Services Marketing

1. SERVICES MARKETING
CHAPTER 6
DEVELOPING SERVICE
COMMUNICATION MIX

2. HIGHLIGHTS
• Communication mix
• Guidelines for developing service
communication mix
• Special considerations for professional services

3. OUTCOME
• Understand the unique nature of services
marketing communication
• Developing services communication mix
• Importance of service provider & customer
interaction in fostering effective marketing
communication

4. COMMUNICATION MIX
• An array of communication tools available to
marketers which includes:
1. Personal selling
2. Media advertising
3. PR
4. Sales promotion

5. DEVELOPING THE COMMUNICATION MIX
1. Defining communication objectives
2. Dividing communication objectives & target
audiences

6. DEFINING COMMUNICATIONS
OBJECTIVES
• Relates directly to the service offering’s stage in
the product life-cycle

7. COMMUNICATION OBJECTIVES &
TARGET AUDIENCES
1. Targeting nonusers
2. Targeting users

8. TARGETING NONUSERS
• Choice of channel is reduced to media ads,
personal selling & PR
• Degree of targeting, which one to use more
▫ Ex: new services, go all out. Established ones,
need to be more targeted

9. TARGETING USERS
• Concentrates on internal channel (staff) &
enhanced by external channels
• Type 1, Type 2 & Type 3 staff

10. TARGETING USERS
• Type 1: deal with customers quickly & effectively
in “once only” situations where large number of
customers are present

11. TARGETING USERS
• Type 2: deal with numerous, often repeat
customers in restricted interactions

12. TARGETING USERS
• Type 3: have a more highly developed
communication skills because of more extended
& complex interactions

13. COMMUNICATION MIX & CONSUMER
BEHAVIOR
1. Pre-consumption stage
2. Consumption stage
3. Post-consumption stage

14. PRE-CONSUMPTION STAGE
• Financial consequences
• Social consequences
• Performance consequences
• Rational mathematician model

15. CONSUMPTION & POST –CONSUMPTION
STAGES
• Consumption
▫ An active process, communicating efficiency
▫ Increase performance
• Post-consumption
▫ Induce positive word-of-mouth
▫ Expectation, testimonials

16. SPECIAL PROBLEMS OF SERVICE
COMMUNICATION MIX
• Mistargeted communications
• Managing expectations
• Advertising to employees (Internal marketing)
• Selling/operation conflicts

17. GUIDELINES FOR DEVELOPING SERVICE
COMMUNICATION
1. Develop word-of-mouth communications
network
2. Promise what is possible
3. Make tangible the intangible
4. Feature the working relationship between
customer & provider
5. Reduce customer fears about variations in
performance

18. GUIDELINES FOR DEVELOPING SERVICE
COMMUNICATION MIX
6. Determine & focus on relevant service quality
dimensions (reliability, responsiveness,
assurance, empathy and tangibility)
7. Service differentiation
8. Make it easier to understand

19. SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE PROVIDERS
1. Third-party accountability
2. Client uncertainty
3. Experience is essential
4. Limited differentiability
5. Maintaining quality control
6. Turning doers into sellers
7. Marketing Vs. Operations
8. Be proactive rather than
reactive
9. Effects of ads are unknown
10. Limited marketing
knowledge

20. Tutorial Activity
1. Define “word-of-mouth” (WOM)
2. Give 3 examples of positive & negative WOMs
3. Using real world examples, describe how
positive & negative WOMs affect a:
I. Sports team
II. Bank
III. Charity organization
IV. Fast-food restaurant chain
V. Theme park
VI. Government agency

21. THANK YOU
Q&A