A service is provided by a seller to a buyer in exchange for money, which is an economic activity. However, it doesn’t grant ownership of the services provided to the buyer; only values are exchanged. This feature distinguishes services from physical goods.
According to Philip Kotler, “A service is an act or performance that one party can offer to another that is essentially intangible and does not result in the ownership of anything. Its production may or may not be tied to a physical product.”
Zeithaml and Bitner define services as “deeds, processes, and performances.”
Services marketing is a marketing strategy based on relationships and value. It can be utilised to market both a service or a product. Marketing a service-based business differs from marketing a goods-based business.
Service marketing is a type of marketing that concentrates on selling services. These can be challenging to sell, and the marketing approach for them significantly differs from the approach for products.
Some companies offer both products and services and must employ a combination of styles. For instance, a store that sells computers also assists people in selecting computers and provides computer repair. Such a store must market both its products and the supporting services it offers to attract customers.
The goal of marketing services is not to get customers to buy a product but to encourage people to do business with a particular company, often in a specific location.
Take a restaurant as an example. It offers a service by providing food to its customers, both on-site and in a takeaway form in many cases. When the restaurant markets itself, it must convince people that it surpasses other restaurants and that its facility is worth visiting.
Just like product marketing, services marketing covers aspects like what is being offered, the price point, how it compares to similar offerings, and why people should choose that particular option over others.
With services, which are often intangible, marketers must also convince consumers that it’s something they need and will benefit from. The following key points highlight the concept or perception of services marketing:
- It is a managerial process of managing services.
- It is an organised effort to establish a sound foundation for the development of an organization.
- It is a social process helping an organization understand emerging social problems and take part in the social transformation process to justify its existence.