Service Spotlight: Ritz Carlton Hotel

"Instant Action Forms" - a service recovery form carried out by all employees of Ritz-Carlton Hotels, so that they can immediately recover service failures and suggest actions to address them. Each individual employee 'owns' any complaint that he or she receives and is responsible for seeing that service occurs. For example, if a maintenance employee hears a complaint from a customer while in the middle of fixing a light in the hotel corridor, he or she owns that complaint and must be sure that it is handled appropriately by the hotel before returning to the task at hand.

In turn, the employees report to management the sources of service failure and the remedies. This information is then entered into the customer database and analyzed for patterns and systemic service issues that need to be fixed. If common themes are observed across a number of failure situations, changes are made to service processes or attributes. in addition, the information is entered into the customers' personal data file so that when that customer stays at a Ritz-Carlton again (no matter at which hotel), employees are made aware of the prior experience, ensuring that it does not happen again to the particular customer.

Problem-resolution situations are more than just opportunities to fix flawed services and strengthen ties with customers. By tracking such issues and solving a manager can be aware about systematic problems in delivery system that need to be fixed. Such root cause analysis helps an organization to find the problem source and to make a sustainable solution by further training to employees, by modifying processes or by ensuring modified infrastructure.

Service Spotlight: Staff selects the new recruit!!!

A service culture never developed overnight, also there is no magic, easy way to sustain service culture.

The root of McDonald's Service Culture:

What sets Pret A manager apart, is a commitment to fresh, healthy food (every shop has its own kitchen and there is no sell-by date on anything), and an obsession with speedy service. but there is something else too: They Call It the 'Pret buzz' which every customer should feel within 2nd of entering, and which is principally to do with the people who work there.

Pret claims to "only employ people who are friendly and lively.... people who are good-humored by nature." to support this philosophy, every team member is issued with a little book of Pret Behaviors that are applicable to any job in the company. In terms of dress code, the requirements include 'smart' blue jeans, black polishable shoes, no visible piercings or offensive tattoos, and hair kept tidy.

Everyone applying for a job is assessed against three core Pret behavior of passion, clear speaking, and team working and if accepted is sent to a shop for a trial day. At the end of that day, the rest of the staff in the Branch vote on whether to keep the new recruit; if they vote yes, the applicant becomes the latest member of the team, but if they vote no, the applicant gets a day's wags and polite "thanks but no thanks."

Fresh recruits begin a 10-day training in hygiene, safety, and the Pret way, at the end of which, provided they pass various tests, they graduate as Team members. They then go on further 10-week training in every aspect of what goes on in the kitchen and at the front of the store, which leads to graduation as a Team Member Star. Thereafter, a Star can become a Hot Chef, a Barista (coffee expert), or Team Member Trainer, then Team Leader, Assistant Manager, and General Manager.

Fresh food, first service, a friendly environment, clear speaking, behavior passion, team working, value team feedback, training, and some other key issues leading McDonald's towards the class A service.

SERVICE SPOTLIGHT

 ROLLS ROYCE

Rolls-Royce created the Eagle, the company's first aircraft engine, in 1914. Its water-cooled Merlin engine, which was first used to power several aircraft on the brink of World War II, notably the Supermarine Spitfire and the Hawker Hurricane, was one of that conflict's most productive piston engines.

Its journey is continuing since that time. Nowadays many of the Rolls-Royce engines of commercial aeroplanes are owned by this company rather than the plane manufacturer. The company's TotalCare(R) is a flexible and comprehensive cost-per-flight-hour leasing service, designed to deliver engines with an engine maintenance program. Engine management plans are developed that combine engine condition monitoring, customer-specific operational information and fleet-wide experience to produce tailored repair and engine overhaul schedules. The TotalCare(R) program covers lease engine costs and also covers the cost of repairing or replacing parts. There is a minimal interruption to flying for scheduled engine maintenance as Rolls-Royace guarantees access to spare engines. Computer and satellite technology to track in-flight engine performance use by Rolls-Royce from its information center in Derby in U.K.

The company can direct replacement parts and repair teams to the airport location where they are needed. As Rolls-Royce takes responsibility for the performance of the aircraft engines, the airlines can concentrate more of their efforts on delivering their core services of flying and looking after passengers. ToatalCare(R) also allows Rolls-Royce to build close relationships with airlines as well as a continuous income stream and higher margins.  

The core focus on customers helps Rolls-Royce to get more reliability and dependability from customers. Also, it reduces the chances of switching to other service providers or engine makers. 

Service Marketing Features & Types

 

Service Marketing

 

Service Marketing is simply defined as a phenomenon wherein a service or an intangible commodity is promoted and marketed among the target audience. A novel kind of marketing, service marketing has become quite prominent in helping companies promote services around the world. 

 

Service Marketing reflects on the way a type of service is promoted in the market. Though service marketing is a unique concept, it calls out for an intangible representation of commodities (services). 

 

As opposed to Product Marketing that involves a physically visible product being promoted over various media, service marketing calls for the promotion of a service that is not physically available but is still sold out to the customers. 

 

Moreover, the use of digital catalogs for service marketing could bring multiple advantages like easy access for the customers and budget savings for the seller, since print costs would not be necessary.

 

Activities, benefits, or facilities, services are simply extended as a commodity to customers who choose from a varied nature of services. An example of service marketing can be- when a family arrives at a restaurant, they avail of the services (dining) while they are the restaurant. 

 

"Don’t be afraid to get creative and experiment with your marketing.” -Mike Volpe

 

In return, they pay for the services they have availed and perhaps consume an intangible commodity.  From transport to education, the world has been wrapped up by services that tend to serve the common masses in one way or the other in recent times. 

 

The global sphere has eventually emerged as a service hub, providing multiple services to customers who are present worldwide.  

  

 

Features of Service Marketing

 

Service Marketing is a comparatively newer concept than the concept of marketing itself. While you have been through a short introduction in the previous segment, here are some characteristics of service marketing to help you have a better understanding of the topic. 

 

1. Intangible Performance

 

Service Marketing focuses on an intangible performance more than anything else. A service is a performance rather than a product that can be consumed. 

 

Moreover, it is an intangible commodity that the masses avail themselves of. Invisible and intangible, services are simply different than a product. This calls out for a different kind of marketing strategies that promote an unseen service yet through the lens of performance, marketers do that well. 

 

Thus, service marketing is nothing more than a representation of an intangible performance that the common masses avail themselves of in their day-to-day lives. 

 

For instance, the hotel industry has no products to sell but services. So, the industry promotes and performs an intangible service through various advertising means to reach out to the masses.

 

 

2. No Ownership Involved

 

Unlike product marketing wherein the audience is subjected to product ownership, service marketing does not reflect on such promises. This is because a service can be consumed and not owned.

 

One can, for example, consume the dining experience at a restaurant as compared to a pencil that one can own in the case of product marketing. This characteristic in particular highlights the amount of hard work that service marketing officials have to put in order to attract the customers. 

 

“Treat the customer like you wanted to be treated. Period!!!"   -Brad Shweig

 

 

3. Perishable Products

 

Unlike products that last long, a service is prone to perish within a very short period of time that makes it to be termed as a perishable product. This is because as long as a customer is present at the venue, a service lasts for that amount of time. 

 

After that, it simply becomes a memory that one can only think of! Since a service is an easily perishable product, many people from the audience are not convinced easily. Still, the service marketing features perishable products and promotes them in some way to call out for the target audience.

 

 

4. Cost of Consumption

 

Unlike the cost of products that is broadly standardized, the cost of consumption of a service is not standardized at all. We can understand this with the help of an example. 

 

A 1-star restaurant is likely to provide its services at a low price with cheap quality. However, at the same time a 5-star restaurant will provide the same services with a refined quality and better experience. The difference between the services can be varied and vast. 

 

Perhaps there is no standardized cost of consumption in service marketing. This is why services are not standardized in terms of cost. The cost of consumption in service marketing becomes a major highlight in order to promote a service. 

 

 

5. Inseparably Interesting

 

A way to promote a service is a way to promote your brand. This means that a service is inseparably interesting that cannot be severed from the producer. Yet it calls for the target audience to avail themselves of a specific service and enjoy to their fullest. 

 

As compared to a product that can be physically owned by the customer, a service is an inseparable entity that should seem interesting enough for the audience to consume. For instance, a service at a beauty salon is inseparable from its producers. 

 

Since you visit the venue and avail of the services at the salon itself, there is nothing you take away from the salon in physical terms. Thus, the service is inseparable. Yet the service seems to interest you because it is a commodity that leads you to a better lifestyle. Therefore, service marketing features a service as an inseparably interesting commodity. 

  

 

Types of Service Marketing 

 

Moving on, one should know about the marketing strategies that the service sector focuses on while promoting its services. Yet before learning that, one should learn the types of service marketing so as to get a better understanding of the concept altogether. 

  

1. External Service Marketing

 

The first type under the classification of service marketing- external service marketing refers to the promotion of services in an external environment where the company promotes its services to the customers. 

 

This type recommends the promotion of services through various traditional techniques like pricing, product, and purchasers.

 

The external service marketing focuses on the promotion of services in the external atmosphere (company-customers) so that the services are availed of and consumed well. 

 

• Service Marketing Mix 

 

As the external service marketing professes the traditional techniques of promotion, here are some elements of service marketing mix. 

 

A marketing mix refers to a combination of components that should be included while a product/service is being marketed. 

 

1. Commodity- commodity, or a service, should be presented well and in detail. Unlike a product that can be advertised clearly, a service becomes more unspecific to promote. 

Yet the commodity as a whole is advertised across various media in order to grab the attention of the target audience. 

 

For instance, a service marketing advertisement for a bank does not mean that the target audience has to purchase the bank. 

 

Rather it simply means that the banking service is what the audience is liable to purchase. In this case, the banking service has to be promoted as a commodity or a facility for the target audience. 

 

2. Cost- As we have already read, the cost in service marketing is not standardized. The cost of this commodity rather varies from service to service and so, there is no standard range of cost for the customers to choose from. 

 

For example, a restaurant can offer a dining experience of INR 500 or even INR 5000. This is because the services include a wide variety of facilities like dining, bar, location, etc. 

 

Thus, depending on the kind of experience one avails themselves of, cost can be a variant yet an essential component of the marketing mix.   

 

3. Customer- The third component of the service marketing mix, customer is indeed the topmost component. 

 

While the cost and commodity highlight the service and its details, the concept of customer represents the purchaser or the buyer who is ultimately going to avail himself/ herself of the product. 

 

This means that while marketing a service, one has to be very careful about reaching out to the target audience in an attractive yet adequate manner. 

 

Since the customer is at the receiving end, one has to be very careful about the features and specifics of a service in order to strike the right chord with the customer and his/ her needs and demands.

 

 

2. Internal Service Marketing

 

The second type of service marketing, Internal service marketing focuses on the promotion of a service within the company (company-employees). 

 

This means that the promotion of the service takes place internally so as to make the employees understand the whereabouts of a service and help them propagate the information in a better manner. 

 

The internal service marketing focuses on the employees more than the customers since the employees are an integral part of the marketing chain. 

 

It is highly crucial that the employees within a company are well-versed with a service so that they are able to spread the word ahead and help the company promote its services on a wide scale. 

 

 

3. Interactive Service Marketing

 

While service marketing largely involves a company promoting its service to the customers, there is a lot more to service when it comes to this type of marketing. 

 

As a product is absent from this marketing chain, a service is instead promoted. In order to provide a service, the company officials are required to be humble and kind towards the customers. 

 

Perhaps technical service is also a very vital component that calls for the third type of service marketing- Interactive Service Marketing. Herein, the service promotion takes place between the employees and the customers (employees-customers). 

 

As the name itself suggests, interactive marketing in service marketing involves the employees interacting with the customers in order to promote the services of their company. 

 

For instance, the chain of hotels Taj Hotels intends to promote its services to the target audience. Here is a brief representation of the types of service marketing it will include in order to achieve its goal. 

 

• The company will first produce advertisements that will highlight the services that the chain of hotels offers to its customers (External Service Marketing). 

• Then on, the company will internally promote its services in order to make its employees well-versed with the services that it offers so that they become active at promoting and participating in service marketing (Internal Service Marketing). 

• Lastly, the employees of the company will interact with the customers when they actually avail themselves of the service. 

• This will involve the employees serving the customers through a variety of administrative and qualitative services (Interactive Service Marketing). 

 

This way, the company will carry out its service marketing stint.

Summary:

 

To sum it up, service marketing is a concept wherein a company promotes its services that are intangible, inseparable yet perishable in nature. Through an array of initiatives, service marketing is carried out in light of the emerging global service sector. 

DOES SERVICE IS A BRANDING TOOL OF A COMPANY!

A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer's decision to choose one product or service over another.

- Seth Godin

Customer do choose a product on various issues. Like -

• Product value
• Product quality
• Product availability and availability of service
• Service provider behavior, expertise etc.

The basic thing customer want is reliance. The more reliance a company is, the more attachment with customers. When a person come to take service he expects to get back his bike in good condition, also do expect that service provider do check their bike like their own. Among provide good service an attachment between customers and company become built.

A brand never builds in a day. It takes time to built. However, service is a part through which customers become keep in touch with a company. Like if I purchase a mobile phone, i will require service over the lifetime of set. I will go for service for more than once, this visit give chance to service providers to keep in touch with me and to maintain a good relation. If I become satisfy, I usually recommend the company to others and this is the general process. A brand value rises in this way basically.

So one cant think about a brand except service specially for the companies who sales a product which do require service.

SERVICE MARKETING - THE FUTURE

Service Marketing is the key feature of marketing. Future market expansion depends on this service sector.

There are few forms of service value measure like CSI - Customer Satisfaction Index, NPS - Net Promoter Score etc. These are the key measure from where the importance of service can be easily identified.

Above chart is a CSI vs Revenue data of a motorbike company. From this data it can be easily identifiable about the importance of Service for revenue.

The basic data shows the importance of service. The service is a part of marketing. Through service a company can retain their customers. These customers become act as revenue earner. Also the customers who do enjoy the service become act as word of mouth marketer for company.

There is both benefit and risk of such word of mouth marketers. Such as when a customer do get bad experience thus their experience goes to another 9 people etc. 

To ensure customer satisfaction many company do provide focus on service and service marketing. These companies try to focus on service marketing physical and online both. like physical better service, Service quality check by call, online tips, Service renovation and customers feedback. These ingredients are the key feature of a company and these are the ingredients of service marketing.

SERVICE MARKETING - HAVE VITAL IMPACT!

Service Marketing plays vital role in Motorcycle Industry!

This is the era of marketing.

Marketing plays a vital role in every sector! From Cultivation to Industrial products the massive impact which can play - is marketing. 

In cultivation of Banana, a simple tag is increasing the value and demands! When a firm provide a tag of QC checked and make an advertisement in online that their Banana are cultivated in fully natural way without any hybrid fertilizer, it makes positive vibe and increase the sale along with its price.

In an industry, specially when its a 2 wheeler Automobile industry, people thinks about, what types of Motorcycle he / she is purchasing or what types of after sales service they are going to enjoy. So marketing about product quality and about the service is the fact.

Premium service creates word of mouth and it influences other new customers to purchase the product. From sales, a salesman get the opportunity to earn revenue once and can attach with customers once. Whereas in service, a service person gets the opportunity to make his / her customer satisfied many times and get opportunity of doing business till the life time of that product. From statics analysis it seems that, in China & Vietnam the revenue from motorcycle industry (including Motorbike sales and Service) is much higher then Bangladesh & India. In China & Vietnam their service industry is much established, they do focus on service industry a lot. Like they do use modern tools and equipment, modern facilities, modern service area, most customer engagement by arranging different loyalty programs. Whereas in Bangladesh & India the focus on service is different, like they still provide their focus on motorbike sales rather than service facilities.

Nowadays, a service center, doesn't represent only work place rather it consists with modern customer engagement facilities, like well arranged waiting area, recreation zone, facilities to look at their bike service from waiting area etc.

Service doesn't mean only providing service to customers, it also an opportunity to keep connected and do many engagement program with customers in various occasions.

Service is also a fact of attitude. Positive attitude of service providers gives extra confidence among customers.

It is a proven fact, that in which area service has been prioritized, the industry size along with revenue from service increased in a significant way.