Service businesses has four main characteristics that distinguish them from products company, namely:
1. Intangibility
Different services with goods. If the item is an object, device or object, then the service is a deed, performance, or business. If the goods can be owned, the service can be consumed, but do not possess. While most services can be linked and supported by a physical product like a telephone in the telecommunications, aircraft in air transportation, food in restaurant service, the essence of what customers are buying is the performance by the manufacturer about it.
Services are intangible, which can be seen, felt and embraced, heard, or touched before purchase and consumption. Intangible concept of service has two meanings, namely:
a. Something that can be touched and can not be considered.
b. Something that can not easily defined, formulated or understood spiritually.
Thus, we can not evaluate the quality of service before it felt / to burn. When customers buy a service, it uses only, use, or rental services. The client does not necessarily have purchased services. Therefore, to reduce uncertainty, customers will notice the signs or evidence of the quality of these services.
They conclude the service quality of the place (place), people (people), equipment (hardware), communications equipment (communications equipment), the symbols and the prices they observe. Therefore, traders who use service is to “manage the evidence” and “tangibilize the intangible”. In this case, marketing services are faced with the challenge of providing physical evidence and a comparison with the abstract submission.
2. Inseparability
The goods are produced, sold and consumed. As for services on the other hand, are generally sold first, then produced and consumed simultaneously. The interaction between providers and clients is a special feature in the marketing of services. Both parties have an impact on results (come out) services. Relationship with suppliers and customers, the effectiveness of individuals who provide services (personal contact) is important. Thus, the key to success is a service company in the process of recruitment, compensation, training, and pengembangan employees.
3. Variability
Services are highly variable because it is the result of non-standardized, meaning that there are many varieties, quality and type, depending on who, when and where services are produced. Buyers of services are very concerned about this high variability and often they ask for other opinions before deciding vote. In this case, the service can perform the three stages of quality control, namely:
a. Investing in the selection and training of staff well.
b. Do standardization process of the implementation of service (process serviceperformance).
This can be done by preparing a blue print (blue-print) which describes the services and events in a flowchart of service processes to determine the factors that could cause failures of these services. Monitor customer satisfaction through suggestion and complaint systems, customer surveys and comparison shopping, so that poor service can be detected and corrected.
4. Instant
The service is perishable and can not be saved. Train empty seats, hotel rooms are not occupied, or during certain hours without the patient in the practice of a physician, will / go away, because it can be stored for use at another time. This is not a problem if the application is always easy to prepare the service request before.
When demand fluctuates, facing various problems related to idle capacity (when demand is low) and customers are not served by their risk disappointed / switch to another service provider (when demand peaks).
