Marketing plans for services a complete guide 3rd edition

FFIRS

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Marketing Plans for Services

FFIRS

11 July 2011; 16:50:31


FFIRS

11 July 2011; 16:50:31


Marketing Plans for
Services
A Complete Guide

Third Edition

Malcolm McDonald,
Pennie Frow
and
Adrian Payne

A John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Publication

FFIRS

11 July 2011; 16:50:31


This edition first published in 2011
Copyright # 2011 Malcolm McDonald, Pennie Frow and Adrian Payne
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United Kingdom
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McDonald, Malcolm.
Marketing plans for service businesses : a complete guide / Malcolm McDonald,

Pennie Frow and Adrian Payne. — 3rd ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-470-97909-9 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Service industries—Marketing. 2. Service industries—Planning. I. Payne,
Adrian. II. Frow, Pennie. III. Title.
HD9980.5.M388 2011
2011017544
658.80 02—dc23

ISBN 978-0-470-97909-9 (paperback), ISBN 978-1-119-95186-5 (ebk),
ISBN 978-0-470-97941-9 (ebk), ISBN 978-0-470-97944-0 (ebk)
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Typeset in 10/12pt Palatino Roman by MPS Limited, a Macmillan Company, Chennai, India.
Printed in Great Britain by TJ International Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall, UK

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Contents

Preface
The structure of this book and how to use it
List of figures

vii
ix
xi

1
2

Marketing and services
The nature of services marketing

1
23

3
4

Marketing planning for services: the process
Marketing planning for services: the problems

49
63

5

Marketing planning Phase One: the strategic context

79

6

Marketing planning Phase Two: the situation review
(Part 1)
Marketing planning Phase Two: the situation review

(Part 2)

7
8
9

10

11
12
13

Marketing planning Phase Three: marketing strategy
formulation
Marketing planning Phase Four: resource allocation,
monitoring and detailed planning (Part 1: the budget,
the service product plan and the communications plan)
Marketing planning Phase Four: resource allocation,
monitoring and detailed planning (Part 2: price, place,
people, processes and customer service)
Organizing for marketing planning
Measuring the effectiveness of marketing plans for
service businesses
A step-by-step marketing planning system for service
businesses

Examples of marketing plans
Glossary of marketing planning terms
References
Index

107
141
183

213

267
307
347
373

411
469
477
485

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FTOC

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Preface

This latest edition recognizes the growing importance of the service

sector in most economies and of significant differences between product and service marketing.
The world of services marketing has changed dramatically during the
past decade. The easy, high-growth markets have been replaced by
mature, low-growth demand patterns that have forced suppliers to
question their erstwhile successful business models, such as, for example, those that consisted largely of making ‘products’ and selling them
to intermediaries, who magically got rid of them somehow to an
unsophisticated general public who were in awe (or ignorance) of
complicated products such as pensions.
Today, however, there is in most developed countries a situation of
government regulation, oversupply, and more importantly a more
sophisticated consumer who has been empowered by the Internet.
This has forced service providers to pay greater attention to the needs
of the consumers of their services. This means that they have been
forced to pay greater attention to marketing.
The three authors work with many of the world’s leading service organizations in their role as professors of marketing at three of the world’s
leading business schools. We have sought to combine the acknowledged leadership of Cranfield University in the domain of marketing
planning (Malcolm McDonald) with the experience of two experts in
the field of services marketing (Pennie Frow and Adrian Payne) to produce a unique text for those who are faced with the special challenge
of producing world-class marketing plans for services where there are
no tangible products.
The approaches outlined in this book have been used extensively by us
in a large number of services organizations.
We believe you will find, in the pages of this book, the answer to the
challenge of creating marketing plans that produce significantly
improved bottom-line results.
Malcolm McDonald
Pennie Frow
Adrian Payne
September 2011

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FPREF

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The structure of this book
and how to use it

This book consists of 13 chapters, some examples of marketing plans
and a glossary of terms used in marketing planning.
Chapter 1 provides a broad view of marketing as it relates to services.
It describes the marketing concept and some misunderstandings about
marketing.
Chapter 2 considers the nature of services and relationship marketing.
Chapter 3 provides an overview of the four key phases of the marketing planning process.
Chapter 4 looks at the barriers that can prevent a service organization
being successful in introducing marketing planning.
Chapters 5 to 10 provide a detailed examination of each of the four
phases in the marketing planning process and an explanation of the
frameworks and techniques which are useful in undertaking these
tasks.
Chapter 11 examines some of the key organizational aspects relating to
marketing planning. These issues, although not directly part of the
marketing planning process itself, have an important and profound
impact on its ultimate effectiveness. Here we discuss the role of

marketing intelligence systems; market research; to what extent the
introduction of marketing planning is appropriate at the different
stages of development of an organization; and finally, the issue of
how a service organization can develop or improve its marketing
orientation.
Chapter 12 examines the growing importance of measuring financially
the effectiveness of marketing expenditure.
Chapter 13 provides structures for a three-year strategic marketing
plan, a one-year detailed marketing plan and a headquarters consolidated plan of several strategic businesses unit (SBU) strategic marketing plans. These structures will help with implementing the processes
and frameworks outlined earlier in this book. Also, in the ‘Examples
of Marketing Plans’ are a number of illustrations of what strategic
marketing plans actually look like in different types of service
organizations.

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x The structure of this book and how to use it
Those readers who have read widely on the services sector and are
familiar with the services marketing literature can start at Chapter 3.
We suggest that all readers should undertake a close examination of
the process aspects in the text, covered in Chapters 5 to 10. We also
recommend that Chapter 9 is read thoroughly as, although not directly
about the marketing planning process, it addresses many of the issues
which are critical to successful implementation of a marketing planning system.

However, it should be recognized that a little learning is a
dangerous thing. While Chapter 13 and the examples of marketing plans provide a clear overview as to how a marketing

plan is structured, we advise a thorough examination of the
detailed discussion of each of the key steps. For those seriously interested in either initiating marketing planning or in
improving the quality of their marketing planning, we
strongly recommend them to study the whole book before
attempting to use any of the systems and plans provided at
the back of the book.

Finally, we have provided references for statements made in the text,
but in order to make this book easier to read, we have included these
at the end of the book rather than at the end of each chapter.
Best of luck – and happy and profitable marketing planning in your
service organization.

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List of Figures

1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.7
1.8
1.9
1.10

1.11
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.7
2.8
2.9
2.10
2.11
2.12
2.13
3.1
3.2
3.3
4.1
4.2
4.3
5.1
5.2
5.3
5.4

Size of the service sector as % of GNP for different countries
Projected growth of employment in services in USA to 2050
Marketing effectiveness ratings for professional service
firms
Marketing: a matching process

Overview of marketing map
Define markets and understand value
Determine value proposition
Deliver the service value proposition
Rethinking the sales process for service businesses
Monitor value
Summary of marketing map
Continuum of tangible–intangible possibilities
A continuum for each of the four service characteristics
Nature of service matrix
Style of relationship matrix
Customization and staff judgement matrix
Supply and demand matrix
Service delivery matrix
The marketing process
General development pattern of marketing approaches
Retaining customers pays off
Relationship marketing – a broadened view of markets
Relationship marketing network diagram for a major
international airline
The ‘service product’ and the product surround
Strengths and weaknesses of alternative marketing
planning models
Relationship between corporate objective and strategies
Ansoff matrix
Marketing planning requires top-down and bottom-up
perspectives
Integration of corporate planning, strategic marketing
planning and tactical marketing planning
What should appear in a services strategic marketing plan

Key audiences and their expectations in a bank
The generic mission statement
Bain & Company mission statement
Organizational statement of philosophy for IBM

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xii List of Figures
5.5
5.6
5.7
5.8
5.9
5.10
5.11
5.12
6.1
6.2
6.3
6.4
6.5
6.6
6.7
6.8
6.9
6.10
6.11

6.12
6.13
6.14
6.15
6.16
7.1
7.2
7.3
7.4
7.5
7.6
7.7
7.8
7.9
7.10
7.11
7.12
7.13
7.14
7.15
7.16
7.17

IBM mission statement, values and business model
‘The BA Way’
DHL World Express – worldwide mission statement
Human resource mission statement
The ‘realizable’ mission
Mission statement and the hierarchy of objectives and
strategies

Different types of organization focus
Corporate objectives and mission need to be tightly
integrated
The constituent parts of the marketing audit
Original market map for marketing books market
Market map of the marketing knowledge promulgation
market
Market mapping
Major approaches to services market segmentation
Levels of segmentation emphasis
Illustration of the shape of the car market
Illustration of the shape of the lawn mower market
The shape of the markets from birth to maturity
The product/market lifecycle and market characteristics
The three stages of market segmentation
Micro-segments
An undifferentiated market
Different needs in a market
Segments in a market
The market segmentation process – summary
Example of competitive advantage calculation
Strategic forces impacting on service organizations
The danger of ‘current focus’
Starbucks’ ‘T-Mobile Hot Spot Service’
Comparison of service features
Example of comparative analysis – a software company
Examples of levels of positioning for a bank
Example of a positioning map
Examples of positioning strategies
The lifecycle curve

Non-cumulative diffusion pattern of innovation curve
Product lifecycle at total market and an individual retailer’s
level
Lifecycle illustrating the potential advantage of entering a
market early
How successive services can add to sales growth
Marketing audit checklist for services (expanded)
Marketing audit checklist for an accounting firm
Five key buying factors for UK independent schools

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List of Figures xiii
7.18
7.19
7.20
7.21
7.22
7.23
7.24
7.25
8.1
8.2
8.3
8.4
8.5
8.6

8.7
8.8
8.9
8.10
8.11
8.12
8.13
8.14
8.15
8.16
8.17
8.18
8.19
8.20
8.21
8.22
8.23
8.24
8.25
8.26
8.27
9.1
9.2
9.3
9.4
9.5
9.6
9.7
9.8

Academic factors
Enhancement/attractiveness factors
SWOT
Strategic planning exercise (SWOT analysis)
Example of the traditional layout for a SWOT analysis
Summary of a partial SWOT analysis for a bank
Risk analysis matrix for opportunities and threats
Example of approach for analysing key assumptions
Ansoff matrix
Gap analysis
Profit improvement
The directional policy matrix
Setting expectations of performance
Directional policy matrix for a financial services company
Ranking market attractiveness and competitive position
A financial services company’s MAFs
A completed DPM
Directional policy matrices for three types of company
Cash-generating capabilities of three types of company
Multiple factors matrix – generic strategies
Other functional guidelines suggested by portfolio matrix
analysis
The Porter matrix
Cost-effective service development
Marketing objectives and marketing strategies for a service
business
Summary of typical marketing strategies for a service
business
Response functions for different marketing mixes
The alternative mixes process for a large services company

Market/segment attractiveness 1
Market/segment attractiveness 2
Market/segment attractiveness 3
Plotting the position of segments on the portfolio matrix 1
Plotting the position of segments on the portfolio matrix 2
Company competitiveness 1
Company competitiveness 2
Directional policy matrix (DPM)
The organizational output
Defining a promotion and distribution strategy
Map of the marketing domain
Delivering value – a map of marketing operations
Towards a viable CRM structure
The ‘Sunlovers’ customer segment
The ‘John and Mary Lively’ customer segment
Stages of communications

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xiv List of Figures
9.9
9.10
9.11
9.12
9.13
9.14
9.15

9.16
9.17
9.18
9.19
9.20
9.21
9.22
9.23
9.24
9.25
9.26
9.27
10.1
10.2
10.3
10.4
10.5
10.6
10.7
10.8
10.9
10.10
10.11
10.12

10.13
10.14
10.15
11.1
11.2

11.3
11.4
11.5
11.6
11.7

Buying influences and customer size
Sources of information
The 6 Is of e-marketing
Channel chain diagram
The purchase process as an interaction between supplier
and buyer
Main tools available for online communications
Search engine optimization and paid search: a hotel
example
Different roles of advertising
The need for advertising objectives
Key steps in determining advertising activity
Diffusion of innovation curve
Targets of sales promotions
Types of sales promotion
Key elements of a sales promotion plan
Main publics for a university
Personal contact functions in services
Typical salesperson activities
Formula for deriving the size of the sales force
Example of salesperson’s plan
Elastic and inelastic demand for services
Experience curve for electronic banking
Value-based pricing

Pricing range for a service company
Skimming and penetration pricing policies
Factors to consider in the pricing plan
Channel options for service companies
Choosing channels – the value curve
Channel chain analysis: the PC market
Employees and their influence on customers
The service–profit chain
Example of service positioning through changing
complexity and divergence (a management training
consultancy)
Potential sources of conflict between operations and
marketing on operational issues
Illustration of key elements of customer service
The marketing mix ‘prism’
Myths and realities about databases
Problems of reconciling internal and external market audits
Examples of business objectives and segmentation methods
Information flows in a marketing system
Focus of reactive marketing research
Focus of non-reactive marketing research
The organizational life-line

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List of Figures xv
11.8

Approaches to marketing planning for different stages of
evolution
11.9
Centralized marketing, separate operating units
11.10
Decentralized marketing
11.11
The specificity versus duplication balance in marketing
planning
11.12
A matrix organization for a training and consulting firm
11.13
Hierarchy of audits
11.14
Strategic and operational planning hierarchy
11.15
Strategic and operational planning hierarchy in detail
11.16
Broad guidelines to the degree of marketing plan formality
11.17
The marketing planning time cycle
11.18
The marketing planning cycle – overview
11.19
Strategic and operational planning cycle
11.20
Some possible types of organizational orientation
11.21
The learning/change process

12.1
Map of the marketing domain and the three-level
accountability framework
12.2
Valuing key market segments
12.3
Suggested approach
12.4
Portfolio analysis – directional policy matrix (DPM)
12.5
Overall marketing metrics model
12.6
Ansoff matrix
12.7
Critical success factors: in each segment, defined by the
segment
12.8
Marketing metrics model
12.9
Cascading actions from the Ansoff matrix
12.10
Overall marketing metrics model
12.11
ROI. Long-term case history
13.1
Principal marketing tools which can be utilized at different
phases of the marketing planning process
13.2
Marketing planning timetable
Form 1 Unit mission statement

Form 2 Summary of SBU’s performance
Form 3 Summary of financial projections
Form 4 Market overview
Form 5 Strategic planning exercise (SWOT Analysis)
Form 6 Competitor analysis
Form 7 Portfolio summary of the SWOTs
Form 8 Assumptions
Form 9 Marketing objectives and strategies for the next 3–5 years
Form 10 Database and summary of marketing objectives – profits
Form 11 Consolidated budget for the next 3–5 years
Form 12 Summary of marketing objectives and strategies
13.3
Strategic and operational planning cycle

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1

Marketing and services

The growing importance of the service sector
Since the Second World War, North America and Western Europe

have seen a steady and unrelenting decline in their traditional manufacturing industries. Their place has been taken by numerous servicebased enterprises that were quick to spot the opportunities created by
both organizational needs and by the increased personal affluence and
the consequent raised lifestyle expectations of the population.
There has been very substantial growth in services over the last two
decades. This growth has been widespread but is now especially pronounced in developing countries where services represent the engine
of their economic growth.

So successful has been this transition from an essentially
industrial society that today more than 70 per cent of most
Western economies are now in the service sector, whether
measured in terms of income or numbers employed.

Figure 1.1 shows estimates of the size of the service sector as a percentage of gross national product (GNP) for different countries These
statistics, published by the US Central Intelligence Agency in 2011,1
show the dramatic transformation of the global service landscape.
Hong Kong leads the world with 92% of its economy in the service
sector. China’s economy a few decades ago was principally an agricultural economy. The service sector in China has grown by 191% over
the last 25 years. Today, services represent over 44% of China’s GNP.
As Jim Spohrer, the director of IBM Almaden Services Research
Centre, has observed, ‘This shift to services represents the single
largest labour force migration in human history. Global communications, business and technology growth, urbanization, and low labour
costs in the developing world, are all in part responsible for this
dramatic shift.’
This shift in emphasis has been so pronounced that some observers
refer to it as the ‘second industrial revolution’. As individuals spend

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The service-led
‘second industrial
revolution’


2 Marketing Plans for Services

World Average: 63%

Figure 1.1
Size of the service
sector as % of GNP for
different countries

Hong Kong
France
United Kingdom
United States
Denmark
Japan
Italy
Singapore
Netherlands
Spain
New Zealand
Canada
Germany
Australia
Finland
Brazil

Russia
Argentina
South Korea
India
China
0%

92%
79%
77%
77%
76%
76%
73%
73%
72%
72%
71%
71%
71%
71%
68%
68%
62%
60%
58%
55%
44%

10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

greater proportions of their income on travel, entertainment and
leisure, postal and communication services, restaurants, personal
health and grooming and the like, so has the service sector responded
by creating businesses and jobs. In addition, the growing complexity
of banking, insurance, investment, accountancy and legal services has
meant that these areas of activity showed a similar inclination to
expand, in terms of their impact on the economy as a whole.
Although there is a realization that it is essential for a country to have
some kind of industrial base, there is little to suggest that this trend
towards the service sector is slowing down. Based on research by
IBM,2 Figure 1.2 shows the projected growth of employment in
services in the USA to the year 2050 and demonstrates the anticipated
strong growth in services over the next few decades.

Indeed, the manufacturing industry itself is showing a greater
propensity to subcontract out a wide range of service-related
activities which at one time were carried out in-house.

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1 – Marketing and services 3

% of labour force

100
80

Value from
primary industry
Value from
manufacturing
products

60
40

Value from new and
existing services

20
0
1800

1850

1900

1950

2000

2050

Year

Figure 1.2

Projected growth of
employment in
services in USA to 2050

For example, outsourcing is continuing to increase in areas such as
cleaning, catering, recruitment, deliveries, computer services, advertising, training, market research and product design. These are all
areas where it has been found that external specialists can provide a
cost-effective alternative to a company’s own staff. More and more
companies are choosing to contract out for specialist services and concentrate attention on their core activities.

Service businesses and marketing effectiveness
For many years business schools and consultancy firms have emphasized how important it is for companies to develop a marketing orientation. At first sight this message would appear to have hit home,
because today many companies claim to be market-led and customerfocused. However, from our position of working with senior managers
and marketing staff from a wide range of companies, we can see that
this so-called ‘marketing orientation’ has, for most of them, not been
accomplished.

There is more emphasis on rhetoric than actions. In fact, we
estimate that less than one service organization in five has a
deep understanding of its customer base and an effective
strategic marketing plan based on this understanding.

One of the major UK banks recruited hundreds of consumer goodstrained marketing personnel, yet still has no observable differential
advantage in any of its operations. It is clear that such organizations
have confused marketing orientation with selling and promotion. The

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Marketing has not
yet stormed the
citadels of many
service
organizations


4 Marketing Plans for Services
result is that they have merely succeeded in creating a veneer and a
vocabulary of marketing.
Research by the authors into marketing effectiveness across a variety
of service organizations suggests that many of the companies studied
operated well below their potential marketing effectiveness.
One of the authors, in his work conducting courses for executives from
service businesses, has demonstrated this by asking many groups of
senior managers from different service organizations these two simple
questions:
1. To what extent does your chief executive in your service organization declare publicly: ‘we are a customer-driven firm’; or ‘we are a
customer-oriented organization’; or ‘we are market-focused and
customer-centric as a business’; or some similar statement?
2. What percentage of the service businesses that you deal with, either
as a company executive or as an individual consumer, is truly
market oriented?
In answering this latter question, these executives were asked to consider all their firm’s service suppliers, including: transportation and
logistics companies; IT suppliers; accountants; solicitors; banks and
financial services organizations; as well as training organizations.
They were also asked to consider those services they used as a consumer, including hotels, banks, utilities such as water, electricity and
gas, their mobile and fixed line telephone companies, and so on.
We have now put these questions to over 1,500 managers on executive
programmes. The answers have been remarkably consistent. For large

service organizations, in excess of 90% of chief executives claim
their organization is market-oriented or customer-focused. However,
when executives were asked about their experience with their service
suppliers, they considered only 5–10% of the organizations they dealt
with were market-focused. This confirms much work remains to be
done in developing a customer-oriented culture in service firms.

With organizations paying only lip-service to being marketingoriented, the results suggest a dramatic need for improvement
in marketing effectiveness.

Philip Kotler has developed an audit to help provide organizations
with a measure of their marketing effectiveness.3 This audit is generic
to all organizations, but can be adapted to a specific service sector or
organization. We have modified this audit for use in a range of service
sectors including banking, professional service firms, not-for-profit
services and schools.

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1 – Marketing and services 5
We use an audit developed for professional service firms as an illustration here. The audit identifies five attributes that can be used to audit
the marketing effectiveness of the organization. Adapting these to
reflect a professional firm environment, they include:
1. Customer philosophy – to what extent does the senior partner
acknowledge the importance of the market place and client needs
and wants in shaping the firm’s plan and activities?
2. Integrated marketing organization – to what extent is the firm staffed

for market analysis, competitive analysis, planning, implementation and control?
3. Adequate marketing information – does management receive the kind
and quality of information necessary to conduct an effective
marketing programme?
4. Strategic orientation – does the firm management generate innovative
marketing strategies and plans for long-term growth and profitability, and to what extent have these proved successful in the
past?
5. Operational efficiency – does the firm have marketing plans which are
implemented cost effectively, and are the results monitored to
ensure rapid action?
The audit rates the firm on each of these five attributes. The five
sections of the audit each include three questions with a maximum
score of six points being possible for each of the attributes.
Each of the five attributes has several questions. For example, under
‘adequate marketing information’ the following questions are asked:





When were the last market research studies of clients, referrals,
sources, premises and their location and competitiveness conducted?
How well does the firm’s management know its sales potential and
the profitability of different market segments, clients, territories,
services and forms of marketing promotion?
What effort is expended to measure the cost effectiveness of different marketing expenditures?

To find full details of this audit, refer to this chapter’s references.3
(References for all the chapters appear towards the end of the book.)
We have used this modified audit with over 25 professional service

firms. The results we have obtained suggest that most professional
firms are operating well below their potential in terms of marketing
effectiveness. The results for a number of different professional service
firms are shown in Figure 1.3 which shows each firm’s ranking on the
five attributes.
We have chosen professional service firms simply as an illustration of
the use of the marketing effectiveness audit. Interestingly these firms

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6 Marketing Plans for Services

Loss
Investment Law Firm Adjustors
Firm Chartered
Bank
Actuarial
Accounting
Firm
Firm

Figure 1.3
Marketing
effectiveness ratings
for professional service
firms

Max Points

Marketing Attributes

Customer
Philosophy
Integrated
Marketing
Organization
Adequate
Marketing
Information
Strategic
Orientation
Operational
Efficiency

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Marketing Effectiveness

are all larger ones and are considered leaders in their sphere of professional services.
We have used this audit over many years with a large number of
service organizations. These have included banks, insurance companies, airlines, retailers, hotel chains, industrial plant hire, motoring
clubs, not-for-profit organizations and charities to name a few. While
the concepts in this book apply equally to a wide range of service
organizations, some modification of them may be necessary, given
that service covers such a huge range of organizational types. We
explore the nature of different types of services in the next chapter.

An audit’s primary purpose is to find and communicate to
senior executives the perceived level of marketing effectiveness within the firm. It provides useful evidence of the need
for a programme to improve the firm’s marketing orientation.
These are its primary functions; it is not intended to replace
the rigorous marketing audit that is carried out as part of the
marketing planning process and which is discussed in detail in
Chapter 7.

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1 – Marketing and services 7
From our consulting work with a wide range of service organizations,
and surveys of executives in service organizations and from our extensive use of this audit we conclude that the vast majority of enterprises
in the service sector have much distance to travel to improve their
marketing effectiveness. Somewhat depressingly, this does not appear

to have improved much over the past 15 years.
What is clear is that many service companies are misdirecting their
energies and resources and thereby are failing to create competitive
advantage and capitalize on market opportunities.

The purpose of this book
This book sets out to demonstrate how service businesses and other
service organizations can formulate strategic marketing plans which
contribute to the creation of competitive advantage. It focuses on how
world-class strategic marketing plans should be developed, as this
process results in an output – a plan – which encapsulates the resulting objectives, strategies and actions.4
It examines the marketing planning process in some detail and shows
how successful companies tackle its difficult elements. Where necessary, relevant marketing theory, techniques and research results are
introduced so that the reader can better understand the implications
of taking particular actions at various stages of the process. In
addition, it is important to consider the demands a new approach to
planning places on the organization.

For marketing planning to take root, not only must new skills
be learned, but often new attitudes have to accompany them.
Indeed, many of the barriers that hamper the acceptance
of marketing planning can be attributed to outmoded or
inappropriate organizational behaviour.

The purpose of this opening chapter is briefly to examine the importance of services in the global economy and the critical notion of the
marketing concept. In the next chapter we explore to what extent the
marketing of services differs from the marketing of products. We will
also look at the diverse range of services in terms of establishing some
threads of ‘commonality’. In doing this, it makes it possible for the
service manager to learn from other companies which may not necessarily be in the same business field. The next chapter will also develop

reasons why the service marketer must formulate an enlarged and
more sophisticated marketing mix than has traditionally been the
case, and why focusing solely on customer markets will not prove to
be enough for a guaranteed long-term marketing success.

C01

11 July 2011; 14:26:20