Service Marketing : The Pizza Store - Essay Example

? Service Marketing: The Pizza Store Question In this era of globalization, the passion for delicious food related brands has enhanced at a rapid pace. This has facilitated the market of pizza to flourish with leaps and bounds thereby capturing a sizeable portion of this red hot yum segment. This has become possible only due to the alternation in the living standard of the citizens, resulting in enhancement of the productivity and profitability of pizza stores in the market of Melbourne, Australia, which is one of the lively markets with a number of pizza stores (Scribd, n.d.). In order to retain the competitive advantage and brand portfolio, the pizza store situated in Melbourne always attempts to offer value added services at an efficient cost to its consumers. It helps in augmentation of customer trust and loyalty over the specific brand, reducing the switching cost. For this reason, Pizza Store attempts to offer quality products at an accurate time, to enhance customer’s dependency and reliability among other competing stores. This is done in order to reduce the doubts of its customers to a certain extent. In addition, customers also fear whether the products are prepared hygienically with best quality of ingredients or not, in order to stay away from health disorders. This is because at times in case of home delivery of ordered pizza, quality might be compromised with owing to speed of delivery. Therefore, these types of fears arise within the minds of the customers (Scribd, n.d.). In order to resolve the fears of the customers, the pizza store can desire to operate under the strategy of ‘CHAMPS’, which includes ‘hygiene/cleanliness, hospitality, accurateness, maintenance, product quality along with speed’ (Scribd, n.d.). It can be utilized as a technique to enhance the reliability of the services along with quality of products in order to retain its competitiveness in this period of cut-throat rivalry. It is extremely essential to maintain ‘CHAMPS’ to attract new array of customers, bringing about amplification of the corporate image and value proposition of pizza store within the market of Melbourne. It is one of the most significant desires of any organization functioning in a competitive environment (Scribd, n.d.). Question 2 In order to maintain the efficiency and the effectiveness of the organization within the mind of its loyal customers, the management of pizza store implemented both front and back stage service designers. These designers are recruited in order to provide unique services to its customers to satisfy their changing needs and desires. Moreover, these service providing individuals also attempt to utilize finest quality of raw materials, in order to enhance customer reliability and trust. For this reason, the price of its products is quite moderate to high as compared to other pizza stores in Melbourne. Furthermore, the pizza store is a mid-scale shop presenting an informal dining atmosphere, mainly targeting the age-groups within 18-30 years, whereas other pizza stores offer a premium-eating experience (Scribd, n.d.). Moreover, other pizza stores located in Melbourne generally offer more concentration upon customer service as compared to quality in order to enhance customer consistency and exclusivity. Moreover, other pizza stores also attempt to deliver the orders at lowest possible time in order to maintain their effectiveness within the mind of the customers. Furthermore, other pizza stores also tender varied types of non-frozen pizzas, but this pizza store primarily presents frozen pizza dishes. It is also another significant factor for this pizza store, as it is highly preferred by the citizens of the region who desire to have frozen pizzas. This is because it is the only store of the region offering vegetarian pizza dishes to its customers, which facilitates in augmentation of its identity and assortment among other competitors in the market (Lai & Cheng, n.d.). Consequently, the pizza store also utilizes fresh ingredients each time, while preparing the dishes for the customers as it is highly conscious about their health. Hence, it also offers varied types of pizzas along with toppings, garlic breads and diverse array of drinks as well to satisfy diverse desires and demands of the customers (Scribd, n.d.). Hence, it can be affirmed from the above mentioned facts that the pizza store, situated in Melbourne, although targets a niche group of customers, still it has positioned itself as a reputed store in the region. Question 3 In the world of hospitality or service oriented sector, customer relationship acts as one of the backbones for success of an organization. This can be possible with the help of realization of ‘moments of truth (MOT)’ as it facilitates in creating or breaking the association of an organization with its customers. In the recent era, most of the multinational as well as local organizations attempt to expand their business operations with the help of customer relationship approach. It results in attraction of large number of new customers along with amplification of total sales and profit margin. Moreover, ‘MOT’ also helps in augmentation of brand equity and distinctiveness, resulting in retention of their sustainability in the long run (Beaujean, Davidson, & Madge, 2006). ‘MOT’ helps in enhancing customer loyalty and dependency over a specific organization or a brand, resulting in diminution of switching cost of the consumers. It also helps in lowering of the business challenges and threats of new entrants, leading to amplification of its dominance over other industry players. Thus, it can be affirmed that ‘MOT’ is a very rational felling which can be attained only through optimistic and reassuring approaches (The Service Level Group, LLC, 2010). ‘MOT’ can be described as the interaction or communication with a customer, which can be through a phone, magazine and online websites or inside a store. It is the first impression which a customer draws after attaining the services and it remains as a souvenir in the long run (The Service Level Group, LLC, 2010). The experience which a customer obtains or feels after entering the premises of a store helps in building or breaking a relationship with an organization. Therefore, ‘MOT’ acts as a contact with the help of which a consumer evaluates the quality of services offered by an organization, which is extremely essential to enhance its competitive advantage in this period. Consequently, marketers offer high level of concentration upon ‘MOT’ in case of service sector, as it acts as a sustainable strategy to achieve a significant portion of consumer wallet (Riverside Associates, 2002). Hence, in order to enhance the moments of magic, diverse organizations of service sector offer high attention on promotion of its amenities, ambiance and themes, to present a feeling about the existing facilities (Riverside Associates, 2002). Question 4 In this era of globalization and industrialization, service sector has flourished at a remarkable extent, which acted as the front-liner both in case of employment as well as in revenue contribution. As a result, it has helped in amplification of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of any economy, mainly due to its ability to generate higher job prospects (Riverside Associates, 2002). Quality of service is recognized as the extent of conformance along with all relevant facets and characteristics of services in all the phases, in order to satisfy customer demands and needs. ‘Service quality’ is described as a term to assess the disparity between anticipation of a consumer and the performance of an organization. The objective of any service provider is to enhance its quality of services in both internal and external perspectives, to augment customers’ satisfaction and trust, but still there remain certain types of gaps. This is described with the help of gap model in service marketing (Asubonteng, McCleary, & Swan, 1996). Service quality gap model is utilized to obtain an idea about consumer perception and expectation about the quality of facilities. The gap in customer expectations is a function of five loopholes within the quality of services (Riverside Associates, 2002). Consumer Gap = f (Gap1, Gap2, Gap3, Gap4, Gap5) (Riverside Associates, 2002). Gap Model of Service Quality Source: (Riverside Associates, 2002) Gap 1 - Management Perception Gap This type of gap arises when the management of any service organization perceives the desires and requirements of a customer inaccurately. As a result, it fails to gratify the expectations of the customers resulting in moments of misery. Moreover, it also helps in reduction of customer reliability and fidelity upon the organization, ensuing lowering of productivity and revenue in the long run (Scribd, n.d.). Gap 2 - Quality Specification Gap In case of quality specification gap, the designs and the specifications of the services offered to the customers are inappropriate and inconsistent with the expectations of the customers. This mainly occurs due to wrong perception of consumer expectations. It also hinders the relationship between the customer and the organization (Riverside Associates, 2002). Gap 3 - Service Delivery Gap Service delivery gap occurs mainly due to lack of skilled resources, policies and techniques within a service organization. Thus, it leads to gap in service standards and also hinders the level of customer satisfaction (Riverside Associates, 2002). Gap 4 - Market Communication Gap In case of market communication gap, the performance standards of service associations may not match with the assurances made by the individuals’ in-charge of creating marketing communication. This hinders the ‘moments of truth’ (MOT) of a customer thereby hampering the relationship with the organization. It enhances the level of worries and uncertainties within the mind of a customer (Riverside Associates, 2002). Gap 5-Perceived Service Quality Gap For perceived service quality gap, the type of service received is not consistent with the requirement and the expectation of the customers, resulting in disappointment and discontentment, which is extremely harmful for any service organization to sustain in the long-run (Riverside Associates, 2002). Thus, it can be revealed from the above discussed facts that in order to maintain ‘MOT’ expectations of the customers, it is essential to offer eminent quality of services, to satisfy loyal customers. It also helps to retain as well as attract new range of customers. Similarly, the pizza store in Melbourne might also attempt to improve especially its marketing communication gap as well as service delivery gap in order to increase customer awareness and consistency. Along with this, the pizza store might also endeavor to enhance their quality of services in order to attract large number of new customers and to retain the older ones, resulting in reduction of customers’ fears and amplifying the relationship with them. Thus, it might help in augmentation of their corporate image and sustainability in the long run. Question 5 Service recovery plan is an extremely essential strategy for an organization to win back consumers expectations and goodwill, which has been mislaid due to inappropriate service. It may occur due to varied reasons such as service delivery method breakdown, wrong perception about customer demands, impulsive consumer demands and undesired services among others. In order to reduce, customer complaints and service failures, the management of a service organization might attempt to implement a strategic service recovery plan. Service Recovery Plan Source: (Scribd, n.d.). The management of the pizza store in Melbourne might endeavor to understand each and every type of customer problem in order to recover the underlying gaps. Moreover, it might attempt to act very rapidly in order to recover the loyal customers and to attract new ones. In order to do so, the management can introduce diverse types of training programs to its staff to enhance and to fulfill their level of satisfaction. In addition, the management as well as the employees might attempt to gather the positive information to recover their service quality gaps. Furthermore, the employees might treat the customers fairly by offering satisfactory services, which can augment and meet their ‘MOT’ expectations (Scribd, n.d.) Moreover, the pizza store can also follow the above mentioned service recovery strategies to enhance its quality of services and relationship with its customers. Moreover, it might also attempt to introduce varied types of other products such as juices and light snacks. In addition, it might also strive to enhance their after–sales services, which will enable to understand customers’ complaints and requirements more precisely and would also enable the pizza store to rectify its drawbacks quite conveniently. If in case a scenario occurs when there is a need to replace a faulty pizza item by a new one then it requires to act quickly to do so, in order to augment customer trust and belief. It might facilitate to amplify the brand individuality and image of the pizza store along with customer gratification level. References Asubonteng, P., McCleary, K. J., & Swan, J. E. (1996). SERVQUAL revisited: a critical review of service quality. The Journal of Services Marketing 10 (6), pp. 62-81. Beaujean, M., Davidson, J., & Madge, S. (2006). The ‘Moment Of Truth’ in customer service. Retrieved from http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/The_moment_of_truth_in_customer_service_1728 Lai, K-H. & Cheng, T.C.E. (n.d.). Just-In-Time logistics. 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(n.d.). Strategies service recovery strategies. Retrieved from http://www.scribd.com/doc/46306269/Service-Recovery The Service Level Group, LLC. (2010). Moments of truth. Retrieved from http://www.servicelevelgroup.com/files/LTsep09_OrgValue.pdf Read More