Question

Can you please answer the following questions

1. A university is setting up new courses and hoping to attract international students. What issues need to be considered in developing a suitable international services distribution system?

2.The development of a services marketing campaign needs a totally different approach to that of a physical goods-based campaign. Discuss this concept and justify your answer in 500 words with 2 references supported

3. You are responsible for training a group of people who will be multi-tasking in a service
organisation. They will be required to act as both frontline employees and as telephone support staff. What standards would you put in place to ensure the staff could provide an effective customer service?

Answer 1

1) The following are challenging issues that need to be strategically managed in International Distribution:

When handling foreign distribution, advertisers also face various difficult challenges that need to be carefully handled.

Such problems are as follows:

• Difference in preferences of consumers around countries:

A very important factor in international marketing is culture. From the way of living and doing business to the population's consuming habits, culture includes everything. Cultural awareness is crucial because it offers essential clues about how to do business in these nations in the best possible way.

There is a natural aversion to immigrants and international enterprise in certain nations. Although individuals are open to foreigners doing business in India, as they have seen in the case of McDonald's and more recently in the Metro cash and carry shops, they may also be aggressive to them. When doing business abroad, it is important to consider this.

• Channel Structure & Trade Practices Differences:

In their channel systems, countries generally vary. For a specific commodity segment in a country, a channel structure is the sales channel mechanism in operation. The delivery outlets for food goods in the United States and other industrialised countries are dominated by major supermarket stores that also have higher sales turnover than even a medium-scale producer.

The major networks therefore dominate the competition efficiently. It has been recorded in Finland that about 92 percent of all non-durable consumer products in the country are carried by around four large wholesaler-retailer chains. Therefore, without having cooperation from the dominant chain, it is impossible for a producer to enter the Finnish market. For starters, it is the producer who has greater influence in a country like Japan.

• Differences in Physical Infrastructure Quality:

Because of the differences in the physical infrastructure across continents, the international delivery function varies. Many underdeveloped countries lack basic infrastructure, such as high-quality roads, railways that allow free transport of goods, etc.

The effect of disparities in logistics and physical infrastructure would have a significant impact on the management of international delivery systems, as physical distribution is responsible for a substantial part of the costs incurred in international marketing.

Although developed countries have technologically advanced information and communication links that could support complex supply chain networks, rudimentary communication links have to be used for distribution chains in developing countries.

• Differences between countries in delivery systems:

Differences occur between various countries in the delivery system.

Three primary differences between systems of distribution are:

I) Concentration for Retail:

In some regions, the shopping system is very centralised, but it is decentralised in others. A couple of stores supply much of the business in a clustered structure. A fragmented system is one in which many retailers exist, none of which has a significant share of the market.

Ii) Length of Channel:

The length of the channel corresponds to the number of intermediaries between the manufacturer (and producer) and the customer. The channel is rather short whether the manufacturer sells directly to the customer. A long channel occurs whether the manufacturer sells to an import agent, a wholesaler, and a retailer.

Iii) Exclusivity of Channels:

An exclusive medium of distribution is one that is impossible to reach for outsiders. For starters, having access to shelf space in supermarkets is always challenging for a new company. This happens because retailers appear to choose to carry goods with national reputations from longestablished food producers rather than gamble on goods from unfamiliar companies. The exclusivity of a delivery system varies between countries.

2) Marketing of services is a broad field of marketing tactics aimed at delivering something that is not a tangible object. This covers everything from personal facilities such as emergency insurance and spa therapies, to truck and parking leasing, to concert and dance lessons experiences.Any method that can communicate a service 's appeal and benefits to customers is a valid approach, including informational content, promotional deals, advertisements, and many other kinds of marketing materials.

• users of service marketting

All companies that offer services employ marketing techniques for services of some kind.These fall into two broad categories: organisations that provide individual services (business-to-customer, or B2C), and organisations that provide other organisations with services (business-to - business, or B2B).

The selling of commodities is most widely used for firms who offer to individuals. They investigate customer behaviour and produce ads that cater to some audiences, helping firms to narrow the emphasis on promotions to a targeted initiative.

​​​​​​​In their industrial marketing activities, companies that offer resources to other companies will apply these marketing strategies — an area devoted to B2B marketing efforts. This typically involves a strategy requiring more person-to - person interaction, while a service provider sales agent negotiates with a customer organisation agent.For example , a company that offers technological support for the computers of another company might use service marketing to persuade consumers that its service is somehow important or a successful investment. In addition to producing promotional documents that cater to organisations that use computers, this is likely to include workshops , conferences, and contract discussions.

3) A hallmark of effective firms is strong customer support. So, it makes sense that a company owner needs their workforce to have the best quality customer support. Are your staff now supplying your clients with outstanding customer service? Or, are there places where a little polishing is required?

There are always opportunities for improvement, regardless of your exact circumstances. A sure-fire tactic to help keep your customers happy and loyal is to give your employees the tools, expertise and motivation to provide outstanding customer service.

1. Hire issue-solvers

Essentially, good customer service is good problem solving. You ought to recruit individuals that are involved in helping people and who love solving challenges if you wish to provide effective customer service. Be sure that the job description and concerns about the interview reflect on features consistent with strong customer service and critical thought. Look for applicants who connect and listen well, who handle their time well, and who display sensitivity, attentiveness and maturity. To learn about your product or service, they should also have the skill and interest required.

By actually recruiting with these abilities in mind, the business will be able to significantly increase its customer service scores.

2. Empower workers to solve

issues on their own If you don't inspire them to genuinely fix the challenges that come their way, recruiting problem-solvers does you no good. There are rules for any organisation, but beware of having such a rigid framework that the workers will not provide good service. Offer your customer service representatives (CSR) the leeway to solve the dilemma of a customer under the rules you have developed, wherever possible.

Empower them with the power and versatility to pursue innovative or alternative solutions to challenges as they emerge, without having to sign up for something small

3. Promoting active listening

Perhaps listening is the number one skill required to deliver good customer service. By reminding them to let their clients finish their sentences before responding, teach your staff to listen well. Everyone wants to feel like someone is really interested in their problem and is there to assist them.

Another tip: make staff repeat what they learned before debating a dispute with their client. This encourages the individual to illustrate what is being addressed.

Coach workers to recognise that they have a rare ability to turn negative experiences into productive ones by constructive listening, with the client, the organisation and their own sense of fulfilment.

4. Invest in growth and training

To get up to speed on the fundamentals of their work, young workers and those new to customer service may require some preparation. It's also a smart thing for more experienced workers to provide continued education and growth programmes.

Training on subjects such as mobile protocol and how to communicate with troublesome personalities can be extremely useful for CSRs and other frontline staff. You can harness a wealth of inexpensive online training courses if your business does not have the money to bring in a teacher, or you do not have the patience to do it yourself.

Reading related papers online and sharing them with workers is another cost-effective technique.

Discuss one or two points from the article at the next staff meeting and how new ideas could be adopted by the squad. By inviting each employee to carry their highest or most unique customer service challenge, you get some extra power from the staff meetings. Then, answer these issues and search at solutions to fix consumer problems quicker, more efficiently or more successfully.

Bringing the idea of information exchange a little forward, you should also tap into the skills of more senior team members to have regular lunch-and learns where team transform to present. Such mutual learning allows the entire team to become more adept at problem-solving and improves the awareness of everyone on how to support their clients.

5. Enable wide-ranging business awareness

A successful CSR is told about their product line and the resources of the company. Yet a fantastic CSR knows their industry inside and out. Sometimes, actually deciding who and what to ask when a problem arises is the fastest way to address a customer's concern. It starts with a comprehensive onboarding procedure and stays with the business during a worker 's tenure.Inspire staff to build a comprehensive view of where the enterprise has been and where it is headed. Keep them updated of what's happening in the business by exposing them to individuals and projects in other divisions. To promote this form of diverse business expertise, cross-functional teaming can be a fantastic strategy.

They should arrange tours to other locations within the organisation to facilitate continued learning about the enterprise. Or, at the next staff conference or lunch-and learn, invite another department to present their work. Interdepartmental collaboration lets workers understand how different aspects of the organisation work, and how they blend into the whole.