Services marketing is a sub field of marketing, which can be split into the two main areas of goods marketing

(which includes the marketing of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and durables) and services marketing. Services marketing typically refers to both business to consumer (B2C) and business to business (B2B) services, and includes marketing of services like telecommunications services, financial services, all types of hospitality services, car rental services, air travel, health care services and professional services. The range of approaches and expressions of a marketing idea developed with the hope that it be effective in conveying the ideas to the diverse population of people who receive it. Services are economic activities offered by one party to another. Often time-based, performances bring about desired results to recipients, objects, or other assets for which purchasers have responsibility. In exchange for money, time, and effort, service customers expect value from access to goods, labor, professional skills, facilities, networks, and systems; but they do not normally take ownership of any of the physical elements involved. There has been a long academic debate on what makes services different from goods. The historical perspective in the late-eighteen and early-nineteenth centuries focused on creation and possession of wealth. Classical economists contended that goods were objects of value over which ownership rights could be established and exchanged. Ownership implied tangible possession of an object that had been acquired through purchase, barter or gift from the producer or previous owner and was legally identifiable as the property of the current owner. Characteristics of a Service What exactly are the characteristics of a service? How are services different from a product? In fact many organisations do have service elements to the product they sell, for example McDonalds sell physical products i.e. burgers but consumers are also concerned about the quality and speed of service, are staff cheerful and welcoming and do they serve with a smile on their face? There are five characteristics to a service which will be discussed below. 1. Lack of ownership. You cannot own and store a service like you can a product. Services are used or hired for a period of time. For example when buying a ticket to the USA the service lasts maybe 9 hours each way , but consumers want and expect excellent service for that time. Because you can measure the duration of the service consumers become more demanding of it. 2. Intangibility You cannot hold or touch a service unlike a product. In saying that although services are intangible the experience consumers obtain from the service has an impact on how they will perceive it. What do consumers perceive from customer service? the location, and the inner presentation of where they are purchasing the service?. 3. Inseparability Services cannot be separated from the service providers. A product when produced can be taken away from the producer. However a service is produced at or near the point of purchase. Take visiting a restaurant, you order your meal, the waiting and delivery of the meal, the service provided by the waiter/ress is all apart of the service production process and is inseparable, the staff in a restaurant are as apart of the process as well as the quality of food provided. 4. Perishibility

Services last a specific time and cannot be stored like a product for later use. If travelling by train, coach or air the service will only last the duration of the journey. The service is developed and used almost simultaneously. Again because of this time constraint consumers demand more. 5. Heterogeneity It is very difficult to make each service experience identical. If travelling by plane the service quality may differ from the first time you travelled by that airline to the second, because the airhostess is more or less experienced. A concert performed by a group on two nights may differ in slight ways because it is very difficult to standardise every dance move. Generally systems and procedures are put into place to make sure the service provided is consistent all the time, training in service organisations is essential for this, however in saying this there will always be subtle differences.

Characteristics of a Service

Service Marketing Mix / Extended Marketing Mix Having discussed the characteristics of a service, let us now look at the marketing mix of a service. The service marketing mix comprises off the 7ps. These include: Product Price Place Promotion People Process Physical evidence.

Lets now look at the remaining 3 ps:

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.

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Classifications of Services The elusiveness of a widely accepted definition of services has not prevented the development of a variety of schemes which attempt to classify services. Some believe that classifications are not very helpful; because they can misdirect marketing thinking and often perpetuate a product orientation.

Others believe that classification is helpful; for it acts as a first step in obtaining an understanding of the ways in which markets operate. Certainly, when undertaken from a consumer viewpoint, valuable insights can be gained into reasons for making a purchase and the ways in which products are bought. This kind of information is then useful for helping to develop marketing strategies for services and for evaluating the current strategies and tactics in use by a service marketing organisation. Many of the classification schemes suggested for services are derived from those used in marketing goods. Also it should be borne in mind that many schemes are based on assumptions about what is or not a service. A common method of classification is on a 'Seller Related' basis. Thus service marketing organisations may be classified according to whether they are 'private' or 'public'; and within each grouping whether they are 'profit motivated' or non-profit' motivated. The 'function performed' by the organisation may too be used as a basis of classification. Thus, for example, organisations may perform educational, health, insurance or financial functions. The 'source of income' may too be used as a basis of classification. Service marketing organisations may derive their income from taxation, from the marketplace, from donations or from a combination of sources. 'Buyer Related' bases include the type of market, whether consumer or industrial; the way in which the service is bought, whether as a convenience, shopping, speciality or unsought service: and the motives for purchase. Swan and Pruden suggest that establishing whether the motives for purchase are 'instrumental' - that is the service is a means to an end - or 'expressive' - that is the service is an end in itself - may also provide a useful framework for classifying some services. The last example shows classifications which are 'Service Related'. These may be in terms of service form, (e.g. uniform or bespoke); human based or equipment based; or may involve high levels of personal contact or low levels of personal contact. Further Classification of Services Services can also be classified in several ways, according to (1) whether they are delivered by people or equipment (2) whether they are profit or non profit, or

(3) whether or not they are government sponsored, 4) the qualifications of the people delivering the service.