UNIT 5

Nonprofit Organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO, also known as a non-business entity) is an organization the
purpose of which is something other than making a profit. A nonprofit organization is often dedicated to
furthering a particular social cause or advocating for a particular point of view. In economic terms, a
nonprofit organization uses its surplus revenues to further achieve its purpose or mission, rather than
distributing its surplus income to the organization's shareholders (or equivalents) as profit or dividends.
This is known as the distribution constraint.
A non-profit organization (also known as an NPO) is an organization that uses its funding to
pursue a specific purpose, such as a charitable cause, rather than pursuing profits for its own benefit as a
for-profit business does. Some might not believe that investing in marketing strategies is necessary for
non-profits, but it is quite beneficial for an NPO to effectively market itself. Non-profits use marketing
tactics to assist with growth, funding and prosperity. Without these things, the overall mission of the
NPO is diminished.
Nonprofit organizations serve to build a more equitable society through support to individuals
and communities. The work emphasizes benefits to stakeholders, not shareholders, and revenue
generated is returned to the efforts and missions of the organization. Other sectors, including
corporations and all levels of education, realize direct and indirect advantages from the work of the
nonprofit sector. Nonprofit organizations are tremendously diverse in the populations they serve, how
they perform their work, and how they use technology, but there are some common representative
characteristics:
1) Value oriented
2) Personnel are intrinsically motivated and many volunteer their time
3) Patchwork of skills and knowledge
4) Funding is inconsistent and unstable
5) Lack of long term budget and IT strategies
6) Lack of capacity to maintain IT infrastructure and programs
7) Last sector to benefit from technological advances

Marketing Procedures for Non-profit Organisation

1. Target Market and Differentiation:

A non-profit organization can segment its target publics into donors and clients.
And within each group of donors and clients, it needs to identify its sub-segments of individuals and
organizations The sub- segments of donors will be its target markets for persuasive communication,
motivating them to fund it, and the sub-segments of clients will be its target markets for development of
services, which will ameliorate their conditions. The non-profit organization must understand the
motivations of sub-segments of donors and needs of sub segments of clients.
Donors:
A donor evaluates which non-profit organization to give to on the basis of awareness and reputation, the
confidence that its contributions will not be wasted on excessive administration, and perceived
worthiness of the cause the non-profit is trying to address. Therefore, a non-profit organization needs to
promote itself, as well as the cause it is supporting. Its level of donor funding will depend upon both
these factors. The brand name of the charity and the cause it espouses are important in attracting donors
or memberships. The non-profit organization has to clearly decide as to who its donors are going to be.
It is very tempting to take money and other resources from anyone who is willing to donate. The
possible sources are government bodies, non-government institutional donors like World Bank,
corporations, foundations and individual donors. All these donors are going to impose their own

conditions before funding and it is going to cost differently to get funds from each of them. Duration for
which the fund will be available from each of these sources will also be different. Taking all these
factors into account, the non-profit organization has to decide from which one or many of these sources
it is going to try to get its funds from. There has to be alignment in the viewpoints, purpose and methods
of the non-profit organization and its donors if they have to work together for a long time.
Clients:
Clients are people and organizations who receive the services of the non-profit organization. It
may seem as if there would be no dearth of clients, as there is clearly no lack of problems in this world.
People are suffering all around us and all of them should be willing recipients of the non-profit
organizations services. But it does not happen that way. Barring a catastrophe, when people s lives are
rudely disturbed and they seek desperate help, people learn to live with their problems. The non-profit
organization has to awaken these people and motivate them to avail their services. Non-profit
organizations operating in areas of education and health have to work hard to demonstrate to their clients
that their life would be much better if they went to school and kept their surroundings clean. The nonprofit organization has to sell itself and its services to its clients, though it may look like there is really
no dearth of clients for a non-profit organization.
2. Developing a Marketing Mix:
Like for-profit organizations, NPOs should also consider developing a marketing mix. The rigor
involved developing the marketing mix for the NPO should not be less than that of the for-profit
organization, though the considerations in designing the right mix are different.
Product:
The non-profit organization should carry out a rigorous research of the requirements of their prospective
clients. Two non-profit organizations may be working in the area of providing education but their
respective programmes will vary widely depending upon who their clients are.
One of them may be providing primary education to children living in slums whereas the other may be
providing technical training to unemployed youth. A large part of the success of an initiative depends
upon how the programme fits the requirements of the clients. And the only sure way to get a programme
that will work is to research the requirements and motivations of the prospective clients. A non-profit
organization should never believe that it is doing its clients a favour by serving them, and that the clients
would take anything. They do not.
Pricing:
The pricing of services provided by non-profit organizations may not follow the guidelines
applicable to profit oriented pricing. They may not be charging full price for their services and most of

them do not intend to earn profits from their services. Some of them may not charge anything for the
services they are providing. But it is always better to charge clients at least a token amount so that they
value the service or the product that they are getting and use it for their benefit. It will also reduce
wastage as they will avail only as much as they will need. Some of the non-profit organizations have to
provide incentives to the recipients to motivate them to avail the service. Nonprofit organizations which
provide education to children of poor families have to provide financial incentives to these families so
that they send their children to school.
Distribution:
Since most non-profit organizations provide services, distribution system for many of them are
inadequate with simultaneous production and consumption. Most of them have to operate in the
communities they are serving.
Promotion:
Many non-profit organizations are adept at using promotions. Print media is popular. Direct mail is used
to raise funds. They need to keep their donors informed of their activities so that they remain interested
in the cause. Email can be a useful method for communicating for obtaining repeat donations but they
will not be useful for attracting first-time donors. Email is losing its credibility because senders
authenticity is being doubted. There is just too much pitching happening on the Internet. They also need
to be aware of publicity opportunities for themselves and the cause they espouse.
Many non-profit organizations are skilled at event marketing. Events like dinners, sponsored walks and
shows are organized to raise funds. Donors have to be shown making important contributions to a
worthwhile cause. It is not a bad idea to induce subtle competition among donors for contributing more
to the cause. Non-profit organizations also have to reach their clients. For community-based services
like primary education and sanitation, it helps to have a local centre in the community itself. Non-profit
organizations can use direct mail, email, or even advertising if their clients are spread more widely.
Non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization (NGO) is any non-profit, voluntary citizens' group which is
organized on a local, national or international level. Task-oriented and driven by people with a common
interest, NGOs perform a variety of service and humanitarian functions, bring citizen concerns to
Governments, advocate and monitor policies and encourage political participation through provision of
information. Some are organized around specific issues, such as human rights, environment or health.
They provide analysis and expertise, serve as early warning mechanisms and help monitor and
implement international agreements. Their relationship with offices and agencies of the United Nations
system differs depending on their goals, their venue and the mandate of a particular institution.

Types
NGO types can be understood by their orientation, operation level and Structural mode.
By orientation

Charitable orientation often involves a top-down paternalistic effort with little participation by
the "beneficiaries". It includes NGOs with activities directed toward meeting the needs of the
poor peoples.

Service orientation includes NGOs with activities such as the provision of health, family
planning or education services in which the programme is designed by the NGO and people are
expected to participate in its implementation and in receiving the service.

Participatory orientation is characterized by self-help projects where local people are involved
particularly in the implementation of a project by contributing cash, tools, land, materials, labour
etc. In the classical community development project, participation begins with the need
definition and continues into the planning and implementation stages.

Empowering orientation aims to help poor people develop a clearer understanding of the social,
political and economic factors affecting their lives, and to strengthen their awareness of their
own potential power to control their lives. There is maximum involvement of the beneficiaries
with NGOs acting as facilitators.

By level of operation

Community-based organizations (CBOs) arise out of people's own initiatives. They can be
responsible for raising the consciousness of the urban poor, helping them to understand their
rights in accessing needed services, and providing such services.

City-wide organizations include organizations such as chambers of commerce and industry,

coalitions of business, ethnic or educational groups, and associations of community
organizations.

'National NGOs include national organizations such as the YMCAs/YWCAs, professional

associations and similar groups. Some have state and city branches and assist local NGOs.

International NGOs range from secular agencies such as Ducere Foundation and Save the
Children organizations, OXFAM, CARE, Ford Foundation, and Rockefeller Foundation to
religiously motivated groups. They can be responsible for funding local NGOs, institutions and
projects and implementing projects.

Structural mode

Trust

Society
Nonprofit Companies (Charitable Foundations including private & public)

Trust
The public charitable trust is a possible form of not-for-profit entity in India. Typically, public
charitable trusts can be established for a number of purposes, including the relief of poverty, education,
medical relief, provision of facilities for recreation, and any other object of general public utility. Indian
public trusts are generally irrevocable. No national law governs public charitable trusts in India,
although many states (particularly Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh) have Public
Trusts Acts.
Types of Trust
There are two basic types of trusts: living trusts and testamentary trusts. A living trust or an
"inter-vivos" trust is set up during the person's lifetime. A Testamentary trust is set up in a will and
established only after the person's death when the will goes into effect.
Living trusts can be either "revocable" or "irrevocable."
Revocable trusts allow you to retain control of all the assets in the trust, and you are free to
revoke or change the terms of the trust at any time.
With irrevocable trusts, the assets in it are no longer yours, and typically you can't make
changes without the beneficiary's consent. But the appreciated assets in the trust aren't subject to estate
taxes.
A testamentary trust (sometimes referred to as a will trust or trust under will) is a trust which
arises upon the death of the testator, and which is specified in his or her will. A will may contain more
than one testamentary trust, and may address all or any portion of the estate.
Types of Trust based on the service offered
Charitable Trusts
Charitable Trusts offer individuals and businesses the opportunity to donate to charities on an
ongoing basis. A Charitable Trust may already exist for the charity or cause you wish to assist and you
can specify in your Will that a portion of your estate be given to that trust. If one doesnt exist, then you
might decide that part of your estate be used to create a trust for the cause or charity you have a passion
for. Either way, through a Charitable Trust, you will be leaving a lasting legacy.
Educational Trusts
Educational Trusts offer individuals and businesses the opportunity to assist students studying a
specific educational course or who are attending a particular school or university on an ongoing basis.
The trust could also be established in memory of a loved one who was passionate about a particular

hobby or interest. You can leave a lasting legacy in your Will or establish an educational trust to assist
others who may require financial assistance to complete their studies.

Injury and Compensation Trusts

Injury and Compensation Trusts are usually established under the terms of a Court Order or
Settlement, where funds have been paid to an individual in compensation for a personal injury another
reason such as being a victim of crime. Often these funds will be held in trust for the benefit of the
injured individual who is the beneficiary of the funds.
An inter vivos trust
An inter vivos (which literally means between the living) trust is created between living
persons. In this case one person, the settlor, creates a trust to benefit a nominated beneficiary. On the
establishment of the trust, the settlement funds and/or property are no longer assets which belong to the
settlor and they no longer form part of his/her personal estate.
The purpose of the trust may be to provide financial assistance by way of regular or discretionary
payments to the beneficiary.
A Minors, or Childrens, Trust
A Minors, or Childrens, Trust is designed to manage and protect assets for a child until they
reach an age specified by you. Some trusts are intended to provide funds to benefit a minor during
childhood, which will be managed by the trustee. Others may not allow any expenditure and be designed
to simply hold and protect funds until the minor reaches adulthood.
Some trust deeds specify that trust funds may only be used for specific purposes, such as
education, or medical expenses (which are especially important in instances where a minor has a
disability or illness).
Special Disability Trust
The Special Disability Trust is a Federal Government initiative aimed at helping immediate
family members and guardians to provide for the future of family members who have a disability. A
Special Disability Trust can be established through a Will, or can be established by living family
members to benefit their disabled relative. For a Special Disability Trust to be established, the
beneficiary must verify that they are severely disabled and the trust deed must be complaint to the
purpose of the Special Disability Trust.
Testamentary Trust

A Testamentary Trust is established as part of a Will and only begins upon the death of the
testator (the person who made the Will). The trust is created to hold and safeguard some or all of the
deceased persons assets for the benefit of others.

Societies
Societies are membership organizations that may be registered for charitable purposes. Societies
are usually managed by a governing council or a managing committee. Societies are governed by the
Societies Registration Act 1860, which has been adapted by various states. Unlike trusts, societies may
be dissolved.
The Society provides the following services:
Advocacy
Aged Care facilities

Budget counselling

Care and support centers

Childcare services

Children's activities and holiday programs

Disability services

Disaster recovery

Drug and alcohol rehabilitation services

Emergency accommodation

Employment support services

Friendship programs for people with a mental illness

Home and hospital visitation

Homeless accommodation and support services

Low-cost food outlets

Migrant and refugee support services

Mobile food services

Overseas support programs

Prison visitation

Refuge accommodation for women and children

School-base mentoring programs

Self-care aged units

Subsidized accommodation for tertiary students

Support programs for people with a mental illness

Supported employment for people with a physical or mental disability

Tutoring program for refugees

Volunteer programs
Youth drop-in centers
Youth programs

Education Services
Education in its broadest sense is any act or experience that has a formative effect on the mind,
character or physical ability of an individual. It is the process by which society deliberately transmits its
accumulated knowledge, skills and values from one generation to another through institution.
Education in India is provided by the public sector as well as the private sector, with control
and funding coming from three levels: central, state, and local. Under various articles of the Indian
Constitution, free and compulsory education is provided as a fundamental right to children between the
ages of 6 and 14. India's improved education system is often cited as one of the main contributors to
its economic development.
Education as a Service
Services are those separately identifiable, essentially intangible activities, which provide want
satisfaction and are not necessarily tied to the sale of the product another service. Education is a service
which is geared primarily to the consumer market. Technology like computers, LCD projectors and
multimedia, has helped service providers offer better service to more customers. It has enabled
instructors to deliver the service in less time in an effective manner to even a large group in high contact
regular education. It has enabled them to concentrate more on knowledge management rather than on
preparation of teaching notes.
Education System in India
o Primary education
o Secondary education
o Private schools
o International schools
o Home-schooling
o Higher education
o Technical education
o Medical Education

o Open and distance learning

o Coaching institutions
o Sports Academies
Education as a service that is geared primarily to the consumer market. There is a category of
consumers for whom education and the pursuit of knowledge are expressive motives. Educational
institutions in developing countries have always faced more demand than they could cope with. Formal
education begins at the school age and depending upon the choice, vocation and circumstances of the
pursuant, it matures into intermediate and higher levels of learning, ramifying into professional and
specialized fields. Apparently, the benefits sought from higher and professional or vocational courses are
more tangible or measurable in terms of (a) entry qualifications to a chosen profession, (b) certification
to enable practicing a profession or (c) relative ease of access to a suitable form of living hood. Covering
the field of marketing of education per se, in its entirety is somewhat impossible.
Key features of educational services
Approachable: As a service, it should reach to each individual. Everyone should have a right to
be educated.
Applicable: after educating, one should be able to apply the learned knowledge in routine public
life and be aware about ones rights and duties and one should be skilled and able to get a right job.
Adaptable: A well-educated person must be able to adjust in personal, social and vocational life.
He/she should be emotionally sound. Education as a service should be adaptable to the organization
concerned.
Appraisable: after above three there must be an evaluation of the person as well as the
educational service for the further improvement.
Characteristics of educational services
Intangibility: Education is a service, which cannot be seen, tasted or touched; it can only be felt
through mental processes. This can change the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domain of the
person.
Perishability: In education sector, there is simultaneous production as well as consumption since
it is a human activity and transfer of knowledge is there from generation to generation.
Inseparability: There is a need for the service provider to be present when the service is to be
performed and consumed.
Others: High fixed cost, Low variable cost, Specialized and need based, Competition, Customer
limitations, Heterogeneity.
Pillars of educational services

Make It Easy: the focus of any successful educational programme is the interactive aspect as
well as the targeted customer approach. Therefore, the people should have right information at hand or
from right website, media and it should reach them quickly.
Make It Relevant: A successful educational marketing strategy must include subjects and
formats that are customer-driven, covering not just how to use specific commodity, but also related
topics that help customers achieve their fundamental goals and objectives that are driving them to
consider their products and services. To build an intimate customer relationship and firmly establish
your brand, one would want to offer more than product specifications.
Make it Fresh: People tend to lose interest in web sites that do not provide a compelling reason
for them to return and do not provide genuine and quality information. Companies need to post fresh
educational content on a regular basis just as they do with other types of content, and be bold about
retiring content that users rate lower or do not access frequently. Customers should be invited to
subscribe to content alerts by e-mail. Center must provide updated and latest information.
Manage It: An effective educational marketing website needs to capture critical customer
information, such as what content your customers are viewing, how content preferences differ by type of
learner, where and why customers might bail from your site. After capturing this type of usage data,
one can then strategize new content and site improvements. More importantly, one can provide critical
data regarding customer and prospect preferences to colleagues in product development, sales and
marketing functions.
Measure It: Scorecards and dashboards make it easy for decision makers to see the impact of
educational marketing. As noted above, an educational marketing website can provide rich data that can
provide keen insights to customers and prospects interests and behaviors. Analytics and content
consumption data enable marketers help to see the impact of customer education on product sales and
gain macro-level information to focus marketing campaigns.
Marketing of educational services
Product/Output: In case of educational services, the product means the students and the
services means the intangible offers (like the course itself, the services rendered by the faculty etc.)
made by the educational institutions. Here, services make the product of an institute. Through the
products and services the educational institutions promotes their organization and develop the brand
value in the competitive market
Price / Fees : The price is the amount a student pays for the services availed by him or her. A
number of factors including competition, service quality, placement, reputation of the institution, private
or public ownership, infrastructure, facilities provided, location of the institute, mode of education,

brand name of the educational institution etc., determine it. Here, price reflects the quality of services
provided to the students. Hence, it can be used as marketing tool by the institutions.
Location: Place represents the location where an educational institute is established. It is often
referred to as the service centre. If the institute is located at a Metro city, it will provide much more
competitive edge, than if it is located in rural place. So, place is also a vital promotional tool for them.
Promotion/Incentives: Promotion represents all of the communications that a service provider
uses in the marketplace. Promotion has a few distinct elements such as advertising, public relations,
word of mouth, point of sale, publicity, direct & web marketing, etc. Educational institute emphasizes
mainly on two components of promotion viz. advertising and web-based marketing, rather than all. As
far as promotion tool is concerned, positive word-of-mouth communication has been found the best tool
for them.
People: Here, the people mean teaching fraternity and non-teaching community directly and
indirectly associated with the services rendered to the students. Satisfaction and retention of the students
solely depends on the way the teachers are in a position to deliver their best services to them. Teachers
are not treated as guru, rather they are known as facilitators / services providers. Growth and existence
of an educational institute, particularly the professional educational organization depends on the
competency, effectiveness, efficiency, sincerity, dedication and devotion of the teaching community of
the institute. People proved as the most vibrant component of educational services marketing mix.
Process: The procedures, mechanisms and flow of activities, which lead to an exchange of value,
are called the process. The way service providers render services to the students, plays a pivotal role in
gaining the competitive advantages. If the service process is hassle free, simple, understandable, student
friendly and technology based, it will definitely make the institution with difference. Examples might
include the way a student is treated by a staff member and rendered service by a teacher, or the length of
time a student has to wait to get services from them.
Physical Evidence: Initiating from pragmatism, it is the direct sensory experience of a service
that allows a student to measure whether he or she has received adequate facilities by the educational
institution. Examples might include the physical environment in which service is delivered, the physical
facilities provided and the infrastructure created by the organization for them. It might include state-ofart technology, building, total ambience, parking facility, playground, gymnasium, swimming pool,
indoor stadium, transportation facility, hostel, AC classroom facility, computer laboratory, canteen,
library, number of books and journals, different modern teaching aid etc. All of these play a crucial role
in marketing of educational institute.
Telecommunications service

In telecommunication,

a telecommunications

service is

service

provided

by

a telecommunications provider, or a specified set of user-information transfer capabilities provided to a

group of users by a telecommunications system.
Telecommunications services are those that are provided by a communications company that
offers voice and data services over a large area. The most common form of telecommunications service
is phone service, which is done on either a wired or wireless standard. Other services may include
Internet, television, and networking for businesses and homes. These services may not be available in all
areas or from all companies. The pricing points for the different services vary widely and may be
different for residences and businesses.
While telecommunications services used to mean nothing more than a landline phone, the
options are now more varied. In addition to traditional landlines, there are wireless systems and data
services available from a variety of vendors. While some offer both landlines and wireless service, often
the companies involved in these two different services are different, and in direct competition with each
other. In addition, some telecommunications services are offering television now, with the higher
bandwidth speeds available through an improved infrastructure such as fiber optics.
Even for basic landline service, there are more options than there were 20 years ago. Now,
various other telecommunications services offer basic voice packages that may include three-way
calling, call waiting, and caller ID. These services may cost additional money, or may be included at no
additional charge, depending on the package provided by local telecommunications companies.
The pricing points for telecommunications services will differ from one area to another, and may
depend on how many different services one purchases. For example, some companies offer telephone,
Internet, and television service together at a package discount off what purchasing those services
separately would have cost.
India's telecommunication network is the second largest in the world based on the total
number of telephone users (both fixed and mobile phone). It has one of the lowest call tariffs in the
world enabled by the mega telephone networks and hyper-competition among them. It has the world's
third-largest Internet user-base. According to the Department of Telecommunication of India (DoT), as
on March 2015, India has 302.35 million internet connections. Major sectors of the Indian
telecommunication industry are telephony, internet and television broadcast Industry in the country
which is in an ongoing process of transforming into next generation network, employs an extensive
system of modern network elements such as digital telephone exchanges, mobile switching
centers, media gateways and signaling gateways at the core, interconnected by a wide variety of
transmission systems using fiber-optics or Microwave radio relay networks. Telecommunication has

supported the socioeconomic development of India and has played a significant role to narrow down the
rural-urban digital divide to some extent. It also has helped to increase the transparency of governance
with the introduction of e-governance in India.
Marketing strategies
Product
The basic essentials of product in mobile telecom services are its core functional benefits. The
key functional benefits desired by majority of the mobile telecom customers are voice clarity,
geographical network coverage and easiness to get connected to the network. The frequent travellers
outside the State consider roaming facility and the internet savvy customers consider the easiness in
activation of internet services also as the core service benefits. In third generation (3G) services along
with these characteristics, the core benefits also include easiness in handset settings for mobile internet
facility and speed of data access. The product is lifted to the augmented level with suitable customer
support and customer care activities and the maintenance of high level of quality of service. The
customer support activities related to the mobile telecom services are: easiness to get a new mobile
connection - the SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card with friendly processes and procedures,
availability of mobile service recharge facility or recharge cards at convenient locations (for prepaid
customers), helpful assistance from retailers, and customer convenient bill payment facilities (for postpaid customers). The customer care activities are: easiness in activation of additional services, easiness
in deactivation of services availed as and when required, easiness to access customer care helpline,
easiness to get the right customer care person on the phone to get the required support or information,
and the ability to solve problems at customer care.
Pricing
The pricing strategy has direct impact on revenue and profit of any organization. Even though
the pricing is simply the exchange value of the product or service, the pricing strategies depend on the
objectives of pricing. The objectives of pricing are different for different service providers. The
objectives may be to produce fair profit, profiteering, market growth, price leadership or to enhance the
image of the firm to attract more customers or to strategically counter the competitors. Varieties of tariff
plans are introduced by the telecom service providers to attract customers of multiple segments.
Exclusive tariff plans are launched for closed user groups such as friends, lovers, family, official groups,
or business groups. Customized special tariff packages for individuals were also offered by certain
telecom service providers. In India the customers are enjoying one of the lowest mobile tariffs in the
world8. This is mainly due to the intense competition in pricing among mobile telecom service
providers.

Distribution (place) strategies

The distribution strategy is to provide effective place convenience for the customers to avail
products and services of the service provider. It is related to the distribution pattern, channel
management, and retailer network of the telecom service providers. The private sector providers mainly
adopted intensive distribution strategy, which involves the use of all possible outlets to distribute the
products and services.
Promotion strategies
The effectiveness of marketing mostly depends on promotion - the integrated marketing communication.
There are several ways to promote the products. The telecom companies use a mix of various
promotional tools such as: advertisements, sales promotion, direct selling, events, experiences and
public relations.
The telecom companies use multitude of sales promotion tools. The prominent among them are:
promotional phone calls to the customers, price reduction offers, extra talk time offers, SMS package
offers, internet package offers, free trial of newly introduced services, free add-on SIM card, facility to
make calls even at zero balance on credit basis for prepaid customers, extending continued services even
at non-payment of bills due to delay or oversight for post-paid customers, displays and demonstrations at
the point of sales, and specialized pricing offers exclusively for individual customers.
Service related marketing strategies people, physical evidence and process
People: All human elements involved in service delivery or service assurance influence the
buyers perceptions. The customer care personnel, maintenance staff, persons representing the
organisation, the customers, and other customers in the service environment play vital roles in services
marketing. The private telecom service providers strategically manage the people element primarily
through outsourcing. The customer care and call center personnel are professionally trained employees
provided by external agencies. The telecom service providers extend excellent backend support for the
outsourced customer touch points. They utilize the IT capabilities for extending service to these touch
points which in turn reflect in the customer service.
Physical evidence: The physical evidence is the environment in which the service is delivered
and where the firm and customer interact, and any tangible components that facilitate performance or
communication of the service. The private telecom service providers are keen in proving their presence
through employee dresses, uniforms, brochures, tariff booklets, business cards, and glow sign boards etc.
The ever-changing tariff is immediately updated and made available to retailers and customers. The
advertisements, hoardings, events, and public relations also help building the physical evidence.

Process: The actual procedures, mechanisms, and flow of activities by which the service is
delivered are termed as process. The private sector providers widely utilize the retailer network to
distribute their products and services. Their retailers are motivated by trade schemes, incentives and
proper back end support to push their products.
Hospital services
Until recently the healthcare industry was at the crossroads, still unsure which way to go. Today,
it is in for exciting times. Low costs, combined with excellent facilities, have provided the perfect
formula for India to become a major player in the $2.8 trillion worldwide healthcare industry.
Hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized staff and
equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which has an emergency department.
A district hospital typically is the major health care facility in its region, with large numbers of beds for
intensive care and long-term care. Specialized hospitals include trauma centers, rehabilitation hospitals,
children's hospitals, seniors' (geriatric) hospitals, and hospitals for dealing with specific medical needs
such as psychiatric problems (see psychiatric hospital) and certain disease categories. Specialized
hospitals can help reduce health care costs compared to general hospitals. A world class hospital is a
multi-disciplinary super specialty medical center of international standards. Most hospitals today are
well equipped with the most advanced diagnostic and treatment facilities.
Hospitals usually are distinguished from other types of medical facilities by their ability to admit
and care for inpatients whilst the others often are described as clinics.
General
The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which is set up to deal with many kinds
of disease and injury, and normally has an emergency department to deal with immediate and urgent
threats to health. Larger cities may have several hospitals of varying sizes and facilities. Some hospitals,
especially in the United States and Canada, have their own ambulance service.
District
A district hospital typically is the major health care facility in its region, with large numbers of
beds for intensive care and long-term care.
Specialized
Types of specialized hospitals include trauma centers, rehabilitation hospitals, children's
hospitals, seniors' (geriatric) hospitals, and hospitals for dealing with specific medical needs such as
psychiatric problems (psychiatric hospital), certain disease categories such as cardiac, oncology, or
orthopedic problems, and so forth.

Specialised hospitals can help reduce health care costs compared to general hospitals. For
example, Narayana Hrudayalaya's Bangalore cardiac unit, which is specialised in cardiac surgery, allows
for significantly greater number of patients. It has 3000 beds (more than 20 times the average American
hospital) and in pediatric heart surgery alone, it performs 3000 heart operations annually, making it by
far the largest such facility in the world. Surgeons are paid on a fixed salary instead of per operation,
thus the costs to the hospital drops when the number of procedures increases, taking advantage of
economies of scale. Additionally, it is argued that costs go down as all its specialists become efficient by
working on one "production line" procedure.
Teaching
A teaching hospital combines assistance to people with teaching to medical students and nurses
and often is linked to a medical school, nursing school or university.

Clinics
The medical facility smaller than a hospital is generally called a clinic, and often is run by a
government agency for health services or a private partnership of physicians (in nations where private
practice is allowed). Clinics generally provide only outpatient services.

Hospital marketing mix

Product
A product is a set of attributes assembled in an identifiable form. The product is the central
component of any marketing mix. The product component of the marketing mix deals with a variety of
issues relating to development, presentation and management of the product which is to be offered to the
market place. It covers issues such as service package, core services and peripherals, managing service
offering and developing service offering. Hospitals today offer the following services:
1. Emergency services Emergency services and care at most of the hospitals is unique and advanced.
The hospitals have state-of-the-art ambulances. The CCU's on Wheels under supervision by medical
and para-medical staff. There is hi-tech telecommunication available to a patient in an emergency at any
given time.
2. Ambulance services Hi-tech ambulances linked by state-of-the-art telecommunications are fully
equipped with doctors that are available to render medical attention and assistance in case of
emergencies at the patient's doorstep.

3. Diagnostic services Modern Hospitals are multi-speiality and multi-disciplinary, that can handle any
kind of ailment, they offer a wide range of facilities for instance, Oncology, Orthopedics, Neurology,
Plastic surgery and so on.
4. Pharmacy services Most of the hospitals also have a pharmacy which is open 24 hours. It caters to
the needs not only of the inpatients and outpatients, but also patients from other hospitals who require
emergency drugs.
5. Causality services Causality service includes a 24 hrs. causality department, which attends to the
accident or emergency cases.
Apart from the above mentioned services, hospital also offers "Health Diagnosis Programme"
which is a complete, comprehensive, periodic health check up offered for busy executives, professionals,
business persons and so on. The health diagnosis programme comprises of the following:
1. Master health check up
2. Executive Health check up
3. Diabetics health check ups etc.,
Price
It is one of the most prominent elements in the marketing mix. Price charged must be able to
target customers and it should co-ordinate with other elements of the marketing mix. Price usually
depends on treatment prescribed by the respective consultants and the facilities offered to the patient.
As a service is intangible, it is very hard for deciding the price of the particular service offered.
Pricing strategy adopted does not depend on the price offered by competitors. The pricing strategy is
formulated after consulting the concerned heads of department. Prices of various facilities revised every
year depending on the change in technology. Before fixing prices, government controls are also taken
into consideration.
Promotion
Promotion function of any service organization involves the transmission of message to present,
past and potential customers. Customers need to be made aware of the existence of the service offered.
Promotion includes advertising, personal selling, sales promotion and publicity.
Hospitals do not normally undertake aggressive promotion, they rely a lot on a favorable word of
mouth. To crease the clientele, a hospital may continuously introduce different health services like the
acupressure clinic, master health programmes and diabetes health checkups apart from annual health
checkups offered to different companies. (Corporate clients).

Hospitals conduct camps in rural areas to give medical checkups at a reasonable price so that the
rural people approach the hospital again in the future. They also sponsor frequent visits to the spastic
society, old age homes, etc. Hospitals generally advertise in health and fitness magazines.
Place
It refers to contact point between the customer and the service provider, who gets the benefit of
the service. This element in the marketing mix leads to the identification of a suitable location.
The two major issues considered regarding the decision of a place are accessibility and
availability of the service to customers. Accessibility refers to the ease and convenience with which a
service can be purchased, used or received. Availability refers to the extent to which a service is
obtainable or capable of being purchased, used and received.
Factors influencing the placing decision are market size and structure by geographical regions,
number and types of competitors in the region, location of potentially attractive consumer segments,
local infrastructure, good road access facilities and public transportation network. A hospital must be
ideally located and must be easily accessible to all.

People
The People component reflects the important role played by individuals in the provision of
services. People are also an important element in the marketing mix.
Service personnel play an important role in an organization which offers service. The behaviour
and attitude of the personnel offering service will influence the customer's overall perception of the
service. Customers are a source of influencing other customers by word of mouth.
It is necessary that the staff in hospital are trained to offer quality patient care with human touch
using state of the art technology. Warm ambiences with efficient and cheerful staff help make the
experience of the public a memorable one. Therefore, it is very important that the staff of the hospital is
friendly and comforting, always wearing a smile.
Process
Process is a set of activities that take an input, convert it and add value to the input and finally
create an output. In a hospital, the process is divided into three phases.
1. The Joining Phase
It includes the following:
* The arrival of the patient.

* Registration where a patient has to make an initial deposit at the in-patient billing counter
after which a file is opened in the patient's name to know the patient's medical history.
2. The Intensive consumption Phase
It includes the following:
Diagnosis where the consultant diagnoses the illness by making the patients undergo various
tests.
Treatment when the illness is treated with proper medication or surgery and so on.
Information about further actions the consultant will instruct the patient regarding the diet to be
followed, the medication to be taken, when to consult him again in the future and so on.
3. The detachment Phase
It includes the following:
* Discharge of the patient a patient can be discharged from the hospital on the advice of the
consultant
* Payment after the patient is discharged, the bill will be paid at the billing counter.
4. Feedback
At this stage, the patient is requested to fill an evaluation form, which assists the hospital
authorities to know the level of satisfaction derived by the patient. Patients' suggestions are always
welcomed, valued and considered and many times are very useful for improving the services of the
hospital.
Physical evidence
It is the environment in which the service is delivered with physical or tangible commodities and
where the firm and the customer interact. Physical evidence plays an important role in hospital services.
It makes a huge impact on the customer. Physical evidence offers customers means of evaluating
the service. Corporate image plays in important role in terms of physical evidence. This can be
developed through corporate relation programmes.
It is necessary for a hospital to be well organized and segregated into different departments. All
the doctors should be offered with a well-equipped cabin. The entire hospital requires to be centrally
air-conditioned with good lighting. Ventilation is taken care of by air-conditioning. Special care should
be taken to maintain hygienic, cleanliness and whole hospital must be well lit. This is taken care of by
the housekeeping department. A hospital has to keep in mind both the aspects of physical evidence that
is essential and peripheral evidence.