PHYSICAL EVIDENCE Generally a service transaction involves the interaction of the service provider with the customer in a service

environment. Services like hotel services and hospitals are delivered in physical environment created by the service firm. Physical evidence is termed as the social environment along with the tangible cues. Physical Evidence includes all the efforts taken by the service provider to tangibilise their services, they include: 1) Physical Facilities: On the basis of physical evidence like building, furniture, equipment, stationery etc the potential customers forms an impression about the service organization. Physical evidence include essential evidence and peripheral evidence. In every services. the quality and Standard of the essential evidence will be of major influence in the customer purchase decision. Peripheral evidence can actually change hands during the service transaction, they stationery, brochures etc. Though services can be performed without these items, still they used to enhance the corporate image. 2) Physical Environment: Another factor influencing consumer expectations of service quality and satisfaction is the physical setting or the service environment within which the service takes place. The important elements of physical settings are: i) Ambience-. The ambience of the physical setting includes temperature, lighting, noise, music, scent and color. All these factors affect the way the people think, feel and respond to a particular, service setting. ii) Space: People need space around them to feel comfortable. Ease of access, good visibility, proximity of linked services will help to make the customer feel comfortable. iii) Decor & Artifacts-, Decor: Signs, symbols and artifacts are the important components of decor. Signs represent the first encounter the customer ahs with the service firm. It influences the first impression. Sign can be used as labels for directional purpose e a. parking, entrance and exit, to communicate rules of Behaviour e.g. no smoking. Symbols are used to judge the expertise of the service provider. 3) Social Settings: The appearance of the service personnel is the major aspect of the social setting that influences the consumers attitude about the service personnel. The concept of appearance shows whether the employees appear to be friendly and approachable, caring, professional and confident. As a marketing mix element, physical evidence can be used as facilitator, socialize, differentia tore shaping first impression and build corporate image and identity. SERVICE PROCESS The service process refers to how a service is provided or delivered to a customer. Delivery system is a creative process. it begins with a service concept and strategy to provide a service. In order to achieve these objectives, various alternatives must be analyzed and identified before a decision is made. Designing a service process involves issues such as location facility, design

and layout for effective design and layout for effective customer and work flow, procedure and job definitions for service providers, extent of customer involvement, measures to ensure service quality, equipment selection and adequate service capacity. Operational issues have to be considered while designing the service quality process. i) In order to achieve economies of scale and perform consistently the operation people would prefer to process in a batch while the marketing would prefer to cater to individuals so that the customer feels as being treated specially. ii) iii) The decisions on designs and facility layout should satisfy the objectives of both Operational people are interested to improve the productivity as the cost of production per unit will reduce. iv) Operation people want a standardized service since it keeps the cost lower and is easy for implementation. On the other hand the marketing people prefer customization to match customers needs. v) vi) Manage the queues in such a way that it is possible to use the available space. Operational employees feel that the job design should minimize error and standardize tasks, making efficient use of approach. vii) The operational personnel lie to manage capacity in such a way that wasteful underutilization will not take place. Planning The following strategic decisions and design elements must be considered in the Service planning process. 1. Basic Technological Decision. 2. Conversion/Materials Decision. 3. Specific Equipment Decision. 4. Process Flow Decision: i) ii) iii) iv) v)
vi)

Blue prints. Flow charts. Front and back Office. Layouts Benchmarks. People Decision.

STRATEGIES FOR MANAGING CAPACITY & DEMAND The demand may be too high or too low. When demand is too high the capacity can be altered by: 1. Stretching time, labour, facilities and equipments. 2. Cross train the employees. 3. Request over-time from employees. 4. Rent or share facilities. 5. Hire part-time employees. 6. Subcontract or outsource service. When the demand is too low, the capacity can be altered by: 1. 2. 3. 4. Performing maintenance, renovations. Schedule vacations. Schedule employee training. Lay-off employees

1. Customers Involvement: By converting certain operations to self-service like buffets at restaurant and fast food joints the firm can divert its own personnel to other functions. Selfservice firm lose a certain measure of control over service quality when the customers are asked to perform key functions. 2. Using Part-time Employees: Part-time help can supplement regular employees when the peaks of activity are persistent and predictable. A ready part-time labour pool is available from college students and others who are interested in .supplementing their primary source of income. Another source is off duty personnel placed on stand-by. Hospitals and Airlines often pay their personnel to be on stand-by. They are there to be ready for work if needed. 3. Cross Training Employees: Some services consist of various operations. At times when one operation is busy the other operation may be idle. Cross training employees to do the tasks in various operations creates flexible capacity to meet demand. For an example, we see at supermarkets when the queues develop at the cash registers, the managers call on stockers to operate registers until the queues reduce. In the same way during slack periods some of the cashiers are busy stocking shelves. 4. Modify or Move Facilities and Equipments: Sometimes it may be possible to modify the existing capacity to meet the demand fluctuations. For an example, the new Boeing 777 aircraft is so flexible that it can be reconfigured within hours to accommodate extra numbers of seats allocated to one, two or three classes. Thus the plane can be quickly modified to match the demand arising from different market segments. 5. Sharing Capacity: A large investment in equipment and facilities exist in a service delivery system. At the time of underutilization, it may be possible to find other use for the capacity. An airline is a good example. At the small airports, airlines share the same baggage handling equipments, ground personnel etc. It is a common practice for some airlines to lease their aircraft to other airlines during the off season.

6. Stretch Existing Capacity: In order to match the demand of resources can be expanded. Under such circumstances no new resources are added but people, facilities and equipments are asked to work harder so that demand can be met. 7. Schedule Down Time during low demand: If during the peak period, people, equipment and facilities are being used at maximum capacity then it is necessary to schedule repairs, maintenance and renovations during off periods. For employees vacations and training can also be arranged during this period. Managing Constraints on Capacity: Demand cannot be controlled perfectly. Efficient management of resources needs that the firm should consider the changing capacity by increasing it to meet higher demand and contract it when the demand is low. Depending on the type of service, service firms are faced with various constraints. 1. Time: The primary constraint on service production is time. Time is a major constraint from the point of view of individual service provider. Time capacity can be increased by operating for longer hours. This cannot be an option if the time does not match the customers needs. Its capacity can also be increased by shortening the length of the time in serving the customer.For an example, a consultant, a lawyer or a hairdresser all sell their time. 2. Labour: The labour intensive unit the number of service providers is large. Here, labour or staffing levels can be the primary capacity constraint. A law firm, consulting firm or a repair maintenance contractor all fare the same problem. At certain times the demand for their organisations services cannot be met as the staff is already operating at peak capacity. In some cases it is easier to hire and fire. But it can be costly if the employees require extensive training in order to provide service. This can be avoided by imply increasing the working hours of the regular staff at the time of high demand and paying overtime. 3. Equipment: Equipment may be critical constraints for service firms. In case of, transportation, the trucks or the planes required to service demand may have capacity limitations. Especially during festivals, summer and winter vacations the delivery service providers are faced with this problem. Telecommunication companies face equipment constraints when everyone wants to use the telephone lines at the time of peak hours. This has transformed operations performed by the clerical staff. E.g. Delivery services, telecommunication, utilities, health club. 4. Facilities: Most of the service firms are faced with the problem of limited facilities. Education institutions like schools and colleges are constrained by the number of rooms and the number of seats in each class, restaurant capacity is restricted to the number of tables and seats available, Airlines are limited by the number of seats in the aircraft and so on.
Place , cyberspace and Time:- Delivering product elements to customers involves decisions on the place and time of delivery as well as on the methods and channels employed. Delivery may involve physical or electronics distribution channels or both),depending on the nature of the service being provided.