Winning in Service Markets Series
Series Editor: Jochen Wirtz (National University of Singapore, Singapore)
The Winning in Service Markets Series covers the key aspects of services marketing and management based on sound academic evidence and knowledge. The books in this series is written by services marketing expert Jochen Wirtz, author of globally leading textbook for Services Marketing. Each book in the series covers different themes in the study of services marketing and management, is accessible, practical and presented in an easy-to-read format for busy practitioners and eMBA students.
Forthcoming*:
Developing Service Products and Brands
by Jochen Wirtz
Pricing Services and Revenue Management
by Jochen Wirtz
Service Marketing Communications
by Jochen Wirtz
Designing Customer Service Processes
by Jochen Wirtz
Balancing Capacity and Demand in Service Operations
by Jochen Wirtz
Crafting the Service Environment
by Jochen Wirtz
Managing People for Service Advantage
by Jochen Wirtz
Managing Customer Relationships and Building Loyalty
by Jochen Wirtz
Designing Complaint Handling and Service Recovery Strategies
by Jochen Wirtz
Service Quality and Productivity Management
by Jochen Wirtz
Building a World Class Service Organization
by Jochen Wirtz
Published:
Vol. 1Understanding Service Consumers
by Jochen Wirtz
Vol. 2Positioning Services in Competitive Markets
by Jochen Wirtz
*More information on this series can also be found at:
http://www.worldscientific.com/series/wsms
Winning in Service Markets Series: Vol. 2
Positioning Services in
Competitive Markets
Jochen Wirtz
Published by
WS Professional, an imprint of
World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
5 Toh Tuck Link, Singapore 596224
USA office: 27 Warren Street, Suite 401-402, Hackensack, NJ 07601
UK office: 57 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9HE
For orders of individual copies, course adoptions, and bulk purchases:
For orders of individual chapters and customized course packs:
For adaptations or translation rights and permissions to reprint;
Winning in Service Markets Series Vol. 2
POSITIONING SERVICES IN COMPETITIVE MARKETS
Copyright 2018 by Jochen Wirtz
All rights reserved.
ISBN 9781944659141 (mobile book)
Desk Editor: Karimah Samsudin
Printed in Singapore
Dedication
To my past and future EMBA and Executive Program participants.
I have been teaching EMBA and Executive Programs for over 20 years. This Winning in Service Markets Series is dedicated to you, the participants from these programs. You brought so much knowledge and experience to the classroom, and this series synthesizes this learning for future EMBA candidates and managers who want to know how to bring their service organizations to the next level.
Preface
The main objective of this series is to cover the key aspects of services marketing and management, and that is based on sound academic research. Therefore, I used the globally leading text book I co-authored with Professor Christopher Lovelock (Title: Services Marketing: People, Technology, Strategy, 8th edition) as a base for this series, and adapted and rewrote it for managers. This is a unique approach.
This series aims to aims to bridge the all-too-frequent gap between cutting edge academic research and theory, and management practice. That is, it provides a strongly managerial perspective, yet is rooted in solid academic research, complemented by memorable frameworks.
In particular, creating and marketing value in todays increasingly service and knowledge-intensive economy requires an understanding of the powerful design and packaging of intangible benefits and products, high-quality service operations and customer information management processes, a pool of motivated and competent front-line employees, building and maintaining a loyal and profitable customer base, and the development and implementation of a coherent service strategy to transform these assets into improved business performance. This series aims to provide the knowledge required to deliver these.
Winning in Service Markets comprises of the following volume:
Vol 1:Understanding Service Consumers
Vol 2:Positioning Services in Competitive Markets
Vol 3:Developing Service Products and Brands
Vol 4:Pricing Services and Revenue Management
Vol 5:Service Marketing Communications
Vol 6:Designing Customer Service Processes
Vol 7:Balancing Capacity and Demand in Service Operations
Vol 8:Crafting the Service Environment
Vol 9:Managing People for Service Advantage
Vol 10:Managing Customer Relationships and Building Loyalty
Vol 11:Designing Complaint Handling and Service Recovery Strategies
Vol 12:Service Quality and Productivity Management
Vol 13:Building A World-Class Service Organization
Contents
Introduction
What makes consumers or institutional buyers select, and remain loyal to, one service provider over another? Without knowing which product features are of specific interest to customers, it is hard for managers to develop an appropriate strategy. As competition intensifies in the service sector, it is becoming more important for service organizations to differentiate their products in ways meaningful to customers. Positioning Services in Competitive Markets is the second book in the Winning in Service Markets series by services marketing expert Jochen Wirtz to cover the key aspects of services marketing and management based on sound academic evidence and knowledge.
VOLUME 2
Positioning Services in Competitive Markets
To succeed in our over-communicated society, a company must create a position in the prospects mind, a position that takes into consideration not only a companys own strengths and weaknesses, but those of its competitors as well.
Al Reis and Jack Trout
Thought leaders who coined the term positioning
as related to marketing
The essence of strategy is choosing to perform activities differently than rivals do.
Michael Porter
Professor at Harvard Business School and
leading authority on competitive strategy
CUSTOMER-DRIVEN SERVICES MARKETING STRATEGY
As competition intensifies in the service sector, it is becoming more important for service organizations to differentiate their products in ways meaningful to customers. This is especially true for many mature service industries (e.g., banking, insurance, hospitality, and education), where for a firm to grow, it has to take market share from its competitors or expand into new markets. However, ask a group of managers from different service businesses on how they compete, and chances are many will say simply, on service. Press them a little further, and they may add words and phrases such as value for money, service quality, our people, or convenience. None of this is very helpful to a marketing specialist who is trying to develop a meaningful value proposition and a viable business model for a service product that will enable it to compete profitably in the marketplace.
