Services Marketing

Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)

• 8. Decend work and economic growth
• 9. Industry, innovation and infrastructure
• 12. Responsible consumption and production

Objectives

This course aims to explore the marketing function in the service sector, in order to give students a broad understanding of its specific practices.
It presents key concepts of managed services and the most common practices of service vendors.
Strategic services marketing includes the tools for "listening" to customers and how to use these tools effectively. It will also cover service offerings, the Services Marketing mix, services linked to products and how services are experienced, as well as the marketing of electronic services.
The business services sector has been a sector that has seen strong and continued growth and evolution in recent decades in most of the most developed economies.
Service companies develop in environments with fierce competition, very strong international challenges that also entail enormous opportunities.
In this context of rapid and constant evolution, managers must reinvent their role and develop innovative marketing strategies. The course aims to respond to the needs of service companies for which the quality of experience and customer satisfaction, innovation and internationalization are enormous challenges that they must meet.
Service Marketing has a priority in the different specificities of services, the role of customer satisfaction and the marketing mix of services.
The course aims to meet this need by explaining the conceptual bases of Services Marketing, presenting and analyzing its central concept and scope of application, and outlining the different analytical approaches applied through different trends.
The main objectives will be:
• Know the concepts, theories and models that constitute the knowledge base of services marketing.
• Know, understand and learn to manage the main challenges of service companies.
• Apply the basic principles of Services Marketing to a wide variety of companies.
• Familiarize students with Relationship Marketing and the concepts related to customer relationship management.

Competencies

General skills

• Be a skilful innovator and entrepreneur.
• Be able to analyze and summarize.
• Be able to communicate orally and in the languages of the community.
• Be able to engage in criticism and self-criticism.
• Be able to make reasoned and coherent presentations.
• Be able to organize and plan.
• Be able to put basic knowledge of the profession into practice.
• Be able to use English effectively for academic and professional purposes.
• Be able to use information: seek, analyze, select, organize and exploit information effectively.
• Be able to work in a team and a multidisciplinary network.
• Be able to work in an international context.
• Be environmentally and socially aware at work.
• Be skilled at adapting to new situations.
• Be skilled in ICT use. Be an independent, competent operator in technological environments with specialized software.
• Have an ethical commitment at work, with respect for democratic principles and values.

Specific skills

• Be able to analyze and understand the operation of the market and its influence on the activities of a company.
• Be able to apply market research theory and instruments to implement business strategies.
• Be able to critically evaluate business situations, and manage an organization effectively and efficiently.
• Be able to define and implement strategies and business models with intensive ICT use, and in particular the internet, social networks and e-business systems.
• Be able to devise and implement business initiatives in global markets.
• Be able to devise and implement integrated marketing plans.
• Be able to lead and manage processes of change in organizations, in particular in contexts of innovation and crisis.
• Be able to learn and apply knowledge and skills to strategic marketing management.
• Be able to plan decisions and product management for commercial distribution channels.
• Display leadership skills in strategic decision-making in general, and in marketing and communication, in particular.
• Understand and be able to convey the importance of an organization's approach to the market and customer relations.

Basic skills

• Students can apply their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional manner and have competencies typically demonstrated through drafting and defending arguments and solving problems in their field of study.

Core skills

• Be a critical thinker before knowledge in all its dimensions. Show intellectual, cultural and scientific curiosity and a commitment to professional rigor and quality.

Content

1. New perspectives on marketing in the service economy.
2. Consumer behavior in the context of services.
3. Positioning of services in competitive markets.
4. Developing service products: core and complementary elements.
5. Distribution of services via physical and electronic channels.
6. Setting prices and implementing revenue management.
7. Promoting services and educating customers
8. Design and management of service processes.
9. Balance between demand and productive capacity.
10. Creating the service environment.
11. Managing people for service advantage.
12. Managing relationships and building loyalty.
13. Complaints management and service recovery.
14. Improving service quality and productivity.
15. Striving for Servant Leadership.

Evaluation

Across the line, across 3 levels:
• Fast work: a short piece of work to be completed quickly to obtain a close overview of the subject (corresponds to 20% of the final grade).
• Subject project: Creation, management, development and presentation of an Integrated Services Marketing project based on a briefing on a real case (corresponds to 50% of the final grade).
• Final exam (corresponds to 30% of the final grade).
• The final grade will be calculated from the average of these 3 assessment systems, based on their % in the weight of the final grade, and provided that each part has obtained 5 points (pass) as a minimum grade. The average will only be calculated if all parts have been passed. Otherwise, the lowest grade obtained will be used as the final grade.

Methodology

Theoretical sessions and case method.

Bibliography

Key references

• Christopher Lovelock, Jochen Wirtz (2009). Marketing de Servicios: Personas, Tecnología y Estrategia (7 ed.). Pearson.
• K. Douglas Hoffman, John E.G. Bateson (2020). Services Marketing: Concepts, Strategies, & Cases (5 ed.). South-Western College Publishing.
• Raymond P. Fisk, Stephen J. Grove, Joby John (2013). Services Marketing Interactive Approach (4 ed.). Cengage Learning.

Further reading

Teachers will provide complementary bibliography and compulsory reading throughout the course via the Virtual Campus.