SERVICE AS A MARKETING STRATEGY - A CASE-STUDY AT RELIANCE ELECTRIC

Faced with diminishing returns on resources applied to gain significant advantages in technology, cost, promotion, or sales channels in today's crowded industrial markets, industrial marketers may find the best returns on resources applied to gaining an edge in service to forge ahead of the competition. The value of a service strategy lies in its implementation. This implementation requires defining service and defining a way to control it. Service can be affected by almost anyone in the organization. Managing all the possible "moments of truth" is required for controlling service quality. This requires a commitment from top management and an internal marketing program. The objective of the internal marketing program is to focus all of the organization on the same goal. The organization's structure and technology also play a crucial role in the implementation of the service strategy. The case study of an industrial company, which succesfully used "offering the best service in the market" as its marketing strategy to significantly increase its market share and profitability, is used to illustrate the concepts developed in this paper. © 1990.