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Product MIX:

The boarding services are considered to be an important part of product mix. In addition, the
lodging services also become significant. Here it is essential that facilities like light, water,
electricity, ventilation, entertainment, sanitation arrangement of bed etc. are available to the
guests. While formulating the product mix, the hotel organizations are required to make possible
a fair mix of core and peripheral services.
Place MIX:
This refers to the accessibility of the products to consumers. When comparing to other products
normally hotels products doesn't travel to customers but the customers come to the product. Place
or Location of the hotel e.g; choices like in city, outskirts of city, resort area, hill station. Or a chain
of hotels with presence in multiple locations. Hotel uses either direct or indirect distribution
methods to reach out its potential customers, below are few methods or channels used by hotels.

Direct methods

 Sales through the hotel sales team


 Personal telephone calls
 Online pay per click or Banner Advertisements (Google ads, Facebook ads etc.)
 Printed media Advertisements
 Other Media Advertisements
 Hotel Website Booking System (WBS)
 Global distribution system (GDS)

Indirect methods

 Travel Agents
 Independent Travel agents
 Event Planners
 Online Travel Agents (Expeida, booking.com, Agoda etc.)
 Online Travel portals (Trip Advisor, HotelIQ etc.)
 Independent hotel representative.

Promotions MIX:
The director of Sales & Marketing should work out the most effective promotion and
communication mix for the hotel. Promotion is the way hotels communicate to target customers.

Below are few promotions and communication channels used by hotels:

 Brochures
 Television commercials
 Hotel Websites
 Twitter Channel
 Facebook Page
 Google + Page
 Hotel pens & pencils
 Scratch pads with hotel logo
 Billboards
 T V Commercials

Pricing MIX:
Defining the correct pricing strategy is one of the most important aspects of the marketing mix. If
the hotel products like Guest rooms, Food and beverage menu etc. are not priced competitively
then the potential guest may reject the use of hotel services.
In this very competitive market guests are strongly influenced by the pricing and packages.
The hotel rate codes and packages are defined keeping in mind to attract or impress guest.

Generally the hotel room rates are defined as per the below season:

Peak Season: This is the period when demand for a hotel and its services is highest and the hotel
can charge the highest prices to the guest. There is no defined peak period for all hotels it vary
from hotel to hotel.
Valley Season / Off Season: This is the time of the year with the lowest demand for rooms.
Hotels generally offer the reduced rates and packages eg: Stay for 3 and pay for 2 nights,
Discounted Package rates etc.
Shoulder Season: This period falls between peak season and off season, And this time is
considered as the best time to attract new business as the rooms are available and a medium or
highest rates can be charged. Also the sales and marketing activities should be the highest during
this period.

Process MIX:
It refers to the methods and process of providing a service and is hence essential to have a
thorough knowledge on whether the services are helpful to the customers, if they are provided in
time.For the purposes of the marketing mix, process is an element of service that sees the
customer experiencing an organization‘s offering. Service design can be both tangible and
intangible. It can involve artifacts and other things including communication, environment and
behaviors. Whichever form it takes it must be consistent, easy to use and be strategically applied.
Process on daily basis used by Indian hotel industry are integration of Housing keeping, Food
Preparation, Check-in, Check-out, Foreign Exchange, Room service, Secretarial services,
Meeting arrangements, Functions, Maintenance, and Landscaping.
Physical Evidence MIX:
Service environment consists of the following elements: service area (exterior design, signs –
markings, parking, landscape, area surrounding the facility, etc.), interior (interior design,
equipment, interior markings, disposition of the facility, air quality, temperature, etc.) other
perceptible elements ( business cards, office equipment, accounts and invoices, reports,
employees dress code, uniforms, brochures, web pages, e-mail, etc.). It refers to the experience
of using a product or service. When a service goes out to the customer, it is essential that the
organization helps the customers what he is buying or not. It‘s the Appearance of the hotel that
the guest sees; so must be designed in such a manner that it sells the hotel to the potential
customer. This includes the space, color, light & such other element; as these affect guest
impression about the hotel. Lobby- It being the first & the last part of the hotel that the guest sees;
its designing plays a very important role. It must be designed with fine art, elegant finishing &
comfortable furnishing. And also the lobby must be functional with receptionist area apparent to
the incoming guests.
People MIX:
It refers to the customers, employees, management and everybody else involved in it. It is
essential for everyone to realize that the reputation of the brand that you are involved with is in
the people's hands. In hotel industry People Dealing with People – This is the context where
people deals with the people means employees deal the customers. Their given service directly
affects to the customer attitude below mentioned are the functions to be performed by each of the
3 managements:

Marketing: Create ongoing relationships with specific types of customers by delivering a carefully
defined service package of consistent quality that meets their needs and is perceived as offering
superior value to competitive alternatives.
Human Resource: Recruit, train, motivate and retain managers and other employees who can
work well together for realistic compensation package to balance the twin goals of customer
satisfaction and operational effectiveness.
Operations: Create and deliver the specified service package to targeted customers by selecting
operational techniques and operational staff that are well equipped to understand customer needs
and preferences.
Three approaches used by people/employees at hotel industry in India
Surface Acting – plastic smile by waiters
Deep Acting – to churn out the anger.
Spontaneous Response –by saying continuously.

Measurements of Service Quality


Although there is disagreement among researchers about the measurements of service quality,
several instruments or measurements have been developed to do so, such as SERVQUAL,
SERVPERF, INTSERVQUAL and INSQPLUS. Many measurements have been developed in the
tourism industry for evaluating service quality such as HOLSERV, DINESERV, CASERV and
LODGSERV. More specifically, DINESERV is used in restaurants; CASERV is used in the casino
sector; while LODGSERV and HOLSERV are used in the accommodation sector. Other
measurements such as INTQUAL and INTERSERVQUAL are used to measure employees’
perceptions of service quality. Due to the specificities of services in the hospitality industry (i.e.
impossibility of storage, inseparability, and impalpability), and thus a specific Model (SERVices
QUALity) called SERVQUAL was introduced for measuring service quality. The SERVQUAL scale
has become the most popular instrument for measuring service quality. The model has been
applied in various service industries including tourism and hospitality. The SERVQUAL model
consists of five dimensions, namely: empathy, reliability, assurance, responsiveness and
tangibility. It evaluates customer’s perceptions of service quality and that based on the gap
between customers’ expectations and their perceptions. Since service quality is a
multidimensional construct, and therefore each dimension of SERVQUAL has different features
for evaluating customer perceptions and expectations regarding service quality in the hospitality
industry.

MUTUAL FUNDS
Product MIX:
Mutual fund as a product is the investment, which the investors hold. The steps, which are
involved in the formulation of the schemes or product designing, are conceptualization, drafting,
test marketing, approval and authorization of the scheme. Since mutual fund is a service, there is
a little element of physicality. Physical evidence is the Mutual fund documents and the statements
that are received periodically. Mutual fund managers want to deliver good quality at a reasonable
cost, but the managers cannot make any promises about the future performance of the investment
since a mutual fund is not a consumer product with consistency of performance. There are number
of mutual fund schemes that are floating in the market. One mutual fund house deals in many
schemes. The product line of the mutual fund houses ranges from 30 to 300 schemes in India as
market segmentation is done to cater to all the specific investment demands of the customers.
Place MIX:
Place or the marketing channel describes the groups of individuals and companies, which are
involved in channelising the flow and sale of product and services from the provider to the eventual
customer. In mutual fund also there are channels broadly defined as ‘direct’ or ‘indirect’. Direct
channels involve the movement and sale of products directly between the provider and the
customer as in the traditional branch network, whereas in the case of indirect channels product
flows via intermediaries and middlemen. Traditionally mutual fund has been via the branch
network, but now different approaches are adopted.
Promotion MIX:
With globalisation the entry of multinational corporations propelled due to which the market
changed into a buyers’ market and due to the sudden competition growth, the domestic mutual
fund industry was shaken. Promotional efforts should be stimulating and motivating enough to
generate interest in and promote a positive attitude towards a Mutual fund house so that they will
be considered favourably in comparison with the competitors. As there are so many players in
the Mutual fund Industry, to choose one mutual fund over the other becomes very difficult for the
investors. This has led the mutual fund to follow aggressive promotional techniques. Besides
leading National Dailies, funds regularly advertise in business newspapers and magazines.
Pricing MIX:
Price competition involves using low prices as a competitive tool to attract customers. As the price
of the mutual fund is dependent upon the price of the underlying shares. Therefore it is the
distribution cost not the manufacturing cost in Mutual fund that separates one competitor with
another. One of the advantages of Mutual funds that it discloses its entire fee charged.
People MIX:
Mutual fund marketers need to develop a high level of inter personal skills and customer oriented
attitude in employees for the simple reason that employees in services are the key to service
experience. All employees in the mutual fund house have an effect on the sale of the products.
This is true of frontline a staff that has direct control with customers; they provide the link between
the Mutual fund and the investors. To the investor they represent the Mutual fund company.
Success of mutual fund is highly dependent upon the relationship of the investors with the
employees as there is a little difference between the products the different fund houses are
offering, it is mainly the commitment that a mutual fund house makes.
Physical Evidence MIX:
The allocation of greater amount of space in a mutual fund house is likely to have a positive
relationship between the company and the investors. Physical evidence also means the offer
documents and Mutual fund statements that the investors are provided with. In order to have a
better relationship with the investors, the statements should be regular, easily understandable
and all the facts should be mentioned in it.
Process MIX:
Process means the process through which the investors’ money is invested in different schemes
and the returns are provided to them. The process should be less complex. The revision of
schemes should not be a very frequent task as it leads to increase in cost. The mutual fund houses
make efforts to standardise the process. In order to customise the process, so lot of different
schemes are coming into market.
SERQUAL in MUTUAL FUNDS :

ServQual is a 22 item scale with the following five dimensions:

Reliability- Ability to perform the promised service depending service dependably and
accurately.
Assurance– knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to inspire trust and
confidence.
Tangibles– Physical facilities, equipment and appearance of personnel.
Empathy - caring, individualized attention the firm provides its customers.
Responsiveness – willingness to help customers and provide prompt service.

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