Electrical Goods Distributors - Coursework Example

Electrical goods distributors Contents Introduction of the service sector 3 Challenges of characterises 4 Service Marketing Triangle 5 Servuction Model 5 Industry Change 6 Interaction Matrix 6 Appropriate measures 7 Extended marketing mix (8Ps) 8 Conclusion 9 References 10 Appendices 12 Introduction of the service sector This study would be centred toward electric goods distribution system. It is one of the most important service sectors. Electric goods distribution system can be regarded as the final stage in electric goods delivery. Service sector is usually considered to be more complex in comparison to other sectors. Distributors mainly assist customers on their choice of electrical goods. In UK market there is presence of large number of electrical goods distributors. This competitive market segment influences distributors to offer superior quality services to customers. Some of the major competitors in context of electric goods distribution are R&M electrical group, TLA and Schneider Electric SE. They are the largest players in UK market and are offering exceptional services from past many years. Schneider Electric SE is a multinational corporation which possesses expertise in electrical goods distributors. The company in previous financial year has secured revenue margins of €23.946 billion. Schneider Electric SE over the past few years has undertaken series of mergers and acquisitions. This has enabled the company to sustain market position. On the other hand, R&M Electrical Group is one of the largest electrical goods distributors operating in the UK market (R&M Electrical Group Ltd, 2015). The company was incorporated in 1987 and works in collaboration with leading electrical goods manufacturers. In present scenario this distributor operates across 70 countries and even has won some international projects and contracts. The demand towards electrical goods distributorship has encouraged the company to explore wide array of market areas. TLA is also a well-known electrical goods distributor which was founded in 1998. Since then the company has increased its market share and overall customer base. The firm recruits talented individuals who are able to provide required service quality to target customers. Over the past few years the firm is witnessing tough conditions in the market place due to growing number of players. This has also affected its profit margins in recent years. TLA have been developing new strategies in order to sustain their market performance. The company has presently collaborated with leading manufacturers so as to ensure that it has a wider access of customer base. Challenges of characterises Electrical goods distribution services helps to sell and distribute different electrical products in various parts of Europe. But different characterises of this service become a challenge for it. Some of the important characterises of electric goods distribution service are as follows: Intangible: Distribution service of electrical goods is intangible. So it is tough for the distributors to make customers understand about intangible services and product. The customers of these distributors also face difficulties in evaluation the service for its intangible nature. Inseparability: Distributors of electrical goods have to convince the retails or customers about different features which are associated with products. Therefore they have to maintain strong interaction with customers for selling the service. Variability: It is an important characterises of service. Quality of service varies with different distributors of electrical goods. High efficient distributors deliver the service very efficiently in UK market but for inefficient distributors the service of distributing electrical goods gets hampered. Perishability: Electrical goods are of perishable nature. Distributors of these goods have to deal with problems associated with Perishability. By their efficient services they have to make the customers understand about validity of the product. More over the service of distributors cannot be stored. Time and again they have to provide good service for making distribution process effective. Service Marketing Triangle As per this model described in figure 1, the structure of electric goods distribution system is based on organization, provider and customers. The distributors of electrical goods are selected by company. Distributors provide service to the company by distributing electrical products to different customers. In internal marketing of this model the company provides high quality of training to distributors about electrical products and make them understand about unique things of electrical goods. In external marketing the distributors go the different market for distributing electrical goods to its targeted customers (Churchill, 2009). The step interactive marketing deals with every types interaction performed by distributors for selling and distributing products effectively in its targeted market. In this step distributor convince its customers about qualities and features of product and makes it attractive. Servuction Model As per appendix 2 distributors of electrical goods of UK are provided with different types of training. For handling the distribution system properly the distributors have to work under a team leader (Fill, 2013). That person is a visible element in this model. Another visible element is inanimate environment of the company. A definite organizational setup is provided by electrical companies of UK to handle the service operations of distributors. Various distribution centres are these to handle the distribution process. These distributors distribute electrical goods to various retailers and wholesalers (Mcfarlin and Sweeney, 2008). Then the retails or wholesalers sell those goods to customers. If the entire distribution services face any problem then the team leader or the visible element of this service is conducted. Industry Change Electrical goods distribution industry of UK has experienced many changes for a long period of period of time. Initially the electrical goods company hired a large number of distributors for distributing and selling different electrical goods in UK market. At that time companies were not concentrating on different promotional tools. Advertisement was not so developed during that time. So the companies had to depend on its distributors for making the customers aware of its product. Distributors invest a huge amount of time in making the customers understand the product (Russell, 2009). Strong advertisements and promotions of electrical goods help the distributors to perform their job by putting less effort (Fill, 2006). The electrical companies are decreasing its number of distributors as the retailers or wholesalers are much aware of the product. Present the companies keep a few number of distributors who are very well trained. These distributors are divided according to various regions of UK. They only provide service to those particular regions (Dahlen, 2009). This system helps the company to make its distributor more efficient to perform their job. Interaction Matrix Interaction matrix of electric goods distribution shows that electric goods distribution service requires a good process of managing quality of distributors and management system. The electric goods company develops different approaches and practices for developing its distributors. Definite goals are selected for the distributors of electric goods so that they can provide high quality of services (Baker and Hart, 2008). The distributors follow certain interaction process which helps them to build good interaction with their targeted customers. These interaction processes of distributers have two sides. One side of this process comprises of the distributers and customers. Another side is distributors and the company. Through strong interaction process they learn different things about the product from the company (Batey, 2012). After that the distributors make its customers understand about product quality and features by communication with them properly. This service process of distributers helps them to sale different electrical goods in the market. They often give practical presentation to its customers with the help of advance technology. It makes the distribution process much easier (Onkvisit and Shaw, 2009).With the help of live presentation the customers can understand about the product without doing much interaction. Appropriate measures The service quality can be measured on basis of five important dimensions like reliability, assurance, tangibles, responsiveness and service provider empathy. Service quality in face to face interaction can be measured through analyzing the communication gap between frontline managers and customers (Hoffman and Bateson, 2010). A feedback report after service delivery can be regarded as an effective measure to analyze service quality. Blueprint should be developed by companies in order to outline key failure points. This in turn would help to determine the service quality level. Apart from feedback report, a quick interview can be conducted with customers to understand key strengths of service being delivered and its loopholes (Joshi, 2005). Service quality can be well analyzed with the support of two parameters like reliability and responsiveness. It determines strong or weak association of service companies with target market. For measuring the distribution service the company can implement different online survey tools (Keller, 2006). The companies can send mails to its customers for analysing the quality of distribution. Online forms are sent to the customers for analysis product and service quality. Web chat process or voice call process with customers will also help to evaluate the quality of distribution service. For shortage of time distributor can deliver their service over phone. The quality of their call will become an important tool to measure their performance. Extended marketing mix (8Ps) The extended marketing mix mainly comprise of physical evidence, people and process. These factors help in describing intricacies related to service sector (Gilmore, 2003). Services usually encompass two important features like Perishability and inseparability. These two factors are represented with the support of 8th P in marketing mix which is productivity. It is essential for all service firms to focus on their overall productivity since they are operating with some intangible components (Lovelock and Wirtz, 2011). The two electrical goods distributors chosen for this study are TLA and R&M Electrical Group. Their extended marketing mix components are based on both technology and face to face interactions with customers. R&M Electrical Group and TLA deal in similar electrical goods and are targeting similar consumer market segment. Promotion plays a significant role for all electric goods distributors (Shanker, 2002). TLA is more focused on traditional promotional tools and it utilizes newspapers, magazines, billboards to promote their services. On the contrary, R&M electrical group in current scenario has incorporated technology based approaches for their promotion (Tehrani, 2008). Their advertisement campaigns are broadcasted on TVs, radio’s, social media sites, etc. R&M even has created online portal site for their customers in order to directly communicate with customers. Place factor is addressed by TLA through its organizational set up or rather face to face interaction (TLA, 2015). On the other hand, R&M has its distributor centres for providing service but it also interacts with customers through technology based approaches like Internet, telephone, etc. Both the companies have similar pricing strategies for target market as they follow cost plus pricing technique. Physical evidence in case of TLA is accomplished through face to face interaction since the firm is not inclined towards technology (Gelder and Woodcock, 2003). However R&M adapts technology based techniques to facilitate physical evidence of their service. As per the people factor, both the companies recruit talented individuals so as to serve customers. Face to face interaction is exhibited by well trained staff of both electrical goods distributors (Cheverton, 2005). Process in R&M is initiated through well defined procedure where customers are assisted on their electrical goods choices both through face to face interaction and technical approaches. On the contrary, TLA is inclined towards following traditional approach where customers are directly assisted by staff rather than by any intermediary channels. Productivity is considerably high for both the companies. It is recommended that TLA should include technology based equipments within the system. This will enhance convenience level of customers. Online communication channels needs to be introduced by the firm in order to increase satisfaction level of customers. It is also recommended that R&M should extend its service operations for a longer period of time. This would help in building a strong base of loyal customers. Conclusion This study has clearly outlined different dimensions of service sector. In this particular study various marketing mix elements of electric goods distributorship has been highlighted. Theoretical frameworks such as servuction framework, service marketing triangle, etc., are described in this study. However the major focus was on extended marketing mix of two well-known distributors in UK market – TLA, R&M Electrical Group. Technology based approach and face to face interaction between customers and distributor forms the basis of this study. It has been observed that enhancing convenience level of customers is primary concern of electrical goods distributor. References Baker, M., and Hart, S., 2008. The marketing book. Great Britain: Routledge. Batey, M., 2012. Brand meaning. USA: Psychology Press. Cheverton, P., 2005. Key marketing skills: strategies, tools and techniques for marketing success. Great Britain: Kogan Page Publishers. Churchill, G., 2009. A paradigm for developing better measures of marketing constructs. Journal of Marketing Research, 25(4), pp. 98-116. Dahlen, M., 2009. Marketing communications: a brand narrative approach.UK: Wiley. Fill, C., 2006. Simply marketing communications. UK: FT Prentice Hall. Fill, C., 2013. Marketing communications: brands, experiences and participation, 6th edition. Harlow: Pearson Education. Gelder, D. and Woodcock, P., 2003. Marketing and promotional strategy. UK: Nelson Thornes. Gilmore, A., 2003. Services marketing and management. London: SAGE. Hoffman, K. and Bateson, J., 2010. Services marketing: concepts, strategies, & cases. USA: Cengage Learning. Joshi, R. M., 2005. International marketing. New York: Oxford University Press. Keller, K. L., 2006. Marketing management. UK: Pearson Prentice Hall. Lovelock, C. and Wirtz, J., 2011. Services marketing – people, technology, strategy. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Mcfarlin, D. B., and Sweeney, P. D., 2008. International management. New Delhi: Dreamtech Press. Onkvisit, S., and Shaw, J., 2009. International marketing: strategy and theory. New York: Routledge. R&M Electrical Group Ltd. 2015. R&M electrical group. [online] Available at: http://www.rm-electrical.com/about-us/introduction.php [Accessed 27 February 2015]. Russell, E., 2009. Fundamentals of marketing communications. UK: AVA Publishing. Shanker, R., 2002. Services marketing. New Delhi: Excel Books India. Tehrani, N., 2008. Contemporary marketing mix for the digital era. USA: Author House. TLA. 2015. About us. [online] Available at: http://www.tlauk.net/tla-about-us.htm [Accessed 27 February 2015]. Appendices Appendix1 Figure 1 Service Marketing Triangle Appendix 2 Figure 2 Servuction Model Read More