Page 184 - DMGT510_SERVICES_MARKETING

Unit 9: Service Product and Operation

Reduced Complexity: This is specialization where there are minimal steps and processes. Notes

Charter flight operators like UVI Holidays resort to this positioning. Whitewater rafters
like Wanderlust are also following this strategy.
Increased Complexity: This strategy is used for market penetration by adding more

services. Supermarkets, retail banks, etc., tend to opt for this strategy.

Self Assessment

Fill in the Blanks
17. maps the entire service delivery process.
18. implies that process times and inventories of all steps in the service
delivery process are the same.
19. blueprints are unbalanced blueprints based on management’s perception
of how a sequence of events should occur.
20. Scripts that mismatch and point to areas in which expectations are not met are referred to
as scripts.
9.6 Summary

The offer can be both a good as well as a service. The offer can be a good or a service or a

combination of both.
Theodore Levitt explained that a product was now no longer an isolated goods offering. It

now was a combination of three products: core product, the formal product and the
augmented product.
The service firm should be in a position to offer a wide range of products. This will enable

them to get more customers and satisfy their wide-ranging needs. The wider range would
also enable the firm to be more competitive.
A Service Product Line can be explained as a group of closely related offers, targeted at the

same type of customers, having the same end use.
In the introduction stage, the service firm would be incurring heavy expenditure, without

any surge of revenue, only for building up awareness through different types of
promotions. In growth stage, there will be a surge in demand for the service offer when
customers make repeat purchases and potential customers come in due to recommendations
made by the formers.
Sales at the maturity stage flatten and slow down. Most possible product benefits are

usually developed and the market has reached the dreaded point of saturation. In the
decline stage, there is a downturn in revenues, customer acquisition and retention.
In maturity, the marketer concentrates on maximizing profits, mostly seeks differentiation,

offers wider range of products and concentrates on building relationships and long-term
commitments with the customers.
To differentiate the offerings from the rest and giving them unique identities to make

them distinguishable, the marketer resorts to the creation of brands.
Branding a service, helps marketers in charging a premium from the consumers and
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effectively segmenting the market through different brands.

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