Concept of Services

Introduction

Marketing is the process of communicating the value of a product or service to customers. Marketing might sometimes be interpreted as the art of selling products, but selling is only a small fraction of marketing. As the term "Marketing" may replace "Advertising" it is the overall strategy and function of promoting a product or service to the customer. From a societal point of view, marketing is the link between a societys material requirements and its economic patterns of response. Marketing satisfies these needs and wants through exchange processes and building long term relationships. The process of communicating the value of a product or service through positioning to customers. Marketing can be looked at as an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, delivering and communicating value to customers, and managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its shareholders. Marketing is the science of choosing target markets through market analysis and market segmentation, as well as understanding consumer buying behavior and providing superior customer value.

Definition of Marketing

We can distinguish between a social and a managerial definition for marketing. According to a social definition, marketing is a societal process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating, offering, and exchanging products and services of value freely with others. As a managerial definition, marketing has often been described as the art of selling products. But Peter Drucker, a leading management theorist, says that the aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous. The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well that the product or service fits him and sells itself. Ideally, marketing should result in a customer who is ready to buy. The American Marketing Association offers this managerial definition : Marketing (management) is the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational goals. Coping with exchange processespart of this definitioncalls for a considerable amount of work and skill. We see marketing management as the art and science of applying core marketing concepts to choose target markets and get, keep, and grow customers through creating, delivering, and communicating superior customer value.

Needs, Wants & Demands

The successful marketer will try to understand the target markets needs, wants, and demands. Needs describe basic human requirements such as food, air, water, clothing and shelter. People also have strong needs for recreation, education, and entertainment. These needs become wants when they are directed to specific objects that might satisfy the need. An American needs food but wants a hamburger, French fries, and a soft drink. A person in Mauritius needs food but wants a mango, rice, lentils, and beans. Clearly, wants are shaped by ones society. Demands are wants for specific products backed by an ability to pay. Many people want a Mercedes but only a few are able and willing to buy one. Companies must measure not only how many people want their product, but also how many would actually be willing and able to buy it. However, marketers do not create needs. Needs pre-exist marketers. Marketers, along with other societal influences, influence wants. Marketers might promote the idea that a Mercedes would satisfy a persons need for social status. They do not, however, create the need for social status.

Meaning of Service

A service (as opposed to a good) is typically defined as follows:The use of it is inseparable from its purchase (ie) a service is used and consumed simultaneously It does not possess material form, and thus cannot be touched, seen, heard, tasted or smelled. The use of a service is inherently subjective, meaning that several persons experiencing a service would each experience it uniquely. It may also be put forward as an act or performance offered by one party to another. Service products are often difficult to identify, because they come into existence at the same time they are bought and consumed. They comprise intangible elements that are inseparable; they usually involve customer participation in some important way; they cannot be sold in the sense of ownership transfer; and they have no title. For example, a train ride can be deemed a service. If one buys a train ticket, the use of the train is typically experienced concurrently with the purchase of the ticket. Although the train is a physical object, one is not paying for the permanent ownership of the tangible components of the train or a restaurant, where a waiter's service is intangible, but the food is tangible.

Basic Requirements of a Service Marketer

Friendliness Understanding & Empathy Fairness Control Options & Alternatives Information

Features of Services

Intangibility Inseparability Perishability Variability Right of Ownership

Services V/S Tangible Products

Intangible Cannot be mass-produced Perishable Difficult to standardize Difficult to price Cannot be owned