Recently, drastic changes are going through the American economy. We can clearly see these changes, especially in certain industries. Jobs that were classified as secured only a few decades ago are slowly disappearing as new industries emerge taking over the old ones.
One such case is being observed in the service sector, companies that sell services such as banking, insurance, and even salons, instead of trading businesses.
Recent studies into the Fortune 500 show more than half of the Fortune magazine's list of top American companies are service companies, and over 75 percent of American public personnel is recruited in the service sector. This percentage is expected to grow.
Not only is the service sector growing, but it is also playing a significant role in other areas of the country's economy, noticeably on products:
In the retail industry, we have seen that sales have strongly depended on customer services. For example, Dayton a department store sell the tangible product like clothes, but its sales revenues are derived from the salesperson's skill to render exceptional customer services to buyers.
Additionally, the success enjoyed by McDonald's is characterized by excellent customer services and its popular fast food.
The service sector industry seems to be growing. With recent developments, products themselves now have value-added services. For example, computer software does not come as a standalone program but usually, come along with a service number for technical support and upgrades.
A good example has been seen in Levi's stylish Personal Pair jeans. When a customer visits Levi's store to hand in his/her measurements, Levi's uses them to create custom jeans that will fit the customer perfectly, and they go an extra mile by delivering the orders to their customer's address. These small gestures provided by Levi's makes them more desirable to customers.
Marketing services is difficult because they are not physical things and the quality varies
There is a significant difference between services and physical products. A service cannot be seen or touched, nor repeatedly produced. This characteristic makes them harder to actually market them.
In the traditional business operation, a product being sold play a significant role in the product marketing strategy, while in the service sector a "product" is mostly invincible. Most customers prefer actually to see the product before they buy, which means marketing a physical product is easier than service. This the reason many companies with recognizable products like Porsche, for example, focuses on large image advertising campaigns with a product centered stage.
Clearly, services companies such as insurance and dry cleaning companies do not display the "products" the same ways as physical product companies. So, they are forced to use more visual advertising procedures.
The US firm Travelers Insurance does not offer a physical product to show, so they develop a company image in another way: a logo in the form of an umbrella was used to symbolize protection.
Another headache with marketing services is related to the quality of the "product" which is always not constant. Not like physical products, where a set of standards are embodied in the manufacturing process and followed in every production stage, while the quality of services may vary depending on a certain element of the staff member that serves you. This difference in the service deliverance makes it exceptionally difficult to market efficiently.
When a staff member offers poor services to a customer, then that customer will be reluctant to choose the same business service again, no matter how good your marketing strategy.
Your service should exceed customer expectations.
In the 20th century, customer expects better service than in the past. The likes of McDonald's companies has raised their standards of customers expectation, with faster, clean and consistent services than their competitors in the market. As a business owner, you need to make sure your business standard corresponds with the industry. If you are struggling to surpass your competitor or report a persistent quality problem, then you will lose customers. To be competitive in the market, you need to entrust the customers that your services are top-notch in the industry.
So, how do you analyze the quality of your service?
In simple term, a service is expressed regarding how much you exceed the customer expectations. For instance, when a customer enters a restaurant he/she expect a certain standard of service: they expect fast serving service with the correct order as placed. When the restaurant fulfills the customer expectation, a positive review will be left by this customer. On the other hand, if you offer slow service and wrong orders then they will be dissatisfied and leave negative reviews.
Therefore, it is important to know if you have met your customer expectation.
The easiest way to find out is by collecting customer reviews. Customers could be reluctant to complain directly when they have a certain problem with your service, so you need to work actively to scout out their opinions. Some forms used to collect honest customer reviews includes interviews, questionnaire or telephone survey.
So, how do you use this information?
First, take the negative reviews as a learning experience. In most cases, this is a proven method to correct your past mistakes and ensure future customer expectations. When a customer review suggests that the customers find your sales staff unprofessional or not convincing enough, then retrain the sales team to improve their skills and deliver exceptional services in the future. When customer reviews are used efficiently, you will provide better service and ensure customer values your service in the feature.
Be courageous and creative to stand out
Customers who shop for physical products like a phone can easily differentiate between phone models; each has different features and different interior design.
As for services it's a different story, because they cannot be visualized, these makes them difficult to tell them apart. Therefore, it is important to distinguish your services from the competitor.
You can do this by simply doing things differently from the competitor. It does not happen overnight, so you need to seek acknowledgment by the customer and surpass the competitor. Be willing to go the extra mile.
For instance, FedEx had a revamp of their logistics services and introduced an entirely different service from its direct competitor US Postal Service. The uniqueness succeeded in getting the attention of customers.
Another approach you can break-even is by opening a new branch in new geo-location. There is a significant benefit in new locations, such as being the first in a certain area, which means no or fewer competitors.
A good example is the retail Wal-Mart, which opened stores in small non-populated towns that their opponents had claimed as having few consumers. In reality, when these little communities are put together, the represented large unutilized market, and Wal-Mart was able to take advantage.
It does not matter whether you have been in the business for decades, long-term investment into innovation methods is needed. No market is an island. New players will enter the market and eventually change the playing ground, so companies need to keep up with market changes by investing in innovation ideas if they are to remain competitive.
In the age when the banking system was introduced, many people used banks to manage their finances and insurance policies. Because the banks were the only ones providing this kind of services, they became dormant. This opened opportunities for other new business such as credit union and insurance companies to enter the market. They eventually stole the bank's customers with their new innovative services and strategies.
Be proactive and always ready to take action
In recent year, many large and small businesses have adopted strategic planning in their business. They defined their future goals and strategies to accomplish them. But, this planning action can only go up to a certain degree.
In reality, obsessive planning can have many limitations.
Since planning is mostly concerned with outlining future goals, which in fact we cannot accurately predict the future. Some plans may never be realized and working based on these ideas can lead the company in a wrong direction. An example is when a large group of people predicted that the television would erase the book publishing industry. Individuals who based their plans on this theory had their plans shuttered.
Another drawback associated with planning is spending too much time in the planning stage that you lose control of time. An example was illustrated in the software companies, which spend considerate resources and time to develop the "perfect product," only to find out their product will not be suitable in the market any longer because of market changes. Even worse, a competitor entered the market first before you could complete your product.
What's the solution, if obsessive planning does not work?
The answer is simple - balance your strategy between planning and being proactive. Your plan should be realistic as possible and always include room for change which can exploit. Some entrepreneurs are successful today not because of precise planning, but being merely in the right place at the right time, and by reacting positively to new opportunities presented by market changes.
The planning process helps you to focus on your goals of your service, but allowing yourself to be proactive will help you to change and evolve. You need to be a risk-taker and never be afraid to make mistakes. Take all your mistakes as a learning curve. For example, Macintosh computer is as upgrade of Apple's first computer, the Lisa. The Apple team learned from their mistakes and produced a better product.
Develop a marketing strategy that incorporates all areas of your business.
The success of a company can be well reflected in the amount resources made available for research, planning and executing the perfect marketing strategy to attract the target group of the business.
Such careful marketing strategy does not come without problem from other areas. For instance, an incident that occurs in retail chain will have a huge effect on sales, even though the companies has a good advertising campaign or pricing strategy.
It is tough to change the perception of a customer once he had encountered a bad experience at your business. It does not matter whether it's from advertising campaigns or staffs members, everything is perceived as whole organization. Inside a company, marketing is treated as a separate activity, but as a customer to them, everything done by a business is seen as "marketing."
For this reason, it is every companys job to go through all possible scenarios a customer can encounter in the business, and make sure that company displays the same images as their marketing message.
The same marketing message should be reflected in your staff members, especially those who deals with customers and prospects on a regular basis. To ensure they offer the best service to customer, always analyze each stage of customer interaction from receptionist to sales, supervisor to managers and make sure they are equipped with the necessary training to reflect a positive image of your business.
When a prospect receives an excellent customer experience from your staffs, a good impression of your company is spread out.
Staffs members need to be treated as an extension of your marketing message, or there will be negative consequences. For example, imagine your badly trained finance department staff gives a customer a rude response. The customer will direct his anger on the entire company, and it will not matter if the other departments are trained; this customer's experience tarnishes the whole company image.