Services Marketing (GRAV020)

Due to the recent silent revolution of “tertiarisation,” the service sector now accounts for almost two-thirds of GDP globally and is also the fastest growing sector worldwide. Odds are when somebody graduates there will be two to three times more jobs in service-oriented businesses than in goods based businesses. Indeed, all manufacturers today offer a number of services to their customers. As services are inherently relational, there are always relationships between a service organization and its customers. The key issue is whether a firm uses these relationships properly in the way it manages customers or not.

This course aims to provide an in-depth understanding of how services are marketed, with emphasis on the significant difference between marketing of services and marketing of products. The attraction, retention and building of strong customer relationships through quality service and services are at the heart of the course content. The focus will be on internationalisation of services in world-class organisations rather than on a particular country or culture.

This course aims to provide students with a systematic knowledge and understanding of the core concepts of services marketing in the context of the challenges that international marketing and service management actually face.

• Analyse and critically evaluate differences between services and goods drawing on the understanding of how these differences influence the practice of services marketing.
• Outline and analyse the different components of the „services marketing mix“ for developing strategic thinking in services marketing.
• Demonstrate understanding of the role of employees and organizational culture in service delivery.
• Investigate how customers evaluate services and how customer behaviour and expectations play a role in the service environment.
• Analyse and assess the relevance of service recovery.
• Examine best practices in dealing with service customers in international organisations.
• Discover the role of customer relationship management in services.
• Demonstrate an awareness of major cultural issues influencing services on an international basis.
• Contribute to the academic debate relating to services marketing strategy and implementation.
• Practice a set of analytical skills and presentation skills for debating central issues in services marketing in a group-context.