NAME: MAINZA

CHILOMBE
PHONE:0973207218 OR
0967942446
EMAIL:mainza68@gmail.
com
TITLE: SERVICE
MARKETING

SERVICE MARKETING
A service is an intangible commodity that is not stored and does not result in
ownership. This is to mean it can merely be used and not result into material
ownership at the end of the day. Because services are intangible, they may be
difficult to market by the nature that they possess. Services mainly aim at customer
satisfaction and examples of services include health care, tourism, and mainly bank
services because banks are entirely service organizations.
To have a thorough image about service marketing, it may be vital to also know
what marketing really is. Marketing is defined by the Chartered Institute of
Marketing (CIM UK), as the management process responsible for identifying,
anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably. This therefore helps us
to define service marketing as the marketing of services.

CHARACTERISTICS OF SERVICES
Services differ in general from goods and so services are not marketed in the same
way goods are marketed. It may also be necessary to say that service marketing
therefore may need particular attention concerning how they can be marketed due
to their nature. This then brings us to the four major characteristics that services
possess and these are:
(a) Intangibility
Services are in experience, in activity not a thing. They cannot be touched, seen,
grasped, displayed or tested in the same sense that goods can. For instance
services offered by banks include ATM facilities. One can simply go to a bank ATM to
deposit or withdraw money as is the case with some Barclays bank ATMs, but that
does mean that they physically touch the service, they merely use and enjoy that
service.
Services however are provided with tangible clues to help compliment their
existence. For instance a customer that opens a bank account with ZANACO or
Barclays bank has no proof of actually banking with either of these banks apart from
of course having a bank ATM card, cheque book maybe, and so on.

(b) Heterogeneity
Because bank services are intangible and performed by different people, services
lack similarity i.e they are variable.
A service received by one person or offered by one party is different from the same
service offered by another party mainly because of the different expertise or
qualification either party or even how knowledgeable they are about the service.
For instance when one wants to open a student account with a bank like Investrust,
the bank may require a letter from the school of the student endorsing the
application of the student account but for another bank like Standard Chartered, all
they may need is the applicant`s NRC and opening the bank account is finalized.
The quality of the service depends on the mood, health of the individual delivering
this service.
Banks however try to make their services standardized as much as possible. How do
they do this? They train their staff to adopt a standard delivery of service.
(c) Inseparability
Services cannot be separated from their service provider. They work hand in hand
and usually, in most cases services are identified by their service provider. In other
words, a service can only be performed when the customer is present. An example
would be that Standard Chartered introduced the Junior Millionaires account when
they saw the target for that kind of bank service. UBA also saw the target customers
for the Lion Prime account which is mainly for the high income earners.
Unlike goods which are first produced then sold, services are sold then produced
and by that we mean services are first advertised or marketed then performed.
(d) Perishability
Services cannot be stored for future use in the same way that goods can. Why?
Because they are intangible as our first characteristic suggests. This characteristic
also suggests that services should be produced on demand and often times in the
presence of the customer. An example would be when one uses the ATM, they
expect to withdraw their money as and when they need it.
It is vital to also state that service marketing is accompanied by the service Ps that
compliment the marketing of services. These seven (7) Ps are:
1. People; to mean the front row staff that directly deliver the service to the
customers. In a bank scenario, people refers to employees- the people at the
counter or teller. These people need to be friendly, helpful and need to portray a
professional behavior because they are the people that meet the customers directly.

Usually customers judge the services of the bank by looking at the people that offer
this service directly to them.
2. Process; refers to the procedures one has to undergo to get a service.
Procedures should not be too long, complicated, irrelevant or exaggerated as this
may frustrate the customer and they may choose to go to a different bank. For
instance, customers do not want to stand in line to be attended to because they
equally have other commitments.
3. Physical Evidence; Physical evidence refers to the environment in which this
service is going to be performed. Customers will always favor a clean environment,
one that is user friendly and convenient. Certain customers pay particular attention
to the bank cars, curtains, the color of the bank as color may determine the mood,
and the staff dress code. Untidy banks will not attract the required customers.
It is also important to acknowledge the four (4) Ps of marketing which are:
4. Product; Bank products are services because banks are service organizations.
These services features should be attractive enough to win customers. By
attractive, we mean that the features of the product should be favorable and of high
quality-Finance Bank Zambia`s Senior Citizen account which is designed to suit
elderly people.
5. Place; mainly refers to distribution channels that is where these services are to
delivered. For banks, this may mean increased bank branches to ensure that
customers can get the services anywhere anytime.
6. Price; this refers to the cost of a good or service. Price may either win customers
or scare away customers. The price used should be equivalent to what the service
can do because bank customers would not want to pay so much money and not get
value for their money in the end.
7. Promotion; People should know about the service that the bank is offering. This
can be achieved through sensitization, advertising and so on e.g banks such as FNB
(First National Bank) use billboards to advertise and make people aware of what
they are offering. Advertising can also be done via media for instance the use of
newspapers and so on. Banks use brochures religiously.
Service marketing also brings into account service quality and how this can be
achieved. Service quality refers to meeting or exceeding customer needs profitably
and this can be done by:
>Employing high quality staff to offer a good service to customers
>Training employees or bank staff as it where to deliver a standard service

>Giving incentives to loyal or repeat customers to encourage their use of bank

services
>Setting u good technology to meet customer demands easily e.g mobile banking
>Increasing flexibility and customization to compliment customers with convenient
services
>Setting up quick response facilities to customer complaints and inquiries
In summary, services are a vital element of the financial system and it is evident
that if these services are properly marketed,banks are likely to do very well
especially that they are service organizations.

By Mainza
Chilombe.