Therefore, the service provider’s task is to “manage he evidence”, “tangibility the intangible”. Cassettes: We are here mentioning the part taken from the case study of Enterprise Rent A-Car showing the solutions to minimize the intangibility in services. Enterprise Rent A-Car is the world’s number 1 rental car company in North America and arguably the world. Jack Taylor founded Enterprise in 1957 in United States. It is a privately-owned business. Forbes ranks Enterprise as a number 16 in top 100 private companies in the United States.
To improve the image of the services and overcome the problem of intangibility of services being provided, certain assures were taken so that the quality of the services can be judged before taking the services by customers which include; The attitude and helpfulness of the Enterprise employees The speed of the transactions The cleanliness of the cars and their outlooks. 2- Variability Because the quality of services depends upon who provides them, when and where, and to whom, services are highly variable as they vary.
Service buyers are aware of this variability and they often talk to others before selecting a service provider. To reassure customers, some firms offer service guarantees hat may reduce consumer perception of risk. Here are 3 steps that service providing firms can take to minimize variability. Invest in good hiring and training procedures. Standardize the service -performance process throughout the organization. Zurich@ is a major financial services group that was founded in 1872. Its headquarters are in Zurich, Switzerland.
Today, the company employs 60,000 people. It serves customers in more than 170 countries. The company has offices in the Americas, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia Pacific region. Zurich operates in a very competitive marketplace. It needs to focus on providing the best possible products for its customers in order to compete and grow market share. Zurich offers a rich mix of services for these customers including: motor insurance buildings and contents insurance risk management business insurance programmer life insurance pensions and investments.
ZURICH HELLESPONT The company has developed the concept of Zurich HelpPoint@to communicate and summaries this business strategy to customers. Insurance can be taken out to cover, for example, loss or damage to vehicles or property. Customers pay a premium each year to obtain this cover. In the event of loss or harm occurring, they can claim for the cost of repairs, replacements, loss of profits or other necessary services. Hellespont started out as a free helpline for customers with motor insurance claims. Today it is far more than that.
Hellespont is an expression of the many ways in which Zurich delivers for its customers every day, all around the world helping to meet their needs. This includes providing practical advice and solutions, information, support services and help at the point of claim. It is an attitude that Zurich staff around the world take very seriously to deliver relevant alp, when it matters. Hellespont is not just about dealing with external customers those insuring with Zurich. It is also about serving internal customers people who work for Zurich.
For example, effective IT and Human Resource services are required to support all Zurich employees. All workers are encouraged to think about and implement practices that will give their customers the best possible service. HOW TO MINIMIZE VARIABILITY Zurich refocused and adapted its existing Hellespont service to provide an all- embracing help-service. The company tried to minimize the factor of variability n the services that it was providing, for that a proper procedure was made and followed strictly by the employees. They were given training.
After that they upgraded and reluctance their existing services by developing and launching innovative new customer focused services, training sessions, raising workshops etc. 3- Permissibility Services cannot be stored so their permissibility can be a problem when demand fluctuates. Demand or yield management is critical- the right services must be provided to the right customers at the right places at the right times and right prices to maximize profitability. Several strategies can produce a better match between service demand and supply.
If demand is considered measures taken include: Differential pricing Cultivation of non-peak demand Complementary services Reservation systems If supply is considered, measures possibly taken include: Part-time employees Peak-time efficiency Increased consumer participation Sharing of services Facilities for future expansion Case study Not being on the beach meant that the Vista del Mar lost out on tourist business. Owners Dave and Jane Baldwin brainstormed unique promotions designed to entice customers into visiting?and staying a while.
What does a restaurant owner running a beachheads resort in the sunny Costa del Sol of Spain have to worry about, besides cloudy days? After all, in this part of Spain, the weathers great from April to October. Tourism is the main industry, and there is a thriving beach culture thanks to the sunny skies and warm Mediterranean Sea. Dave and Jane Baldwin, looking to serve that beach culture, eagerly took over the Costa del Sol’s Vista del Mar restaurant in April of 2007. Previously, Jane had helped run a small hotel in Vermouth, UK; Dave had no restaurant management experience.
We wanted to live the Spanish dream! ” he said. The Vista del Mar restaurant is a beachheads bar/restaurant that serves Spanish and International food and wine to those looking to escape the heat. However, business at the Vista del Mar suffers a little, unlike nearby shortcomings (bars directly on the beach), because of its lack of direct access to the sand and surf. Never ones to give up, Dave and Jane Baldwin have touted the lack of sand at Vista del Mar as a benefit (“set up above the beach, with no sand! Says their website) and have started a number of promotions to drive customer traffic o the Vista del Mar. Another issue being faced was the mismatch between demand and supply of services. At the peak-times the services were lacking to fulfill the required demand of services to entertain a huge number of customers. For resolving that issue, the owner decided to hire some more employees on hourly wage rates and to increase to peak-time efficiency.
Besides this they also planned activities to increase customers’ participation in the mean time so they don’t get irritated and unhappy from the services being provided. To manage demand complementary services were introduced, measures were taken for the litigation of Nan-peak demands. 4- Inseparability Provider-client interaction is a special feature of service marketing. Buyers of entertainment and professional services are very interested in the specific provider.
When clients have strong provider preferences, the provider can raise its prices to ration its limited time. Some strategies have been existing around the limitations of inseparability. The service organization can train more service providers and build up more client confidence, as H Block has done with its national network of trained tax consultants. Case study H Block’s Tax Services segment provides income tax return preparation, electronic filing and other services and products related to income tax return preparation.
Clients are offered a number of options for receiving their income tax refund, including a check directly from the IRS, an electronic deposit directly to their bank account, a prepaid debit card, a refund anticipation loan (ORAL) or a refund anticipation check (RACE). Major revenue sources include; fees earned for tax preparation services performed at company-owned retail tax offices, royalties from franchise retail tax offices, fees for tax-related services, sales of ax preparation and other software, online tax preparation fees, RAILS and Races.
The purpose of this paper is to research the impact of the recent decision the Office of Comptroller of the Currency (COCO), the Treasury Department agency that regulates national banks, made concerning the elimination of refund anticipation loans (ORAL) funded by HASH, H&R Block’s lender. We will also look at Block’s new management strategy to combat their decision. History of Block H&R Block is one of the world’s largest tax services providers, utilizing more than 100,000 trained tax professionals and having prepared more than 550 million tax turns worldwide since 1955.
Brothers Henry W. Bloch and Richard A. Bloch founded the company in 1 955 and grew the business to become a brand and franchising icon. The Kansas City based company also offers banking, personal finance and business consulting services. Today, H Block operates 12,500 retail tax offices in the United States plus an additional 1,400 abroad. H Block is using certain techniques to minimize the issue of inseparability which are mentioned above including the maximum use of internet and social connecting media so that services are available to the clients 24 hours.
