Page 190 - DMGT522_SERVICES MANAGEMENT

Unit 8: New Service Development and Process Design

and Google immediately come to mind. This is because, service brands are best built Notes
bottom up – leveraging experiential differentiators rather than top down, via advertising
campaigns.

Question:
Why is service branding so important these days?
Sources: By H. Shivakumar from thehindubusinessline.com

8.5 Summary

This unit attempts to give an overview of the functions in as simple manner as possible.

The fourth element of the marketing mix, namely, ‘place’, involves various efforts made
by the service organisations to make the services accessible and available to the customers.
Service location plays an important role in service delivery. Further, it conveys the service
quality provided by the service provider, and stamps an image of the service company in
the customer’s mind.
In case of direct distribution where service personnel are also involved in the service
delivery, the behaviour of service personnel towards with customers also creates an image
of the service provider in the customer’s mind.
Service organisations aim to deliver services through direct distribution, where a service
provider visits the customer or a customer visits a service provider.
When service providers cannot deliver services through direct distribution, they opt for
various forms of intermediaries.

Franchisees, agents and brokers, and electronic channels are the main types of distribution
channels of a service provider.
A franchisee on the other hand is benefited by gaining established business processes and
a brand name, and by the minimising of risks involved in starting an independent business.

Agents deal with the service principal on a continuous basis, unlike brokers. Selling
agents, purchasing agents, and facilitating agents are the three types of agents.
A service principal benefits by choosing these intermediaries, because of reduced costs,
having access to the special skills and knowledge of agents and brokers, having a large
representation, an enhanced knowledge of local markets, and being able to serve according
to the choice of customers.

The challenges include reduced control on pricing and in other marketing areas; and
marketing of various service providers’ offers by these agents and brokers.

8.6 Keywords

Service Blue Print: A picture or map that portrays accurately the service system.
Exclusive Distribution: Specially selected resellers or authorized dealers to sell the ‘product’.
Core Product: The basic feature of a product, the main reason for consumption
Drop Error: Not choosing a potentially good idea

Formal Product: Extra features to attract customers like color, style, etc.
Go Error: Going ahead with a not so good idea
Concept Development: It means translation of an idea into a descriptive form in concrete terms.

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