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SERVICES MARKETING

and back office, the customer comes into contact with the front part of the operations system.
This interaction or exposure creates an overlap between marketing and operations functions
of business. If all operations are performed at the backstage without customer s direct contact,
the service factory is kept isolated like in goods marketing. This isolation makes service management much simpler and like goods industries. But when customer interacts in the system,
services become a very different marketing game.

Types of Service
The visible portion of overall service operations to customer depends on the nature of the service. This depends on how important and for what duration a customer's physical presence is
required for service. A distinction can be made between the types of services on the basis of two
important questions:4

1. What is processed? Is it the process-directed object or a person?

2. How is it processed? What is the nature of the process? Is it tangible or intangible?
People-processing services are the ones that are directed at people and ultimately the customers
are processed. Airlines, hospitals, hotels and beauty salons are people-processing services. When
the service actions are directed at a car, coat, shoe or a machine that is possessed by the customer,
the service becomes possession processing. The service process is directed at a physical object,
and it is the physical object that takes part in the service operations system.
Third category of services is mental stimulus-processing services. These services interact
with the minds of people. This interaction is capable of influencing peoples attitude, thoughts
and behaviours. Service firms in the business of education, entertainment, psychotherapy and
professional advice fall into this category. The last category of service is information-processing
services. These services have become very important in the modern information-dominated
business environment. The service product in this category of service is information. It is the
most intangible form of serviced output, yet it may be encrypted on some physical devices like
tapes and diskettes. Otherwise, information is given in the form of written document like a
report. Information processing is very critical to the success of services like financial servicesmarketing research, consulting and accounting, insurance and legal services. All of these services create value by information processing involving activities like information collection,
combination, analyses and interpretation.
The importance of this classification stems from the understanding of the extent and the
nature of customer's participation in the process and the managerial implications thereof. For
instance, in people-processing services, customer participates in the process. In fact, the process itself is directed at him or her. This direct contact exposes the customer to the visible
front end of the service system. Alignment of operations priorities with the customer's priorities becomes essential in this case. The other services that are directed at the objects involve
customers less and so is the exposure to the system. Possessions can either be picked up from
the customer's site or can be dropped off at the service factory. Services offered by car service
stations, computer services and other appliances fall in this category. The service process or
operations are performed on objects in the service factory with or without customer's pres ence. Where the customer is not present, this model comes very close to goods manufacturing.
The mental stimulus-processing services are directed at people's mind; therefore, participation
of the customer is essential for the service creation. But unlike the people processing, cus tomer may receive the service without being physically present in the system. Some services do
require direct contact like in tutorial or training services, but at the same time, these services
can be indirectly delivered by using some media like Internet or wireless.