4.6 The Extended Marketing Mix
• A tool to help managers develop marketing strategies for services
• Because services are intangible, the way in which they are delivered is more important than the marketing of goods
• The 3 extra P’s: People, Process, Physical evidence
People
• Successful customer-orientated companies are able to build long-term relationships with the clients
• customer-facing staff
• staff should be carefully selected and appraised to maximise customer satisfactions whilst also being offered regular
training
• all points of contact with a customer can potentially build or damage a brand
• a company’s recruitment and selection process can help to ensure standards are maintained
• customer service, and relationships between staff and customers, depends heavily on the cultures involved
• dealing with people from more emotional cultural backgrounds can be challenging for customer service providers
• cultural differences relating to customer service expectations and relationships, these include:
• the importance of small talk
• the need for special treatment for longer established customers
• the need for direct communication
• the importance of hierarchy and respect for positions of authority
• punctuality and timelessness
• the importance of rules and systems
• The recruitment and selection process:
• companies need to ensure that their employees have the right skills to meet or exceed customer expectations
• effective training and appraisal programmes must also be put in place
Processes:
• look at every interaction between customer and the business
• every customer interaction with the business should be reviewed for improvement, this includes:
• placing and paying for orders - two factors: security and speed. Speed can be developed into a USP, for example,
Amazon 1 click ordering system
• delivery systems - can be developed into a USP. If a business can deliver a service in short notice, they will more
likely be chosen over a competitor. Services that fall short of expectation can leave customers with a negative view
of the business. Offering short delivery slots, evening and weekend deliveries and short wait times has become
essential
• customer feedback - allows companies to maintain and improve their service levels. Customer centred companies
develop processes to gather and act on customer feedback
• after-sales service - refers to maintenance, help and information a business provided to the customer after the
product is purchased. Industries such as law and accountancy need to develop long-term relationships with their
clients to retain loyalty.
Physical evidence
• every tangible part of the service, from the cleanliness of the site to anything a customer may take away with them,
such as packing or a receipt
• physical evidence can change a customers’ perceptions of the service and can be used as a USP to attract
customers such as good visual appearance
• in competitive markets, it is the little things that can make all the difference, as getting it right is one way to influence
customers to proceed with a purchase
• systems need to be in place to ensure that checks are made and customer expectations are met, if not, managers
may need to change the systems and discover why duties are being neglected
• A tool to help managers develop marketing strategies for services
• Because services are intangible, the way in which they are delivered is more important than the marketing of goods
• The 3 extra P’s: People, Process, Physical evidence
People
• Successful customer-orientated companies are able to build long-term relationships with the clients
• customer-facing staff
• staff should be carefully selected and appraised to maximise customer satisfactions whilst also being offered regular
training
• all points of contact with a customer can potentially build or damage a brand
• a company’s recruitment and selection process can help to ensure standards are maintained
• customer service, and relationships between staff and customers, depends heavily on the cultures involved
• dealing with people from more emotional cultural backgrounds can be challenging for customer service providers
• cultural differences relating to customer service expectations and relationships, these include:
• the importance of small talk
• the need for special treatment for longer established customers
• the need for direct communication
• the importance of hierarchy and respect for positions of authority
• punctuality and timelessness
• the importance of rules and systems
• The recruitment and selection process:
• companies need to ensure that their employees have the right skills to meet or exceed customer expectations
• effective training and appraisal programmes must also be put in place
Processes:
• look at every interaction between customer and the business
• every customer interaction with the business should be reviewed for improvement, this includes:
• placing and paying for orders - two factors: security and speed. Speed can be developed into a USP, for example,
Amazon 1 click ordering system
• delivery systems - can be developed into a USP. If a business can deliver a service in short notice, they will more
likely be chosen over a competitor. Services that fall short of expectation can leave customers with a negative view
of the business. Offering short delivery slots, evening and weekend deliveries and short wait times has become
essential
• customer feedback - allows companies to maintain and improve their service levels. Customer centred companies
develop processes to gather and act on customer feedback
• after-sales service - refers to maintenance, help and information a business provided to the customer after the
product is purchased. Industries such as law and accountancy need to develop long-term relationships with their
clients to retain loyalty.
Physical evidence
• every tangible part of the service, from the cleanliness of the site to anything a customer may take away with them,
such as packing or a receipt
• physical evidence can change a customers’ perceptions of the service and can be used as a USP to attract
customers such as good visual appearance
• in competitive markets, it is the little things that can make all the difference, as getting it right is one way to influence
customers to proceed with a purchase
• systems need to be in place to ensure that checks are made and customer expectations are met, if not, managers
may need to change the systems and discover why duties are being neglected
