Positioning of services
- 1. Positioning of Services The essence of strategy is choosing to perform activities differently than rivals do. MICHAEL PORTER
- 2. Achieving Competitive Advantage through focus Focus means providing a relatively narrow product mix for a particular market segment- a group of buyers who share common characteristics, behavior, or consumption patterns. The company’s focus can be described along two dimensions; Market focus and Service focus
- 4. • Limited range of services to a narrow and specific market segment • Development of recognized expertise in a well defined niche provides protection against competition Fully focused • Concentrate on narrow market segment • Wide range of services Market focused • Narrow range of services to a fairly broad market • New segments are added Service focused • Wide range of services • Wide range of marketsUnfocused
- 5. Market segmentation Identifying and selecting target segments A market segment is one where a group of buyers share common characteristics, needs, purchasing behaviors, or consumption patterns. Demographic Quantifiable population characteristics, such as age, gender, income, education, family situation. e.g University Educated, 20-25 year old, Males Geographic The physical location or region. e.g Living in New Delhi City Psychographics Lifestyle, social or personality characteristics e.g Self assured, confident Behavioural The needs and wants of the customer in relation to the product, including expectations and attitudes. e.g Social Activity
- 6. • A market segment is composed of a group of buyers who share common characteristics, needs, purchasing behavior, or consumption patterns. • A target segment is one that a firm has selected from among those in the broader market and may be defined on the basis of several variables. For instance, a department store in a particular city might target residents of a metropolitan area (geographic segmentation), who have incomes in within a certain range(demographic segmentation), value personal service from knowledgeable staff and are not highly price sensitive(attitude and behavioral segmentation)
- 7. Service Attributes and Levels • The purpose of using the service • Who makes the decision • The timing of use • Whether the customer is using the service alone or with a group, and if latter, what is the composition of that group
- 8. • Important versus Determinant Attributes Important attributes are those whose presence does not have any significant impact on sales, but when absent, result in low customer encounter Determinant attributes are those that actually determine buyer’s choices between competing alternatives. i.e, on which customers see significant differences among competing alternatives . • Establishing Service levels Decisions must be made on what level of performance to offer on each attribute. To facilitate both service design and performance measurement, each attribute(quantitative and qualitative) needs to be operationalized and standards must be established.
- 9. • Size • Composition • Location • trends Market analysis • Resources • Reputation • Constraints • values Internal analysis • Strengths • Weaknesses • Current positioning Competitor analysis Select target segments Define, Analyze market segments Articulate desired position Select benefits to customers Analyze possibilities for differentiation Articulation of desired position in market leads to Marketing Action Plan
- 10. REFERENCES Services marketing (seventh edition)by Christopher lovelock(page 57-75)