The service industry is increasingly identified as contributing to worldwide business growth and is seen as a critical source of employment. Furthermore, the provision of services is playing an increasingly important role in the marketing strategies of goods manufacturing companies, because B2B manufacturers seek to differentiate their offerings by including significant value-adding service components. However, services possess unique characteristics, justifying the consideration of whether traditional marketing management concepts and models need to be adapted to better account for service-dominant economies, and for the successful marketing of services.

This unit focuses on developing your knowledge of the specific characteristics of services, and how to manage and market them. This unit will help you to create and manage relationships with customers to deliver superior services. It will focus on the processes underpinning the creation and delivery of high-quality services, the extended services marketing mix, and managing internal marketing within service firms. This unit also examines the service environment, and managing capacity and demand to develop the necessary knowledge and skills to market service firms. This unit will integrate the necessary knowledge and skills to market service firms.