(Ebook) Services Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus Across the Firm by Alan Wilson, Valarie A. Zeithaml, Mary Jo Bitner, Dwayne D. Gremler ISBN 9780077169312, 007716931X

(Ebook) Services Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus Across the Firm by Alan Wilson, Valarie A. Zeithaml, Mary Jo Bitner, Dwayne D. Gremler ISBN 9780077169312, 007716931X

This third European edition of this highly successful Services Marketing text is for students and business people who recognize the vital role that services play in the economy and our lives. European economies are now dominated by services, and virtually all companies view service as critical to retaining their customers today and in the future. Even manufacturing companies that, in the past, have depended on physical products for their livelihood now recognize that service provides one of their few sustainable competitive advantages.This third European edition takes the theories, concepts and frameworks that exist in the original American version of the text and applies them to the European context. European examples, cases and readings are used to provide a true European flavour to the material. The material in this third edition has also been updated and restructured to reflect the latest services marketing thinking.The foundation of the text is the recognition that services present special challenges that must be identified and addressed. Issues commonly encountered in service organizations – the inability to inventory, the difficulty in synchronizing demand and supply, and challenges in controlling the performance quality of human interactions – need to be articulated and tackled by managers. This text aims to help students and managers understand and address these special challenges of services marketing.The development of strong customer relationships through quality service (and services) are at the heart of the book’s content. The topics covered are equally applicable to organizations whose core product is service (such as banks, transportation companies, hotels, hospitals, educational institutions, professional services, telecommunication) and to organizations that depend on service excellence for competitive advantage (high-technology manufacturers, automotive and industrial products, and so on).15 The book’s content focuses on the knowledge needed to implement service strategies for competitive advantage across industries. Included are frameworks for customer-focused management, and strategies for increasing customer satisfaction and retention through service. In addition to standard marketing topics (such as pricing), this text introduces students to topics that include management and measurement of service quality, service recovery, the linking of customer measurement to performance measurement, service blueprinting, customer co-production, and cross-functional treatment of issues through integration of marketing with disciplines such as operations and human resources. Each of these topics represents pivotal content for tomorrow’s businesses as they structure around process rather than task, engage in digital marketing, mass customize their offerings, deliver services using mobile and digital platforms, and attempt to build strong relationships with their customers.