Master of Business Administration - MBA Semester 4

MK 0015 Service Marketing (4 credits)

(Book ID: B1808), WINTER 2016

Q1 Define Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Explain the basic

requirements for CRM implementation process.

Ans. Customer Relationship Management, better known as CRM, is a broad term that
covers concepts used by companies to manage their relationships with customers,
which may include attracting the customer, analyzing the customer, and satisfying the
customer. CRM is not simply advanced technology; it is a comprehensive approach to
customer relationship management. Straight Marketing offers different types of
packages that accommodate customer relationship management and can include
anything from setting up policies and processes, to customer service, employee
training, marketing and systems/information management. To fill a companys
requirements, Straight Marketing considers a companys needs before determining the
best CRM tools.

. Feature Requirements

A list of required system features has a format similar to the following, a format that
can often be found in requests for proposal (RFPs). Feature requirements do not
describe any specific behaviors.

2. Business Requirements

A high-level business requirements document is an analysis of current pain points and

possible business solutions. It does not cover CRM product features per se. This
document is usually derived from stakeholder and end-user interviews. The document
can include problem/solution pairings and current state/desired future state pairings.

The business requirements document should ideally have an associated slide deck that
can be used in a workshop for presentation and validation of findings.

. Non-Functional Requirements

I have to admit that this requirements label is new to us. I discovered this label while
reading Wikipedias definition of functional requirements. According to the
Wikipedia article, a non-functional requirement is a requirement that specifies
criteria that can be used to judge the operation of a system, rather than specific
behaviors.

Functional Requirements
The functional requirements document takes the amount of detail to the next level.

Generally, functional requirements are expressed in the form system must allow for
doing this specific thing.

System Design

Once again citing a Wikipedia article, the plan for implementing functional
requirements is detailed in the system design.

System design is therefore the process of defining and developing systems to satisfy
specified requirements of the stakeholders and system users.

Also known as a blueprint or a specification, system design gets down to the actual
design of how the system should work. In the CRM world, this includes details like
custom field names, data types and pick list values. It includes workflow rules and
data migration maps. Spreadsheets and flowcharting tools become a part of the
document set.

Q 2 What do you mean by Service quality? Briefly describe the steps involved in
Gap
analysis.

ANS.

Service quality(SQ) is a comparison of expectations A business with high service

quality will meet customer needs whilst remaining economically competitive.[2]
Improved service quality may increase economic competitiveness.

This aim may be achieved by understanding and improving operational processes;

identifying problems quickly and systematically; establishing valid and reliable
service performance measures and measuring customer satisfaction and other
performance outcomes

The gap model (also known as the "5 gaps model") of service quality is an important
customer-satisfaction framework. In "A conceptual model of service quality and its
implications for future research" (The Journal of Marketing, 1985), A. Parasuraman,
VA Zeitham and LL Berry identify five major gaps that face organizations seeking to
meet customer's expectations of the customer experience.The five gaps that
organizations should measure, manage and minimize:

Gap 1 is the distance between what customers expect and what managers think
they expect - Clearly survey research is a key way to narrow this gap.
Gap 2 is between management perception and the actual specification of the
customer experience - Managers need to make sure the organization is defining
the level of service they believe is needed.
 Gap 3 is from the experience specification to the delivery of the experience -
Managers need to audit the customer experience that their organization
currently delivers in order to make sure it lives up to the spec.
Gap 4 is the gap between the delivery of the customer experience and what is
communicated to customers - All too often organizations exaggerate what will
be provided to customers, or discuss the best case rather than the likely case,
raising customer expectations and harming customer perceptions.
Finally, Gap 5 is the gap between a customer's perception of the experience and
the customer's expectation of the service - Customers' expectations have been
shaped by word of mouth, their personal needs and their own past experiences.
Routine transactional surveys after delivering the customer experience are
important for an organization to measure customer perceptions of service

Q3 What do you mean by Service marketing? Describe the services marketing

triangle in detail with figure.

ANS, Services marketing is a sub-field of marketing, which can be split into the two
main areas of goods marketing (which includes the marketing of fast-moving
consumer goods (FMCG) and durables) and services marketing. Services marketing
typically refers to both business to consumer (B2C) and business to business (B2B)
services, and includes marketing of services such as telecommunications services,
financial services, all types of hospitality services, car rental services, air travel, health
care services and professional services.

Services are (usually) intangible economic activities offered by one party to another.
Often time-based, services performed bring about desired results to recipients, objects,
or other assets for which purchasers have responsibility. In exchange for money, time,
and effort, service customers expect value from access to goods, labor, professional
skills, facilities, networks, and systems; but they do not normally take ownership of
any of the physical elements involved

Service Marketing Triangle

There are three kinds of service marketing triangle that includes:

EXTERNAL MARKETING

INTERNAL MARKETING

INTERACTIVE MARKETING

1. External Marketing

In an external marketing, marketers interact directly to the end users. They try to
understand the need of customers and satisfy them after fulfilling their demands.
In an external marketing, marketers set the pricing policies and create awareness about
the products and design promotional strategies and techniques that help to attract the
customers towards their products and services.

They communicate with their customers directly and convince them to buy their
products. They involve in constructive group of activities that helps to design
excellent products that meet the customers demands efficiently.

Their goal is to create awareness about their products or services among users by
communicating with them directly. They also grab the attention of the market and
produce interest in their services. External marketing is one of the important parts of
service marketing triangle.

2. Internal Marketing

In an internal marketing, marketers try to interact with their employees in order to

know about the strengths and weaknesses of their organization. The owner of the
company tries to involve all of his employees in general discussion, believe on
teamwork.

Internal marketing involves general discussions, teamwork, training, motivation and

rewards on best performance. Employees communicate with themselves on specific
project. Teamwork helps to involve employees in their assigned tasks and generate
output quickly.

Organizational rewards motivate employees to make their performance effective. All

employees understand the goals and objectives of the company clearly and try to meet
organizational goals. They also know how to grab the attention of their customers.

Customers are highly satisfied with their products or services. They always try to
satisfy their clients at any cost. If employees of the company are satisfied with their
job and performance rewards, they can become an effective asset of any organization.

Executives of the organizations fully understand the service marketing triangle if they
want to gain a competitive advantage in the market.

3. Interactive Marketing

Interactive marketing involves in the delivery of products or service to the customers

and front office employees of the company. It is the most important part of the
service marketing triangle because it establishes a long term or short term relations
with customers.

Customers who are highly satisfied with their products or services can become regular
customers of their brand. Marketers who cannot compromise on quality and deliver
high quality products to their customers have a great community of loyal customers.
Their loyal customers always prefer them to buy products.
Service marketing triangle has great importance and its components are essential in
the success of any business. A well established business always follows the strategies
of service marketing triangle.

Q4 What do you mean by Customer acquisition in service marketing? What are

all
the essential requisites for an Organisation to be effective in its acquisition
efforts?

ANS. ustomer acquisition refers to gaining new consumers. Acquiring new customers
involves persuading consumers to purchase a companys products and/or services.
Companies and organizations consider the cost of customer acquisition as an
important measure in evaluating how much value customers bring to their businesses.
Customer acquisition management refers to the set of methodologies and systems for
managing customer prospects and inquiries that are generated by a variety of
marketing techniques. Some successful customer acquisition strategies include
customer referrals, customer loyalty programs, and the like. One way to think about
customer acquisition management is to consider it the link between advertising and
customer relationship management, as it is the critical connection that facilitates the
acquisition of targeted customers in an effective way

Customer acquisition requires forethought and strategies. In fact, there are many
different customer acquisition strategies that are used as part of the customer
acquisition process. Some customer acquisition methods are more effective with
specific types of clients, but there are a few basic steps that are included in any type of
customer acquisition plan.

The first step of any basic customer acquisition plan is to identify quality potential
customers. One customer acquisition strategy involves reaching out to potential
customers through call centers and mailing lists. These customer acquisition methods
allow companies to determine which individuals and businesses express interest in or
already use products similar to those of your company. Next, companies qualify the
leads a little further using various research methods to determine the viability of the
given lead. If the chances seem likely that you will be able to acquire this new
customer, his status is upgraded to that of prospect and assigned to a salesperson for
further interaction.

Many customer acquisition programs then include establishing a relationship with

prospects to identify their needs and determine how the products offered relate to
those needs. Salespeople also attempt to identify unstated needs; these are based on
data provided by ongoing conversations and interactions with the prospects.
Salespeople also can identify additional needs of prospects and offer additional
products so the prospects see a greater value from purchasing the products they
already are considering.
Q 5 Write a short notes on:
A. Branding of services
B. Differentiate between branding services and branding products.

ANS.

Branding services:

The brand concept is well established in marketing. The first brands in a modern
marketing sense were developed over a century ago. However, during the second half
of the 20th century brands and branding became central issues in marketing. Most
discussions of brands are related to physical products, especially consumer packaged
goods. Only during the last 10 years or so has an awareness of the importance of
creating service brands emerged. Now it is widely recognized that branding is a vital
issue for service organisations as well. However, research into service branding is in
its infancy.

The American Marketing Association offered the following definition of a brand as

A name, term, sign, symbol or any other feature that identifies one sellers product or
service as distinct from those of other sellers.2

From a Marketing Services perspective at least, two objections can be made: this
definition misses the key characteristic of services as processes, and it excludes the
customer.

It points out explicitly issues such as name, term, sign, symbol and feature, but does
not address the key characteristic of services, which is that services are processes and
the consumption of services can be characterised as process consumption.

Second, this definition excludes the customer. Brands are viewed from the marketers
point of view as things that the firm creates. Much brand development, or brand
building as it is often incorrectly labelled, has been based on such a perspective in
practise. The marketer uses a number of planned marketing communication efforts to
try to develop a distinct brand, and the customer is expected to form an image of the
brand that corresponds to the intended brand.

B)

Marketing products and services can have many similarities as well as

differences. Products and services benefit from adding trust and name
recognition into the marketing materials, but products can be impulse
purchases whereas services need time for delivery. There are several
 differences between marketing products and services, most of which center on
relationship building.

Trust

Entrepreneur magazine says in a service-based business, "you are the product." In

other words, you have to sell confidence and trust in yourself, and your ability to
perform the services as described. When marketing a service, you need to instill trust
and confidence in your abilities because instead of receiving a tangible product in
exchange for money, the customer receives a promised result.

Time

Selling a service also means you're selling your time. When you sell a product, there is
time invested to create or acquire the product and then it is sold again and again
without further time invested. Services by their very nature are time-intensive
activities because there is no way to continue providing a service without continuing
to invest time performing the service.

Deliverability

When you're marketing products, you can give customers a delivery date estimate if
they're ordering online or through the mail, and they can walk out the door with the
product in hand if they buy it in your brick and mortar store. Services must be created
after they're ordered, and delivery times will vary. The challenge with marketing
services is being able to convince customers that you can and will deliver quality
results within a given period of time. Usually service marketing materials have
testimonials and case studies from other satisfied clients, that work to prove you're
able to deliver on the promises in your marketing materials
Q6 Write a short notes on :
A. Self-service Technologies with examples
C. Customer Interaction Management(CIM)

ANS. A) The proliferation of self- service technologies has dramatically changed the
dynamics of how firms interact with customers in an effort to create service outcomes.
Self-service technology is defined as technological interfaces that enable customers to
produce a service independent of direct service employee involvement. It is a type of
electronic support that allows end users to use technology to access information and
perform routine tasks without requiring the assistance of a live customer service
representative. Technology has played a tremendous role and has eliminated the
traditional interaction between front line employees and customers; however self-
service technologies have substituted these encounters. It allows customers the ease
and convenience to provide service on their own. Employees can provide service from
any geographical location remotely in the world and companies can use technology as
a means to increase customer satisfaction as well as benefits that will intern build
brand loyalty.

elf-service technologies results in a trade-off between technology and human touch. A

challenge for service managers is to understand the potential implications these self-
service

technologies have on consumers assessment and their interaction with the service
organization, as well as the effect this may have on consumers future intention as it
rela

tes to the firm. Though the benefits are fundamental customers may become
concerned about the potential loss of personal interaction between themselves and
employees. The interpersonal aspect is of paramount importance as it could
potentially outweigh the cost saving benefits associated with the introduction of the
technology. The interpersonal relationship with customers plays a vital role as it
stimulates customer satisfaction and commitment, which are both essential for
organizational survival. It is therefore advisable that firms incorporate self-service
technologies as well as personal services in order to create a strategic balance between
the benefits derived for both the customer and the firm

An impressive but controversial cost saving feature of self-service technologies is its

ability to gather and track personal information about the people who use it. Once the
initial service is set up, a self-service interaction can cost less than a similar
interaction with a live customer representative. Customer self-service technologies are
inclusive of web- self services; this provides a medium for customers to access
information and performs routine tasks over the internet. Interactive voice response
allows customers to interact with an automated telephone system in order to perform
or accomplish specific tasks. Apps provides customers with the opportunity to interact
with different self -service soft wares on their mobile devices in order to accomplish
certain task quickly, for example checking ones account balance online or transferring
funds from one account to another. Kiosks is a system that allows the customer to
perform specific tasks such as checking in at an airport by interacting with a small
physical structure that houses a computer and display screen. Self-checkout is a
technological phenomenon that allows the customer to scan, bag, and pay for
purchases without human assistance. See appendix 1 for examples of self- service
technologies utilized

B)

Customer Interaction Management solutions are designed around our belief that you cant
just tell your customers you care, you have to show them. Each component of this suite works
with the others to create a consistently satisfying customer experience that improves customer
retention while managing costs.

At the back end, these solutions help you extract and analyze important customer data so that
you can be proactive about nurturing customer loyalty at each and every touch point.

CSG Customer Interaction Management capabilities help you connect with your customers
via four robust solution sets:

Customer Communication Center

Our framework encompasses event management, customer profiles, and interaction

tracking to help you improve customer experience and satisfaction.

Interactive Messaging

Our fully hosted, cloud-based Customer Interaction Management solutions deliver

operational efficiency, customer-centric experience, and enterprise-level
customization.

Output Solutions

With over 20 years experience in output solutions strategy and execution, we reach
more than half of all U.S. households each month via both traditional print and
advanced digital communications.

Marketing Services :-We offer service provider and third-party

marketing solutions that complement each other and connect each
advertiser to the most relevant and profitable opportunities.