Topic: Role of the service in marketing in the 21st century

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Significance of Marketing in Service Business
1. LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1. Meaning of the marketing
Marketing is a complex way of business activities, which is directly related to the
customer. It also indicates buying behavior of the customers and selling behavior of
the supplier with identifying and meeting human and social needs.
Marketing deals with “Identifying and meeting human and social needs”. Marketing is
an orderly and insightful process for thinking and planning for markets. The process
is applicable to more than just goods and services. Anything can be marketed Ideas, event, organization, places, personalities. The process begins with
researching the relevant market place to understand its dynamics and to identify
opportunities to meet existing or latent needs. It involves selecting the market and
selecting the segments that the company can satisfy in superior way. It involves
formulating a broad strategy and refining it into a marketing mix and action plan. It
involves
carrying
out
the
plan,
evaluating
results and
marketing further
improvements.
First of all marketer has to find out customers want, then making production plan,
production purchases, packing, advertisement, warehouse systems, freight physical
distribution, sales, repairs & maintenance, period warranty and guaranty and
customer's comments for the goods or services.
In the new marketing concept, it consists of customer's need production planning,
pricing policy, and new strategy in distribution as well as past sale services of human
and social needs. So it is a total system of business activities designed to plan, price,
and promote goods and services to present and potential customers. Marketing is
typically seen as the task of creating promoting and delivering goods and services to
consumer and businesses.
According to the marketing association of America "Marketing is a process
planning and executing the conception pricing promotion distribution goods
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Significance of Marketing in Service Business
and services to create change that satisfy individual and organizational
objectives"
According to Prof. Philip Kotler, “Marketing is a societal process by which individuals
and groups obtain what they need and want through creating, offering, and freely
exchanging products and services of value with others”.
According to Prof. E. Jerome McCarthy “Marketing is the performance of activities
that seek to accomplish an organization’s objectives by anticipating customer or
client needs and directing a flow of need, satisfying goods and services from
producer to customer or client.
So, finally, we can say that marketing is fully related with human satisfaction as well
as Industrial and business activities like demand of goods and services, quantity of
product or services, production, pricing, promotion, distribution and fulfillment of
demand and to give full satisfaction to the customer form global business activities.
1.2. Meaning of Services
In the marketing product are not only physical products but also service product.
Service product plays a great role in the marketing. Examples of service offering are
transportation, hotels, maintenance and repairing of equipments, dog kennel,
lawyers, engineering etc. The service product is demanding day by day the cause of
advance needs for human. The U.S economy consists of a 70-30 services – to –
goods mix.
A service is any act or performance that one party can offer to another that is
essentially intangible and does not result in the ownership of any things. Its
production may or may not be tied to physical product.
Nowadays service is also taken as an important component in marketing. It has
greater role in modern society as each and every products should be supported with
some kind of services.
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Significance of Marketing in Service Business
1.3. Category of Service
Service industries can be categorized in 4 sectors. They are as follows:

Government Sector (Courts, Military Services, Police and Fire Department,
Post
Office, School etc)

Private non-profit sector (Guthi, College, Hospital, Museums etc)

Business Sector (Airlines, Banks, Hotels, Motion Picture Company, Real
Estate Firms, Boarding School etc)

Manufacturing Sector (Computer Operators, Accountants, Legal Staffs etc)
However some author categorizes the service in two terms, one is private service
and another is business service. Private Service is that service which is directly
related to the persons such as, insurance company, schools, hospital, restaurant,
entertainment, tourism etc. Similarly business service is related to business firm like
advertising agency marketing research firm, management a technology service legal
advisor service etc, service product is quite different business. It has own
characteristics, it is perishable this which cannot reserve, it and we cannot see,
touch, it is not divisible things so, good service agencies. There is not quality
between cost of service and quality of service. Service cost and quality are fully
depended on the service agency.
1.4. Service product matching strategy
For the customer satisfaction and success of the business every marketer should
follow three types of process as following.
1. Before Sales Service.
2. During Sales Service.
3. After Sales Service.
In the before sales service, they have to provide effective advertisement about
product, sampling product distribution and product using method and training. In the
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Significance of Marketing in Service Business
stage of During Sales Service, period guarantee, free-repair and maintenance,
advice service, installment payment system should be provided to the customers and
in the After Sales Service, guarantee, warrantee and free service system should be
provided to them.
1.5. Characteristics of service
Services have following major characteristics that greatly affect the design of
marketing programs:
1. Intangibility
2. Inseparability
3. Variability
4. Perish ability
1. Intangibility: - Service products are not tangible because they cannot be seen,
touch and tasted. A patient, if he has to need doctor's treatment, he must go to
the doctor or doctor should come to the patient.
2. Inseparability: - Service is not like physical goods so it will be
typically
produced and consumed simultaneously. Service is manufactured put into
inventory, distributed though, re-sellers and consumes later. Suppose person
readers the service the services then the provider is part of the service because
the customer is also present as the service is produced. An interactive between
service provider and customer is special feature of services marketing both
service provider and customer affect the out comes.
3. Variability: - It is also a main feature of services. Services are frilly depend on
the service provider. They are highly variable; service provider can take their
steps toward quality control. The first is recruiting right mean in right place and
providing them training. This is crucial regardless of whether
employees
are
highly skilled professionals or low-skilled worker.
The second step is standardizing the service performance process through the
organization. Organization can do this by preparing a flow chart that depicts
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Significance of Marketing in Service Business
every service event and process. Using this flow chart management chart
management can identify potential fail points and these plan improvement the
third one is monitory customer satisfaction through suggestion and complain
shopping.
4. Perishability: - we cannot store services, when demand for services is constant,
there is not create any problem but functioning demand
create problem. Now
days a challenged is erected to the service provider the case of market demand
fluctuation.
Services are intangible, inseparable, variable and perishable. Each characteristic
poses challenges and requires certain strategies. Marketers must find ways to give
tangibility to intangible; to increase productivity of service provider; to increase and
standardize the quality of service provided; and to match the supply of services
during peak and non peak period with marker demand.
1.6. Distribution channel for service goods
The distribution system of services product is quite different from consumer and
industrial goods because service have unseen nature. So it requires special
distribution system.
Producers of services and ideas also face the problem of making their output
available and accessible to target populations. e.g. Schools develop "educational dissemination systems" and hospital develop "health - delivery system". This
institution must figure out agencies and locations for reaching a population spread
out over an area.
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Significance of Marketing in Service Business
Generally, two ways are appeared in the service distribution.
1. Zero Level Channel: Consumer
Producer
This is the direct channel between the manufacturer and consumer. The
manufacturer performs all the distribution activities. Service products are generally
distributed through zero level channels. They require personal contact. Services are
invisible so, there must be contact between producer and consumer for production or
sales process for example: - Patient and medical treatment, legal advisor, hair
cutting service, such as travel, insurance, entertainment etc. The zero-level channel
is:

Door-to-door

Mail Order

Telemarketing

On-line marketing

TV selling

Internet Selling

Own Stores
2. First level Channel: -
Producer
Retailer
Consumer
It is a short channel where there is an intermediate person for helping between
producer and consumer. Many larger retailers buy directly from manufacturers. Such
as travel, lodging, advertising, entertainment, insurance, supermarket, departmental
stores, discount houses. Agent plays the role of communication between producer
and consumer only.
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Significance of Marketing in Service Business
1.7. Marketing Strategies for Service firms
As we know that service firms are fully effected by the elasticity of demand of
service, this types of firm should follow extra 3ps including the strategies with 4ps
(Product, Price, Promotion, Place).
The important extra 3ps that a service concern must consider to flourish his business
are as follows:
Process: - Service provider should adopt process/system which helps customer to
get service conveniently in less time and effort.
People: - Service oriented business concern should have knowledge about
customer satisfaction because the selection, training and motivation of employees
can make a huge difference is customer satisfaction.
Physical evidence: - Physical evidence is also important. It is a presentation in
customer satisfaction for service quality. Services provider can choose among
different process to deliver their services.
Product
Price
Promotion
Place
People
Process
Physical
Evidence
Fig. 1. Marketing Mix for Service Product
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Significance of Marketing in Service Business
1.8. Services mix categories
There are many ways of grouping / categorizing the services mix. In broad way, we
can categories services into five terms. They are:
1) Pure tangible goods: - This is an offering of service mix into pure tangible goods
provided to customer with best service. There is no need of extra service after the
good is handed to the customer. Once the pure tangible goods is served/ handed
to the customer, we are not liable to provide extra service to the customer. For
example, once we sale a Packet of Wai-Wai or Mayos noodles, this product do not
require other service.
2) Pure service: - It is fully dependent on providing service and it is purely a service
oriented. There is no question of any other tangible goods to be provided to the
customer. Eg. Boating in a Phewataal. Boating is fully and purely a service
oriented business. The clients/customers come for boating and the service
provider provides them boating service. It does not require any product to pursue
its business. Thus it can be said as a pure service business. Some other
examples are Teaching, Doctors Service, Consultancy, Advocacy etc.
Pure tangible goods
Pure Services
Service Mix
Categories
Tangible goods and
services
Tangible goods with after
sales service
Major priority in Service
& minor in goods
Fig. 2. Service Mix Categories
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Significance of Marketing in Service Business
3) Tangible goods and services: - Goods and services both are equally important
to promote any business activity. They are complementary to each other. There
may be some cases where goods can't be sold without proper service and vice
versa. For e.g. A group of tourist have necessity a boating and lodging in the five
star hotels. Here both boating - service oriented business and Lodging - product
oriented business both are relying on each other. Without any one of them, other
business can't sustain.
4) Tangible goods with after sales service: - Some Tangible goods once sold,
may require after sales service. Without this service, sometimes, a business can't
sustain in the market. So in some cases it is very important, that a business
concern should provide such facilities or service. For e.g. Once a Computer is
sold, a customer may deserve repair & maintenance warranty / guarantee without
which, he may change his/her decision to buy the Computer. So after sales
service like repairing and maintenance warranty, product warranty / guaranty after
it is sold is also important in promoting the business. Hence the importance of
after sales service can't be denied.
5) Major priority in services and minor in goods: - This system yet another
system consisting of a major service along with additional services or goods. This
sort of mix has major priority to the service and has minor priority to the goods.
Here without the major service, there is no question of the goods. It means service
is more important and the goods are supplementary to it. For e.g., A film hall
providing the entertainment service to its customers, needs snacks/fast food and
other beverages like Rum-Pump noodles and Coke/Fanta. Besides that it may
provide additional service/facility to its audience like night bus service. Other
example is the Airline and the service provided by it. In Necon Air each
passengers gets soft drink, light foods, with travel.
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Significance of Marketing in Service Business
1.9. Sound service system
Sound service to the customer is very important in the business which sales/provides
the service. Service providers need a best quality service system to dominate it
competitors and sustain in this cut-throat competition. They should try to meet the
customer expectation and the firms own expectation by providing quality and sound
customer service.
Word-of-mouth
Communication
Personal
needs
Post experience
Expected service
GAP 5
Perceived service
Consumer
Marketer
GAP 4
Service delivery (Including
Pre - and post - contacts)
GAP 1
GAP 3
Translation of perceptions into
service-quality specification
GAP 2
Management perceptions of
consumer expectations
Fig. 3. Service Quality Model
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External communication
to consumers
Significance of Marketing in Service Business
1.10 Distance
Distance is a major constraint in sound service system. Distance is undesirable but it
is inevitable. So any service business must be aware of this factor as it can't be
avoided in the business dealings. The consequences that lead the distance in the
business and its remedy must be properly identified and it should be eliminated
timely for prosperous and successful business.
The major distance identified by the marketing experts are shown below:
1) Distance Between consumer expectation and management perception: Management does not always perceive what the customer perceives. A hospital
administrator may think that patients want better food but patients may be more
concerned with nurse response.
2) Distance between management perceptions and service quality
Specification: Sometimes Management considers only the customer needs and their
satisfaction but may not set a specified performance standard. It may cause the
distance between management perceptions and service quality specification.
Suppose hospital administrators may tell the nurse to give fast service without
specifying it quantitatively.
3) Distance between service quality specifications and service delivery: Service personal might be poorly trained, or incapable or unwilling to meet the
standard. Service provider may have set conflicting standards, such as taking
time to listen to customers and serving them fast. This causes distance between
service quality specifications and service delivery.
4) Distance between service delivery and external communication: Generally, customer's expectations are dependent on company's representation
and advertisement. Suppose, a hotel brochure shows an attractive modern room.
But when tourist arrives at the hotel and checks the room they find older
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Significance of Marketing in Service Business
distractive room. This will obviously embarrass the customers as external
communication will have destroyed the customer's expectation.
5) Distance between personal service and expected service: This distance occurs when the customer develops a misperception towards the
company's service facility. For example, a managing director of the hotel visits to
his customer or tourists, but the tourist may interpret it negatively as there is
something wrong.
Finally, it can be concluded that distance is undesirable but yet it is inevitable. So
any Service business, in fact should be conscious about it and should be readily
available to tackle the distances that is foresees. As there is saying "A Stitch in time
saves nine.", solving any problem in time is very important for successful business
operation and its prosperity.
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Significance of Marketing in Service Business
2. A case study on Balkunj secondary school
(Service Business in 21st Century)
2.1. Organizational Profile
Balkunj Secondary School was established in 2040 BS. In Lamatar, Lalitpur. In the
starting session it was started with 40 students but now it has above 600 students. It
has 36 staffs and 3 building as well as three buses. 1 st school leaving certificate
examination was attempted on 2053 and it received 100% result in 1st division. This
school has been awarded in every year from various awards such as P20 - 21
Distinction and subject award, i.e., Padan Bahadur Budhathoki award. Besides this
school is participating in extra recreational activities and competitions like sports,
musical events and various district level competitions.
Nowadays, the fame of school is flourishing all around and it has indeed become
very successful to provide quality education. The slogan of this school it self is
"Quality Education Is Our Pride". And it seems that it is able to pursue its slogan
by providing quality and reliable education serving the local people and nation as a
whole. It is producing qualified students each year and contributing the nation by
giving it a bonafied and brilliant students, which indeed will help in overall
development of nation, as its students may help the nation for its development in
future as doctors, engineers, computer specialists and so on.
2.1. Characteristics of Balkunj Secondary School
1) It has been providing quality, reliable and creative education.
2) Devoted and Experienced teachers in all level
3) Education focuses on discipline, practical implications and creative knowledge
4) English medium classes
5) Computer classes from class 4 to 10
6) Well equipped science labs and highly cozy students library
7) Timely conducts extra recreational activities for the betterment of students
personality and future endeavor
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Significance of Marketing in Service Business
8) Organizing Educational tour
9) Transportation facility to the distant living students.
10) Hostel facility and the cafeteria facility to the students in subsidized cost.
2.3. Objectives / Goals of the School
Each and every organization holds some sort of goals and objectives. We cannot
find even a single such organization which do not have any goal / objective. The goal
and the objective is the main reason for the existence of any organization
nevertheless either it is goods manufacturing business or service providing business.
Balkunj Secondary School has some objectives / goals for its establishment and its
operation. Since its establishment time, it is trying to meet its goal/objective and it
seems somehow successful in achieving its goals/objectives. However the ever
changing nature of objective/goal after the accomplishment of the former goal, is the
main reason for the perpetual existence and operation of any business concern. The
basic or major goals/objectives of this organization are as follows:

To provide quality education to the local people

To provide education at reasonable cost

To help poor family to make their child educate and raise their living standards.

To make the society enlightened by providing education to its the students

To provide theoretical as well as practical knowledge to the students to make
them competitive in every sphere of their life.

For conducting class in disciplined environment and shaping the student to be
the disciplined citizen for tomorrow's prosperous society.

To contribute the whole nation in eliminating ignorance, conservativeness,
dogmatism and ultimately to make the nation strong or sound in economic,
politic, social, environmental spheres.
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Significance of Marketing in Service Business
2.4. Organizational Structure of Balkunj Secondary School
The organization structure is very important in any organization for the accountability
and responsibility. Strong and Straight responsibility and accountability is indeed
needed for the successful operation of the organization without which there may be
conflict and job dissatisfaction. The delegation of proper accountability matching the
responsibility is very important. So proper authority must be delegated to the
authorities/staffs holding specific responsibility. Balkunj Secondary School has
following Organizational Structure:
Board of Member
Administration
Education (Teachers)
Subjects wise department
Accounts
Marketing
English
Nepali
Science
Math
Computer
Extra Activities
The top level authorities of the Balkunj School are Board of Members who is the
supervisor and decision maker. Under them Administration and Education
department is allocated. Accounts and Marketing are looked after by the
Administration department. Administration is completely responsible for recruitment,
selection and delegation of employees,
admission of new students and
management of old students, for proper motivation to the employees and guardians.
Similarly the education department is responsible for quality education and for the
production of brilliant and superb students.
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Significance of Marketing in Service Business
2.5. Composition of Students in Different Classes
Class
Boys
Girls
Total
nursery
11
13
24
nursery
15
13
28
K.G. A
16
12
28
K.G. B
17
10
27
I-A
13
14
27
I-B
11
16
27
II-A
10
15
25
II-B
17
14
31
III-A
13
14
27
III-B
14
15
29
IV-A
15
13
28
IV-B
17
11
28
V-A
11
13
24
V-B
10
14
24
VI-B
13
16
29
VI-B
14
15
29
VII-A
11
14
25
VII-B
10
11
21
VIII-A
15
12
27
VIII-B
16
17
33
IX-A
14
10
24
IX-B
13
11
24
X-A
11
9
20
X-B
12
12
24
Total
319
314
633
This table reveals that the local people of Lubhoo are very much concerned about
the education. Not only boys, but also girls are taught in the school in considerable
number. People of this locality seem to be conscious and aware of the education and
its importance in life and to the whole nation. This table depicts that in almost all the
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Significance of Marketing in Service Business
classes there are more than one section. This shows that the credibility of the local
people to this school is more and the goodwill of the school is increasing day by day.
If this trend keeps on going for some years, there is no doubt that the BalKunj
Secondary School will be the Number One school all over the Lalitpur District.
As per our analysis, most of the students enrolling in this school belong to the Newar
Family. However the Lubhoo area is the area which is Newar Dominant (major part
of population is Newar). It reveals the fact that Newar people are more conscious
about the education and its impact in individual's life. The students from other
race/caste are considerably in low number. It also may be so that Newar people may
have stable and sound family economy.
The school's goodwill and trustworthiness is increasing every year and it seems
successful in achieving its goal to serve the local people, generate employment and
contribute the whole nation in education field.
2.6. Marketing Process of Balkunj Secondary School
No one can deny the importance of marketing in this contemporary business world.
Without marketing in any business, it is like doing business without knowing letting
the customer know the existence of the business in the society. A business
organization should be very much concerned about the marketing because the
successful operation of business completely relies on the marketing strategy and its
efficient implementation. The business without marketing is similar to "Winking a
girl in the dark, no one knows what you are doing only you know what you are
doing...". This reveals the significance of marketing to any organization.
Balkunj secondary school is a local school; it has many competitor schools. It has its
own marketing process for student collection, planning for recruiting qualified teacher
and others. Parent's satisfaction Strategy is basically based on pre - SLC plan to
scheme 100% success with 1st division. This school's marketing process has focus
on analyzing market opportunities, carrying out research on it and selection of best
alternatives to meet the strategy which is completely based on local area markets. It
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Significance of Marketing in Service Business
involves designing marketing strategies, planning marketing programs and
organizing, implementing and controlling the marketing efforts. The complete steps
of the marketing process of BalKunj go like this:
1) Analyzing Lubhoo, Lamatar Area's opportunities:
BalKunj secondary school's initial objective is to identify future long run
opportunities at this local area to evaluate its various opportunities, access
parent's wants and needs and gauge markets size. The school needs marketing
research and information system from its administration sector and other
teachers' personal idea. It studies possible number of children in future and finds
out the guardians or parents behaviors, perception, wants, expectation and
needs.
2) Making marketing strategies:
After the thorough analysis of the opportunities available in the market, the
important part in marketing is to prepare the positioning strategy for each new
existing service. For this the school access the previous marketing strategy
applied and analyzes their benefits as well as their drawbacks. So, after going
through the historical data, it now sets new marketing strategies. The marketing
strategies involves following things:

How to approach the parents and other clients of the school?

How to set the standards for the marketing activities?

What peculiarities and features are to be disclosed to the client while
marketing about the service?

How to make the clients convince to this strategy?

How to get feedback of current marketing strategy?
3) Planning area marketing programme:
To transform marketing strategy into marketing programme, the principal of the
school makes the basic decision. The major planning task is carried by the
principal after detailed discussion with the marketing task force, teachers and
other well wishers of the school, who directly or indirectly contribute to the
school's operating and day to day activities. A concrete plan is set after detailed
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Significance of Marketing in Service Business
discussion and the way to implement this plan and make it successful, is
discovered.
4) Marketing mix & marketing allocation:
This first decision of school's principal is about the level of marketing expenditure
needed to achieve the school-marketing objective. Such decision involves
following things, like: How to divide the total marketing expenditure among the
various alternatives? What sort of emphasis is to be done on marketing? Besides
that other factors such as quality education, students fee, their location / locality
and advertisement in local market through various media (Banners, pamphlets,
FM radio, News paper, Brochures) are also determined. Similarly other decision
regarding the efficient and optimum allocation of the budget and scarce
resources on the basis of various factors is accessed. The major consideration is
given to the classes, teacher salary, house rent, advertisement expenses and
other official expenses, which obviously is needed while making marketing mix
and marketing allocation.
5) Managing the student collection force:
This is the most important aspect of any school while carrying out its marketing
activities. As, the school is for the students and students is the major source of
income to the school, the number of students enrolling in school's academic
curriculum is very important. This school is involving many sources to collect the
students and to spread better perception among the guardians about the school,
its operation and the quality of education that it provides. The student collection
force is motivated toward their goal of collecting students by motivating them by
the means of carrots and sticks. Basically, the school is following the principle of
carrot rather than sticks. More commission and facilities is provided to those who
sincerely and loyally carry out their duty regarding collection of the student. The
ultimate success and failure of the school is highly dependent on the student
collection force. They indeed are very important as no school can run without
sufficient number of students. So BalKunj is very much concerned with this thing
and takes it as a major factor for successful school operation. Basically this
student collection force is activated in the new session when the new students
are being admitted in the school.
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Significance of Marketing in Service Business
6. Taking Feedback of the Current Marketing Strategy:
Feedback is very important to every business concern no matter it is
manufacturing, or service concern. The variation/difference in between planned
program and the actual implementation can be traced out by taking good
feedback. Feedback has prime importance because it guides the business that
what is going wrong, where it goes wrong and how it goes wrong. All these
questions answer can be derived if there is good feedback system in an
organization.
BalKunj Secondary School seems very conscious in this matter. Every year, after
the implementation of its marketing strategy into his local market, it carries out
the feedback process. It analyzes the standards it has set for student collection,
schools operation and the result of actual implementation. For that it distributes
the questionnaire and other feedback form to the parents, marketing staffs/
collection force, teachers and other its well wishers. Besides that It also traces
out that if the expectation of school, guardians, students and its staffs has met or
not. This is really a significant process for long run operation of the business.
The following figure given below depicts the above stated marketing process of the
BalKunj Secondary School:
Analyzing Lubhoo, Lamatar
Area's opportunities
Taking Feedback of the
Current Marketing Strategy
Making
Managing the student
marketing strategies
Planning area marketing
programme
collection force
Marketing mix &
marketing allocation
Fig. 4. Marketing Process of Balkunj Secondary School
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Significance of Marketing in Service Business
As per our analysis, we found that there are four secondary school as competitor of
this school. According to the survey, this school holds the 21% out of 100% in the
market share of the local students.
2.7. Decision Making in Balkunj Secondary School
Student's fee decision
Fee is the major source of revenue generation in Service business like schools,
hospitals etc. Balkunj secondary school has different fee schedules for different
classes. Student's fee is the one element for the marketing strategy for the school.
Student's fee is the backbone for the schools overall budgeting. If the school does
not collect the fees from the students, its elimination from the market cannot be
denied. The fee collection method and its effective schedule of collection must be
determined and should be followed strictly for the schools successful operation.
Student's fees should be timely collected and should be used in an efficient/optimum
manner for the school's and students welfare. So the collection of student's fee is
very important and the management of the school is very serious in it.
Certain rules and regulations should be followed while making decision in student's
fee structure. For setting the new fee rates or changing the fee rates, school's
management should seriously follow certain rules and decide the fee structure under
certain constraints and criteria.
Before making the student's fee schedules Balkunj School follows the following rules
and regulation:
1) This school studies external environment (specially the competitors fee structure
and their policy in fee payments)
2) The reduction of fees or increment in fee rates is done by taking the perception
of the guardians and by detailed discussion in such matters.
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Significance of Marketing in Service Business
3) The school also analyzes the local income level, amount of disposable income,
strength to pay the specified amount of fee and willingness to pay the fees of the
guardians.
4) The students' fees are set as per grade level. Higher the grade higher the fee.
5) After analyzing the above stated factors, management of Balkunj Secondary
School, sets the best fee structure which is beneficial to the students, guardians
and the school. i.e., reasonable and affordable.
2.8. Marketing mix of Balkunj Secondary School
Marketing Mix
Products
Price
Place
Fig. 5. Marketing Mix
Product - Educational Service

Educational service to Class nursery to ten

Quality education with affordable price

Recreational Extra activity for overall development of students

100% success in all SLC examination held till date

Students number per class - 25

Monthly test report provided to parents
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Promotion
Significance of Marketing in Service Business
Price (Affordable fee)

Class wise fee

Free ship for talents & poor students

Credit facility for sum amount payment
Place

Fixed Location Lubhoo - 4, Lalitpur

Prime Location with transportation Facility

Peaceful environment for good quality education
Promotion

Quality education

Advertisement (Banners, Pamphlets, News Paper, Public Relation, Door to
Door service - meeting with guardians)

New admission marketing force

Parent's direct relation

Direct meeting program scheduled monthly or quarterly with the parents
2.9. Complain to the school administration
Every business concern must be aware of the complains, comments and
suggestions from its customers/clients. It is very important for the business for its
future's successful and its perpetual existence. Thus, the management of any
business should take the complains, suggestions and comments positively rather
than negatively, if they really want to sustain in this cut - throat competitive age.
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Significance of Marketing in Service Business
In Case of Balkunj Secondary School, our survey revealed that most of the parents
are satisfied from the schools administration, management and the quality of
education it is providing. But some parents have the following complains:

Out look environment is not good

Comparatively lower level student's fee is higher than other school lower level
student's fee.

Issuance of Credit bill is not punctual.

Parent could not meet their students in class hour

Some students are weak in different subject
Above mentioned, complains of parents should be carefully analyzed by the
management of the Balkunj School and should avoid aforementioned complains in
future undertakings for the schools betterment.
The school has following process of selecting and eliminating the complains of the
guardians. For the complete satisfaction of the guardians the resolving of complains
is indeed needed.

Collection of complains from the parents by various means - Questionnaires,
correspondence, suggestion and complain boxes and through the various
parents meeting.

Analyzing to the complains provided by the guardians in various form - Written
or Oral.

Selecting the reasonable complains - elimination of unnecessary and irrational
complains.

Solving the complain - for the complete satisfaction of the guardians.

Issuance of report of the solved complains and the remedy used for it.
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Significance of Marketing in Service Business
2.10. Satisfaction to the Employees and Clients
(Satisfying both parents and teachers)
Satisfaction of the customers and the employees is very important in any business
organization for its effective and efficient operation. There is a proverb that "A
satisfied customer is a good Advertisement". One shouldn't over look this fact. This is
a true fact that a satisfied customer, indeed yields a greater amount of return to the
organization and vice versa if they are unsatisfied with the service provided to them.
Similarly for the unsatisfied employees are harmful and is not effective to the
business concern. For their full motivation to their assigned job, they should be
satisfied with their job and the environment where they work.
Balkunj School also knows this fact and hence is applying various majors for full
satisfaction of both parents and teachers. Balkunj School being a service
organization, which believes that students, parents and employees satisfaction is
very important, give prime importance to its customers/clients and its employees. It
affects the future life of the school. The school's management carries out internal
marketing and provides the teachers with support and rewards for the quality
education and their best performance. In addition management regularly looks
teacher job satisfaction. This school highly believes that if the school wants superior
service from the teachers, the teacher must be satisfied first from their job. If parents
and teachers are fully satisfied from this school, the prosperity of the school and its
long life is inevitable.
For the complete satisfaction of the client and employees, this school has provided
following facilities:
a) Facilities provided to the Students

1:3 students free in one family

Free ship for the class top students

Free ship for talent & poor students

Special discount facility for lump sum fees paid by the students
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Significance of Marketing in Service Business

Free transportation service to long distance students

Free computer lab and library facility

No extra charge for games accessories

Timely educational tours in various historical, geographical and botanical
places
b) Facilities provided to the Teachers

Attractive salary to the full time teacher. (Good salary scale as compared to
competitor schools)

Bonus and allowances in special festivals like Dashain and Tihar

Medical Allowances to the teachers

Insurance of the teachers

Free education to the child of the teachers who are employed in this school

Free transportation facility for the employees

Grant of Holidays as required by the employees for their career opportunities
and household problems

Training and workshops
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Significance of Marketing in Service Business
2.11. Conclusion
Each and every school is established for providing the education service to the
students and ultimately the whole nation. Balkunj Secondary School is also providing
quality education for 633 students. At the same time it is providing employment to 37
employees who are engaged in this organization in teaching profession. So, it is
helping the government to eliminate the unemployment problem as well as
elimination of ignorance and illiteracy. It produces one type of service product, which
is directly related to children's carrier. This schools service is an intangible,
inseparable, variable and perishable product - which is any act or performance that
school offer to students, that is essentially intangible and does not result in the
ownership of any things.
In the 21st century, service product plays an important role in the production of both
goods and services. So marketing in 21st century involves studies of both goods and
services. Nowadays a school principal and other service provider must find ways to
give tangibility to intangibles to increase the productivity of service provides to
increase and for standardization of the quality of the service provided and to match
they supply of services during the different situation.
In this respect, 3ps (people, physical evidence and process) are the most important
factors for the successful operation and the business and for successful marketing
activities. This 3ps should be effectively utilized for optimum output. External and
internal environment of the organization also plays a vital role in its successful
operation. An organization should analyze the external and internal environment of
an organization and should operate accordingly for its survival and long run
operation. The service business like Hospitals, Schools, and Clubs etc. must be very
much conscious about the services that it provides to its clients.
The service business has become an essence of this modern world without which
both production and service oriented business cannot run. So the significance of the
service in this modern world can't be denied. Service plays vital role in satisfaction of
Customer. Thus, the service business has great influence in the modern society and
the modern marketing world, which should be updated and implemented as the time
demands.
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