Intangibility intangibility a unlike physical


Intangibility
Intangibility
a) Unlike physical products, services cannot be seen, tasted, felt, heard, or
smelled before they are bought.
b) To reduce uncertainty, buyers will look for evidence of quality. They will
draw inferences about quality from the place, people, equipment,
communication material, symbols, and price that they see.
•
Therefore, the service provider’s task is to “manage the evidence,”
to “tangibilize the intangible.”
c) Service companies can try to demonstrate their service quality through
physical evidence and presentation.
d) Service marketers must be able to transform intangible services into
concrete benefits.
11-9

Distinctive Characteristics of Services

Inseparability
Inseparability
a) Services are typically produced and consumed at the same time.
b) Because the client is also present as the service is produced,
provider-client interaction is a special feature of service marketing.
c) Several strategies exist for getting around this limitation:
1. Work with larger groups.
2. Work faster.
3. Train more service providers .
11-10

Distinctive Characteristics of Services

Variability
Variability
a) Because they depend on who provides them and when and
where they are provided, services are highly variable.
b) There are three steps service firms can take to increase
quality control:
1. Invest in good hiring and training procedures.
2. Standardize the service-performance process throughout the
organization.

Prepare a service blueprint that depicts events and processes in
a flowchart, with the objective of recognizing potential fail points.
3. Monitor customer satisfaction.
11-11

Distinctive Characteristics of Services

Perishability
Perishability
a) Services cannot be stored.
b) Perishability is not a problem when demand is steady.
c) When demand fluctuates service firms have problems.
d) Several strategies can produce a better match between supply and demand.
On the demand side:
1. Differential pricing.
2. Non-peak demand.
3. Complementary services.
4. Reservation systems.
On the supply side:
1. Part-time employees.
2. Increased consumer participation.
3. Shared services.
4. Facilities for future expansion.
11-12

11-13
Distinctive Characteristics of Services
Intangibility
Inseparability
Variability
Perishability

Customer failure
•
One study estimate that one third of all services are caused
by the customers
•
With the increasing shift of self-services technologies this %
will increase
•
The problem is that the customer will blame the services
provider for his/her failure to use the services
11-14

Roots causes of customer failure
•
•
Identified Customer Failure
•
People
•
Process
•
Techn
ology
Se
rvic
escape
•Communication
•Fit
•
Skill
•Attitude
•
Training
•Complexity
•Ease of use
•
Support
11-15

How to reduce the sources of customer failure
•
Redesign the process and redefine customer role to simplify customer
encounter. Example return products by mail or introduce a courier
service for returning goods.