In addition to the 4Ps mentioned above for product marketing (Product, Price, Place, Promotion) there are three more Ps applicable for marketing any service.
If we are selling a service i.e. financial, telecom, training, coaching, beauty parlor, consultancy, medical, hospitality, food, agency, brokerage etc. then we must take care of the following three additional Ps:
- People: People who provide the service
- Process: How the service is delivered to the customer
- Physical evidence: The physical infrastructure and other elements affecting the experience of the customer
Let us understand these three with some examples:
People
- In any service, people providing it are an integral part and a defining element in its delivery.
- A customer’s experience of the quality of the company’s service is greatly impacted by the quality of its manpower. E.g.
- A restaurant is known as much for its food as for the service provided by its staff.
- The experience of an airline passenger is affected by the conduct and behavior of its staff members before, during and after the flight.
- A bank’s customers may like or hate the bank due to the behavior of its employees.
- The salespeople at some stores are rude, indifferent and insensitive to customer’s needs. Customers don’t like to go there again.
- Customer support people at some companies are not supportive at all. This disappoints the customers.
- Business leaders of a service organization must remember that people can make or break a service organization.
- Selecting the right people and training them for providing the best service to the customers must be the top priority of any service organization.
Process
- The manner in which the service is provided affects the customers’ experience. E.g.
- The waiting period for a customer at the check-out counter of a supermarket depends upon its billing and collection process.
- How a customer will be guided and how her issues will be resolved when she calls a customer support helpline number handled by a computerized voice response system depends upon the design of that process. It may delight or frustrate the customer.
- How fast and reliably will a courier pick up and deliver a parcel sent through it and how will it ensure tracking and follow-up during that process differentiates between a good and a bad experience of the customer using that courier service.
- The quality of the processes at a restaurant for ordering food, getting it served, billing and payment define the experience of the customers at the restaurant.
- The service process must be consistent to ensure a guarantee of satisfaction to the customer every time she interacts with the company.
- Each process where a customer interacts with the company either in person or through some automated method (web site, App, Vending Machine etc.), must be carefully designed and made user friendly to ensure simplicity, clarity, speed and convenience for the customer.
- The processes of the company must ensure that the customer gets the service promptly, accurately and as per the standards promised and expected.
- The processes must make it easier for the customers to interact with the company and make the service as predictable as possible.
Physical Evidence
- Even though services are intangible and can only be experienced, the physical or tangible elements also affect the service quality. E.g.
- The ambience, décor and furniture affect the customer’s experience at a restaurant.
- The sizes of seats, the leg room etc. affect the customer’s experience at a theater, in an aircraft or in a bus or a train.
- A private hospital may have better, cleaner and more efficient facilities as compared to a government hospital.
- The layout of a store affects the shopping experience of a customer.
- Physical evidence can help a company differentiate itself from its competitors. (E.g. 5 star hotels, which have better physical evidence than other hotels.)
- It can be used to charge a premium price for a service and establish a positive experience.
(Expert advice to GROW your business wherever you are, whenever you want.
SMEBusinessGuide.com… https://goo.gl/E3pfoQ)
