CU-SEM-III-MBA-Marketing of Services- Second Draft-converted

• Keep a close eye on your social media presence - Today, \"word of mouth\" refers to more than just in-person conversations; the proliferation of social media over the last decade has made it simple for people to share their likes and dislikes online. Take the comments made about your company on social media seriously — while online communication standards aren't always high, people are more likely to be truthful online, where they have some privacy, than they are in person. If your company doesn't already have an account on at least one major social networking site (like Facebook, Yelp, or Twitter), get to work on having one right away. This is not only a good way to start tracking your social media \"footprint,\" but it's also a good way to advertise your company and let your customers know about upcoming events. Yelp is one place in particular where you can have a presence. Since Yelp is such a commonly used repository of feedback and testimonials, it can have a significant impact on a company — according to one recent study, having a strong Yelp presence helped small businesses earn an extra $8,000 per year. • Make the feedback process more rewarding- Customers are people with lives of their own, so their time and effort are important. As a result, if you make it worthwhile for consumers to provide input, you'll get a lot more of it. Paying customers to provide comprehensive reviews or engage in experiments is one way to accomplish this. If you don't have the funds, you can always incentivize your customers to provide positive reviews if you get inventive. Here are a few examples of what you should do: Offer discounts or preferred status to participating customers • Enrol participating customers in a drawing or contest for a prize • Give gift cards or store credit • Give out free merchandise • Use analytics data for online business - Whether your company conducts any or all of its business online, you can use web analytics to draw conclusions about the level of service provided on your platform. It's possible to draw useful conclusions about the quality of your online service by tracking which pages your customers visit, how long they stay on each page, and other browsing habits. Let's say you run a business where users can pay to watch DIY car repair videos created by expert mechanics. You find that 90% of visitors make it to the pricing details tab, but only 5% go on to pick one of the service options, using an analytics tool that allows you to track traffic to each page. This could indicate that your pricing strategy isn't competitive; reducing your prices could result in a higher sales rate. Google Analytics (free), Open Web Analytics (free), Clicky (requires registration), Mint (paid), and Click Tale are just a few examples of common web analytics tools (paid). 151 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

• Hire a professional third party to manage your feedback needs - If your company is having trouble assessing its service quality, it's important to note that it doesn't have to do it alone. If you don't have the time or money to collect customer reviews efficiently, consider hiring a high-quality customer support company. The best companies would consider your company's specific goal when managing customer reviews and keeping you informed about any issues. Third-party solutions can be massive time-savers and efficiency-boosters for companies with space in their budget for outsourcing. However, having a third party to manage customer service may make it look as if the company doesn't value the views of its customers enough to communicate with them directly. As a result, it's critical to project an empathetic, \"human\" picture to customers while outsourcing your customer service needs. • Demonstrate to customers that their input matters- Consider this: if you were a typical customer, who would you prefer to send a lengthy, well-written service quality review to: a large, faceless corporation to whom you don't matter, or a company run by humans who takes the time to respond to their needs? The solution should be self-evident. You'll get more (and better) reviews without having to make any other improvements if the company has a reputation for taking its customers' complaints seriously. All that's needed is a little extra time and effort to reach out to customers who email you with complaints about the quality of your service. Responding to your customers' feedback and concerns on social media, where they're most accessible to other customers, is a simple way for small and large companies alike to do this. You may not be able to deter any unhappy customer from quitting your company, but if you react graciously and politely to an angry social media review, for example, you will make the best of a bad situation and possibly win the customer's business back. 1. Assessing Your Company Assess the customer's point of contact's consistency - When creating a survey or another form of assessing the company's service efficiency, it's critical to concentrate on the most relevant indicators (since customers are less likely to complete longer, more complicated surveys). The consistency of the customer's point of contact is one of the most critical details to consider. You will decide if your company's experiences with consumers are acceptable by looking at how customers communicate with your representatives. Furthermore, using this line of questioning will assist you in \"weeding out\" problematic workers with negative attitudes. Try to think of questions like these: • Which employee(s) did you receive service from? • Did the employee(s) who provided the service seem to know what they were doing? • Did they treat customers and co-workers with respect? • Did they exude faith and trustworthiness? 152 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

• Evaluate the company's overall empathy. - If your company works directly with customers (rather than other companies), it's critical to express that your company values its clients. There is no simple solution to this problem; it is a combination of marketing, branding, and (especially) service quality. Focus on asking questions like the following to assess this consistency in surveys and other ways: • Did the customer believe the business and/or employee(s) were concerned about the people with whom they were interacting? • Did the customer feel like they were treated as an individual? • Did the business project a fun, accommodating vibe? • Measure the company's dependability—high service quality in the short term is meaningless if it can't be maintained in the long run. Consistency is a critical component of high-quality service; in reality, research shows that consumers consider reliability to be the most important feature of good service. Large multinationals like McDonalds are able to draw consumers from all over the world because of their dependability. Customers prefer to get the same positive outcome every time they use a company's goods or services. As a result, to assess the quality of your service, ask the following questions: Was the service provided by the employee or organisation accurate? Is the customer confident that the organisation or employee will be able to provide the service in the future? Is the consumer likely to use the company's services again? If the consumer has used the company's services before, how did their most recent experience relate to previous ones? • Evaluate the company's responsiveness - While it should go without saying, consumers almost everywhere tend to engage with businesses that are kind, friendly, timely, and eager to please them. Measuring your company's responsiveness will help you decide whether to invest more resources in providing a positive customer experience by educating your staff to be more successful, recruiting new workers, and/or employing different customer-facing strategies. Consider concentrating on the following questions: What was the employee's willingness and ability to respond to the customer's needs? What was the turnaround time for service? Did the employee seem to be pleased to provide additional assistance? • Measure the concrete aspects of the customer's experience - Even the happiest, most timely, most welcoming workers won't be able to provide high-quality service if they lack the necessary equipment or the business's physical atmosphere is unsatisfactory. Providing high- quality service necessitates keeping the physical, observable aspects of the company in good 153 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

order. Identify weaknesses in the company's processes by asking questions like: Was all equipment in good working order? Was the product's or company's presentation neat and professional? Was the employee's (or employees') appearance professional? Was anything communicated in a straightforward and competent manner? 2. Improving the Company's Customer Service • Identify service expectations for your employees- Employees' job can be hampered if they're given a slew of pointless guidelines to obey, but some guidance is necessary in sensitive areas like customer service. Employees should understand exactly what is expected of them when interacting with customers and providing services to the company. A polite, helpful attitude, a willingness to satisfy the customer, and simple, professional service are all things that most businesses strive for. Additional criteria can differ, so it's up to you and your company's management to make sure your staff understand your objectives. The simplest service rules are often the most efficient. Little Caesars, a big American fast food pizza chain, for example, sets a clear target for its employees: \"a great pizza and a smile in 30 seconds or less.\" This straightforward directive describes the most important aspects of the company's service (quality, friendliness, and speed) and specifies the level of service that is required. • Compete for the best employees - Employees are perhaps the most valuable resource an organisation can have. It's almost impossible to reliably provide high-quality service without trained, motivated employees; with them, good service is the standard. If you want the best workers for your company, don't wait for them to come to you; instead, go out and find them, and be ready to give them compelling offers when you do. Job vacancies should be advertised in online and print classified advertising. Attend job fairs to represent your business. Keep in touch with your professional contacts and let them know when you're hiring. Over all, be able to compensate your employees better than your rivals. Offering your workers, a \"career\" rather than an \"employment\" is a sound strategy for recruiting good employees (and enhancing the loyalty of current employees). This entails a fair, consistent wage with competitive benefits and, most importantly, the opportunity for advancement through hard work. Employees who see the value of staying at their current job for a long time are more likely to put in the extra time and effort to provide outstanding service to your customers. • Provide rewards for good service to the workers - What's a perfect way to ensure that your workers have outstanding service? Making it worthwhile for them. Offering workers monetary incentives for achieving or reaching the standard of service you want is what it means to incentivize good service. Money is sometimes used as a motivator, but other incentives, such as leisure time, promotions, and awards, may also be efficient. When a smart 154 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

reward-based system is in place, it becomes in the employee's best interest to offer excellent service because they will be rewarded the most. Many car dealerships, for example, pay their salespeople on a commission basis, which means that salespeople keep a portion of the income from the selling of a car. This model benefits both the salesmen and the dealership: salesmen would inevitably work hard to make sales in order to gain as much money as possible, resulting in an increase in the number of cars sold by the dealership. • Monitoring your service should be a part of your business strategy all the time- It's not a one-time job to assess the company's service level. It should be a big, continuous part of your business operations if you want to keep your service quality high as new problems arise. Consider implementing a couple of the tactics below the next time you're planning the company's upcoming schedule: • Hold semi-daily service quality meetings with the management team • Conduct regular employee reviews with a focus on service improvements • If possible, devote resources to tracking your company's online \"profile\" on a regular basis (or even hiring new staff or interns to do this) • Make it easy for consumers to lodge complaints and get answers- Businesses must not be afraid to \"face the music\" if they want to increase their service quality. After all, the ultimate predictor of customer service is (obviously) the customer, but smart companies make it easy for their customers to tell them what they're doing wrong. Make it a point to ask your customers for suggestions on a regular basis. It's up to you to determine what's appropriate for your company, whether it's as easy as holding comment cards next to your cash register or as complex as building an online database to coordinate and store all customer service requests. Make an effort to listen to as much of your customers' feedback as possible, no matter what you do to get it. This isn't just courteous; it also fosters a sense of belonging among your customers and shows them that their views are valued. Since reviews on social media and influential review sites like Yelp can potentially be read by millions, you'll want to respond to fair concerns there. 8.4 IMPROVING SERVICE QUALITY AND SERVICE DELIVERY Any company that wants to succeed needs to have excellent customer service. Consumers now have more options than ever before thanks to technology like e-commerce. As a result, focusing on delivering outstanding customer support is critical today. Customer support has evolved in recent years, moving away from one-on-one encounters in person or over the phone and into social media and other online methods that reach a much 155 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

wider audience. To be more competitive, follow these tips to enhance your customer service and, as a result, your sales. • Be aware of your goal. What is the goal of your company, and why is your product or service important to your customers? It's important to pause and consider this before attempting to modernise the customer service strategy. Break down your mission into long and short-term objectives once you've found it. These will assist you in measuring your progress so that you can monitor your progress and make improvements as needed. • Ask for suggestions. Obtaining customer reviews is critical for improving not only your customer service, but also your entire enterprise. Create new ways to get input from your customers, such as sending them surveys via email or text. • Stay ahead of the curve when it comes to answers. Social networking is incredibly fast and simple to use by almost everyone. Customers are now using these tools to share their positive or negative experiences with an organisation with their entire following. Customers demand a response within hours, so it's beneficial for brands to engage with them by reacting quickly to all forms of feedback, regardless of the channel they're using. • Promote cross-selling You can quickly boost revenue without launching a new marketing campaign by ensuring that your sales representatives are cross-selling at any opportunity. When you deliver an additional product or service to a client on top of the ones they're considering, particularly if they're linked, you're cross-selling. If someone is looking to buy a backpack, for example, you might give a rain cover to go with it on their outdoor activity. The more products you can sell in addition to the initial purchase, the more sales you'll make. This is a critical skill to teach sales reps and customer service agents since it has been shown to increase sales and improve customer satisfaction. • Include added-value services Customer support representatives do more than just solve problems and assist customers. They should also be able to provide facts and awareness about the brand and its services. Sharing your expertise is a great way to add value to your customers and stay top of mind when they need advice or facts. Your social media channels are ideal for disseminating information to all of your customers. • Create a referral network. 156 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

Creating a referral scheme of benefits is a smart idea. People love free stuff, so asking your client to refer your business to their group in exchange for some kind of reward is the perfect way to ensure you get a lot of good referrals. Customers that are referred to a brand by current customers are 18% more likely to stay loyal customers, according to studies. • Educate and train your members Since your customer service team is the lifeblood of your company, you must ensure that they are well-versed in all of the above. Customer service representatives are often a client's only point of contact with a company; they are the company's face. They can be the most important tool for your brand identity and goods because they have been professionally educated and given the authority to make decisions that promote client satisfaction. • Be accountable You are solely responsible for all that occurs if you are the company's CEO. If you want a good customer service team that can go above and beyond, you must provide guidance and direction to the team. You must be a leader who accepts responsibility when things go wrong and gives credit to others when things go well. 8.5 SERVICE FAILURE AND RECOVERY Failures of Service Even in the best service organisations, failures may occur due to the service not being available when promised, it being delivered late or too slowly (sometimes too quickly??), the result being inaccurate or poorly performed, or staff being rude or uncaring. Many of these types of service failures result in negative outcomes. If left unaddressed, they can cause consumers to leave, warn others about their bad experiences, or even file a complaint with the consumer protection agency. According to research, successfully addressing issues has a significant impact on customer satisfaction, loyalty, and bottom-line profitability. Customers that have service failures but are eventually pleased as a result of the company's turnaround efforts will be more loyal. The Recovery Conundrum Customers who are unhappy but receive excellent service recovery may be more satisfied and likely to repurchase than those who are satisfied in the first place, according to research. Consider a hotel customer who arrives and discovers that no room is available. In an attempt to make amends, the front-desk employee upgrades this guest to a better room at the same price. The customer is so pleased with the refund that he is highly pleased with his overall experience, is even more impressed with the hotel than he had been previously, and promises to remain loyal in the future. The reasonable, if not entirely fair, inference is that businesses should expect to disappoint customers in order to rebound and gain even more loyalty as a result. The Recovery Paradox is the name given to this concept. The recovery conundrum is 157 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

more complicated than it seems. First and foremost, fixing errors is costly, and encouraging service failure would be absurd, given that reliability is the most critical aspect of service quality. According to study, a customer's recent experiences play a significant role in their decision to purchase again. If the experience is bad, overall feelings about the business will deteriorate, as will repurchase intentions. The negative feeling can be reversed if the rehabilitation effort is completely outstanding. A new research found no evidence for the recovery paradox. It indicates that, regardless of the recovery effort, average satisfaction was consistently lower for customers who had encountered a service outage than for those who had not. The extent of the service failure in this study suggests that there is no recovery paradox—a three-hour aeroplane flight delay. Any recovery effort may not be enough to resolve this form of failure. Considering the differing viewpoints on whether or not a recovery paradox occurs It is fair to assume that the easiest and safest technique is to \"do it right the first time.\" When a loss occurs, every attempt should be made to recover as quickly as possible. It could be possible to see proof of the recovery paradox in situations where the failure can be entirely resolved, the failure is less important, or the recovery effort is obviously superior. How Customers Respond When a Service Fails When consumers take action as a result of a service malfunction, they can do so in a variety of ways. An unhappy customer may file a complaint with the service provider on the spot, allowing the company to respond quickly. This is frequently the best-case scenario for the company, as it has a second chance right there at that moment to please the client, retain his or her business in the future, and possibly escape any negative word of mouth. Some customers choose not to complain to the supplier directly, preferring instead to distribute derogatory information about the business to friends, families, and co-workers. This negative word of mouth can be particularly harmful because it can strengthen the customer's negative feelings and propagate the negativity to others. Furthermore, unless the negative word of mouth is followed by a clear complaint to the company, the company has little hope of recovering. Customers can react in a variety of ways when there is a failure. It is expected that, as a result of the loss, the customer will experience disappointment on certain levels. According to study, a wide range of negative emotions, including frustration, dissatisfaction, disappointment, self-pity, and anxiety, may arise as a result of service failure. Many consumers are oblivious to their frustration, just saying or doing nothing. Whether they take action or not, the consumer can eventually determine whether to stick with the provider or turn to a competitor. Recovery Plan for Services 158 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

Service failure occurs when a business fails to follow through on commitments made to customers on the basis of which they have built expectations. When a service fails, the consequences may be serious once more. Customers are considered the bread and butter, so keeping them is the most difficult task, but service failure is a roadblock. • The consumer needs what they were told in such failures. • The customer expects personalised service. • The customer expects a sincere apology. • Customers do not want to be made to feel like they are the source of the issue. (Though they are often the source of annoyance) There are again five steps involved in order to deal with service failure. They are mentioned as below Figure 8.3 • Acknowledgement of the situation and an apology. • Paying attention to what consumers have to say. • Instead of defending the organisation, offer a reasoned explanation. • Include some other benefits • Follow up properly this time to make sure there are no errors, so he can quickly forget about the service failure and is retained. In the event of a service recovery, a consumer deserves three shorts of justice. The following is a list of them. • Interaction fairness: in the event of a service failure, the provider is required to remember the customer first. The customer may be disappointed as a result, but he still expects fairness and courtesy in the addresser's language and tone. • Procedure fairness: knowing the specifics of a service malfunction or being able to receive compensation. The process that is involved should be as simple as possible. In terms of 159 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

customer satisfaction, service failure and procedural complexity can combine to create a disaster. • Fairness in the outcome: now that the organisation has realised that there has been a service failure, they should compensate, arrange for alternate modes of transportation, or comply with the customer's condition. The client, his wishes, and the company's policies should all be taken into account when determining the result. 8.6SUMMARY • When a service fails and there is no successful turnaround plan in place, the business' profitability suffers. Customer satisfaction can be achieved by effective recovery strategies. However, when the consumer is dissatisfied with the way the problem is being handled, the problem becomes even worse. • The research builds on previous work by looking into the role of service failure severity within the context of service recovery research. The findings show that the magnitude of service failure has a major impact on satisfaction, confidence, loyalty, and negative word-of-mouth. • Improving service quality necessitates monitoring it, finding holes, and putting in place steps to close them. RATER (responsiveness, assurance, tangibles, empathy, and reliability) • The Industrial Management Approach Model is a way of organising a company that focuses on quality, revenues, and operating costs while ignoring the role that employees play in generating customer satisfaction and long-term profits with their current services. 8.7 KEYWORDS • SERVQUAL DIMENSION : Ttangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy • Service strategy: service strategy, the service provider can decide the service parameters, build the service value chain • Service Performance: Highlights that training, empowerment and rewards are the three most significant factors for service performance • Competence: the extent to which the individual feels confident about their ability to perform the task • Self-determination: the degree of influence the individual has over how to perform the job 160 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

• Transcendental Quality: it can only be experienced not described • Strategic autonomy: the degree of influence an individual has on the content of the job 8.8 LEARNING ACTIVITY 1. Choose of any Multinational company of your choice, identify the process they follow for maintaining Quality of Services and how to support improvement of service quality and development process. ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 8.9 UNIT END QUESTIONS A. Descriptive Questions Short Questions 1. What is service expectation and customer gap. 2. What are the main reasons for Service Failure and recovery 3. What is empathy and reliability of services with example. 4. In services, perceptions and expectations are changes every day. Do you agree? Support your answer with valid example. 5. Explain about the SERVQUAL Dimension Long Questions 1. Assume you are the marketing manager of an MNC's. What factors will you keep in mind to meet customer expectations and service design and delivery? whether our services system will meet out the customer expectation? 2. Describe the major factor and forces link service quality with internal and external customer satisfaction and loyalty? Explain with an appropriate example. 3. You are running a counselling service in Hospital industry. How can you use frame the services, service design and recovery to help the patient? Suggest ways to take improve the efficiency of services in modern trends. 4. Explain in detail about Service Failure and recovery. 5. Describe in detail how to improve service Quality 161 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

B. Multi Choice Questions 1. Manish had purchased a ticket from a famous airline for his upcoming business meeting in London. He had injured his left leg a couple of days back and needed wheelchair assistance. He called the airline customer service and asked for wheelchair assistance. He was not only promised wheelchair assistance but also pick-up and drop facility. Which dimension of ‘service quality was strongly promoted here? a. Assurance b. Features c. Aesthetics d. Reputation 2. Manoj went to buy a washing machine. On top of the washing machine, it was mentioned that free service will be provided every 3 months until one year is completed. Manoj approached the shopkeeper to get a confirmation on the authenticity of the statement. Which dimension of ‘service quality’ was Manoj focusing on? a. Empathy b. Aesthetics c. Reliability d. Reputation 3. In the absence of a physical product, service providers need to consider the use of ______________ that enable customers to make a judgment on the service quality. a. Intangible clues b. Tangible clues c. Blueprint d. Performance measures 4. Compared with low-contact services, customers of high-contact services are more likely to judge service quality on the basis of: a. Price of the service b. Processes used in carrying out the service c. Intangible outcomes e.g. The performance of an investment portfolio 162 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

d. Tangible outcomes 5. Customers that are referred to a brand by current customers are ________more likely to stay loyal customers, according to studies. a. 10% b. 78% c. 54% d. 18% Answers 1- a, 2 – c, 3 – b, 4-b, 5-d 8.10 REFERENCES Text Books: • Zeithaml V. A. ,Bitner M. J. and Pandit, A., Services Marketing, 5th Edition, Tata McGraw Hill Publishing Co. Ltd. New Delhi. • Lovelock C. H., Wirtz, J. and Chatterjee, J., Service Marketing: People, Technology, Strategy, 6thEdition, Pearson Education, New Delhi. Reference Books: • Hoffman, K. D. & Bateson, J. E.G., Marketing of Services, Cengage Learning, • Kurtz D. L. and Clow K. E., Services Marketing. Biztantra, New Delhi. • Nargundkar, Rajendra, Services Marketing Text and Cases, 3rd Edition, Tata 163 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

UNIT 9: CUSTOMER DEFINED SERVICE STANDARDS Structure 9.0 Learning Objectives 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Customer Defined Service Standards- Hard and Soft 9.3Concept of Service Leadership and Service Vision 9.4 Meeting Customer 9.5 Summary 9.6 Keywords 9.7 Learning Activity 9.8 Unit End Questions 9.9 References 9.0 LEARNING OBJECTIVES After studying this unit, you will be able to: • To know the Service standards are important for customers, potential customers, employees and management of a business. • It helps to define what a customer can expect and to remind management and employees of the challenge and obligations that they face the challenges and issues in Service Standards • It Identify service Standards to help manufacturers reduce costs, anticipate technical requirements, and increase productive and innovative efficiency in Service Standards • To provide competitive products and services conforming to customer needs and expectations first time, on time, every time with Defined service standards • It Measures the attitudes towards customer in establishing standard, knowledge, skills with pre-determined standard and service leadership strategy 9.1 INTRODUCTION A company's customer service standards are a collection of practises and priorities that it has established and implemented. All points of touch between the company and the consumer are 164 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

covered by the requirements. They are, in a sense, the expectations or rules for customer behaviour in every transaction, as well as how you want customers to feel about their interaction with your company. Customers, after all, buy based on feelings rather than logic or justification. More than data and facts, exceptional customer service encourages potential buying behaviour. Customer service levels provide more than just sales and after-sales assistance. At all key points of communication with the customer, a comprehensive set of guidelines must address the company's customer service policies and practises. Customer support is an essential aspect of every company's operations. The value of customer service to the company and its brand development activities is the same if the company sells its products to individual customers or to other businesses. The Buyer's Journey and Customer Service The buyer's journey is a conceptual framework for considering your customer's entire set of interactions with your company. Although the exact contours and points of touch will differ depending on the business and what it does or sells, at least these three stages will be included: • Awareness: When a consumer is aware of an issue or a need, he or she is motivated to solve or meet it. • Consideration: The consumer considers the various solutions and options for resolving the issue or meeting the need. • Purchase: The consumer makes a purchase decision and purchases one of the items or solutions he considered during stage two. Both of these phases, as well as the post-purchase process, should be covered by customer service. In one sense, marketing is the art of assisting consumers in moving from one stage to the next more quickly and easily. Customer service is there to help customers at every step of the way and beyond. Customer service is there to serve both potential and current customers as they consider, assess, buy, and use a company's goods and services, rather than only helping people who have already purchased the product use it more efficiently. In the knowledge stage, or stage one, it could mean providing more information about the need or perceived issue. It may involve having more comprehensive details about the product or service cycle's lifetime and how it will help solve the issue in stage two. Finally, in stage three, the decision-making process, assistance with the transaction or some part of it, such as shipping and returns, is normally the focus. An organisation expertly designs the unique experience it wants its customers to enjoy by crafting customer service expectations to regulate interactions with consumers at any possible 165 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

point in the buyer's journey. Maintaining a positive design mindset will help a company convert prospects and leads into loyal customers and brand ambassadors. Figure 9.1 Service Standards' Importance Investing time and resources into formalising customer service practises is a critical exercise for businesses to pursue. The process of creating such standards and guidelines aids the organisation in solidifying its thinking about its business and enhancing its brand. Adopting structured customer service standards and communicating those standards to all employees who have some interaction with customers is critical for the company's employees, particularly those in customer and technical service roles. Adopting formal customer care practises often aids in the scripting of the buyer's path. Furthermore, structured customer service benefits the business by ensuring that the maximum number of customers react positively. When a customer has a good, pleasant experience during their first transaction with a business, they are more likely to return for future transactions. From an economic standpoint, it makes much more sense for most businesses to keep a current customer rather than add a new one. Gaining a new customer can be up to 25 times more expensive than keeping a current one. 9.2 CUSTOMER DEFINED SERVICE STANDARDS- HARD AND SOFT • Factors necessary for appropriate service standards • Standardization of service behaviours and actions: The degree to which activities and behaviours can be standardised or routinized determines how well consumer expectations are translated into basic service quality requirements. Customization typically refers to any form 166 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

of modification or tailoring of the process to the particular consumer, whereas standardisation usually refers to a non-varying sequential process. • Objectives and priorities for formal service: Companies that have consistently provided high-quality service are known for having structured guidelines to direct employees in providing service. These businesses have a good idea of how well they're doing when it comes to providing important services to their clients. • It's about the customer, not the business. Clearly defined standards: Almost every organisation has its own set of service standards and metrics, which are established to meet internal company targets for productivity, performance, expense, or technological quality. Customer-Defined Service Standards: What Are They and How Do They Work? A company's customer service standards are a collection of practises and priorities that it has established and implemented. All points of touch between the company and the consumer are covered by the requirements. They are, in a sense, the expectations or rules for customer behaviour in every transaction, as well as how you want customers to feel about their interaction with your company. Customers, after all, buy based on feelings rather than logic or justification. More than data and facts, exceptional customer service encourages potential buying behaviour. It can be divided into two categories: - There are both hard and soft standards. Hard criteria are things that can be counted, timed, or observed by audits. This includes the following: • delivery time • answer time Soft standards are those that must be registered using perceptual tests, such as: • Courteousness • Trustworthiness • Communication skills • Establishment of quality levels based on customer input The procedure for establishing customer-defined service levels. Step 1: Determine the sequence of service encounters that are currently in place or that are desired: In the aggregate of different service interactions, a customer's average service quality assessment. Service experiences are the building blocks for establishing service standards in a company. Firms are concerned with the consistency of service encounters when determining expectations, because they want to know the precise criteria and preferences of the customer for each service encounter. 167 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

Step 2: Convert consumer expectations into actions/behaviours: Setting a goal in general conceptual terms, such as \"develop company skills,\" is unsuccessful because the goal is difficult to understand, quantify, and accomplish. When a business gathers data, it often captures consumer needs in very general terms. Step 3: Create acceptable benchmarks: The next step is to decide whether to use a hard or soft norm to capture a specific behaviour or action. Remember that hard standards are quantifiable indicators of employee behaviour and behaviours, while soft standards are more abstract criteria or concerns that are difficult to quantify and are sometimes subjective. Step 4: Establish a standard measurement system: Companies must create input measures that accurately capture the standards after determining if hard or soft standards are acceptable and which particular standards better capture customer requirements. Step 5: Determine the standards' target levels: Companies were then expected to set target thresholds for the standards as the next step. The organisation will be unable to quantify whether the requirements are being met without this measure. Employees will keep track of when a report is made to the organisation and when it is resolved. Step 6: Compare the results to the standards: Former Milliken Industries CEO Roger Milliken is quoted as saying, \"In God we trust, all others bring data.\" FedEx and Disney, for example, have meticulous and detailed fact-based processes that provide information on their activities, enabling them to constantly assess how the organisation is doing in relation to its quality expectations. Step 7: Provide employees with performance feedback: After determining acceptable standards, developing concrete metrics that better capture consumer needs, and setting appropriate goal thresholds for the standards, businesses must establish a system to provide feedback on employee actions and behaviour. Employee monitoring is an example of such feedback; in companies with customer service departments, this includes managers listening in on employee phone calls. Step 8: Refresh your goal levels and metrics: Finally, to keep up with consumer demands, the target standard, measures, and even customer requirements must be revised on a regular basis. 168 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

Figure 9.2 9.3 CONCEPT OF SERVICE LEADERSHIP AND SERVICE VISION Leadership in Service Great service leaders and leadership teams are needed to build a service culture. Senior leadership's ability to set the vision, focus the entire company, reward performance and eliminate roadblocks, and model appropriate behaviour cannot be delegated. To ensure that a service culture building initiative does not fail, leaders and leadership teams must accept four main positions. 1. Create a vision and a course of action. What are the goals of fostering a service culture? Why is this so important, and why is it happening now? Leadership must develop an engaging service vision that instils a sense of mission, importance, and meaning in employees. This vision must be applied not only to consumers, but also to colleagues and divisions within the company. Organizations who wish to provide world-class support at the frontlines must invest in exceptional service across the board. Alignment around a strategic goal is the first step toward change. Employees' passion, excitement, and dedication are fuelled by a compelling service vision. A compelling service vision offers guidance and a clear picture of what is desired – and what is not. 2. Involve, focus, and encourage everyone in the company. 169 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

The entire organisation, not just the customer service, human resources, or organisational development departments, is responsible for developing a service culture. This directive must come directly from the CEO and his or her key leadership team. Senior leaders must be actively involved and recognisable in order for developing a service culture to be seen as more than a tactical attempt to enhance service, a frontline skills training initiative, or another HR department's \"culture thing.\" Building a service culture must remain a top priority for leadership. Initially, ‘talking the talk' must be backed up by visible effort in the culture-building process. 3. Set priorities and allocate resources Although a validated approach can be used to create a culture of service excellence, each company has its own principles, structure, and goals. It is the responsibility of leadership to review progress on a regular basis, make decisions on business goals, and devote resources around the service culture's building blocks. Senior leaders are also the only ones who can remove roadblocks to service culture. 4. Have a role model Building a service culture necessitates leaders who recognise the value of service and act accordingly. The acts of leaders must show outstanding service to consumers and co-workers. It's just as important for leaders to consider and reward workers who are 'doing the right thing,' even when they make a mistake! When people take new actions, they can make mistakes. Leaders can make it easy for workers to take calculated risks by showing that errors are opportunities to learn, change, and develop in their own words and actions. Finally, a popular language is an important component of service culture. To speed up and improve the service community, successful service leaders regularly use ‘service language' in their own meetings and communications. 5.Vision for Service A leader must first have a mental vision of the organization's future state that is both feasible and desirable. This picture, which we refer to as vision, can be as broad as a dream or as specific as a goal or mission statement. The key point is that a vision expresses a vision of a plausible, credible, and appealing future for the company, one that is superior to what exists now in certain important ways. A vision is a beckoning goal. 170 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

Figure 9.3 • Synthesizing the Vision: When developing a service vision, the ability to incorporate different types of knowledge is critical. Foresight is required to ensure that the vision is appropriate for the future environment; hindsight is required to ensure that organisational tradition and culture are not overstepped; a world-view is required to capitalise on the impact of new developments and trends; depth perception is required to see the whole picture in detail and perspective; and peripheral vision is required to foresee possible responses from a variety of sources. The process should also provide a framework for updating, so that the vision can be updated to represent potential environmental changes. • Articulating the Vision Clearly: The best service visions are \"brief, straightforward, abstract in reflecting a general ideal rather than a particular accomplishment, demanding, future-oriented, secure, and desirable.\" • Promoting Devotion to the Service Vision: Service leaders demonstrate their commitment to the troops of service workers on whom they depend to carry out the vision on a regular and visible basis. • A vision for programmes is implemented by a leader: If leaders are to transform service vision into concrete actions, they must promote devotion to the service vision. In order to implement the vision, the leader must also take other actions and activities, such as structuring the organisation, hiring, acculturating, and educating staff, inspiring, managing knowledge, forming teams, and encouraging change, creativity, and risk- taking. 171 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

• Choosing, Acculturating, and Educating: Three related and essential leadership tasks are selecting, acculturating, and preparation. Selecting entails determining which service worker is best suited for each task. Acculturation entails instilling the ethos and vision of the company in those chosen. Employees benefit from training because it helps them understand and carry out their roles and duties. • Managing Knowledge: Effective leaders are information gatherers who listen to their subordinates and external sources, especially customers: “They are present and accessible, not remote and inaccessible.” They sat and read. They develop extensive knowledge networks. They properly distribute and disseminate knowledge inside the organisation.” Service executives, in particular, are often \"deeply and intimately active in their company's customer service role.\" They read complaint logs and letters directly, answered phone calls, and were highly visible and accessible to the rank and file.” They are adamant about not delegating this crucial task to those in the company, preferring to be interested and competent themselves. Leaders who listen to their employees use upward contact to learn about the company's activities and results. Formal (e.g., notifications of difficulties and exceptions in service delivery) and informal communication are two forms of communication that may be important (e.g., discussions between contact people and upper-level managers). Leaders who maintain constant touch with their customers profit not only by keeping their employees satisfied, but also by learning more about their customers. • Creating Teams: Service leaders must foster collaboration among their subordinates and teach them how to work effectively together to achieve objectives. Amount the strategies used to ensure that employees work together are creating cooperative goals that can only be reached together, using project teams and task forces, and implementing group-based reward systems. Building an efficient top-management team that demonstrates to the entire company the importance of teamwork is both symbolic and realistic. 9.4 MEETING CUSTOMER Rules for a great customer meeting • Complete your homework Find out as much as you can about the client. Virtually every organisation has a wealth of knowledge accessible on the Internet. Never put yourself in a situation where you have to ask a customer a question that can be answered elsewhere. • Make a schedule. 172 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

This should be a set of five or seven questions that centre the discussion on the customer's needs, progressing from broad to specific. These questions should be spaced about an inch apart so that you (and the customer) have enough room to take notes. Note that the agenda should be printed on company letterhead and include the customer's full name, as well as the time and date. Make enough copies for everybody in the room to take notes during the conference. •Create a favourable first impression. Begin by expressing gratitude for the customer's time and acknowledging that you are aware of their busy schedule. This is critical because, even though the customer requested the meeting, they are likely to be preoccupied and stressed when the meeting time comes. •Make a schedule. Provide a copy of your agenda to the customer and clarify that you've planned one because you know they're busy. The customer can noticeably relax as you say these stuff because you've removed their fear of being exposed to a sales pitch. • Make use of the agenda to uncover requirements Consider the presentation to be the torso of a skeleton, with the agenda questions serving as the spine and the subsequent discussions serving as the ribs. Continue to refer to the agenda to reassure the customer that the meeting is progressing and that you are respecting his or her time, assuaging any concerns the customer may have about the meeting lasting too long. • Keep the conversation moving so the customer doesn't feel rushed. Until being overloaded, the average consumer can only listen to three sentences. The customer would actually shut down and say, \"I'll think about it,\" if you become an information fire hose. Listen to what the consumer has to say. You will also get a better sense of the customer's true attitude and mood by listening carefully. • Make sure everybody is included in the discussion. Make the error of just speaking with the senior manager. Even if he or she is the final decision maker, you will almost certainly have to persuade those in the room to do business with you and your company. As you give your presentation, address and part of the audience, making sure to maintain eye contact with everyone in the room. Make a point while looking at one guy, then move on to your next point while looking at someone else. • Figure out when you want to buy. Focusing on consumers who aren't likely to buy is a major mistake. \"If I show you exactly what you're looking for at a fair price, what kind of time frame would it take you to make a decision?\" is a classic way to get this information. • Anticipate objections that would inevitably arise. 173 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

When you're fairly confident that a specific objection would be raised, acknowledge it before the customer does. \"Some people say our product is a little too expensive,\" for example, \"but...\" Admitting both the \"cons\" and \"pros\" of the product increases your reputation. • Never make a negative comment about a rival. If a competitor shows up, sincerely compliment them for what they do well, but then show the consumer why working with your company is a better business decision. Consider the following scenario: \"ABC, on the other hand, is a fantastic organisation with a long history and high expectations. However, based on what you've told me about your requirements, I believe we can better meet them because...\" • Demonstrate how you can satisfy the customer's needs. You know ahead of time that this is a customer who really wants your product because you did your homework, and you have a clear idea how to place your offering to suit the customer's needs. The golden rule of selling is to treat your customers as you would like to be treated. • Confirm the next move or close the company. It will be very quick to close or transfer the sales process to the next level if you've followed the entire process outlined above, won the customer's confidence, and the customer likes you. If you do it right, the customer may even purchase the product or service without even asking for a quote. 9.5 SUMMARY • The service quality clarifies what a customer should expect from a service and how the service provider can implement it, such as in terms of timeliness, consistency, and suitability. • It assists in obtaining customer feedback; in order to have outstanding customer service, you must first comprehend their desires, experiences, and pain points, among other things. • Customers, future customers, staff, and a company's management all value service levels. They assist in defining what a customer should expect as well as reminding management and staff of the task and responsibilities they face. • In the service sector, where service experiences occur around the board, even minor improvements in the practice of service psychology may have a significant effect on society. • Developing and consistently coordinating recruiting philosophies, internal procedures, budgeting structures, incentives, and decision-making styles have proven to be important 174 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

tools for managing companies into the future over the last few years. • Service marketing has exploded in popularity around the world. Service businesses compete primarily on the basis of the standard of service they offer. • It is focused on a service organization's awareness of consumer preferences and ability to meet or exceed these expectations in order to provide quality service. 9.6 KEYWORDS • Empathy: Caring, individual attention paid to customers by the service firm to meet each customer’s demands properly. • Service Reliability: Differs from the product reliability in that it relates to the ability of the service provider to perform the promised service dependably and accurately • Assurance: The knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to inspire trust and confidence – creating trust and confidence will gain the customers’ loyalty • Desired Service: Service that a customer desires and hopes to receive. • Adequate Service: Minimal level of service that a customer is willing to accept from a service provider. • Responsiveness: Willingness of the service provider and his staff to provide assistance and prompt service to customers. • Zone of Tolerance: Gap between customer’s desired service expectations and the adequate service expectations 9.7 LEARNING ACTIVITY 1. As you are service Quality manager associated with HDFC Bank, McDonalds and Indigo Airlines. Being a manger how do you access and analyse the service quality standards? what are effective steps taken to improve quality standard services? ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 9.8 UNIT END QUESTIONS A. Descriptive Questions 175 Short Questions 1. Define Service Encounter. 2. How do you access and set a standard performance? CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

3 What are tools you used to measure the quality of services? 4. What is meant by Service Leadership? 5. How do you create and positive and negative standards? Long Questions 1. \"Service Standards can be powerful tools in setting customer expectations, through advertising\" Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Discuss Elaborately. 2. How the customer Perception is differing from Customer expectations? what are the requirements tools to measure the perception and expectation”. Comment. 3. “It is very difficult to manage and control customer satisfaction and level of perception”. Discuss. 4. Explain the customer service process and expectations to meet the different level of customer in modern era with examples. 5. What are the steps involved in measuring and developing Service Standards performance and quality development programmes? B. Multi Choice Questions 1. ___________ is increasing Leadership rapidly: a. Strategy b. Command c. Control d. Getting others to follow 2. Needs, setting standards and maintaining discipline, and appointing sub-leaders according to Adair’s approach, called as: a. Work functions b. Task functions c. Individual functions d. Team functions 3. Cost-leadership and product-differentiation strategies are so widely recognized that they are often called a. Common business strategies. 176 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

b. Generic business strategies. c. generic corporate strategies d. common corporate strategies 4. A tool for assessing the level of service quality based on the difference between users’ expectations and the service experience delivered is: a. The service dashboard b. The service quality gap model c. The balanced scorecard d. The information value model 5. What are the five principal dimensions to judge service quality? a. Reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, tangibles b. Reliability, response, assurance, empathy, tangibles c. Reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, targets d. Reliability, responsiveness aspects, empathy, tangibles 6. _________ is an attitude formed by a long-term, overall evaluation of a firm's performance. a. Customer satisfaction b. Negative disconfirmation c. Positive disconfirmation d. Service quality Answers 1 – d, 2 – d, 3 – b, 4 – d, 5 - d,6-d 9.9 REFERENCES Text Books: • Zeithaml V. A. ,Bitner M. J. and Pandit, A., Services Marketing, 5th Edition, Tata McGraw Hill Publishing Co. Ltd. New Delhi. • Lovelock C. H., Wirtz, J. and Chatterjee, J., Service Marketing: People, Technology, 177 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

Strategy, 6thEdition, Pearson Education, New Delhi. Reference Books: • Hoffman, K. D. & Bateson, J. E.G., Marketing of Services, Cengage Learning, • Kurtz D. L. and Clow K. E., Services Marketing. Biztantra, New Delhi. • Nargundkar, Rajendra, Services Marketing Text and Cases, 3rd Edition, Tata 178 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

UNIT 10: CUSTOMER DEFINED SERVICE STANDARDS Structure 10.0 Learning Objectives 10.1 Defined Service Standards 10.2Service Flexibility Versus Standards 10.3 Evaluate Strategies to Match Capacity and Demand 10.4 Managing demand 10.5 Managing supply, 10.6 Managing Demand and Supply of Service 10.7Summary 10.8 Keywords 10.9 Learning Activity 10.10Unit End Questions 10.11 References 10.0 LEARNING OBJECTIVES After studying this unit, you will be able to: • Explain the types of forecasts that may be needed, and understand how collaboration among trading partners will help the overall forecasting and demand management process. • To Evaluate and Appreciate the growing need for effective demand management and critical importance of outbound-to-customer standard systems. • To Realize the meaning of customer service and strategy , and understand its importance to service demand and service management process • To Identify the key steps in the order fulfilment process, and understand how effective order management can create value for a firm and its customers. • State the effective marketing channels and defined services, understand that goods may reach their intended customer via a number of alternative standards of distribution services 179 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

10.1 DEFINED SERVICE STANDARDS Any business, product, or service's success is contingent on the customer's expectations being established and the delivery meeting those expectations, resulting in satisfaction and delight. As a result, I strongly advise that customer service standards be developed. The highest levels of customer support must be met. This is critical since consumer expectations are increasing by leaps and bounds. Customers in India have evolved into world-class customers who demand world-class goods and services. Customers would condemn companies that do not value the Indian client. As a result, it's critical to ensure that customer service expectations are established and met. Customer service levels are divided into two categories. The internal customer service level is one example. The external customer service level, as I call it, is the second kind. Both of these factors are critical in ensuring customer satisfaction. The external customer service level is a pledge and promise made by the business to its external customers that is clear to them. The internal customer standard is an internal working standard that must be followed in order to meet the external standard. For example, if a restaurant has a policy of serving food within 20 minutes of placing an order, this is an example of setting an external customer standard. However, in order to reach this external customer requirement, it is necessary to establish an internal kitchen standard requiring the food to be prepared and ready within 15 minutes, with the external standard being reached after five minutes of serving time. The explanation for careful preparation is that if there are no specified or observable customer service requirements, there will inevitably be a delay or mistake, resulting in customer dissatisfaction. After purchasing a computer or even an air conditioner, one can find that the delivery is on schedule, but the installation is not. This indicates that there were no external or internal customer care requirements for installation, and therefore they were not met. Customer service levels are a representation of a brand's or company's soul. If you want to delight consumers on a consistent basis, make sure you follow my Brand Mantra. Customer service benchmarks must be developed! The highest levels of customer support must be met. 10.2 SERVICE FLEXIBILITY VERSUS STANDARDS Job and knowledge systems can be standardised in a variety of ways. Standardization, at the simplest level, ensures that all units performing the process follow the same steps, in the same order, and with the same functions. Standardization goes much further, implying that 180 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

the method operates at the same pace and retains a predetermined level of inventories. There is no variation in the process on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, and there is no variation in the process across units. Flexibility, on the other hand, means that the work process differs depending on the circumstances, and these circumstances necessitated the need for variation. The most obvious requirement is a distinction in customer form, which necessitates a process production that differs from the commoditized standardised process. The consumer might expect a higher level of service or different product features. Fig 10.1 True, the more standardisation you have, the less versatility you have, but there are several points along the curve where you can have both. And, in my opinion, you must have them. Standardization and flexibility are two techniques for optimising return, and although they produce different outcomes, you must consider both to get the best outcome for the consumer and the company. Benefits of Standardization & Flexibility Standardization Flexibility 181 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

Repeatability Ability to respond to different customer Consistency across units requirements Means to gather conforming information Ability to alter processes based on specific Quality needs Cost Agility – in marketplace Easier for training personnel Ability to meet different geographic or Easier to implement changes cultural needs Eliminates variability in steps and outcomes Allows for use of different decision models Allows for experienced human input with special cases Table 10.1 Understanding and enhancing the processes necessitates both standardisation and flexibility. Standardization pushes the goalposts closer to a single approach, procedure, and result. Flexibility allows for variation as the consumer situation calls for it and it makes business sense. Both can help a product stand out in the marketplace, one for price and quality and the other for unique consumer needs. To find the right combination to get both parties to see the same target, look at many examples of how the process is currently handled, see what is similar and what is different, standardise where you can, but maintain differences where different methods and approaches make sense for special customer requirements. 10.3 EVALUATE STRATEGIES TO MATCH CAPACITY AND DEMAND When a company has a thorough understanding of its capacity limitations and demand trends. It is in a strong position to implement supply and demand matching strategies. For meeting demand and power, there are two general approaches. • The first is to reduce demand volatility by adjusting demand to balance available supply. • The second general strategy is to change resources in response to demand fluctuations. • Market and capacity shifts A company attempts to move consumers away from times where demand exceeds supply by changing demand and capacity. Perhaps by persuading them to use the service at times when demand is poor. For certain consumers, this might be possible, but not for others. Many business travellers, for example, are unable to change their airline, car rental, or hotel needs. Pleasure travellers, on the other hand, have a lot of flexibility when it comes to scheduling 182 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

their journeys. Many that are unable to move or be accommodated would result in the company losing business. • Change up the services you have. Changing the essence of the service offering depending on the season, day of the week, or time of day is one method. Whistler Mountain, a ski resort in Vancouver, Canada, for example, provides executive development and training programmes during the summer months when snow skiing is not feasible. Film crews needing realistic hospital settings for movies or TV shows can rent the facilities of a hospital in the Los Angeles area. Late in the year, until April 15, accounting firms concentrate on tax planning. That the United States' federal taxes are due. They will concentrate on audits and general consultancy tasks at other times of the year. Airlines also alter the seating arrangement of their planes to meet the needs of various market segments. There might be no first-class portion on certain airlines. A substantial proportion of seats can be put in first class on routes where there is a high demand for first-class seats. Implementing methods to improve the service offering should be done with caution. Since such changes are likely to suggest and necessitate changes. Promotion, pricing, and staffing to accommodate the latest product are other marketing mix factors to consider. The approach cannot work unless these additional mix variables are effectively changed to support the offering. Even when done well, such changes can result in a lack of strategic emphasis for the organisation and its staff, as well as uncertainty in the organization's reputation among customers. • Keep in touch with customers Communicating with consumers is another method for shifting demand and power. It enables them to determine when peak demand occurs so that they can use the service at a different time to prevent crowding or delays. Signs in banks and post offices, for example, that inform consumers of the busiest hours and days of the week can serve as an alert. Customers can now move their demand to a later time if necessary. Customers will benefit from being informed about busy periods and potential wait times. Many customer service phone lines issue a similar warning by telling consumers how long they would have to wait before being served. Those that do not want to wait should call back when the lines are less crowded. Customers who were informed about the bank's busiest hours were more pleased, according to research conducted in the banking industry. And when they had to wait, they were more patient than customers who had not been informed. Advertisement and other types of marketing will emphasise various service benefits during peak and slow periods, in addition to signage that communicates peak demand times to consumers. Customers may be reminded about high demand periods by advertising and sales notifications. 183 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

• Change the time and place where services are delivered. Some businesses change their service delivery hours and days to better reflect customer demand. Historically, banks in the United States were only open during “bankers' hours” on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. These hours obviously did not correspond to what most people wanted to do their personal banking. Banks in the United States are now opening earlier, staying open until 6 p.m. on certain days, and still open on Saturdays, better representing customer demand trends. Customers' schedules are often accommodated with matinees on weekends and holidays when people are looking for something to do during the day. Company organisations occasionally rent movie theatres on weekdays. During a time of low demand, it is an example of varying the service offering. • Make a price distinction Discounting the price of a service is a typical answer to low demand. This approach is based on supply and demand economics. A market differentiation strategy, on the other hand, requires a thorough understanding of consumer price sensitivity and demand curves in order to be successful. Business travellers, for example, are less price sensitive than families travelling for fun. If the price was low enough, any hotel, airline, restaurant, or other service establishment could fill its entire capacity with customers. However, the aim is to maximise capacity usage while maintaining a profit margin. Price differentiation can be a risky technique for smoothing demand. Overreliance on price can lead to price wars in a market, with all competitors ultimately suffering. In the airline industry, price wars are well-known. As a result of airlines simultaneously attempting to draw customers by price discounting, the gross industry income suffered. Another disadvantage to depending solely on price is that consumers become used to the reduced price and hope to receive the same discount the next time they use the service. Customers cannot understand the reasons for promotions if interactions with them are ambiguous. They will also have to pay the same during times of high demand. Due to the possible effect on the organization's reputation and the likelihood of attracting undesired consumer segments, overuse or exclusive use of price as a technique for smoothing demand is also risky. • Increasing flexibility in ability to meet demand Adjusting or flexing capacity is a second strategic solution to balancing demand and capacity. The basic concept is to adapt, stretch, and coordinate capacity in order to meet consumer demand. The company tries to extend or increase its capability as much as possible during high demand times. It seeks to reduce power during times of low demand in order to avoid wasting energy. 184 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

• Extend current potential The ability of service services will often be temporarily increased to meet demand. There are no additional services added in such situations. To meet demand, people, services, and equipment are being expected to work harder and longer. • Extend service hours: To meet demand, it might be possible to temporarily extend service hours. During flu season, a health clinic can stay open longer. During the Christmas shopping season, stores stay open later. Until tax deadlines, accountants provide extended appointment hours (evenings and Saturdays). • Stretch labour: During high demand times, many service companies require workers to work longer and harder. Consulting firms, for example, experience significant peaks and valleys in demand for their services. Associates are asked to take on extra projects and work longer hours during periods of high demand. Moreover, during peak hours, front-line service staff in banks, tourist attractions, restaurants, and telecommunications companies are asked to serve more customers every hour. • Stretching areas: Theatres, restaurants, conference rooms, and classrooms may often be temporarily extended by adding tables, seats, or other customer-demanded equipment. A vehicle, like a subway train, can easily seat a large number of people or “expand” by accommodating standing passengers. • Stretching gear: To meet peak demand, computers, telephone lines, and repair equipment are often extended beyond their full capacity for short periods of time. The company must be aware of the wear and tear on resources by using these types of \"stretch\" techniques. With the use, there's a chance that the service will be of lower quality. As a result, these techniques can only be used for a limited time in order to prepare for future facility and equipment maintenance. As previously stated, it can be difficult to predict when capability has been extended too far, especially in the case of human resources. • Align capacity with fluctuating demand A \"chase demand\" strategy is another name for this specific strategy. Organizations can effectively chase demand curves by changing service resources creatively to balance capability with consumer demand trends. The emphasis is once again on time, labour, services, and equipment, this time with an eye toward changing the simple mix and usage of these tools. The following are examples of specific actions: • Hire part-time workers: In this situation, the company's labour resource is matched to demand. During the holiday season, retailers recruit part-time employees, tax accountants hire temporary support, and tourist resorts hire extra staff. During peak mealtime hours, 185 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

restaurants often ask workers to work split shifts (work the lunch shift, leave for a few hours, and return for the dinner rush). • Outsourcing: Companies that experience a temporary spike in demand for a service they can't provide in-house may opt to outsource the entire service. Many businesses, for example, have discovered in recent years that they lack the capacity to meet their own needs for technology support, Web design, and software-related services. Rather than hiring and training new workers, these businesses turn to companies that specialise in outsourcing these functions as a temporary (or even long-term) solution. • Renting or sharing facilities or equipment is an option. During times of peak demand, some companies find it more cost-effective to rent additional equipment or facilities. During the peak holiday delivery season, for example, ex press mail delivery services hire or lease vehicles. It's pointless to invest in trucks that will sit idle for the rest of the year. Organizations with similar demand trends can be able to share facilities. A church, for example, can share its facilities with a Montes son preschool during the week. • Schedule downtime during times of low demand, such as during the school day Monday through Friday; the church uses the facilities in the evenings and on weekends. If staff, equipment, and services are all being used to their full potential during peak times, it's important to plan repairs, maintenance, and renovations during off-peak times. This means that the services are in perfect working order when they are needed the most. In terms of jobs, this ensures that holidays and preparation are often planned during times of low demand. • Workers should be cross-trained Employees who are cross-trained will move between roles, filling in when they are required most. This improves overall system productivity and prevents certain workers from being underutilised while others are overworked. Many airlines have cross-training for their workers, allowing them to switch from ticketing to working the gate counters and, if necessary, assisting with luggage. During peak hours, workers at some fast-food restaurants specialise in one task (such as making French fries), and the team of specialists can number ten people. During slow hours, the team can be reduced to three people, each of whom performs a number of tasks. This technique is also used in grocery stores, with most workers being able to switch between cashiering, stocking shelves, and bagging groceries as required. To meet demand variations, existing capacity may often be adjusted, moved, or creatively modified. Hotels do this by reconfiguring rooms—in high-demand periods, two rooms with a locked door between them can be leased to two separate groups, or in low-demand periods, they can be converted into a suite. This form of technique can be seen in action in the airline industry. Airlines have started to experiment with methods that allocate aeroplanes to flight 186 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

schedules based on fluctuating consumer demands, using a system known as \"demand-driven dispatch.\" The method relies on having a precise understanding of demand and being able to rapidly switch aeroplanes with various seating capacities to flight assignments that are appropriate for them. The Boeing 777 is so adaptable that it can be reconfigured in hours to change the number of seats assigned to one, two, or three classes.' As a result, the plane can be easily updated to meet demand from various market segments, effectively moulding power to demand. Another tactic may be to relocate the service to satisfy consumer demand, or even to deliver the service to the customers. Services that physically accompany consumers include mobile training facilities, libraries, and blood donation centres. 10.4 MANAGING DEMAND Managing Demand is a mechanism within an organisation that allows it to tailor its capacity to meet fluctuations in demand or control demand levels by marketing or supply chain management strategies. Demand Management Challenges • There are a few common challenges that demand management implementation faces. • One of them is a lack of understanding of automated algorithms, or how the parameters on replenishment systems have been set. • Another is the sales balancing act, which entails collaborating with retailers to develop demand modelling in order to assess the timing, level, and position of promotions. • The third category is 'elusive signals,' which refers to manufacturers that lack a data system or a mechanism for collecting, storing, and analysing point-of-sale data from retailers. Benefits of effective demand management • Demand management is dependent on accurate data, and collaborative demand forecasting is needed, in which companies agree on the anticipated amount, timing, mix, and position of demand both internally and with their supply chain partners. This information should serve as a shared ground for merchandising, logistics, and budgeting. In exchange, the following benefits of demand management should be realised: • Anticipating and forecasting demand effectively will give you a competitive advantage. 187 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

• Demand forecasting improvement is a critical component of improving supply chain operations. • By acting proactively and moving the market forward, demand management will generate revenue. 10.5 MANAGING SUPPLY The act of finding, purchasing, and handling resources and suppliers that are critical to an organization's operations is referred to as supply management. Supply management, also known as procurement, refers to the acquisition of physical products, information, services, and any other resources that allow a business to continue operating and growing. Most people think of supply chain management as the process by which businesses acquire raw materials and finished products. However, supply management entails more than just purchasing goods and signing contracts for services. It is a comprehensive business process that extends beyond sourcing to include pre-production logistics and inventory control, as well as budgeting, staff, and other critical data to keep the company running smoothly. Cost control, efficient resource utilisation, risk management, and effective information collection for strategic business decisions are the key objectives of supply management. Oversight and supervision of vendors, as well as their contributions to a company's activities, should be prioritised. The following are the responsibilities of supply management staff in an organisation or institution: • Locating, sourcing, negotiating, and procuring a service or good that is critical to a company's continuing operations in accordance with the wishes of the company's leaders and supervisors. • Creating and implementing a plan for building and maintaining partnerships with suppliers, as well as keeping them accountable • Using technology and processes to make the procurement process easier • Examining supply and demand theories and their implications for supply management Large companies' supply management departments can be very large, with large budgets and hundreds of employees. The amount of money they can save the business is normally used to gauge their performance. The ability of a company to achieve supply management targets will boost its stock price by improving metrics like gross and net margins, cash flow, and cost of goods sold (COGS). Risk management is also critical to a company's growth. Anticipating and mitigating the effects of an unplanned delay in the supply of a critical product, for example, can keep a business running smoothly. Failure to plan for risk in a company's supply chain, on the other hand, may be disastrous. 188 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

Although it's easy to see how supply management impacts the performance of a large retailer or manufacturer, supply management is equally essential to service-based businesses. When the internet is combined with widespread advances in logistics networks around the world, supply management has become a primary strategic goal for the world's largest corporations, capable of saving millions of dollars and increasing overall productivity. 10.6 MANAGING DEMAND AND SUPPLY OF SERVICE Demand management can be divided into five categories. The first, which has the benefit of simplicity but nothing else, entails doing nothing and allowing demand to find its own levels. Customers eventually learn from practise or word of mouth when they should expect to wait in line for a service and when it will be available immediately. They can also hear about a rival who is more sensitive, which is a concern. More strategic methods try to manipulate demand at any given time by actively reducing demand during peak times and increasing demand when there is excess power. Inventorying demand before capacity becomes available is one of two additional techniques. A company may do this by implementing a reservations system that guarantees customers access to capacity at predetermined times, or by establishing formalised queuing systems (or by a combination of the two). Table connects these five approaches to the two problem situations of excess demand and excess capability, as well as providing a strategic comment on ach. Many service companies are confronted with both situations at various points in their demand cycles, and should consider implementing one or more of the strategies outlined above. Demand Patterns Can Be Formed Using Marketing Strategies Four of the eight Ps help to boost demand during periods of excess capacity and reduce demand during periods of inadequate capacity. Companies often use price as the first variable to put demand and supply into equilibrium, but other factors such as commodity, distribution policy, and communication efforts may also play a role. While each element is discussed separately here, successful demand management frequently necessitates adjustments in two or more elements at the same time. 189 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

Table 10.2 User Costs and Other Expenses One of the simplest ways to reduce peak-period excess demand is to charge consumers more money to use the service at those times. Increases in non-financial expenditures may have a similar effect. For example, if consumers hear that peak times will require more time and physical effort, this knowledge can encourage those who hate waiting in crowded and uncomfortable conditions to try later (or to use an arm's length delivery option such as the Internet or self- service machines). Similarly, the allure of lower prices and the prospect of no waiting could persuade at least some people to alter their consumption patterns. Managers must understand the shape and slope of a product's demand curve, or how the quantity of service demanded reacts to changes in the price per unit at a given point in time, for the monetary price of a service to be successful as a demand management tool (Figure 190 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

shows a sample demand curve). It's critical to figure out when the demand curve for a particular service shifts dramatically from one time span to the next. (Will the same person, for example, be willing to pay more for a weekend stay in a Cape Cod hotel in the summer than in the winter? \"Yes-\") is most likely the response. If this is the case, dramatically different pricing schemes will be needed to fill capacity over time. To make matters even more complicated, different demand curves can exist for different segments within each time frame (for instance, business travellers are typically less price sensitive than vacationers). Figure 10.2 Determining the essence of all these various demand curves is one of the most challenging tasks facing service marketers. Study, trial and error, and comparisons to similar circumstances in other places or programmes are all ways to gain a better understanding of the situation. Many service businesses understand the presence of various demand curves by defining distinct service groups, each priced according to the demand curve of a specific segment. To cater to higher-paying segments, each segment receives a variation of the basic product, with value added to the core service through supplementary services. For example, first-class airline service provides passengers with larger seats, free drinks, and better food. Product improvement in computer and printing service firms takes the form of quicker turnover and more advanced facilities, while in hotels, there is a distinction made between rooms of various sizes and amenities, as well as different types of views. 191 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

The ocean view suites and rooms at the Outrigger Hotel on Hawaii's Big Island are expensive. Rooms with views of the hotel gardens and golf course are in the centre of the hotel's pricing rate, while those with views of the parking lot are the cheapest. When capacity is limited, a profit-driven company's aim should be to ensure that as much capacity as possible is used by the most productive segments at any given time. To discourage business travellers from taking advantage of cheap fares designed to draw visitors who can help fill the plane, airlines, for example, hold a certain number of seats for full-fare business passengers and impose restrictive restrictions on excursion fares for tourists (such as requiring advance purchase and a Saturday night stay). Product Elements That Change Pricing is a popular method of balancing supply and demand, but it is not as uniformly feasible for services as it is for goods. The respective demand problems of a ski maker and a ski slope operator provides an obvious example. The maker has two options: produce for inventory or attempt to sell skis at a discount in the spring and summer. Some consumers would buy early to save money if the skis are sufficiently discounted. In the absence of skiing opportunities, however, no skiers will pay any price for lift tickets to be used on a midsummer day. As a result, the operator must alter its service offering in order to promote summer use of the lifts. Similar thought can be seen in a number of other industries that experience major seasonal changes. In slow months, tax preparation companies such as H&R Block, for example, provide bookkeeping and consulting services to small businesses. Adults and senior citizens may participate in weekend and summer programmes offered by educational institutions. In the summer, small pleasure boats provide cruises, and in the winter, they provide a dockside spot for private events. In addition, resort hotels change the mix and focus of their ancillary services such as dining, entertainment, and sports to match seasonal customer preferences. Both of these businesses understand that no amount of price reductions can help them grow their company during the off-season. Also, over the course of a 24-hour cycle, there may be changes in the product selection. Some restaurants are good examples of this, changing menus and levels of service as the hours pass, as well as varying lighting and decor, opening and closing the bar, and the presence or absence of entertainment. Depending on the time of day, the aim is to cater to different needs within the same community of consumers, reach out to different consumer groups, or do both. Changing the Delivery Location and Time Some businesses try to change the demand for a service by adjusting the delivery time and location by selecting one of two simple choices. The first approach entails changing the times that the service is available to represent changes 192 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

in consumer preference by day of the week, season, and other factors. On weekends, when people have more free time, theatres and movie complexes often offer matinees. Due to daylight savings time and people's general desire to enjoy the longer, warmer evenings outdoors, cafes and restaurants can remain open later during the summer. During the pre-Christmas season or during school vacation periods, retail stores can extend their hours. A second approach is to bring the service to a new location and sell it to customers there. Instead of forcing customers to visit fixed-site service locations, one solution is to run mobile units that bring the service to them. Traveling libraries, mobile car washes and windshield repairs, in-office tailoring, home-delivered meals and catering services, and vans with primary care medical facilities are only a few examples. In order to generate business during low-demand periods, a cleaning and repair company might offer free pickup and delivery for portable products that need to be serviced. Alternatively, service companies with mobile productive assets can choose to follow the market when the market is mobile as well. Some car rental companies, for example, open seasonal locations in resort towns. They will customise the operating hours (as well as some product features) in these areas to suit local needs and preferences. Customers who use information-based services may be given a cyberspace alternative, such as Internet or telephone delivery from a remote server or core centre. Firms can move demand through time zones to locations where capacity is readily available using networked systems. Education and Promotion Even if the other variables of the marketing mix remain unchanged, communication activities alone can be able to help smooth demand. Customers will be educated about peak hours through signage, advertisements, publicity, and promotional messages, and encouraged to use the service at off-peak times when there will be less delays. Requests and incentives to \"Mail Early for Christmas,\" public transportation messages urging no commuters, such as shoppers or tourists, to avoid the overcrowded conditions of commute hours, and communications from industrial maintenance sales reps advising customers of time periods when preventive maintenance work can be done quickly are just a few examples. Service staff (or intermediaries such as travel agents) may be asked by management to allow consumers with flexible schedules to choose off-peak times. Customers may be enticed to change their service consumption timing by short-term promotions that combine both pricing and communication elements, as well as other rewards. 10.7 SUMMARY • In the production of services, there is a high degree of producer-consumer interaction, 193 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

which is a mixed blessing; on the one hand, consumers are a source of productive capacity, but on the other hand, the consumer's role creates uncertainty for managers about the process's time, product quality, and the facility's ability to accommodate the consumer's needs. • A service cannot be transported; either, the customer must be transported to the service delivery system, or the system must be transported to the consumer. Since a service's performance is intangible, determining and calculating ability levels for a service operation is often a subjective and qualitative job. • Supply and demand must be balanced because it affects cost and efficiency, which has a direct impact on a company's profit. We now just pay for storage when we have too much stock on hand. We would lose revenue and benefit if we did not stock to meet consumer demand. • Service experiences in all industries, even minor improvements in the practice of service psychology may have a significant effect on society. A service organization's ability to provide quality service is dependent on its awareness of consumer preferences and willingness to meet or exceed those expectations. • The author addresses the two basic techniques available to most successful service sectors— “chase demand” and “level capacity”—in this overview of the juggling feat service managers perform. 10.8 KEYWORDS • Quantity Demand: The total number of units purchased at that price is called the quantity demanded. • Joint Supply: Joint supply refers to the goods produced or supplied jointly e.g., cotton and seed; • Predicted Service Expectations: Level of service a customer believes he will receive from a service provider. • Law of supply and demand: the interaction between the sellers of a resource and the buyers for that resource • Transitory Service Intensifiers: Factors, which intensify or heighten the level of adequate service expectations of customers. 10.9 LEARNING ACTIVITY 1. Consider the market for laptops in 2015. Between 2015 and 2016, the equilibrium price of laptops remained constant, but the equilibrium quantity of laptops increased. From this, you 194 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

can conclude that between 2015 and 2016, the supply of laptops increased and the demand for laptops increased. Comment the statement _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 10.10 UNIT END QUESTIONS A. Descriptive Questions Short Questions 1. “Why do we only worry about relative prices in economics? what about the customer perceptions”. Discuss 2. Discuss the factors affecting pricing decisions in service marketing 3. What are factors used to influence the customer desired and adequate service level? 4. Explain formation of demand patterns using Marketing strategies. 5. List the strategies to match capacity and demand Long Questions 1. Explain the procedure for setting the service standards and service Quality development process with examples. 2.\"Consider the market for hamburgers in Dallas, where there are over a thousand burger joints at any given moment. Suppose an innovation in meat processing technology makes it possible to produce more hamburgers at a lower cost than ever before.\"Comment the statements 3. Suppose that we have three countries (US, Canada, and Mexico) and two commodities (Tequila and Whiskey). We have the following estimates of productivity. Further, assume that consumers consider Tequila and Whiskey to be perfect compliments (i.e., the two goods are always consumed together – a shot of tequila with a beer chaser!). How do you frame and measure? Hint: we want equal amounts of each produce 4. Discuss in detail about law of Demand and Supply with suitable examples. 5. Explain in detail about matching demand and Supply of service B. Multi Choice Questions 195 1. Services that do not meet customer expectations are called: CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

a. service failures b. critical incidents c. Service failures d. service recovery 2. Demand refers to the willingness and ability of buyers to purchase different quantities of a good at different prices during a specific time period whereas __________________ refers to a specific number of units buyers want to buy at a specific price. a. Quantity Demanded b. joint demand c. Demand fluctuations d. law of demand 3. An increase in price of product will reduce the amount of it purchased because a. supply cure is upward b. Higher price means that real income has risen c. consumer will substitute other products d. consumer substitute relatively high priced of products 4. Service failures involving problematic customer include _____. a. uncooperative customers b. breaking company policies c. verbal and physical abuse d. all of these 5. Selling Air conditioners at a discounted price in winter is a way of ___________ 196 a. Creating demand CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

b. Managing Supply c. Managing demand d. None of these Answer 1 – a, 2 – a, 3 – b, 4-d, 5-c 10.11 REFERENCES Text Books: • Zeithaml V. A. ,Bitner M. J. and Pandit, A., Services Marketing, 5th Edition, Tata McGraw Hill Publishing Co. Ltd. New Delhi. • Lovelock C. H., Wirtz, J. and Chatterjee, J., Service Marketing: People, Technology, Strategy, 6thEdition, Pearson Education, New Delhi. Reference Books: • Hoffman, K. D. & Bateson, J. E.G., Marketing of Services, Cengage Learning, • Kurtz D. L. and Clow K. E., Services Marketing. Biztantra, New Delhi. • Nargundkar, Rajendra, Services Marketing Text and Cases, 3rd Edition, Tata 197 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

UNIT 11: INTEGRATED SERVICES MARKETING Structure 11.0 Learning Objectives 11.1 Introduction 11.2 Meaning and Importance, 11.3 Features of Integrated Service Marketing 11.4 Integrated Marketing Communication for Service 11.5 Reasons for Growing Importance of Integrated Marketing Communication 11.6 Advantages of Integrated Marketing Communication 11.7 Summary 11.8 Keywords 11.9 Learning Activity 11.10 Unit End Questions 11.11 References 11.0 LEARNING OBJECTIVES After studying this unit, you will be able to: • Explain the principles and practices of marketing communications, involving tools used by marketers to inform consumers and to provide a managerial framework. • Identify and provide an in-depth understanding of integrated marketing communications concepts and planning process, effective marketing communication practices • The IMC used in research and development in organizations marketing and promotional situation, to develop effective communication strategies and programmes • State the industry and to develop a promotional plan adapted to a specific organization with the scope of Integrated Services Marketing 11.1 INTRODUCTION Integrated marketing is a strategic approach to combining communications and digital interactions targeting established audiences and individuals that coordinates all aspects of a brand's marketing, including: 198 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

• Paid media (offline advertising, direct marketing, and online display and programmatic); • Earned media (word of mouth, word of mouth, word of mouth, word of mouth, word of mouth, word of mouth, word of mouth, word of mouth, word of mouth, word of mouth, word of mouth, word of mouth, word of mouth, word (Organic search fuelled by content marketing, PR and online influencer outreach) • Owned media (including social media, on-site UX, customer support, and direct messaging via email and mobile) to achieve clear messaging that is channel-specific where appropriate, resulting in a cohesive and seamless experience for customers during their customer lifecycle or path to purchase.\" That is the essence of integrated marketing: when messages are coordinated through platforms, the effects of increased brand recognition, familiarity, favourability, and purchasing intent are much greater than when messages are not coordinated. 11.2 MEANING AND IMPORTANCE Integrated brand communication aims to bring all of an organization's promotional and marketing efforts together in order to provide a cohesive and coherent picture of the company to the target market. It has a centralised messaging system that concentrates on a single target and positioning. ‘IMC recognises the added value of a comprehensive plan that evaluates the strategic roles of – Advertising, Direct Response, Sales Promotion and Public Relations – and combine those principles to provide clarity, consistency and maximum communications impact’ – American Association of Advertising Agencies. Don Schultze of North Western University of USA has defined IMC as – “a strategic business process used to plan, develop, execute and evaluate coordinated, measurable, persuasive brand communications programs overtime with consumers, customers, prospects, employees, associates and other targeted relevant external and internal audiences.” Importance of Integrated Service Marketing • Achieve better outcomes Businesses and their companies prepare separate strategies for ads, press relations, direct marketing, and sales promotions in the conventional approach to marketing communications. Integrated campaigns use the same communication techniques to boost marketing efficiency by reinforcing each other. Advertising can be used in an integrated strategy to increase product awareness and create leads for the sales team. You will strengthen the promotional messages by distributing the same information in press releases and feature stories. Following up on questions from ads or press promotions, you can use direct mail or email to offer more detail to prospects. You may use telemarketing to sell 199 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

directly to those prospects or set appointments for the sales team to help turn them into customers. An active online presence on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter adds to your toolkit for reaching out to your target market. • Consistency in Creative Expression Across Channels The various tools in an integrated campaign have the same innovative care. You ensure that prospects and consumers receive clear messages each time they see one of the campaign's elements by repeating the headlines, main phrases, and photos in each communication. By the amount of times prospects see or hear the same ad, creative continuity helps to reinforce the basic campaign themes. You will better create knowledge of your company name, brands, deals, catch phrases, or other messages you highlight by working regularly through multiple channels. • Cost Savings in General Consistency with the integrated campaigns' creative will also help you save money. You will save money on copywriting, design, and photography by using the same photographs and adapting the same copy for different media. The performance of an expensive video production can be used in a variety of media, including television, YouTube, and Facebook. You can be able to save money on agency fees by partnering with a single company that provides comprehensive communications services rather than several specialised agencies if you deal with external communications suppliers. • Matching Customer Preferences An integrated campaign allows you to offer information to consumers in the way they want. Consumers and business customers can choose if they want product details sent to them via email, direct mail, text message, or phone. Even if you don't personally reach out to your clients, they will still profit from your advertisements by seeing your print ads or watching your radio and TV commercials. Customers and prospective customers access the same information in all interactions thanks to integration. By combining the website design and content with other communications, you will also satisfy the needs of consumers who search the Internet for product details. 11.3 FEATURES OF INTEGRATED SERVICE MARKETING The Base - As the name implies, the foundation stage entails a thorough examination of both the product and the target market. Understanding the brand, its products, and end-users is critical for marketers. You must understand the target customers' desires, behaviours, and aspirations. Keep a close eye on what the competitors are doing. • Corporate Culture - Product and service features should be consistent with the organization's work culture. Every company has a vision, and it's important for marketers to 200 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)