The Intangible Product
There are four elementary differences between marketing services and the marketing of products. The reason for the differences is that services are intangible, in separable, variable, and perishable. (Marketing. Grewal and Levy pg. 230). Imagine going to a restaurant, you order a steak and request it to be good medium rare. You have thought about the steak since you ordered. You are excited to taste it. The server brings you the delicious steak; you cut into it to find that the steak is well done. At this point, you are so disappointed that you send it back for a new one. With services you can’t send them back. They are intangible, which means that you can’t touch the service, you can’t taste and you can’t see the service. You would not be able to go to a doctor and not pay because you didn’t like the diagnosis. Services are also inseparable. In our doctor scenario, you wouldn’t be able to go in and see the doctor to “try them out”. After the doctor visit is over, you can’t return it. Services are produced and consumed at the same time. Service also has variability. As long as humans are needed to perform services, there will likely be a variability factor. Again using the doctor visit, you can have two doctors in one office, giving the same service but one has amazing bedside manner but the other is just not nice. The final difference is that services are perishable. You cannot hoard up doctor visits. You use them as needed. Next, there are six ways that firms can assist employees in providing customer service. First, a firm can empower employees to make spur of the moment decisions that can enhance a customer’s experience. Second, technology can also assist in providing customer service. Third, a firm can assist is to provide emotional support by caring about an employee’s well-being and also stand behind an empowered decision; knowing that they made the best decision for the situation. Fourth, a firm can also provide instrumental support can