The Importance Of The Physical Evidence Marketing Essay

The Importance Of The Physical Evidence Marketing Essay Services are radically different from products and need to be marketed very differently. So the classical 4 P structure of the Marketing Mix needs to be modified suitably to incorporate the 8 Ps for services marketing, which was previously known as 7 Ps only. Services can range from financial services provided by the banks to technology services provided by the IT Company or hospitality services provided by hotels and restaurants Services marketing are dominated by the 7 Ps of marketing namely  Product, Price,   Place, Promotion, People, Process  and  Physical evidence. All of these factors are necessary for optimum service delivery. While everyone knows about the 7 Ps of services marketing, the  8th P of Services Marketing  has emerged in research very recently. The 8th P is  Productivity and Quality. 8-P-Marketing-Mix Physical evidence Physical evidence is the ability and environment in which the service is delivered.  Both tangible goods that help to communicate and perform the service, and the intangible experience of the existing customers and the ability  of  the  business  to  relay  that  customer  satisfaction  to  potentialcustomers.Physical  evidence  is  the  element  of  the  service  mix  which  allows  thecustomer again to make judgments on the organization. Consumers will make perceptions based  on their  sight of the  service provision which will have an impact on the organizations perceptual plan of the service. For e.g. If one moves into a restaurant his expectations are of a clean, friendly environment, besides high quality food which is  the core  service of  the restaurant. On an aircraft if he travels he expects enough room to be able to laydown.Some  points  stating  the  importance  of  physical  evidence  in  service m arketing are- à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Physical evidence  is packaging for services, therefore creation of  service environment should not be left to chance. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Customer  judges  the  service  quality  through  the  process  of  deduction. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Physical evidences both- dominant and peripheral should be co-ordinated to achieve uniformity in its projected service image. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Peripheral  evidences  are  small  and  trivial  but  have  impact  oncustomer  perception  about  services  and  are  real  source  of  competitive differentiation. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢It makes the intangible service apparent. Physical Environment of Hotel: à ¢Ã…“†location   Ã‚  What kind of customers prefers a city centre?   What  kind  of  customers  prefers  a  hotel  at seaside? à ¢Ã…“†Signs and logos Many hotels belong to chains and their signs and logos are well known. Different chains help hotels to profitable business. Competition is very hard nowadays. Good reputation and recommendations help very much a hotel to get new customers and also make them to come again. à ¢Ã…“†Style, furniture, colors, lighting à ¢Ã…“†Clean air: some customers want luxury, and they are ready to pay for it. Other customers are satisfied with a little lower level. à ¢Ã…“†Reception What is good customer service at the reception? à ¢Ã…“†Office, information, customer service Is it easy to reserve a room? What is the easiest way to reserve a room today? Good customer service is very important in the competition  today. à ¢Ã…“†A hotel room What does a customer want from a good hotel room? The room itself and the bath room must be clean and the bed must be comfortable. Something extra  provided  that  a  customer  has  not  expected gives a good feeling. à ¢Ã…“†Restaurant- heart of the Hotel The restaurant and its kitchen create the heart of a hotel. At a big hotel there can be many different types of restaurants. Reception A hotel receptionists job is to make guests feel welcome, to check them in and out efficiently, and to deal professionally with enquiries, face to face and by phone, fax or email. When guests call at a hotel to make a booking, the receptionist is the first person they speak to and may also be the first person whom they meet at arrival. The receptionist in short represents the entire hotel in front  of the customer. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢The Hotel should provide a 24 hour reception service. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢At the Hotel  there should  an  array  of  experienced  and  qualified receptionist to handle the customers. They should work in a batch of three that is at any time there should be three receptionists in the front office for  the convenience of the customers.  They should change the shifts to ensure the best service possible. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢The  receptionists should  act  as  a  guide,  a  friend,  a counselor to the  customer. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢They should use laptops and telephones to manage the accounts and to handle the queries or to provide service to the customer.   Ãƒ ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢The front office plays the most important part in hospitality industry. Welcoming the customer with a smile, making them feel important is the valuable job of the receptionist. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Receptionists at Hotel should provide extra services such as calling the in house porter to carry the luggage, arranging for conveyance for  sightseeing or official visits, booking flight or rail tickets and arranging parties. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Receptionist should look after the customers personal taste such as his menu, movies and music and proper functioning of equipments in his room. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢The  receptionist should  also  allott  time  for  visits  to  the  spa  and  fixeappointments with doctors. This aspect of service  in a  Hotel  accounts  for  the  high  satisfaction  among  its customers. Rooms at Hotel Rooms should be spacious and attractively decorated. The rooms can be differentiated on two major criterias.   Space  Facilities  provided. The rooms can be categorized as follows: superior, deluxe, club, crescent, terrace, executive and presidential suite. However the superior, deluxe and club  rooms  must be  the same  in  area The visitors of  the presidential suite should be  provided with  superior  services  and  the  most  spacious  rooms. The services provided inside the rooms can be as follows: à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Mini bar à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Coffee and tea maker to provide the ease of making it according to their own preference. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Hairdryer à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Iron and an ironing board. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Television  facility  with domestic  channels  and  international channels.   Ãƒ ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢DVD  players  and  a  variety  of  video  tapes à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢High speed internet facility. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Telephone  with speaker  facility. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Refrigerator. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Smoke detector. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Newspapers and magazines. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Convenient and adequate plug points in the room. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Electronic safe and door locks for ensuring the safety of the visitor. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Bathrobes and slippers. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢User friendly bathroom fittings. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Jacuzzi. Restaurant Human aspect of a service sector industry sets it apart from the productionsector.  The  inherent  quality  of  a  product  and  also  its  physical  outlook attracts  the  customers  towards  it.But  when  it  comes  to  service  theapproach is totally different. Through its service, i.e. the quality of service provided, an industry in the service sector, tends to retain as well as create a customer. The service has to be made tangible in this fashion. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢The  entrance  made should wear a majestic look. The warm welcome by the man at the gate should make the guests comfortable and wanted. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢ The overall ambience should be mesmerizing. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢The furniture laid around: The chairs and table should have wooden finish. The tables should be arranged to cater to the customers needs i.e. buffet and sitting arrangement. The buffet should have table  with expensive copper,  steel and  glass cutlery. The  sitting arrangements should be  planned judiciously keeping in  mind the  customers comfort as well as taking care of the economic aspect of spaceutilization.  The  furniture  should be  elegant  and  highly  comfortable.  The chairs should have soft cushions. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢The  most  attractive  and  significant  part  should be  the  attitude  and professionalism of the waiters. They should be in a proper dress code. The ratio of waiters and table should be 2:1, because of which customers can always be at ease and taken care of. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢To satisfy a customer  in service sector especially in restaurants where the service delivered should provide the maximum satisfaction- which itself differs from one individual to another. Gym The physical environment at the gym should include the following: à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Stairs à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Front door: There  should be  a  guard  at  the  entrance  who  checked  the membership cards of each customer. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Smoothie  bar  Area- There  should be  a  bar  area  which should  include drinks such as: energy and fruit drinks besides providing normal water.   Ãƒ ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Membership Card- All the customers should be given membership cards for easy recognition and catching the defaulters. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Appearance of Employee- All the employees should have a dress code which should be similar to the other employees of the Hotel. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Walls- The walls of the gymnasium should be with posters suggesting health  and gymming  tips and motivational phrases. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Lockers- Locker  facility  for all  customers  to  keep their  belongings  safely. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Music à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Equipments-  The  gym should  have  all  equipments  related  to  cardio  and weight training. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Light- The hall should be well illuminated with focused lights. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Appearance of staff- The trainers and the supervisors should be wearing branded sportswear. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Towels- The towels should be very clean and  dirt free. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Hair Dryer- Hair drying facility for customers. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Cleanliness- It should be well maintained to keep the entire area spic and span. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Therapist- There should be a therapist to look after any unexpected injury. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Temperature- The room should be conducive for  comfortable exercising. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Merchandise-If  the  customers  intend  to  purchase  any  similar  health product, the same should be available. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Sauna and steam bath à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Jacuzzi Parking à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Hotel should provide valet parking for its  customers. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Valet parking is a service whereby a valet takes the car from the customer and parks it in the parking lot. The customer is hence spared of the hassles involved in car parking. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢In most five star  hotels the parking lot becomes jammed during peak hours. Car parking by the valet proves beneficial for both customers as well as the hotel officials. On one hand the customer does not need to worry about the parking place; on the other hand the valet has the car at  his own disposal. This means that he  can park the car  wherever he feels it convenient to do so. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢This leads to better service of the customers as they can enjoy the stay at the hotel without caring for maintenance of their vehicle. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢Offering a valet to take care of the car adds luxury to the service à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢This can be further increased by the valet bringing the car up to the main entrance and holding the door opened to allow the customer to get in. Conclusion   Its not always words that impressà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.  Truly, physical evidence in hotels and restaurants speak louder than words. It is through these evidences that the  customer  attaches  himself.  A  hotel  is  an  abode  of  customer delight. During this Endeavour we learnt the importance of physical evidence in a service industry like the hotel industry. Physical evidence serves as an entire package for a service industry. It holds the power to tangible the intangibles. In the end we can conclude that the physical evidence of the services provided at Hotel should be highly impressive and efficient. It should make sure that the customer makes repeated visits. For a hotel industry viral marketing is the strongest advertising tool, hence all efforts should be made to make the customer satisfied. s