Chapter 3 - Characteristics of Services
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Transcript Chapter 3 - Characteristics of Services
Chapter 3
Characteristics of Services
Chapter 3
slides for
Marketing
for
Pharmacists,
2nd Edition
TIP
Pharmacists provide
services - not drugs.
Learning Objectives
Define the following terms: services, valueadded services, pure services.
Identify four characteristics of services that
differentiate them from products.
Discuss how the characteristics of services
make them difficult to market.
Describe service categorization methods that
can be used to develop strategic insights into
the provision of pharmaceutical services.
Apply marketing strategies for dealing with the
unique characteristics of services.
Defining Services
Services are performances or processes
that benefit others.
They can accompany tangible product or be of
value by themselves.
Services that accompany a tangible product often
called value-added services.
Pure services do not accompany a tangible
product.
Pharmacy is a service profession.
Services often revolve around the provision of a
tangible product.
Pharmacist services
Pharmacist value-added services
enhance value of tangible products.
The level of service or product
orientation of a pharmacy depends
on the intangibility of the offering.
Characteristics Unique to Services
Intangible
Actions or events
Can’t be seen, held, or touched
Heterogeneous
No two service experiences alike
Service quality depends on uncontrollable factors
Actual service often not what was planned
Characteristics Unique
to Services
Production and consumption inseparable
Services can’t be saved, returned, or resold
Once services are delivered, they are lost
Difficult to synchronize supply and demand
Customers participate and influence service
Customers influence each other’s experiences
Challenges in Marketing
Services
It is difficult to promote their value
Challenging to get customers to notice and
desire a product when it cannot be seen or
touched
Customers have difficulty evaluating services
Intangibility and variability makes them
difficult to assess
Often invisible
Difficult to synchronize supply and demand
Classifying Pharmacist
Services
Classifying helps
identify new
strategies for
serving patients
and competing.
Avoids
inbreeding.
TIP
To market services, we
must understand
them.
FIGURE 3-1
Pharmacist services on a
continuum of product to
service orientation
OTCs/ Home Testing Durable Medical Low Service High Service
Drug
Herbals Equipment
Equipment
Dispensing Dispensing Information
Tangible/
Product Oriented
Mix
Intangible/
Service Oriented
Mix
Professional or
nonprofessional
Professionals
Considered to have unique skills, expertise,
and training
Have distinct group identity and are largely
self-regulatory
Are experts in specialized fields and use
their expertise to advise and assist
customers
Are less subject to price sensitivity and
promoted more through word of mouth
Strategies for Marketing
Services
Use tangible clues to the quality of your
services
Lighting, cleanliness, neatness
Dress, appearance, and body language
of the pharmacist
Organization of merchandise on shelves
Provide something tangible with your
services
Strategies for Marketing
Services
Take advantage of word-of-mouth promotional
communications.
Ask customers to recommend the pharmacy to others.
Identify and cultivate opinion leaders.
Emphasize the professional nature of pharmacist
services.
Use good judgment and show professionalism.
Emphasize expertise, competence, and training.
Marketing insurance
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5675094
Can marketing work with pharmacist services?
Strategies for Marketing
Services
Establish and maintain a strong
image in the mind of customers
Through all elements of marketing mix.
Practice relationship marketing.
Develop formal and informal
relationships.
Take a long-term view of transactions.
Strategies for Marketing
Services
Expand services to more than one
site.
Store services if possible.
Manage supply and demand.
ATM-style
dispensing machines
In physicians’ offices
In pharmacies
For refills or new
prescriptions
Self-diagnostic tests
Pharmacists conduct diagnostic testing
and provide information and assistance
on OTC diagnostic products:
Pregnancy
Cholesterol
Blood glucose
Blood pressure
AIDS
Narcotics use
Point-of-purchase
Touchscreen information
Self checkout and payment
Conclusion
The pharmacy profession needs to
look beyond current ways of
practice and explore how other
businesses serve customers.
Pharmacists can learn by emulating
the best practices of businesses
outside pharmacy
e.g., hospitality, retailing, and food
service industries.