Services Marketing Notes
Subject Overview
The second Marketing group elective, covering the growth of the service economy and service quality models, relationship management and service design/
Subject at a glance
4
Units
19
Topics
4
Credits
4
Infographics
Unit-wise Syllabus
4 units — open any unit for detailed topic-wise notes, diagrams and important exam questions
- Growth of the service sector economy
- service characteristics and classification
- service marketing mix
- customer expectations and perceptions
- integrated gaps model of service quality
Gap 1: listening
Not knowing what customers expect
Gap 2: design
Wrong service standards
Gap 3: performance
Not delivering to standards
Gap 4: communication
Not matching performance to promises
Study guide
This unit covers the growth of services, their characteristics, classification, the services marketing mix, expectations and perceptions and the integrated gaps model of service quality. Learn the five gaps.
- Building customer loyalty
- complaint handling and service recovery
- service design challenges and new service development process
- service blueprinting
- physical evidence and servicescapes
- 1
Customer complains
- 2
Listen and apologise
- 3
Fix it fast
- 4
Compensate fairly
- 5
Follow up
- 6
Learn and fix the root cause
Study guide
You study customer loyalty, complaint handling and service recovery, service design, new service development, blueprinting and servicescapes. Draw a blueprint for a service you use.
- Service culture and employee role
- cycle of failure/mediocrity/success
- self-service technologies
- service intermediaries and electronic channels
- waiting line strategies
- integrated services marketing communications and the services marketing triangle
Operational logic
Change the process
Online check-in
Reservations
Shift demand
Appointments
Differentiate queues
Serve by priority
Express counters
Make waits pleasant
Fill the time, explain delays
Screens, updates
Study guide
You study service culture, employee roles, the cycles of failure, mediocrity and success, self-service technologies, intermediaries, waiting line strategies and the services marketing triangle. Identify waiting strategies in a restaurant or bank.
- Pricing approaches and strategies for services
- applications in financial
- healthcare and hospitality sectors
Financial services
Trust and intangibility
Relationship managers, digital self-service
Healthcare
High stakes, credence qualities
Credentials, patient experience
Hospitality
Perishable capacity
Dynamic pricing, loyalty programmes
Study guide
You study pricing for services and applications in financial, healthcare and hospitality sectors. Compare pricing approaches across sectors.
Why Services Marketing Matters
Services dominate the Indian economy, so services marketing skills are relevant across banking, healthcare, hospitality and education.
How to Prepare for Services Marketing
- Apply the gaps model to a real service.
- Draw service blueprints.
- Study service recovery in real cases.
Services Marketing: Frequently Asked Questions
What is service recovery?
Service recovery is the action a company takes to put right a service failure and keep the customer.