Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Top 10 Concepts

1. A service is any act or performance that one party can offer to another (what?) that is essentially intangible, does not result in the ownership of anything, and may or may not be tied to a physical product.

2. Service industries are everywhere: government, private nonprofit, business, manufacturing, and retail sectors.

3. The service component can be a minor or a major part of the total offering. The categories of service mix are as follows: pure tangible good, tangible good with accompanying services, hybrid, major service with accompanying minor goods and services, and pure service.

4. Services vary in many ways (how?) – basis, process, need, objectives, and evaluation.

5. Has 4 distinctive characteristics – intangibility, inseparability, variability, perishability.


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6. There is a need for a holistic marketing for services (internal, external, interactive) to avoid customer switching.

7. Properly defining service quality narrows the gaps that cause unsuccessful delivery of high quality services (meet and exceed)

8. Best practices of Service-Quality Management include a strategic concept, history of top-management commitment to quality, high standards, self-service technologies, monitoring systems, and emphasis on employee satisfaction.

9. Excellent service can translate into customer loyalty, employee satisfaction (through extensive recruitment and effective training), and company profitability.

10. Developing service brand strategies to differentiate requires special attention to choosing brand elements, establishing image dimen sions, and devising the brand strategy.

Luis Enrique Joson (January 5, 2010)