The same goes for products and services: it is easy to identify soap as a product and a haircut as a service. But what about restaurants? They sell food, which is a product, but they are essentially a service. How do you tell the difference?
Understanding this and being clear about what our company sells is important in order to know what are the key aspects that we must take into account in our marketing strategies.
5 key differences between products and services
1. Tangible Vs. Intangible
This is the main difference. A product is something you can perceive with your senses: you see it, touch it, smell it, and in some cases, you even hear it or taste it. A service, on the other hand, you cannot perceive. Or can you perceive the service of a hair salon?
At this point, you might say, “I can perceive my haircut,” and I would reply, “Yes, but you can only perceive it after you have ‘consumed’ it.” The difference between tangible and intangible comes at the time of sale, not purchase, which makes services harder to sell.
This is why services must use tangible malaysia mobile database elements to convey feelings and ideas before the purchase and make the client imagine what it will be like to consume that service. Continuing with the case of hairdressing, these could be photographs of other clients showing off their haircuts or even short videos showing the processes. Even the atmosphere of the salon and the presentation of the staff give an idea of the quality of the service bcg matrix presentation template.
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2. Involvement vs. Acquisition
As we saw in the previous aspect, services only become tangible until they are consumed. In other words, services do not start if there is no customer.
This difference is what makes a restaurant a service and not a product. The ingredients, the chefs and the tables are there whether you are there or not, but only when you order what you are going to eat, that dish materializes. Whereas, a packet of chips in a vending machine will be there whether you buy it or not.
This means that a key aspect of most services is that they are tailor-made. Sure, there is a menu in the restaurant, but that dish they are going to make is just for you. The same applies if you have a suit made, if you go shopping at the supermarket, or if you visit the doctor.
In this sense, products can learn something from services, and involve customization to a greater or lesser degree. It can be something as simple as the possibility of choosing between various types of packaging, colors or shipping methods.
3. Homogeneity vs. Heterogeneity
Products tend to be mass produced import and export users with meta, while services are delivered individually. Products are therefore easier to standardize and evaluate before being sold, whereas in the case of services, circumstances, people, and other factors can affect the final product.
That’s why it’s important for services to standardize their processes as much as possible and have a “plan B” in case any irregularities arise. It sounds complicated, but, to give you an example, it’s the same thing that Domino’s Pizza does with its promise to deliver pizza for free if it takes more than 30 minutes to arrive (which rarely happens).
On the other hand, if there is a fault with a product, there is always the possibility of returning it. Therefore, in addition to carrying out an exhaustive quality control, product companies must take care of the after-sales service, which includes the return, warranty, support, etc. processes.
4. Storable vs. Perishable
Products can always be stored, inventoried and preserved for a time, whereas in the case of services, this is not the case. If you stop selling a hotel room for a day, that is a sale you can never recover.
In this regard, it is important to consider, for both product and service companies, how sales behave over time and have plans to overcome periods of lower activity.
5. Need vs. Confidence
Essentially, products are good as long as they meet the need for which they were created.
In the case of services, this perception of quality is based more on relationships of trust . Whether you hire a computer security consulting service for your company or order an Uber to take you home, it is essential that you feel ar numbers confident, both in the person(s) who provide the service, and in the processes they carry out. A large part of customer satisfaction depends on that trust.
This doesn’t mean that trust relationships aren’t important in product marketing. In fact, believing this and leaving all the responsibility to the product is a big mistake bcg matrix presentation template. Product companies should take pains to monitor the service around their products, as this is also a fundamental part of the buying experience.
To conclude
While it is true that both products and services have different marketing needs, as you can see, this does not mean that there are not things that they cannot learn from each other. So I invite you to analyze very carefully what you sell and what marketing actions you can implement to enrich your customers’ shopping experience.