ABSTRACT

SERVICE MARKETING

Services in the Modern Economy As consumers, we use services every day. Turning on a light, watching TV, talking on the
telephone, catching a bus, visiting the dentist, posting a letter, getting a haircut, refuelling a car, writing a cheque or sending
clothes to the cleaners are all examples of service consumption at the individual level. The institution at which you are studying is
itself a complex service organisation. In addition to educational services, the facilities at today’s colleges and universities usually
comprise libraries and cafeterias, counselling services, a bookshop and careers offices, copy services, telephones and Internet
connections, and maybe even a bank. If you are registered at a residential university, additional services are likely to include halls
of residence, health care, indoor and outdoor sports and athletic facilities, a theatre and, perhaps, a post office. Unfortunately,
customers are not always happy with the quality and value of the services they receive. People complain about late deliveries, rude
or incompetent personnel, inconvenient service hours, poor performance, needlessly complicated procedures and a host of other
problems. In the dynamic world of Indian aviation, failure of the $500-million plan to merge Jet Airways with Air Sahara has
introduced a series of new twists and turns. While there are several winners and losers, passengers are emerging as immediate
beneficiaries. Air Sahara operating independently means one more player competing for market share while Jet‘s muscle to
influence the market is weaker. Consolidation, in any case, is not known to benefit customers and moves in the other direction
should produce better options for passengers. Since lean season is setting in with the monsoon, cheaper fares are flooding the
market and the failed deal is acting as a catalyst to benefit passengers. The confusion arising out of the failed deal has also
enthused a number of players like Kingfisher, Air Deccan, Indian and Spice Jet in marketing their products. Marketing strategy
involves segmenting the market, targeting one or more segments and positioning the product/service towards the targeted
segment(s). After marketers select a target market, they direct their activities towards profitably satisfying that segment. Although
they must manipulate many variables to reach this goal, marketing decision making can be divided into four areas: product, price,
place (distribution) and promotion (marketing communication). The total package forms the marketing mix – the blending of the
four elements to fit the needs and preferences of a specific target market. These are the four variables that a marketer can use in
different combinations to create value for customers. The basic process of designing marketing strategies for services is same as
for goods. While developing marketing strategies for services, services marketers develop a special focus for the marketing mix
to account for special problems from the four special characteristics of services. The following table summarizes special
characteristics of services, the potential problem likely to be created by them thereby effecting service quality and appropriate
strategies for dealing with such problems.

INTRODUCTION:
A service is the action of doing something for someone or something. It is largely intangible (i.e. not material). You cannot touch
it. You cannot see it. You cannot taste it. You cannot hear it. You cannot feel it. So a service context creates its own series of
challenges for the marketing manager since he or she must communicate the benefits of a service by drawing parallels with
imagery and ideas that are more tangible. Search quality is the perception in the mind of the consumer of the quality of the product
prior to purchase through making a series of searches. So this is simple in relation to a tangible product because you might look at
size or colour for example. Therefore search quality relates more to products and services…Some businesses sell products, others
sell services and the remainder sell products and services. This article examines the characteristics of a service and looks at how
the marketing mix can be adapted to market a service. Today, the service sector contributes more than 50 per cent to India's GDP.
This is a far cry from the situation a few decades back, when India was basically an agricultural economy. This shift from
manufacturing and agriculture to services is being witnessed in countries all over the world. With the increasing prominence of
services in the global economy, Services Marketing has become a subject that needs to be studied separately. Marketing services
is different from marketing goods because of the unique characteristics of services, namely intangibility, heterogeneity,
perishability and inseparability.
LITERATURE REVIEW:
According to Cooper (1988) '... a literature review uses as its database reports of primary or original scholarship, and does not
report new primary scholarship itself. The primary reports used in the literature may be verbal, but in the vast majority of cases
reports are written documents. The types of scholarship may be empirical, theoretical, critical/analytic, or methodological in
nature. Second a literature review seeks to describe, summaries, evaluate, clarify and/or integrate the content of primary reports.'
Yarmey and Morris (1998) suggest that, ‘The capricious results among these investigations are probably due to methodological
differences and variability in subject matter’ (p. 1638). To appreciate the effects of co-witness information on eyewitness reports,
we must examine, in detail, the different methodologies that have been used to investigate this topic.”
Previous research studies such as Selwyn (2007) and Workman (2008) have studied the interactivity, collaboration and interaction
as well as the social development of the college students in relation to the use of communication technology. The studies have
proven that communication technology has improved the interactivity of the college students and enhanced the interpersonal as
well as intrapersonal relationships. This improvement has been enhanced by the various features of the internet such as speed,
support of multiple discussions and the display of the availability information (Quan-Haase, 2008).
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) has become one of the most dynamic technology topics of the millennium.
According to Chen and Popovich (2003), CRM is not a concept that is really new but rather due to current development and
advances in information and enterprise software technology, it has assumed practical importance. The root of CRM is relationship
marketing, which has the objective of improving the long-term profitability of customers by moving away from product-centric
marketing.
STATEMENT OF PROBLEM:
Market research has shown that Starbucks has a gap in meeting its customer’s expectations in terms of customer satisfaction. On
interpretation the marketing research data, Christine Day, Senior Vice President concluded that the speed of service was the main
reason for this decline in customer satisfaction. So she proposed to improve the service time such that each order is served within
3 minutes. However, this solution would cost Starbucks 20 additional labor hours per week thereby $40 million per year. Is 20
seconds increase in speed of service really worth $40 million per year? This is the question I am trying to analysis in this brief
case, while seeking alternative approaches, in order to achieve higher benefits.
PROBLEM SOLVING:

1. Identify the problem. This is critical: you must try to solve the right problem. Don't try to solve a problem the customer sees as
low priority or unimportant. Identify the right problem by asking the right questions and observing. You cannot identify the
customer's problems by presenting your products. What’s leading the customer to feel there is a problem? Is it something specific
or is it an intuitive sense that things aren't as they should be? Can the customer define the problem?

2. Analyze the problem. How often does the problem occur? How severe is it? Are there any special circumstances that are
present when it occurs? What might be the causes of the problem? Can you rule out any causes? How long has it been going on?
Has it gotten worse? How is the problem affecting other processes or people?

3. Identify decision criteria. How will you and the customer make decisions when it is time to decide? How will you weigh the
criteria? Can you identify independent standards that can be used?

4. Develop multiple solutions. Don't stop at the first solution that you or others identify. It may be good, but much better ones
may exist. Evaluate alternative scenarios. As objectively as possible, assess the pros and cons of each.
5. Choose the optimal solution. Use the criteria you developed in the third step of this problem-solving process to choose the
best solution. Develop a base of support that will ensure you can implement the solution. Prepare for contingencies. When you
solve problems systematically, you save time, achieve better solutions, and increase your credibility with the customer and the
perceived value of what you've done. If you can solve problems the customer is facing more expeditiously than someone else.

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY:

Companies are very interested in ensuring that customers are happy with the performance of a product or the quality of service
because it will affect future purchase decisions. In fact, quality may be the most important of the customer satisfaction objectives
because the consequences of a bad product or poorly performed service are virtually impossible to overcome. Companies often
perform extensive market research and product testing to ensure that the product or service will meet as many of a client's needs
and expectations as possible. Satisfaction with the process also is important to consider when determining customer satisfaction
objectives. A customer who is unhappy with the process might go to a competitor next time, even if she is happy with the
performance of the actual product. Process incorporates all actions involved in researching and purchasing a product, but also with
resolving issues after the purchase.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:
How to introduce customer experience management into your firm
For B2B firms seeking to differentiate themselves, embracing customer experience management, as outlined here, offers a
difficult but potentially rewarding strategy
Where companies are failing at using social media for customer service
Ann Michaels & Associates conducted a mystery shopping study to examine 10 businesses in three markets to measure
response times in social media venues (Facebook, Twitter and the "contact us" forms on the company Web sites) to
examine how social media works as a means of customer service.
How to use insight communities to bridge internal silos
Many research departments are data-rich and insights-poor. This article discusses how online insight communities are different
from MROCs and market access panels and can benefit customer experience professionals.
FINDINGS:

The findings in the article on customer satisfaction and service marketing mix have impacted greatly on service marketing
management. Marketing managers have been given an extra responsibility of looking at several variables other than the previous
four in the traditional marketing mix. Today instead of just dealing with price, place, product and promotion, they also have
physical evidence, process and people to consider so that they can execute a formidable marketing mix to win customers (Ayanda,
2003). Service marketing managers must make sure that they have the right staff in their fold since the quality of service provided
is determined by the quality of staff. More training is now required for staff because the service industry is advancing at an
alarming rate. This has been evidenced in the vibrant economies where manufacturing industry is replaced by service industry.

CONCLUSION:
A lack of customer satisfaction modelling and the nonexistence of a well-defined questionnaire could have a negative effect on the
development of sustainable and recurring business. For that reason organisations could definitively take advantage of a proven
systematic customer satisfaction process. The challenge for organisations is to implement and secure a standardized customer
satisfaction process across their class of markets and geographic markets (countries). Customer satisfaction is addressed as a
strategic business development tool. Ultimately it will lead to more loyal customers and more profitable business
REFERENCES:

1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Kucukosmanoglu, Ahmet Nuri; Sensoy Ertan (2010). "Customer Satisfaction: A Central
Phenomenon in Marketing". [1]
2. Jump up ^ Westbrook, Robert A., and Richard L. Oliver. "The dimensionality of consumption emotion patterns and
consumer satisfaction." Journal of consumer research (1991): 84-91.
3. Jump up ^ Homburg, Christian, Nicole Koschate, and Wayne D. Hoyer. "The role of cognition and affect in the
formation of customer satisfaction: a dynamic perspective." Journal of Marketing 70.3 (2006): 21-31.
4. Jump up ^ Johnson, Michael D., Andreas Herrmann, and Frank Huber. "The evolution of loyalty intentions." Journal of
marketing 70.2 (2006): 122-132.
5. What Do Customers Value? - Bob Gardner (Quality Progress - November 2001)
6 . Various discussions on Customer Satisfaction on Marc Smith's Elsmar Cove Forums