Nature of Services:
The definition of service is “any intangible product, which is essentially a transaction and is
transferred from the buyer to the seller in exchange for some consideration (or no consideration).
Let us take a look at some of the characteristics of a service.
Intangibility: A service is not a physical product that you can touch or see. A service can
be experienced by the buyer or the receiver. Also, you cannot judge the quality of the
service before consumption.
Inconsistency: There can be no perfect standardization of services. Even if the service
provider remains the same, the quality of the service may differ from time to time.
Inseparability: One unique characteristic of services is that the service and the service
provider cannot be separated. Unlike with goods/products the manufacturing and the
consumption of services cannot be separated by storage.
Storage: The production and consumption of services are not inseparable because storage
of services is not possible. Being an intangible transaction there can never be
an inventory of services.
Service operation management consists of several inputs for the materials, equipment’s and
customers staffs that process and gives output in terms of goods and services.
However, there are some overlap between the experiences and outcomes therefore they both
need to describe separately.
As the customers may not involves in all the process but their involve in front and back offices
that contains different tasks for reaching the customers.
The service process matrix: The Service Process Matrix is a
classification matrix of service industry firms based on the characteristics of the individual
firm's service processes. ... Customer interaction represents the degree to which the customer can
intervene in the service process.
Therefore, there are different service packages for example
Supporting facility
Facilitating goods
Information’s
Explicit services
Implicit services:
The experience economy: as it is based on the transactional nature of services known as
experience-based relationships. Hence it is further divided into consumer services and business
services.
Consumer service: (B2C): used to deliver services and values by involving and connecting
with the customers in a very respective way. Major four types of the consumer experiences are
categorized with the participation of the customers and the interaction with them as well. B2C
based on major 5 principles. Such as used centric, co creation, iterative process, visual
communication and holistic service.
Busines service experience (B2B): These services based on to collaborate the nature of
relationships. It has major 3 dimensions such as cocreation value, relationships and service
capability.
There are distinctive characteristics of services such as
customer participation in the service process, simultaneity, perishability, heterogeneity and
nontransferable ownership.
Topics for Discussion:
What are the characteristics of services that will be most appropriate for Internet delivery?
The service provided by the marketers have a great influence in having future business with the
customers. The service would be of various types, either the employees of the company directly
dealing with the customers or indirectly, by means of internet. Whatever be the means of service,
the customers have to be satisfied so as to enhance the future business.
With the introduction of the e-commerce, the retailing business is expanding to more horizons
and internet plays a crucial role in this regard. More and more customers are attracted towards
the online purchases making the internet delivery a common scenario. As it is a form of service
provided to the customers, there are various factors that characterizes the internet shopping.
Although all the characteristics of the services can be considered relevant to the internet delivery
the most appropriate ones among those could be Heterogeneity, Intangibility and Customer
Participation. No business can happen without the involvement of the customers and the
retailers, in the form of service providers or in physical presence. These characteristics of the
internet delivery can be discussed as follows.
1. Customer participation: Unlike in the case of stores that demand the physical presence of the
customers, internet delivery does not involve the presence of the customer at the stores even
though all the major process of the purchase are be carried out by the customer themselves. Right
from the searching of the products from various sites, selecting the brands and deciding the
quantity of purchase, billing and cash payment through online transactions, routing the
scheduling the delivery date and time, confirming the address and the delivery, and at last giving
feed back of the delivery service. All the major process are carried out by the customers and the
retailers only perform the job that the customers have already selected. This whole process
would be ineffective if the participation of the customer is not given the fullest. Hence the
customer participation forms an important characteristic of internet delivery.
2. Intangibility: The internet delivery cannot be said to have introduced by a specific company or
organizations. There are a lot of companies making use of this service in different forms
according to their requirement and customer demand. Time has brought a lot of changes in the
process but the process remains intangible to the fact that a no person or company owns it or has
the right over the service rendered.
When does collecting information through service membership become an invasion of
privacy?
Marketers collect and save the information about the customers in their database for various
purposes. The information thus collected are made use of during the marketing of new products
launched or while performing the service of the product purchased.
The data base of the retailers not only have the information regarding the products but also the
information about the customers, including their gender, occupation, address and the number of
members in the family. These information are made use of while doing service of the products,
delivery of the goods by the service person and in strategic analysis of the type of products these
customers buy often so as to contact them in future for new product marketing. Although the
customers also furnish the information as asked by the marketers, it is an ethical code of conduct
of the retailers to safe guard the privacy of the information.
People tend to furnish the personal information while doing online purchase, subscription of the
journals, giving away donations and other innumerable occasions. These personal information
are given with the intention that it may help to enhance the business and have a contact with the
customers. All would be fine unless the personal information of the customers are shared to some
other with out their concern. The customers reserve the right to share the information only to the
firm or people they wish. The companies obtaining these information are lawfully asked to keep
those safe and undisclosed. There are cases where the id of the customers are used to make fake
ids for criminals for anti-social activities. Many of the terrorist groups steal the personal
information of the customers from the data base to know about the account balance and the life
style of the people. Making use of these information both money and people are found abducted.
Hence the sharing of information becomes an invasion when the information issued against the
purpose of it was collected and that too with out the knowledge of the customers.
What are some management problems associated with allowing service employees to
exercise judgement in meeting customer needs?
Services refer to ideas and concepts. Moreover, services are intangible. In Service, work
activities oriented towards people rather than things.
Management problems that are associated with allowing service employees to exercise
judgement in meeting customer needs are in the following aspects:
Management cannot acquire the desired output as employees performance might vary because
they might not have deep analyses with respect to the customer dissatisfaction.
Management might lose opportunity to check the variability of service that has provided.
• If they give complete judgment to the service employees, management might face problem in
getting the detailed analysis of the customer needs and wants. As, they do not have enhanced
knowledge on customer tastes and preferences.
• Service is more related to people-oriented, management might face problems with employee
attitudes. As, employees in service sector may come across different customers if they cannot
deal the customers properly then it automatically leads to customer dissatisfaction.
Therefore, Service managers must develop some standards and provide training to the employees
in order to ensure consistency in the service provided.