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Top1. Introduction
Product companies find it increasingly difficult to differentiate their offerings based on physical products (Ma & Wooton, 2020). It is difficult to differentiate because physical products are tangible and chances for any form of differentiation of getting copied are higher. It is difficult to survive and sustain in the competition without differentiation. So, companies focus on delivering services. Services are intangible and it is difficult to copy the differentiation incorporated in services (Nobre & Faria, 2017). High profitability can be achieved if differentiation in services is incorporated and executed properly. Superior services may include on-time delivery, better and faster responses, or quicker resolution of complaints. Service companies understand the importance of delivering superior services and also of creating superior customer experiences (Barari, Ross, & Surachartkumtonkun, 2020). Service companies are becoming important because customers look for exceptional services. Companies will be able to provide exceptional services only when they have focus and excel in their performance (Ishola & Olusoji, 2020). Companies are keen to improve upon these parameters which help them to excel in the marketing of services.
Services is gaining in importance in the recent years (Nedaei, 2018). Services account for almost 80 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) (CIA World FactBook, 2016). Services is also the major offering in world economy. It is growing at a fast rate and constitutes 63 percent of the gross world product (CIA World FactBook, 2016).
Different firms in the services industry offer a variety of services. Governments of countries are a major service provider for the public. Governments offer a number of services through hospitals, courts, employment services, police and fire departments, military services, postal services, and schools. There are private not-for-profit organizations which offer services. These include charities, colleges, hospitals, museums, churches, and foundations (Jiao, Harrison, & Chen, 2020). Business organizations also offer services. Such organizations include airlines, hotels, consulting firms, banks, insurance companies, medical and legal practices, entertainment and telecommunications companies, real estate firms, retailers, and others (Barari et al., 2020).
The task of service providers is to make the service visible to customers and convince them about superior quality. Customers have high expectations from the services provided by companies. Such expectations provide both opportunities and challenges for companies. Companies providing services should accept the challenges, convert such challenges into opportunities, try to satisfy the expectations of customers, and even aim for customer delight. In the healthcare sector, Mayo Clinic does this well (Hansel, 2009). It is difficult to judge service quality for hospitals. The operations of hospitals are complex and patients cannot judge service quality before actually availing the services. Before choosing a hospital, most people search for evidence that the facility is caring, competent, and trustworthy. The Mayo Clinic strives hard to achieve these while serving their patients. It offers patients honest evidence of its dedication to “providing the best care to every patient every day” (Hansel, 2009).