Have you considered which kinds of businesses or services get consumers most upset? If you did, you probably noticed that the most upsetting organizations are service firms and government agencies. Some of these include: banks, auto repair places (in fact, almost all repair places), auto license bureaus, doctors offices, credit bureaus, service at restaurants, etc.
Some of these organizations seem almost indifferent to the wants and needs of their customers. That provides an excellent opportunity for someone to become a hero by making such organizations more responsive and, thus, more profitable. Organizations that are customer focused have captured a huge market share by offering fast and convenient services and by avoiding long customer lines. Actually, the marketing of services is relatively easy because service organizations can more readily adapt to the specific needs of specific customers. Do they? Most often, the answer is no. Therein lies the opportunity. If you want to capture a huge share of the service market, it has been demonstrated that all you must do is listen to what consumers want and give it to them.
The secret to service marketing is to listen to consumer wants and needs and constantly adapt to those wants and needs as circumstances change. If you do that, you will only need minimal effort to generate positive word of mouth that will guarantee success.
Answer the following questions using complete thoughts and sentences. (Minimum 8-10 sentences per question.)
1. Ask five different people which companies or organizations cause them the most grief? Based on your conversations with these five people, what could companies do to lessen such hassles and capture more of the market from competitors who do not make such changes?
2. In your opinion, is Ashland University responsive to student wants and needs? Give examples either positive or negative. How could it be improved?
3. Describe the product (education) here at Ashland University in terms of the 4 characteristics of services discussed in the text (intangibility, perishability, inseparability, and heterogeneity/standardization of services).