Question

Assume the role of Service Marketing Manager of a specialized service company that operates in the neighboring cities of a University. List the service attributes of your selected service center and identify the problems associated with each service attribute. Modify each attribute for betterment of the entire service center. Once you are done with the service modification, explain the ways you have incorporated the 7Ps of marketing mix in designing this newly modified customer-oriented service. Provide appropriate justification and example to validate your answer.

Answer 1

Services are considered to be the most important factor especially when it comes to long term sustainability. There are various other factors like price and quality, but services are something that differentiates one organisation from another. In this case, the area assigned is the neighbouring cities of a university. Therefore, we can expect a majority of the customer population belonging to the university, it can be students, professors, staff etc. Keeping that in mind, we need to define our service attributes. Below would be my service attributes:

A. Commit to what has been promised : A very important aspect of providing quality service is commitment to the promises made. In this case, since we are targeting people related to the university especially students as they would form a major chunk of the population, we need to ensure that we don't promise something that is non-achievable.

Problem : The problem that arises in this case is that, we can be probed to answer a few queries to which we don't have any answers but with the intention of not disappointing the customers, there is every possibility that we end up miscommunicating. This would land the service center in trouble and might impact the image of the brand.

Therefore, to ensure that there is minimal miscommunication or false commitments, I would lay down certain prerequisites to ensure my service team is fully aware of what to speak and how to convince the customer. If there is something they would not be able to answer or service, they would politely deny the request and be honest as to why they are not able to service to the request.

B. Be responsive - Being responsive is another attribute which defines the level of service we are capable of delivering. In this scenario, where we are dealing with students and professors most of the time, we can expect lesser patience levels from students and prompt responses expectation from professors. Therefore, in orderr to fulfill both these categories expectations, the service responses has to be prompt and clear.

Problem : The problem in this scenario is that there are possibilities of delay in response due to several reasons and factors which the service representatives might not have control upon. This might make them nervous to communicate to the customers thereby leading to delay in responses.

In order to overcome the above challenge, the process should be put in place where the communication and response are prompt and to the satisfaction of the customers. This process should be to define a turn around time for each kind of request and should be communicated clearly to the customers. In case there is further delay, we should be proactive in informing the customers of the delay and the reason for the delay.

All the above attributes identified will be related to the 7P's of marketing which are product, price, place, promotion, people, process and physical evidence. Although all the mentioned factors are important, but the most important factor that stands out is the price. Price is the one which defines the purchasing power of an individual and therefore should be placed and promoted as per the targeted audience. Therefore, the above defined attributes will result in focusing on all the 7P's and customers would be satisfied with the services provided.