Services and Relationships
- In services marketing, a great deal of emphases is being placed on effective ‘service recovery.’ Critically discuss what consumers want from service recovery (SR) strategies.
Service Recovery expounded as the schedules or actions that are given as a reaction to clients by the service providers as a result of service failure. In other words, they are actions that are carried out to customers that were not satisfied with the services that were offered to them. Important to note is the fact that, service recovery is a well thought-out process that was aimed at satisfying aggrieved and dissatisfied clients bearing in mind that clients are the lifeline of any organization Verma, 2012.That explains why an organization ought to ensure that services were offered in a manner that will leave the clients satisfied because it is one major way of retaining them. Organizations know that attracting customers that would not retainable was of no value; hence, service recovery becomes an important undertaking by an organization.
There are various effective Service Recovery strategy and elements that would be opted to by an organization to ensure that they enjoy and exploit full advantages of SR as they would elaborated further down. The first step that would be taken in the process of service recovery is the acknowledgement of the problem. The strategy entails that the company accepts the matter even if it was the customer’s misunderstanding that might have brought about the problem bearing in mind that retaining a customer is the ultimate objective. Refusing to accept that a problem exists is equated to telling that they are not important to the organization, and they can leave. In the real sense, no organization wants such an occurrence Verma, 2012. The second strategies that were used are empathy. Empathy implies that the problem was understood from the customer’s own perspective, and it will form the base of a good problem solving atmosphere ensuring that a positive outcome was attained. Apologizing for the mistake done to the customer is as well essential, and it can take two forms; one is an apology from the organization itself, or an apology from the employee responsible for the misunderstanding. By offering an apology, the organization will own the problem. The next strategy would be fixing or solving the problem. Although fixing a problem that is not a problem is difficult, an organization ought to take all measures possible to solve the problem Prideaux, Moscardo & Laws, 2006. Various ways exist for a problem solving as they would expounded herein. After solving the problem, the client will be assured that it will not occur again. Such an assurance is crucial in the service recovery process Verma, 2012. Lastly, compensation to the aggrieved customers is important, and it may take the form of a refund of giving them cash for the inconvenience caused.
There are numerous advantages that would be attributed to effective SR strategies expounded exceedingly. For instance, through service recovery, there is a possibility that the customers will positively be influenced, and as a result, the customers will have been retained for they will remain attached to the organization Prideaux, Moscardo & Laws, 2006. Additionally, service recovery had the ability to increase the satisfaction of the customers since the apology that were offered were a sure guarantee that the organization is sincerely sorry for the mistake they did. That results from the various studies that indicate that there is a connection between client’s satisfactions along with complaint handling process. Equivalently, the organization is bound to benefit from marketing that the customers will unknowingly do for them. That results from the fact that the successfully recovered customers will recommend their friends to the company, and as a result, the company will have gained more customers effortlessly Verma, 2012. On top of that, decreased service failures, reduced customer dissatisfaction, increased customer lifetime, and reduced negative publicity because negative emotions are done away with are additional importance that arises from successful service recovery. By illustration, an organization that erroneously delivers goods that are perishable to a wrong address, but discovers the mistake delivering them while they have expired will gain a lot by compensating the client with fresh goods as well as with some cash. That way, the company, will have apologized to the client and will have successfully recovered him/her Prideaux, Moscardo & Laws, 2006.
Consumer’s attitude towards service failure (SF) defer from one client to another. By illustration, customers with high attitude towards complaining (ATC) will affect the service recovery process. That is attributed to the fact that customers with a high ATC makes it cumbersome for satisfaction difficult as they are more of complaining of the mistake the organization did failing to focus on the perceived justice that the company is trying to enact in the process. Correspondingly, the costs of SR are equivalently high for both the organization as well as the customers that were affected Prideaux, Moscardo & Laws, 2006. For the customer, service failure denotes discrepancy in equality fro they failed to get what they ought to have received. On the other hand, the organization stands to be affected negatively for they will not be able to retain their customers not forgetting to mention the cost they ought to use in the service recovery process.
- How the relationship marketing (RM) (also known as retention marketing) is different from traditional 4Ps marketing.
Relationship Marketing denoted as RM are defined as the strategies that are premeditated to enhance customer trustworthiness and reliability as well as the interactions that are leading to long-term arrangements. As a result, strong connections are made between organizations with the customers something that happens through the information offered. Such informations are geared up to satisfy as well as meet the customers’ needs and interests. On the other hand, the 7Psand are an extension of the 4Ps model. That is, the marketing strategies that include Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. Credit goes to McCarthy Jerome for the 7Ps model development where he defined it as a managerial approach that extended the services while including their roles Hennig-Hhurau, 2000. For instance, on top of the 4Ps, other Ps that would include Participants, Physical evidence, and Process but participants were later changed to imply People.
While considering at the comparison of both marketing strategies, it would be deduced that the traditional transaction-oriented marketing concentrated on a single sale as well as short term orientation Hennig-Hhurau, 2000. At the same time, they concentrated on selling to buyers that are not definite and unknown making the commitment of the company to them less committed. Corporately, the Relationship marketing (RM) emphasized on customer retaining and retention a clear indication that they were long term orientated. That explains why they track their clients maintaining a high level of relationships between them and the buyers. Unlike the traditional marketing approach, the RM endeavored to ensure a high customer commitment level something that were only attainable through quality maintenance Hennig-Hhurau, 2000.
RM is an innovative theory that was aimed at achieving greater client experience something that in the long run will translate into reputable status for organizations. There are various strategies that can be applied, for instance, networking. It is an imperative step bearing in mind that it helps to join organizations with the community through the activities that were done together Hennig-Hhurau, 2000. Besides, through networking, long term relationship is created between the organization and the community. Referrals also are applicable in the RM strategy because it enables people to understand the opportunities that they would miss as a result of poor introductions to the opportunities the company is offering. Offering events that are customer oriented such as seminars will as well aid in the client’s appreciation not forgetting to mention that they will feel appreciated as a result. Apart from that, the event goes a long way in ensuring that the organization’s brand were marketed in addition to attracting new customers that will attend the events for the first time. Having a high-quality website is an additional strategy that an organization can opt to employ Hennig-Hhurau, 2000. A well designed website is a tick for a contemporary organization since it enables the value of firms were to extended worldwide Brink, & Berndt, 2008. Equally important is the fact that by ensuring every client’s interaction counts, following through on commitments and claims given on the products and services dealt with, and offering benefits and value for the products and services are all necessary for the RM strategy.
The traditional 4Ps were extended to 7Ps as indicated herein. They are the extended 4Ps to combine the marketing activities that an organization appoints or adopts in the process of meeting their customer wishes Bruhn, 2002. The new model, therefore, includes the product. That is the first P represents the company’s products as well as services the clients expects to get. The second P is the price that organization charges for their products and services, while the place is viewed as their market coverage, and finally the promotion that enables their products to be selected by customers from the many alternatives that exist in the market.
The additional Ps includes the physical layout of organizations. It plays an important role because clients are attracted to products that are well displayed. In addition, research has indicated that the physical layout is not only relevant to the stores, but rather, they as well determine the customers that visit their stores Bruhn, 2002. The provision of customer service is the nest P. Every organization understands that customer services are held closely at heart to the modern service industries. It as well plays a key role in ensuring that the customers they have already remain loyal to them. Lastly, process is the added P to the traditional 4Ps. It is associated with customer’s service as well as the processes that are adopted by an organization to market their products in the market.
Reference List
BRINK, A., & BERNDT, A. (2008). Relationship marketing and customer relationship management. Lansdowne, South Africa, Juta.
BRUHN, M. (2002). Relationship marketing: management of customer relationships. Harlow [u.a.], Financial Times Prentice Hall.
HENNIG-THURAU, T. (2000). Relationship marketing: gaining competitive advantage through customer satisfaction and customer retention : with 24 tables. Berlin [u.a.], Springer.
PRIDEAUX, B., MOSCARDO, G., & LAWS, E. (2006). Managing Tourism and Hositality Services Theory and International Applications. Wallingford, CAB International.
VERMA, H. V. (2012). Services marketing: text and cases. New Delhi, Pearson Education.
