Page 156 - DMGT510_SERVICES_MARKETING

Unit 8: Market Positioning and Blueprinting in Services

Self Assessment Notes

State whether the following statements are true or false:
11. The inconsistency in service encounters prevents quality measurement.

12. A service blueprint maps the entire brand’s marketing process.
13. Actions taken by an airhostess in a flight are a part of line of visibility.
14. The support staffs usually are a part of the line of interaction.

15. The blueprint should be designed from the service provider’s point of view.
8.3 Summary

Service Positioning is done in five steps: identify key offer characteristics, draw a positioning

map, decide on competitive strategy, design offer attributes, associated imageries and
sustain a competitive advantage.
Positioning map is an extremely useful tool to visually depict what the consumers think

of available brands with their features. It consists of a grid on two axes, with product
attributes on each of them.
The difficulty in assessing the service process has given rise to many methodologies in

service encounter analysis and measurements which seek to ‘map’ the service process. It is
known as service blueprinting.

Service flowcharts allow managers to better understand servuction processes. Designing

the process becomes the key to product design. In the design stage, it is ensured that the
visible part of operations is supported by invisible processes.
Customer actions, onstage contact employee options, backstage contact employee options

and other support functions form the components of a service blueprint.
There are four major steps in designing a service blueprint: identify process to be

blueprinted, map the process form customer’s point of view, draw line of interaction and
draw line of visibility.
8.4 Keywords

Blueprinting: maps the process of service delivery
Line of Interaction: customer interactions with people in service
Line of Visibility: line of onstage contact employee actions
Positioning: battle for the consumer’s mindshare

Positioning Map: depicts what the consumers think of available brands with their features
Price War: Market situation in which (usually two) powerful competitors try to usurp each
other’s market share by progressively reducing prices until one of them retreats, at least
temporarily.

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 151