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What is Service Marketing Mix?
The service marketing mix is also known as an extended marketing mix and is an integral part of a service blueprint design. It consists of 7 P’s which are product, price, place, promotions, people, process and physical evidence. The service marketing mix consists of 7 P’s as compared to the 4 P’s of a product marketing mix. Simply said, the service marketing mix assumes the service as a product itself. However it adds 3 more P’s which are required for optimum service delivery.
The product marketing mix consists of the 4 P’s which are Product, Pricing, Promotions and Placement. These are discussed in my article on product marketing mix – the 4 P’s.
The extended service marketing mix places 3 further P’s which include People, Process and Physical evidence. All of these factors are necessary for optimum service delivery. Let us discuss the same in further detail.
Did you know that understanding the service marketing mix can significantly enhance customer satisfaction?
Quick Statistics: According to a 2022 survey by Statista, the global service industry is expected to reach $6.3 trillion by 2025. This underscores the importance of mastering the service marketing mix for businesses wishing to remain competitive. Industries such as hospitality and healthcare heavily rely on strategies revolving around the 7 P’s to attract and retain customers, demonstrating the applicability of these principles across diverse sectors.
Practical Advice: When implementing the service marketing mix, emphasize training your employees on excellent customer service to leverage the ‘People’ component. Harvard Business Review suggests that businesses investing in customer service training can see a return on investment of over 1,600% in terms of customer loyalty and brand reputation. Additionally, refining service processes to include customer feedback can lead to more efficient operations and higher customer satisfaction.
1) Product
The product in service marketing mix is intangible in nature. Like physical products such as a soap or a detergent, service products cannot be measured. Tourism industry or the education industry can be an excellent example. At the same time service products are heterogenous, perishable and cannot be owned.
The service product thus has to be designed with care. Generally service blue printing is done to define the service product. For example – a restaurant blue print will be prepared before establishing a restaurant business. This service blue print defines exactly how the product (in this case the restaurant) is going to be.
2) Place
Place in case of services determine where is the service product going to be located. The best place to open up a petrol pump is on the highway or in the city. A place where there is minimum traffic is a wrong location to start a petrol pump. Similarly a software company will be better placed in a business hub with a lot of companies nearby rather than being placed in a town or rural area. Read more about the role of business locations or Place element.
3) Promotion
Promotions have become a critical factor in the service marketing mix. Services are easy to be duplicated and hence it is generally the brand which sets a service apart from its counterpart. You will find a lot of banks and telecom companies promoting themselves rigorously.
Why is that? It is because competition in this service sector is generally high and promotions is necessary to survive. Thus banks, IT companies, and dotcoms place themselves above the rest by advertising or promotions.
4) Pricing
Pricing in case of services is rather more difficult than in case of products. If you were a restaurant owner, you can price people only for the food you are serving. But then who will pay for the nice ambiance you have built up for your customers? Who will pay for the band you have for music?
Thus these elements have to be taken into consideration while costing. Generally service pricing involves taking into consideration labor, material cost and overhead costs. By adding a profit mark up you get your final service pricing. You can also read about pricing strategies.
Here on we start towards the extended service marketing mix.
5) People
People is one of the elements of service marketing mix. People define a service. If you have an IT company, your software engineers define you. If you have a restaurant, your chef and service staff defines you. If you are into banking, employees in your branch and their behavior towards customers defines you. In case of service marketing, people can make or break an organization.
Thus many companies nowadays are involved into specially getting their staff trained in interpersonal skills and customer service with a focus towards customer satisfaction. In fact many companies have to undergo accreditation to show that their staff is better than the rest. Definitely a USP in case of services.
6) Process
Service process is the way in which a service is delivered to the end customer. Lets take the example of two very good companies – Mcdonalds and Fedex. Both the companies thrive on their quick service and the reason they can do that is their confidence on their processes.
On top of it, the demand of these services is such that they have to deliver optimally without a loss in quality. Thus the process of a service company in delivering its product is of utmost importance. It is also a critical component in the service blueprint, wherein before establishing the service, the company defines exactly what should be the process of the service product reaching the end customer.
7) Physical Evidence
The last element in the service marketing mix is a very important element. As said before, services are intangible in nature. However, to create a better customer experience tangible elements are also delivered with the service. Take an example of a restaurant which has only chairs and tables and good food, or a restaurant which has ambient lighting, nice music along with good seating arrangement and this also serves good food. Which one will you prefer? The one with the nice ambience. That’s physical evidence.
Several times, physical evidence is used as a differentiator in service marketing. Imagine a private hospital and a government hospital. A private hospital will have plush offices and well dressed staff. Same cannot be said for a government hospital. Thus physical evidence acts as a differentiator.
Here is a video by Marketing91 on Service Marketing Mix.
So next time some one asks what do you mean by service marketing mix or What are the 7 P’s, then you know the answer. This is the service marketing mix (7p) which is also known as the extended marketing mix.
Also Read about Marketing Mix
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that will be very helpful for me…very nice content.easily understandable
plz can u help me out wid dis dollowings in brief
1. pricing and promption strategy in hospital services
2. benchmarking of airlines
3. branding of insurance services
4. impact of innovation n technolgy in banking industry and housing n construction industry
Dear Meenakshi, You have not mentioned ur email id. I would have liked to help you but the comment column is too small for it. Also, i would suggest a lot of googling for ur questions as it will help u find lots of case studies especially in case of Hospitals and Airlines.
Can u help me this question.
How extened marketing mix dimensions can be used to address or accommodate each unique characteristics of services
What are the different between goods and marketing mix?
Hello Hitesh, could send me some insight on bank marketing mix? or useful links where I can find it? Thx
Dear Paterson, Can you leave me your email id? Or you can ask you question here
It is my own site and i can answer with leisure over there.
Regards
Hi Would like to get the updates on service marketing
Hey sonam. I m soon gonna start writing on Services marketing. Once i finish with Marketing Management.
hey Hitesh can you please help me with the marketing campaigns that will suits newly launched airline
Hello. Can you share what is the objective of the marketing campaign?
Hey l would like to join the marketing group my name is Daba Stella pursuing bachelor in marketing at makerere university business school
this website is very good… it gives very good information what is required… Thank you
hi
i would be glad if u can help me by briefing about 7ps of services marketing in insurance and banking services.
hi,
i will be happy if u briefly explain e-marketing issues in marketing mix
thanx
thanx a ton
I have subscribed but from August i have not received a single mail from u….
atleast abt the Topics u r writing.. so that i can read thru dem
plss help for the same
Thanks
the article is awesome learned nicely about 7 ps thanks a lot
after reading ur articles, i came 2 know.. how easy marketing is.
Hi,
First of all, Thanks for your worthy information.
But I have a question, is there any model for ranking the marketing mix for different positioning strategy?
I’m very much happy to read about marketing mix in service & u have also given an effective examples thanx this will be help in my exams….
i want a deep study of physical evidende its nture,imprortance and service scates wheather pdf or other pages
I love Marketing from my blood
Any examples for the service markeing mix of Honda automotive? Thx
Its Very Helpful but i want to know about Law firm Marketing mix. If Possible sir help me in this field, Thank you So much for such useful information . Regards Adv. Arati
Well, in the service marketing mix of a law firm, all the components will be the same but only at a niche level. The service will be to follow the law and help people who are defending themselves. Price will off course vary based on the lawyers you have on board. Place will be dependent on the number of lawyers you are going to hire and which places you are going to hire them. Promotions will be depending on which type of law you operate – civil or corporate. more of inbound marketing is involved in case of services. The process is very clear in law because it is defined by the government and same has to be followed. People are off course the most important and the more skilled lawyers you have, the better your services and higher your price. Physical evidence will not matter much in law firms but i highly recommend a plush office with good interiors if you are a premium law firm.
Hi
can you help me about the price and placement strategy for new govetrmental university?
Hi Hitesh,
Your post was very useful and easily understandable. Thank you very much.
this concept gave me clear idea about extended p’s
I need 7p marketing stratagy of samsung.
Can you help out.
My id [email protected]
Samsung mainly has products and does not have any service venture. Hence providing things like Physical evidence as well as process will be difficult. However, in this case you can consider Samsung’s service centers as well as exclusive retail outlets which can be considered as repair and retail services respectively. Will try to formulate a 7P for the same.
hey there,
could you help me about telenor sim and device management 7P marketing mix please
Sir
This is a very good meterial regarding the marketing of the services it clerifies verious confusion in a mind about mis understanding the concept of services it is very helpful for all of us for improvementing the knowlage
Thanks
Regards
Ishfaq
Thanks for sharing this post, it’s well detailed. I love the examples you used.
I need 7p marketing stratagy of online school
Can you help out.
It was really a great post and very useful. Thanks for sharing with us.
I want to find out more 4p’s of Marketing excepted Product, Price, Place, Promotion. Can you help me, please?
Hello Mr. Bhasin these information was really helpful to complete my marketing research. I would like to get more information regarding marketing.
Thank you
Hello, Hitesh Bhasin!
I found your article “Service Marketing Mix – 7 P’s of marketing” well articulating and educative together with the schema.
Thus I would be glad to hear from you about yourself and when do you developed the schema, where and where do you used it first and the year if possible please.
Best Regards
Hello,
please explain all about marketing in insurance sector… as I have my interview within a week in insurance company .
what is the best way to market a service verse a product,
An article is going to come soon on the same topic. Please hold on and subscribe to Marketing91 :)
That’s so good
That’s very good
have you any related articles/strategies related to the vegetable industry?
the 7 p’s are well explained here but i have some difficulties in using it with vegetable trading..
would love to hear from you. thanks
hello. please I need how service manager can utilized 7ps on banking industry
Dear Hitesh,I can’t find a search the topic option on your blogsite.
How about the P for planet? In these times where we need to be aware of our environment and make a sustainable sale that doesn’t bring future clients and people into problems. Sustainable and environments are also to be considered in Marketing. What are your ideas about that?
Kind regards, Jyoti
Very Very Nice. Really easy and help ful
hi Hitesh please i need you to explain how a bank can differentiate itself from its competitors using the 7ps of the marketing mix
It is very simple to understand . And covering the required portion. Thank you so much sir . It’s very useful for me.
hello, i appreciate if you can further explain the importance of the 7Ps to a building construction company
hi, can you please help me about service marketing mix in healthcare.
Hi Mr. Hitesh Bhasin, below you will find my email, I would like from you to give me some advices if you have free time
Very very good
You are doing great job sir for simplifying difficult content. But i need your help on this question. How does the application of the Marketing mix assist Marketers to gain competitive
advantage at every stage of the products life cycle?