Our last article spoke about the Marketing Mix- Place. Now, here is the extended series of the Marketing Mix where we are going to shed light on Process.
Process
Process is an element of Services Marketing Mix. The delivery of your service is usually done with the customer present so how the service is delivered is once again part of what the consumer is paying for. This element of the marketing mix looks at the systems used to deliver the service. All services need to be underpinned by clearly defined and efficient processes. In other words, you know your objectives to perform. For instance, banks that send out Credit Cards automatically when their customer’s old one has expired again require an efficient process infrastructure to identify expiry dates and renewal.
At Each Stage Of The Process, Marketers:
- Deliver value through all elements of themarketingmix. Process,physical evidence andpeopleenhance services.
- Feedback can be taken and the mix can be altered.
- Customers areretained, and otherservicesorproductsare extended and marked to them.
- The process itself can be tailored to the needs of different individuals, experiencing a similar service at the same time.
Processes essentially have inputs, throughputs and output. Marketing addsvalueto each of the stages bringing out milestones.
Types Of Processes
There are a number of types of processes. For example, technological processes include the process of manufacturing goods and adapting them for the needs of clients. There are also electronic processes which include things like Electronic Point-Of-Sale (EPOS), barcodes on products which are scanned on phones or by checkout people and other means such as loyalty cards.
- Processes Include Direct Activities And Indirect Activities.
- Direct activities add value at the customer interface as the consumer experiences the service.
- Indirect activities often known as back office activities, which support the service before, during and after it has been finished.
- It can also have an integration of processes to create an overall marketing process. For example- Logistics and Internet Marketing can be integrated. Another view is that marketing process is used to define and control the marketing mix to achieve objectives.
- For the purposes of the marketing mix, process is an element of service that sees the customer experiencing an organization’s offering. It’s best viewed as something that your customer participates in at different points in time.
Some Benefits of Process
- Increased customer satisfaction and shorter time-to-market for products and services
- Greater efficiency (and cost savings) with existing applications and processes
- Greater team satisfaction as collaboration and best practices are improved
- Full transparency of all activities across the team and organization
Example from eCommerce
Amazon is a consistent business process innovator because it questions what it does today. In 1995, Amazon started offering more than million books but stocked only 2,000. Amazon forwarded customer orders to book wholesalers/ publishers who ship the products with Amazon’s packaging material and labels. The outcome of the move was effective dealer relationship. Now, in 2013, they increased the number of Warehouses with 50 new warehouse facilities. The idea here was to provide same day delivery catchment area in the process.
Similarly, last year, Amazon India set up a call centre with a difference. While most etailers have their customer service desk for the consumers, Amazon opened up one for its dealers/ merchants.The idea was to create an interface with merchants to improve communication touch-points.
In the above example, each department of Amazon has its own allocation of work, based on its functions. It is important that these departments work in coordination with each other so that the overall objectives of the organization are achieved. For this purpose, the work process in each department should be designed in a way to avoid conflict among the departments.
Conclusion
Companies seek to offer a level of service it knows it can deliver which reduces mistakes and increase customer satisfaction. Process is all about paying importance in enabling delivery of the customer proposition. Process innovation radically alters the older paradigms, principles and conventions to create and deliver better customer value.(Reference: Marketingteacher)
