Page 251 - DMGT510_SERVICES_MARKETING

Services Marketing

Notes Successful personal selling requires a highly trained and motivated staff that can bring in
revenues for the service firm.

13.3.5 Word of Mouth

The service industry is very vulnerable to referral and word-of-mouth promotion and
communication - due to its intangibility factor.

Example: A satisfied customer will refer the services of a doctor to others while a
dissatisfied diner will be negative about a restaurant and irate customers might resort to de-
marketing of the particular offer, often unprompted.
There is a lot of research that bears out the effectiveness of personal recommendation through
word of mouth. Services therefore benefit from the multiplier effect of positive recommendations
- although negative experiences tend to be more damaging.

Figure 13.2: Expectations or Decision to Purchase

E X P ECTATI O N S or
Customer has e xpec tations wh ich
D E C ISI O N TO P U R C H A S E gui des h is de cis ion to buy

Customer inte rac ts with ser vice
pro vide rs and becomes
INTERACTIONS
know led geable of the technical a nd
functional aspe cts o f offer

Customer makes jud gmen ts fro m
su ch e xpe rien ces and encounters .
EXPERIENCES
He ei ther returns as a bu yer or does
no t re turn

Othe rs ’ usage o f the se rvice w ill
WORD O F MOUTH or dep end on the pos itive and or
nega tive wo rd o f mou th
REFERR ALS
communi ca tion

13.3.6 Direct Marketing

This is being increasingly adopted by service firms for their communication mix. The advantages
over mass marketing are many:
Personalisation: Unlike communication for mass marketing, here personalisation of the

message, method or technique of communication is possible. This would make the
communication objective effective. The personalisation can be in the language used, levels
of vocabulary and articulation, depth of conceptual understanding and extent of persuasion
and media.

Cost-effective: It becomes prohibitively expensive for a small and medium service-marketer

to use mass media for communication. Even if used, it may not suit his purpose in reaching
his target audience, especially if they are a niche segment. Direct marketing enables the
service marketer to be cost effective, that is, reaching his desired target audience with his
limited resources.

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