging loyalty factor, the kind of benefits which the service offers etc.an effective promotion plays a key role in establishing a service and facilitating its success in the market. When a service is being promoted through advertisement there are two major factors which are very closely evaluated The Awareness and the Brand recall Process defines the manner and the output of the service which is delivered to the customer. In services it is very important to have a process in place which would define how a service has to be or would be offered to the customer. A structured process, with well thought of process flow would define the quality of the service delivered to the customer. Technology has facilitated to delivery high quality service. An effective process in place ensure the management and the people delivering the service are aware what is expected from the services delivery. The process has to be standardized all across the customer touch points and check and balance in place which would ensure there is no deviation in case of deviation appropriate action can be taken. When marketing services the additional features in the marketing mix is the physical evidence which consists of the visibility and exteriors of the place where the service is being provided, the signage, the interiors of the place etc. The last of the P s in service marketing is the people factor. People play a very important role in the delivery of service. Their behaviour, their grooming, their training, their experience etc. define the service delivery. It also includes how the people are recruited and

4 trained, the competencies and the skills required, grooming, reward and recognition, motivation, career path are all a part of the people factor.

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