Service Marketing Meaning
Service marketing as the name suggests refers to the marketing of service provided by the companies to its customers, while product marketing is a very old concept and relatively easy one when compared to service marketing which has gain prominence from the past 1 or 2 decades only. The reason why marketing of service is difficult is because of expectations of the consumers which are unique as well as high, in order to understand more about this concept one should look at some of the important features of service marketing –
Characteristics of Service Marketing
Marketing of Intangibles
The first and foremost feature of this marketing is that companies have to market intangibles because services cannot be seen or touched unlike physical products, hence for example in case of insurance products while insurance policy is a physical product but timely settlement of insurance claims, remainder about insurance premium due, wishing customer on his or her birthdays are all part of service marketing.
Not Same for All
In case of products companies do not make different products for different people rather the product is same and company has to market the product to all in one go but when it comes to services the same thing cannot be done because every customer is different and as far as company is concerned the company has to give different type of services to different people which makes it a tricky task for marketers. Hence for example in case of retail bank’s requirement of the normal saving bank account holder will be different from that of a high net worth account holder or requirement of a customer seeking loan will be different from the customer looking to open a fixed deposit account and so on.
Dynamic
It is dynamic marketing because marketers have to adapt quickly to changing demands of consumers which is not the case with product marketing where a product is fixed while services can be altered to suit the consumer demands. Hence for example in the case of restaurants for birthday parties the restaurant has to prepare special dishes which are different from their normal dishes to suit the mood of the customer. In short, the marketer cannot sit idle for too long in case or marketing of service due to the dynamic nature of the consumers consuming the services of the company.
Perishable
Services are highly perishable in the sense that if services are not used immediately then one cannot store it which is the case with products which can be used in parts over a period of time and that is the reason why perishability factor is always the core point in service marketing and one of the factors which separate it from product marketing. Hence for example if you have planned a birthday party in a restaurant and restaurant has made all the arrangements and if you do some reason you are not able to celebrate birthday than it all arrangements by restaurants go in vain as they were meant for that particular day only and cannot be sued for some other person or some other day.
Absence of Intermediators
In the case of products the product goes from producer to wholesaler than to retailer before reaching to the final consumer but in case of service no such thing happens services are consumed directly by the consumer and there is no need for any intermediation by any party. Hence for example when you are sick you will visit the doctor rather than sending someone else for you which is not the case with medicine which is a product and can be bought by someone else on your behalf.
Pricing
In the case of service marketing companies has to price service according to demand and supply dynamics and hence the price of service cannot be standardized which is the case with products where the price is the same for all customers. Hence for example when you go to tourist place during a peak period than the price of all things whether its hotels, taxis, eating out will be different as opposed to pricing during the lean season.
As one can see from the above that service marketing has unique characteristics and that is the reason why any company thinking of doing this marketing should carefully read the above points and then decide its strategy so that it can do marketing of services successfully.