Page 227 - DMGT510_SERVICES_MARKETING

Services Marketing

Notes will no longer have their uniquely designed tickets (like the retail banks do for their
cheque books). On the CRS there will be an electronic ticket which would be the same for
all airlines. The travel agent will insert the name of the chosen airline by the passenger,
flight details, as well as other details like food preferences etc. The payments will be
collected by the retail banks. (Citibank has taken the lead in clearance gateway) and
distributed to the airlines and the travel agents. Thomas Cook the leading corporate
travel company has tied up with CRS major Galileo to make out the first of the e-tickets.
The airline actually benefits the most as a lot of the work of billing and commission
disbursements are being handled by the banks and they get to avoid the collection problems.
Where does DKI Travel Services go from here? BSP is not only threatening to replace the
GSAs but also the travel agents. With universal adoption, the latter might find themselves
redundant. Installation of CRS in retail banks as one of their e-businesses is a major
possibility and the banks might then perform all travel-related work like reservations,
booking and tour packages themselves. American Express, which has a major presence in
travel through its Travel Related Services (TRS) division and a minor one in retail banking,
handling credit cards, traveller’s cheques etc., is perfectly poised to make the cross-over.
Citibank is another banking institution ready with technology and other resource
capability.

Many GSAs are adopting unique strategies to remain in the travel business. The Delhi
based Inter-Global, a ` 250 crore turnover monolith is a GSA for a dozen foreign airlines
including Varig of Brazil and SAS of Sweden. It also is the India representative of CRS
major Galileo and does marketing for a host of tour package companies.

12.1.5 Factors Affecting Choice of Channels

The primary factor that affects the choice of channel for a service firm is the nature of the market
and the service consumer’s buying behaviour. The secondary factors that affect channel choice
are the service product, the intermediaries and the service firm itself.

Target Market Considerations

The following target market characteristics greatly influence the choice of channels:

Type of Market: If the end users are individual consumers, they would be better serviced by
retailers; for business or institutional consumers, it would be more feasible to use direct
marketing. Thus, cell phone service providers use retailers for selling their SIM cards to individual
consumers and have their own sales personnel to service institutional consumers.
Volume of Consumers: If the number of consumers is large, then middlemen are used (travel
agencies); if the consumers are lesser in number, like business consumers, then the service firm
uses its own sales force (advertising agency and client servicing).
Geographic Cluster: If the consumers are clustered in a certain geographical area then it would
be feasible for the service firm to use its own sales force

Example: Computer servicing in the Central Business Districts like the Fort area,
Nariman Point and Belapur in Mumbai; Nehru Place and Connaught Place in New Delhi;
Chowringhee in Kolkata, etc.
If the customers are scattered over the geographical area, then travel costs might make having
dedicated sales personnel a costly proposition. Intermediaries are used for such market.

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