Question

Services create special needs for the marketing mix. For each element of the marketing mix explain how the marketing mix needs to be adjusted for services.

Answer 1

“Service is defined as an intangible product, valuable action, deed or effort to meet a need or demand”

The act of providing service without any financial or reciprocal benefits is called social service. The act of taking payment either in cash or kind is a paid service for example services provided by a plumber, car mechanic, electrician, hospitality etc.

The Marketing mix is the combination of 4 p’s to make a product or service financially successful. The 4 P’s are product, place, promotion, and price. We will discuss the 4P’s of marketing mix as follows:

1.Price: The labor charges or the earning for providing a service. For example, the plumber will charge for changing the plumbing system or repairing the existing system, the labor charges are in addition to the cost of plumbing system like pipes, sanitary ware etc.

2.Product: The products are the intangible services offered for example the services offered by an electrician, plumber, carpenter for his services of repair etc.

A consultant providing advice or mentoring an organization also is a service and the product offered by the consultant in exchange for a fee or financial returns. The service is customized to meet the specific needs of the customer and can give huge benefits and inputs to maximize the organization's goals. The consultant services are also perishable and need to be adapted and adjusted from task to task.

3.Place: The place where the service provider would like to conduct his business, it should be where he has access to maximum clients, for example, should be present online on social media networks like LinkedIn. The service provider should be accessible and available.

4.Promotion: The service has to be marketed by advertising online, offline, through social media networks. For example electrician, plumbing and other household maintenance services would be advertised in the community centers, local newspapers, and local channels. A consultant should be active on LinkedIn, blogging, create a website of his skill set etc.

3 additional P’s of the service marketing mix is as follows:

1.The people: The people working in your organization should match the vision and goals defined. They also contribute to your services, for example, large consultants are dependent on their teams to deliver results and create the right brand image.

2.The process: The efficiency of delivering your service will be the long-term impression on your clients. The service has to be fast, efficient and neatly executed. The effective delivery of your services should be a process inbuilt into your organization systems.

3.The physical evidence: The service can be differentiated by making small changes in your deliverables, for example, an airline which welcomes you by name, a bookstore which offers sitting space to customers. These extra small services create the value-add for your service.

To conclude the service mix has to be clear and well defined to satisfy your customers existing and new.