Service marketing

Unit-I

Introduction The world economy nowadays is increasingly characterized as a service economy. This is primarily due to the increasing importance and share of the service sector in the economies of most developed and developing countries. In fact, the growth of the service sector has long been considered as indicative of a countrys economic progress. Economic history tells us that all developing nations have invariably experienced a shift from agriculture to industry and then to the service sector as the main stay of the economy. This shift has also brought about a change in the definition of goods and services themselves. No longer are goods considered separate from services. Rather, services now increasingly represent an integral part of the product and this interconnectedness of goods and services is represented on a goods-services continuum. Definition and characteristics of Services The American Marketing Association defines services as - Activities, benefits and satisfactions which are offered for sale or are provided in connection with the sale of goods. The defining characteristics of a service are: Intangibility: Services are intangible and do not have a physical existence. Hence services cannot be touched, held, tasted or smelt. This is most defining feature of a service and that which primarily differentiates it from a product. Also, it poses a unique challenge to those engaged in marketing a service as they need to attach tangible attributes to an otherwise intangible offering.

1. Heterogeneity/Variability: Given the very nature of services, each service offering is unique and cannot be exactly repeated even by the same service provider. While products can be mass produced and be homogenous the same is not true of services. eg: All burgers of a particular flavor at McDonalds are almost identical. However, the same is not true of the service rendered by the same counter staff consecutively to two customers. 2. Perishability: Services cannot be stored, saved, returned or resold once they have been used. Once rendered to a customer the service is completely consumed and cannot be delivered to another customer. eg: A customer dissatisfied with the services of a barber cannot return the service of the haircut that was rendered to him. At the most he may decide not to visit that particular barber in the future. 3. Inseparability/Simultaneity of production and consumption: This refers to the fact that services are generated and consumed within the same time frame. Eg: a haircut is delivered to and consumed by a customer simultaneously unlike, say, a takeaway burger which the customer may consume even after a few hours of purchase. Moreover, it is very difficult to separate a service from the service provider. Eg: the barber is necessarily a part of the service of a haircut that he is delivering to his customer. Implications& features of services

The unique features of services have their associated implications in the matter of marketing. It is these implications that actually render service marketing a specialized task.

Implications of intangibility;

Let us first take intangibility. The intangibility of services holds many special implications in marketing. A majority of them relate to quality assurance. First, because of the intangibility, in assessing the quality of a service, the customer relies more on subjective impressions and less on concrete evidence. Second, prescribing standards of quality in a service situation is also difficult. Third, intangibility also implies that the customer has to have faith in the person providing the

service and has to go by trust to a large extent in judging the service quality. After all, no service can be seen in advance by the customer; and hence, he cannot judge its quality and value in advance; he cannot sample it in advance as with a physical product. Even the sampling job in the attempt at standardization quality poses some unusual problems in a service situation. As a combined result of all these factors, assuring quality and creating customer satisfaction in a service situation becomes more difficult. Moreover, because of the intangibility, it becomes impossible to patent a service or have copyright for it. Intangibility also results in some complexity in the matter of advertising and promotion. That is why in a service situation. Often, making the intangible tangible to some extent possible becomes a key task.

Implications of Inseparability:

The inseparability factor tends to localize the production and marketing of services. Consequently, it tends to limit the market quantitatively as well as in the geographical sense. Inseparability also limits the scope in the matter of distribution and restricts the use of marketing channels/intermediaries. Due to the inseparability factor, customers form their opinions services through their interaction with the service personnel who directly come in contact with them. They also form their impressions based on the physical surroundings in which they receive the service. They tend to equate the service quality with quality of this interaction. Implications of Variability/ individuality /Heterogeneity: The variability factor often leaves the consumer confused. He feels that services performance is a non-standard affair, varying widely and is dependent on who actually performs the service.

Implications of Perishability:

The perishable or un-storable character of services accentuates the risk and uncertainly that is generally associated with any business. It enhances the problem of demand-supply mismatch. In the first place, fluctuation is particularly striking in services. Added to that, service supply cannot be easily increased or decreased so as to match the changes in demand.

As a combined effect of the perish ability factor and the fluctuating nature of demand service marketing has to face special problems in product planning, capacity planning and scheduling, and pricing.

Interaction between Service provider and consumer:

The requirement of close interaction between the service provider and the consumer limits the choice for the consumer. Consumers are generally left with fewer of alternatives in services. They also find making the selection from out of the limited alternatives more difficult here compared to a product buying situation. All the concepts, principles and techniques of marketing apply equally to product and service marketing. Service marketers have to develop and offer services that meet the needs of the customers just as product marketers have to do. Also, service marketers have to score over their competitors just as product marketers have to do. Naturally, all basic principles of marketing should apply equally to product and service marketing.

We insist that service marketing should be practiced as a distinct specialty because immediately after services are rendered they are going to affect Customer or Consumer satisfaction. At the very first instance the consumer may repeat service orders from the same service provider or if not satisfied switchover to some other.

services marketing mix

Introduction to Marketing and the Marketing Mix

In popular use "marketing" is the promotion of products or services. Many people use it synonymously with advertising, while advertising is an aspect of marketing they are not one in the same. Marketing is a social process which satisfies consumers' wants or in our case what members or potential members want. Marketing will include advertising, distribution and the

selling of a product or service. It will also be concerned with anticipating the members' future needs and wants.

Good marketing is derived from knowledge of what it is the consumers need or want. This can be obtained through market research. This knowledge should drive all marketing aspects. Do not get consumed with trends and ideas that other markets may use successfully. They do not necessarily transfer their success to the association market. I am not saying that we should be aware of what they are doing and possibly utilize some aspects of their campaigns but there should be thought applied to insure that your members and potential members will be receptive to it and it will be successful.

The American Marketing Association (AMA) states, "Marketing is the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizaitonal objectives." Definition

A selection of services developed to offer customers a choice within a particular range. The elements of a services marketing mix are sometimes called the seven Ps: the four Ps of the marketing mix, plus three Ps of services: participants, physical evidence, and process. Marketing mix 7p,s:The Marketing Mix is a good way to determine the strategic position of a product or service in the marketplace. This is not a new concept, according to Wikipedia the origin of the Marketing Mix was in the late 1940s and was presented to the AMA in the 1950s. I was taught to remember the Marketing Mix as the 7 P's PRODUCT - The service(s) or good(s) that you offer your members or potential members. Your products will range from education, meetings, and events to your logo items and products. One thing to think about in the association market is that your products will often time be intangible. Remember that you will be offering a sense of belonging, satisfaction, and joy with your members and this comes from your members feeling like part of the family. Other intangibles will be an enhanced sense of professionalism by being a part of the association. These are going to be the "PRODUCTS" that will keep your members attached and active in your association.

PRICE - This is the amount one will pay for your product(s). Your price should be determined by a number of factors and not just arbitrarily decided upon. You need to think about your costs, competition costs, your market share, and (possibly the most important) the consumers perceived value of the product.

PLACE - Place represents the location where a product can be purchased and where it may take place. With associations a key point is the location of an event or the time of a meeting. These aspects must be carefully thought out so that it does not limit the attendance or participation. Remember that "PLACE" does not have to be a physical location, it can also include virtual locations online.

PROMOTION - Now for the fun part right? Promotion is what most people think of when they hear the word "marketing". This is the covering, the part everyone will see and hear. While many people think that this is what sells the product I think that if a focus is put on the product itself along with its price and its place the promotion just has to inform the consumers of those things in an affective way. Promotion does have four distinct elements that will work together to be successful. These four elements are Advertising, Public Relations, Word of Mouth and Point of Sale. People-An essential ingredient to any service provision is the use of appropriate staff and people. Recruiting the right staff and training them appropriately in the delivery of their service is essential if the organisation wants to obtain a form of competitive advantage. Consumers make judgments and deliver perceptions of the service based on the employees they interact with. Staff should have the appropriate interpersonal skills, aptititude, and service knowledge to provide the service that consumers are paying for. Many British organisations aim to apply for the Investors In People accreditation, which tells consumers that staff are taken care off by the company and they are trained to certain standards.

Process-Refers to the systems used to assist the organisation in delivering the service. Imagine you walk into Burger King and you order a Whopper Meal and you get it delivered within 2

minutes. What was the process that allowed you to obtain an efficient service delivery? Banks that send out Credit Cards automatically when their customers old one has expired again require an efficient process to identify expiry dates and renewal. An efficient service that replaces old credit cards will foster consumer loyalty and confidence in the company. Physical evidence-Where is the service being delivered? Physical Evidence is the element of the service mix which allows the consumer again to make judgments on the organisation. If you walk into a restaurant your expectations are of a clean, friendly environment. On an aircraft if you travel first class you expect enough room to be able to lay down! Physical evidence is an essential ingredient of the service mix, consumers will make perceptions based on their sight of the service provision which will have an impact on the organisations perceptual plan of the service.

Difference between in goods services in marketing

Goods Definition Products, or more specifically, products that economists feel satisfies a market need. Difference between Goods and Services Given below are the fundamental differences between physical goods and services: Goods Services

A physical commodity

A process or activity

Tangible

Intangible

Homogenous

Heterogeneous

Production and distribution are separation from their consumption

Production, distribution and consumption are simultaneous processes

Can be stored

Cannot be stored

Transfer of ownership is possible

Transfer of ownership is not possible

Concept of service marketing triangle Service marketing involves 3 types of marketing: 1. EXTERNAL MARKETING

2. INTERNAL MARKETING 3. INTERACTIVE MARKETING

1. External Marketing : "Setting the Promise" Marketing to END-USERS. Involves pricing strategy, promotional activities, and all communication with customers. Performed to capture the attention of the market, and arouse interest in the service. 2. Internal Marketing : "Enabling the Promise" Marketing to EMPLOYEES. Involves training, motivational, and teamwork programs, and all communication with employees. Performed to enable employees to perform the service effectively, and keep up the promise made to the customer. 3. Interactive Marketing : (Moment of Truth, Service Encounter) This refers to the decisive moment of interaction between the front-office employees and customers, i.e. delivery of service. This step is of utmost importance, because if the employee falters at this level, all prior efforts made towards establishing a relationship with the customer, would be wasted.

Marketing challenges in service business Companies that are marketing a product face different challenges compared with those that are promoting a service. If youre transitioning from marketing products to services or vice versa, you have to know and understand these differences to effectively promote and sell. Understanding the different challenges in product and service marketing can help you establish the right approach.

Tangibility A product is tangible, which means the customer can touch and see the product before deciding to make a purchase. Items such as packaging and presentation may compel a customer to purchase a product. Services, on the other hand, are not tangible, which can make them more difficult to promote and sell than a product. Relationship and Value Products tend to fill a customer's need or want, so companies can use this to sell a product. A service is more about selling a relationship and the value of the relationship between the buyer and seller of the service. For example, a car is something a buyer can touch and see as well as use. A service, such as lifestyle coaching, for example, is not tangible. A lifestyle coach may be able to assist clients in creating a life plan and implementing steps to transform his life into one that the client wants to live, but it is not something tangible that the client can place in his home and look at every day. Therefore, the client needs to perceive the value of the service, which can be harder to get across. One Versus Many Marketing products tends to involve multiple products that make up the line. For example, cleaning product manufacturers tend to market not just one cleaning product. Instead, they have a line of cleaning products to serve the various needs of their customers. Services, on the other hand, typically have a single option. It can be harder to promote and sell the reputation of one single service over the benefits of many different products. Comparing Quality Measuring the quality of a product is easier than measuring that of a service. If a customer buys a cleaning product to clean the kitchen sink and it doesnt do the job, the customer knows the value of the product is zero. On the other hand, it is harder to measure the quality of a service. Return Factor If a customer purchases a product and it doesnt work as it is supposed to, the customer can return the product for her money back or at least to receive a store credit. A service is consumed as it is offered, so it lacks the return factor that a product has. Some service providers overcome this by offering money-back guarantees.

MYTHS ABOUT SERVICE

The biggest difference between selling things and intangible services is the pivotal role of trust. Trust is even more critical to selling intangible services[1] than it is to selling things. Sellers of intangible services intuitively know this, but think that selling is destructive of trust. Many intangible services providers feel that selling is even unprofessional and unethical. Their professional lives are therefore fraught with contradiction. Not to mention they sell poorly! All this angst and low performance comes about because intangible service providers believe a few myths. These myths comp partly from the world of selling things, and partly from projecting ideas about technical expertise onto clients. The myths seriously get in the way of developing business. Even more importantly, they keep providers from fully serving their clientsdespite their best intentions. Myth 1. Its About Winning Thinking in terms of winning leads insidiously to thinking in terms of winners and losers. Few providers consciously want to beat their clientsbut they end up behaving that way! They talk about share of wallet, about bargaining or negotiating with their clients, about controlling the agenda, and about managing expectations. Each of these frames of reference sound innocent enough, but they rapidly degrade into a competitive perspective. Choose your mantra and repeat frequently:

The only win worth winning is win-win The only way I win is if my client wins Winning a win-lose proposition is losing I will always and only do well by doing good If I focus on helping my client, it will always eventually pay off for us both. Myth 2. Selling is Unprofessional. Take this three-part self-test. Firstif you saw, with crystal clarity, an opportunity outside your own area of expertise for a client to significantly improve her businesswould you consider it a professional obligation to point it out to her?

Second: suppose that the opportunity you see so clearly isnt immediately obvious to your client. Do you have a professional obligation to spend a little time working out the best way to communicate your insight, so your client can also see the opportunity? Finally: suppose that the crystal-clear opportunity also happens to be within your area of expertise? Do you have a professional obligation to spend a little time working out the best way to communicate that value? Myth 3. Clients Know What They Want. They dont. Particularly when they insist they do. If clients knew what they wanted, they could (and they sometimes do) draft their own wills, design their own information systems, manage their own financial portfolios. But the daily stock in trade of an intangible services provider generally looks like a black art to the client. We all know the basics about cars and hamburgers, but not about probate or XTML or media buys. Remember, clients are also victims of sales myths. They are afraid of being conned by salesmen, so they respond by tightly bounding the problem statement, to prevent being taken advantage of. The most fearful clients end up using RFP processes. Myth 4. Clients Mainly Want Experience and Credibility. Most providers think that clients are focused on experience and credibility. No surprise there most clients would say the same thing. But dig a little deeper. Of course, clients use experience as a qualifierto see who makes the short list to be invited in. They also use it as a justification to anyone who might question their choice. Clients also want to impress the provider with some level of knowledge, partly to guard against being taken advantage of. But those are all ways of narrowing the field or preventing harm. They dont positively help assess trust. UNIT-III INTERNAL MARKETING

Internal marketing (IM) is a process that occurs within a company or organization whereby the functional process aligns, motivates and empowers employees at all management levels to deliver a satisfying customer experience. Over recent years internal marketing has increasingly been integrated with employer branding, and employer brand management, which strives to build stronger links between the employee brand experience and customer brand experience. According to Burkitt and Zealley, "the challenge for internal marketing is not only to get the right messages across, but to embed them in such a way that they both change and reinforce employee behaviour" Definition Internal marketing is a critical management concept that is difficult to explain, let alone define. Throughout my work in the field, I've defined internal marketing simply as "the application of marketing inside an organization to instill customer-focused values." Internal Marketing is the ongoing process whereby an organization aligns, motivates and empowers employees at all functions and levels to consistently deliver a positive customer experience that helps achieve business objectives." Key concepts of internal marketing include:

IM functioning as a continual internal 'up skilling' process. Alignment of the organizations purpose with employee behavior. Employees internalizing the core values of the organization. Motivation, reframing and empowerment of employee attitude. Inside-out management approach. Retaining a positive customer experience throughout the business objective

Internal marketing-oriented business Features of an internal marketing-oriented business: 1. Creating enabling culture: this is done when employees are empowered by management through allowing creativity, innovation, allowing initiatives and accountability and responsibility of their decisions. 2. Practicing participative hiring: that is involving current employees in the process of hiring new employees. 3. Ensuring equitable recognition and reward: business must exercise employee recognition with reward to what employee has achieved. 4. Demonstrating fairness during hard times: fair treatment of employees when faced with hard times and difficult moments like death of the near family members. This can be achieved by setting aside emergency funds. 5. Good organization structure that allows learning, total quality management and reengineering.

Benefits Benefits of Internal Marketing:

encourages the internal market (employees) to perform better; empowers employees and gives them accountability and responsibility; creates common understanding of the business organisation; encourages employees to offer superb service to clients by appreciating their valuable contribution to the success of the business;

helps non-marketing staff to learn and be able to perform their tasks in a marketinglike manner;

creates good coordination and cooperation among departments of the business. proper information flow within the organisation. proper guidelines to employee..(retraining if needs). periodic evaluation of employee performance.

Problems affecting successful implementation of Internal Marketing The following are the problems affecting effective implementation of internal marketing. 1. Managerial incompetence in interpersonal, technical and conceptual skills is some of the stumbling blocks against successful internal marketing. 2. Poor understanding of internal marketing concept. 3. Individual conflict and conflict between departments makes the implementation of internal marketing difficult. 4. The tendency of ignoring employees' importance and treating them like any other tools of the business. 5. Unnecessary protection of information against employees. 6. Resistance to change.

SERVQUAL and Model of Service Quality Gaps:

Introduction

Managers in the service sector are under increasing pressure to demonstrate that their services are customer-focused and that continuous performance improvement is being delivered. Given the financial and resource constraints under which service organisations must manage it is essential that customer expectations are properly understood and measured and that, from the customers perspective, any gaps in service quality are identified. This information then assists a manager in identifying cost-effective ways of closing service quality gaps and of prioritizing which gaps to focus on a critical decision given scarce resources. While there have been efforts to study service quality, there has been no general agreement on the measurement of the concept. The majority of the work to date has attempted to use the SERVQUAL(Parasuraman et al. , 1985; 1988) methodology in an effort to measure service quality (e.g. Brooks etal., 1999; Chaston, 1994; Edvardsson et al. , 1997; Lings and Brooks, 1998; Reynoso and Moore,1995; Young and Varble, 1997; Sahney et al. , 2004).

One of the aims of this study involves the use of SERVQUAL instrument in order to ascertain any actual or perceived gaps between customer expectations and perceptions of the service offered. Another aim of this paper is to point out how management of service improvement can become more logical and integrated with respect to the prioritized service quality dimensions and their affections on increasing/decreasing service quality gaps. In the following, after a brief review of the service quality concept, the model of service quality gaps and the SERVQUAL methodology is demonstrated and an example is presented to pinpoint the application of the SERVQUAL approach. Then, after a discussion, major conclusions are derived.

Service Quality

Service quality is a concept that has aroused considerable interest and debate in the research literature because of the difficulties in both defining it and measuring it with no overall consensus emerging on either (Wisniewski, 2001). There are a number of different "definitions" as to what is meant by service quality. One that is commonly used defines service quality as the extent to which a service meets customers needs or expectations (Lewis and Mitchell, 1990; Dotchin and Oakland, 1994a;Asubonteng et al ., 1996; Wisniewski and Donnelly, 1996). Service quality can thus be defined as the difference between customer expectations of service and perceived service. If expectations are greater than performance, then perceived quality is less than satisfactory and hence customer dissatisfaction occurs (Parasuraman et al ., 1985; Lewis and Mitchell, 1990). Always there exists an important question: why should service quality be measured? Measurement allows for comparison before and after changes, for the location of quality related problems and for the establishment of clear standards for service delivery. Edvardsen et al . (1994) state that, in their experience, the starting point in developing quality in services is analysis and measurement. The SERVQUAL approach, which is studied in this paper is the most common method for measuring service quality.

Model of Service Quality Gaps

There are seven major gaps in the service quality concept, which are shown in Figure 1. The model is an extention of Parasuraman et al. (1985). According to the following explanation (ASI Quality Systems, 1992; Curry, 1999; Luk and Layton, 2002), the three important gaps, which are more associated with the external customers are Gap1, Gap5 and Gap6; since they have a direct relationship with customers. Gap1: Customers expectations versus management perceptions: as a result of the lack of a marketing research orientation, inadequate upward communication and too many layers of management.

Gap2: Management perceptions versus service specifications: as a result of inadequate commitment to service quality, a perception of unfeasibility, inadequate task standardization and an absence of goal setting. Gap3: Service specifications versus service delivery: as a result of role ambiguity and conflict, poor employee-job fit and poor technology-job fit, inappropriate supervisory control systems, lack of perceived control and lack of teamwork.

Gap4: Service delivery versus external communication: as a result of inadequate horizontal communications and propensity to over-promise.

Gap5: The discrepancy between customer expectations and their perceptions of the service delivered: as a result of the influences exerted from the customer side and the shortfalls (gaps) on the part of the service provider. In this case, customer expectations are influenced by the extent of personal needs, word of mouth recommendation and past service experiences. Gap6: The discrepancy between customer expectations and employees perceptions: as a result of the differences in the understanding of customer expectations by front-line service providers. Gap7: The discrepancy between employees perceptions and management perceptions: as a result of the differences in the understanding of customer expectations between managers and service providers.

Expected service Gap5 Perceived service

Consumer Gap6

Provider Gap1 Employee perceptions of consumer expectation

Service delivery (including pre-and post contacts) Gap3 Translation of perceptions into service quality specifications Gap2 Gap7 Management perceptions of consumer expectations

Gap4

External communications to customers

Figure 1. Model of service quality gaps

(198

SERVQUAL methodology Clearly, from a Best Value perspective the measurement of service quality in the service sector should take into account customer expectations of service as well as perceptions of service. However, as Robinson (1999) concludes: "It is apparent that there is little consensus of opinion and much disagreement about how to measure service quality". One service quality measurement model that has been extensively applied is the SERVQUAL model developed by Parasuraman et al .. (1) Tangibles . Physical facilities, equipment and appearance of personnel. (2) Reliability. Ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately. (3) Responsiveness . Willingness to help customers and provide prompt service. (4) Assurance (including competence, courtesy, credibility and security). Knowledge and courtesy ofemployees and their ability to inspire trust and confidence. (5) Empathy (including access, communication, understanding the customer). Caring and individualized attention that the firm provides to its customers. Example In an investigation conducted by Bryslan and Curry (2001) in a catering company, a total of 140 questionnaires were distributed to all of the previous years customers and 52 useable questionnaires were returned, resulting in a 37 per cent response rate. As can be seen from Table I, all questionnaire responses were negative and an overall departmental weighted SERVQUAL score of 1.6 was recorded, indicating a significant shortfall in meeting customer expectations across all service areas and dimensions. The summary scores for each dimension are shown in Table I, with the weighted average scores per dimension having been totaled to achieve the overall SERVQUAL score. Discussion The research on measuring service quality has focused primarily on how to meet or exceed the external customers expectations, and has viewed service quality as a measure of how the delivered service level matches consumers expectations. These perspectives can also be applied to the employees of a firm and in this case, other major gaps could be closed in the service quality gaps model (Kang et al. , 2002).The concept of measuring the difference between expectations and perceptions in the form of the SERVQUAL gap score proved very useful for

assessing levels of service quality. Parasuraman etal., argue that, with minor modification, SERVQUAL can be adapted to any service organization.

Conclusions In this paper, service quality and its model of gaps were reviewed. SERVQUAL methodology as ananalytical approach for evaluating the difference between customers' expectations and perceptions of quality was also studied. While this research provides some perspectives to the field of service quality, it is believed that there are a number of things that should be done to confirm the demonstrated methodologies as well as to expand the use of SERVQUAL in design and improvement of quality services. Just as the SERVQUAL instrument is extensively used to assess external service quality, the instrument can also be modified to assess the quality of the internal service provided by departments and divisions within a company to employees in other departments and divisions. The results of the current study illustrate that organizations can at least assess five dimensions of service quality to ascertain the level of services provided, and to determine which dimensions need improvement. In order to improve service quality, it is necessary to contact employees regularly and assess their service experiences. Like the external customer, an internal customer too considers categories of service attributes, such as reliability and responsiveness, in judging the quality of the internal service. With the knowledge of the internal service quality dimensions, the service organizations can then judge how well the organization or employees performed on each dimension and managers could identify the weakness in order to make improvements.

Unit-V

Relationship Marketing Introduction to Relationship Marketing

Relationship Marketing is targeted at building stronger and long lasting relationships with clients and other companies. The business is done with a strategic orientation, where the relationship is improved with existing customers rather than finding new customers. It is meant to cater to the needs of individual customers. Its major part involves studying the need of the customer and how it changes in different circumstances. Relationship marketing applies techniques like marketing, sales, customer care and communication. The relationship is not only enhanced but its life period is increased by these strategies. And as the customer realizes the value of relationship, they are drawn closer. This marketing not only focuses on building relationship and attracting customers to their products and services but also how to retain them. According to a research, the cost of retaining an old customer is only ten percent of the cost of getting a new customer, which makes sense to not to run around to get new customers in relationship marketing. And according to another research done by cross-sectional analysis, says that, a five percent improvement in customer retention is responsible for twentyfive to eighty-five percent of the profit. Usually high cost is incurred when getting new customers, so if sufficient number of existing customers is retained, there will be no need of acquiring new customers.

Definition Marketing activities thatareaimedat developing and managing trustingand longterm relationships with larger customers. In relationship marketing, customer profile, buying patterns, and history of contacts are maintained in a sales database, and an account executive is assigned to one or more major customers to fulfill their needs and maintain the relationship.

Service marketing

Definition

1. Marketing is the process of persuading potential consumers to buy the organization's product or service. Marketing services are the methods used in the overall marketing plan of production, pricing, promotion and distribution.

2. The most comprehensive definition of service marketing isdefinesthat isessentially intangible and does not result in the ownership of anything .Its production may or not be tied to a physical product .A service is any act or performance that one party can offer to another that is essentially intangible and does not result in the ownership of anything .Marketing is the foundation of business operations for businesses and nonprofit organizations. Understanding the various marketing services and their functions helps the for profit or nonprofit organization reach their goals.

Services Marketing Effectiveness

Even the best marketing strategies fail if they are not brought to life effectively for customers, prospects, employees, and other key constituents. Successful execution of marketing campaigns requires an expert balance of customization and consistency to ensure target audience understanding and impact. HawkPartners teams with clients not only to develop a compelling communications approach, but also to disseminate those messages internally to foster organizational understanding and commitment. Improve Communications Effectiveness Communications Assessment A critical element of any brand positioning strategy is to ensure the consistency and effectiveness of how that positioning is communicated across all channels and vehicles. HawkPartners conducts an audit of all internal and external communications to evaluate the degree to which they align with the desired brand identity. The output of such an assessment will document recommended changes needed to more effectively promote core brand messages.

Stakeholder Feedback Employees and other stakeholders help bring the brand experience to life for customers, especially in services industries. Therefore, effectively communicating the brand message to key stakeholders and in some cases obtaining their buy-in is essential. HawkPartners helps clients create feedback tools, processes, and stakeholder roles to ensure a two-way dialogue with key stakeholders to communicate and refine key messages. Value Proposition Development A compelling and differentiated value proposition is the key ingredient of any winning marketing strategy and communications campaign. HawkPartners works with clients to define the target market, elicit buyer values, and identify the benefits that the product/service can provide to the marketplace. We test alternate ways of communicating these value propositions to customers, guiding where to focus and/or refine the message. Improve Marketing Team Effectiveness Executive Development Services HawkPartners helps clients accelerate strategy implementation to quickly achieve the desired behaviors and outcomes by communicating and working directly with those responsible for delivering business results. We work with these clients to create and deliver programs that frequently cross functions, business units and continents. Programs can include half-day and full-day workshops, often entailing serial sessions over a year. Content and materials are custom-created, based on company-specific situations and audiences. Likewise, communication techniques are tailored to each situation and might include action learning, case studies, live cases, role playing, competitive simulations, facilitator-led planning discussions, brainstorming, pre-session survey instruments, etc. Our executive development services help clients:

Articulate strategy by bringing it to life Enhance shared understanding of situations, threats and opportunities

Create strategic alignment and/or effective communication across functions, business units and companies

Learn and use new skills and behaviors Improve individual and organizational performance Our team of professionals has backgrounds in executive development, management training, career development and management, and has led executive strategy sessions, workshops, and large-scale executive development sessions for clients in the financial services, professional services, pharmaceutical, energy, telecommunication, and retail industries. Executive Forums and Marketing Councils Another key success factor of any communications effort is ensuring the understanding and active support of leadership. HawkPartners develops and facilitates customized executive forums and/or marketing councils to build understanding and consensus, and to disseminate key messages. These forums and councils are used for building understanding of internal communications efforts, developing long-term strategies, building compelling value

propositions, or working on vision and values. Marketing Management Outsourcing HawkPartners team of professionals average more than 12 years of relevant experience, with backgrounds in marketing management, management consulting, and marketing research. In some cases, clients engage us as strategic partners to temporarily fill marketing roles within their organization. Roles we have successfully filled for our clients include Chief Marketing Officer, Director of Marketing, and Market Research Group Manager. Marketing Staff Training and Development In addition to enhancing their own skills, marketing executives seek to build the skills of their staff. HawkPartners also provides training for our clients staff members on issues such as improving marketing effectiveness, developing more compelling value propositions, building brand consistency and alignment, and utilizing innovative marketing research techniques.