Global Aspects of Services Marketing
As we have noted in this chapter, one feature of service businesses that distinguishes them from product manufacturers is that they involve interpersonal contact between the service provider and the customer. An implication of this is that, generally, service firms do not grow by producing more of the same service in the same place. There are three basic growth strategies for service businesses:
Multisite: provision of the same sMtice(s) in new locations
Multiservice: provision of a new service at existing locations
Multisegment: provision of a different class of service targeting a different market segment, at new or existing locations.
Many service and retail businesses have chosen the first option. McDonald's, for example, views global expansion as the key to its future growth. Most large professional service firms such as public accounting and law firms as well as advertising agencies have set up shop in different countries as their clients expand, or simply to build a global business.
Table 15.2 shows some ofthe difficulties in launching a service business in a different country. The two columns labeled "Target Market" and "Operating Strategy" are common to physical products as well, as we describIJd earlier in this book. However, the "Service Concept" and "Service Delivery System" lists are unique to service products. For example, the notion of "fast food" was at one time a foreign service concept in most countries. In addition, the use of credit cards is a novel concept, as some cultures and religions dissuade people from going into debt. Also, fraud rates on credit-card payments are higher in some countries than others. People have different expectations about the levels and quality of service. American retail petroleum companies like Chevron need to understand that in many countries, such as Brazil, customers expect service people to fill up their gas tanks and wash their windows without paying a premium for the gas. Finally, labor markets may not provide the level of quality needed to launch a new site. Thus, McKinsey (the consulting firm) opened its branch in Bogota in 1994, it was staffed largely by Spanish-speaking consultants from other countries.
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