Service Marketing: Four Categories of Services: know your service by Four Broad Categories of Services with examples

Four Broad Categories of Service

Though it, service provider can know which service.
This categories show how unwise it is to overgeneralize about services.
The mangers in particular service industry shouldn't fall in that trap of believing that their situation is unique and they have nothing to learn from any other service industry.

(Source: Service Marketing by lovelock)

There are total four categories,
Main two categories: Tangible and Intangible
In Tangible two part: People and Possession
In Intangible two part: Mental Stimulus and Information

(1) People Processing

• The action/work/ service do on direct on people body, with equipment and without equipment
• A physical location where people or machines/ both, create and deliver service benefits to customers. 
• In People Process service customer must prepare for co-ordination with the service operator, for example, Hair cutting, customer must follow instruction given by barber. Follow the instruction given by doctor during the check up patient body  
• Time required of customers in people processing services varies widely. Customer satisfied after completed services, to reach his/her destination, satisfied his hunger or is now sporting clean and stylishly cut hair or has has a good night's sleep away from home or is now in physically better health
• Example of people processing
• Passenger transportation
• Health care
• Lodging
• Beauty Salons
• Physical therapy
• Fitness centers
• Restaurants/bars
• Barbers
• Funeral services

(2) Possession Processing

• The service directed at physical possession (work/action/service do on customer's physical good's)
• Customers are less physically involved with this type of service.
• Example of Possession Processing
• Freight transportation
• Repair and maintenance
• Warehousing/Storage
• Office cleaning services
• Retail distribution
• Laundry and dry cleaning
• Refueling
• Landscaping/gardening
• Disposal/recycling 

(3) Mental Stimulus Processing 

• The work/activity/service with effect human mind. (Intangible)
• In this service customer must investment of time and mental effort.
• It can be inventoried. For example, customer's favorite movies/songs download from source and can store in their own gadgets and use it when they want.
• Example of Mental Stimulus Processing
• Advertising/PR (Personal Relations)
• Art's and entertainment
• Broadcasting/cable
• Management consulting
• Education
• Information Services
• Music concerts
• Psychotherapy
• Religion
• Voice telephone 

(4) Information Processing

• Information is the most intangible form of service output, but it may be transformed into more enduring, tangible forms such as letters, reports, books, CD-Roms, or DVDs. 
• That are highly dependent on the effective collection and processing of information are financial service and professional services such as accounting, law, marketing, research, management consulting, and medical diagnosis
• Example of Information Processing
• Accounting
• Banking
• Data processing
• Data transmission
• Insurance
• Legal services
• Programming
• Research
• Securities investment
• software consulting 

7 P's : Service Marketing Mix: 7 P's of Service Marketing

Service Marketing Mix: 7 P's

Product:

• Service products are heart of the service marketing.
• Marketing mix begins with creating a service concept that will offer value to target customers and satisfy needs better than competing alternatives.
• Service product consist  of a core and supplementary service element 
• Core product meet primary need
• Supplementary element help to use the core product / add value on core product

Place:

• Delivering product element to customers involves decisions
• Delivery decision: Where; When; How
• Delivery may involve use of physical or electronic channel 
• speed and convenience of place and time have become important determinants of effective service delivery

Price:

• Payment is play central role in marketing
• It is facilitating a value exchange between the firm and its customers.
• For customer point of view, price is key part of the costs they must incur to obtain wanted benefits. 
• Revenue management is an important part in pricing
• Identify and minimize non-monetary cost incur by user: (time; expenditure; waiting; physical effort; negative sensory experiences.)

Promotion:

• Promotion is nothing but communication between manufacture and customer
• This component plays three vital roles
• Providing information and advice
• Persuading target customers of the merit of a specific brand or service product
• Encourage customer to take action at specific time
• Communication is educational for new customer 
• Communication can be done by individual or in wide array
• individual: salespeople, front line staff; websites 
• wide array of advertising media

Process:

• Customer are often involve in the process, especially when acting as co-producers.
• Creating and delivering product elements requires design and implementation of effective processes. 
• Badly design process -
• slow
• ineffective service delivery
• wasted time
• disappointing experience 
• Difficult to make sure that front-line staff do their job well

Physical Environment 

• Service firms need to mange physical evidence carefully
• Because it can have a profound impact on customers' impressions
• Physical evidence are-
• Building
• Landscaping
• Vehicles
• Interior furnishing
• Equipment
• Staff Members' Uniforms
• Signs
• Printed materials 
• Other visible cues
• This all provide tangible evidence of a firm's service quality 

People

• Finally, in service always require direct interaction between customers and contact personnel.
• This interaction influences how customers perceive service quality.
• Service quality/customers' satisfaction depends on front-line staff
• Therefore, successful service firm give significant effort to recruiting, training, and motivating employees

Different between Service and Goods: Service Product Vs. Menufecture Product

Powerful Forces Which Affect Service Economy

Powerful Forces are Affect Service Economy

There are basically 5 major factor which affect service economy

1st one Government Policy:

• Changing regulations: government change it's policy, putting restriction on new entry or minimize the use of certain product. 
•  Privatization: it's effect economy of the country and service industry also
• New rules to protect customer employees, and the environment: Suppose government found that some bad contain in pizza making, and they make restriction to make, buy or sell pizza. It's big effect on food service chain. In India, there is restriction to do advertisement on favor of smoking so ad agency lost their biggest client of all company who making cigarette.
• New Agreement on trade in Service

2nd one Social Changes:

• Rising consumer exception: service is basically performance, every consumer demand good service then others. their exception increase. 

• More affluence: standard of living is increase, that's lead to more better performance
• more people short of time: now a days consumer need fast process. For example, fast delivery, fast performance of service 
• increased desire for buying experiences vs. things
• rising consumer ownership of computers, cell phones, and high tech equipment: This lead to update or change the service process
• Easier access to more information: develop website, connect with internet, 24X7 customer service
• growing but aging population

3rd one Business Trends

•  Push to increase shareholder value: company always looking to investor/shareholder value
• Emphasis on productivity and cost savings
• Manufactures add value thorough service and sell services 
• More strategic alliances and outsourcing
• Focus on quality and customer satisfaction
• Growth of franchising
• Marketing emphasis by nonprofits

4th one Advances in IT (Information Technology)

• Growth of internet
• Compact mobile equipment
• wireless networking
• Faster, more powerful software
• Digitization of text, graphics, audio, and video

5th one Globalization 

• More companies operating on transnational basis
• Increased international travel
• International mergers and alliances
• Offshoring of customer service 
• Foreign competitors invade domestic markets

(Source: Service Marketing by Lovelock)

Definition of service, marketing point of view

Definition of service, Marketing point of view

Definition of Service: 

"without take ownership of any physical element serve, labor, professional skill, facilities, networks, and systems with exchange of money, time and effort to customers expect to obtain value from access"

"Services are an economic activities offered by one party to another, most commonly employing time-based performances to bring about desired results in recipients themselves or in object or other assets for which purchases have responsibility" (source: service marketing by chripstoper Lovelock)

Elaborate

Service As a-
Economic Activities: In marketplace, buyer and seller exchange of value

Performance: perform the activity; seller perform activity for buyer

Result: variety of value-creating element, without taking ownership of physical element, exchange money,                  time and effor