Page 272 - DMGT510_SERVICES_MARKETING

Unit 14: Service Strategies

 Marketing strategies of the competition and the depth of their value benefits. This Notes
can be illustrated thus:

Benefit that a customer derives from the consumption of the offer
Price that he pays for it

 Marketing programmes required to successfully penetrate the desired market

 Identifying the key success factors in the service industry and aligning them with
the service firm’s strengths and weaknesses.
4. Analyze the previous marketing strategies used to target the customer groups and the key
indicators of performances or the Key Result Areas (KRAs). Peter F. Drucker identified
eight KRAs:
 Market Share

 Innovation
 Productivity
 Physical and Financial Resources

 Profitability
 Manager Performance and Development
 Employee Performance and Attitude
 Social Responsibility
5. Perform a SWOT assessment by identifying and evaluating the service firm ’s areas of
strengths to leverage on, overcome or dilute its weaknesses, seize the opportunities and
avoid threats or find ways and means to meet challenges. Strengths and weaknesses are
internal component of a service organization’s process, pointing at its capabilities and
competencies.

Example: 13,500 branches of State Bank of India could be its strength, an indication of its
nationwide reach. This is one of the reasons for GE to go for a tie up with SBI for its card business.
Its large size could also be considered as strength. But its militant employees and the
accompanying poor customer service could be a weakness. Opportunities and threats/challenges
are external components for the functioning of the service firm and always originate from
outside it. Thus, for SBI, opening up of the insurance sector and bancassurance as a product offer
could be opportunities. Life Insurance Corporation of India, from the public sector and other
private insurance players like ICICI and HDFC would constitute threats and challenges.

Task Perform a SWOT analysis for LIC of India and FedEx.

Outlining Marketing Objectives is the next step for Functional Level Strategic Planning - for
marketing. Marketing strategies should be in synchronization with SBU goals and the SBU
strategy willy-nilly translates into marketing strategy for the service firm.

Example: If Thomas Cook (SBI owns over 15% of its equity) decides to increase its
profitability by 15% (SBU goal), the strategy could be to reduce costs by 12% - including inside
the marketing department. Ergo, it becomes Thomas Cook’s marketing goals and objectives.

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