Service Characteristics

Services can be viewed in terms of five generic key characteristics:

Intangibility

Services are intangible and insubstantial: it cannot be touched, gripped, handled, looked at, smelled, tasted or heard. Thus, there is neither potential nor need for transport, storage or stocking of services. Furthermore, a service cannot be (re)sold or owned by somebody, neither can it be turned over from the service provider to the service consumer nor returned from the service consumer to the service provider. Solely, the service delivery can be commissioned to a service provider who must generate and render the service at the distinct request of an authorized service consumer.

Perishability

Services are perishable in two instances:

• The service relevant resources, processes and systems are assigned for service delivery during a definite period. If the designated or scheduled service consumer does not request and consume the service during this period, the service cannot be performed for him. From the perspective of the service provider, this is a lost business opportunity as he cannot charge any service delivery; potentially, he can assign the resources, processes and systems to another service consumer who requests a service. Examples: The hairdresser serves another client when the scheduled starting time or timeslot is over. An empty seat on a plane can never be used and charged for after departure.
• When the service has been completely rendered to the requesting service consumer, this particular service irreversibly vanishes as it has been consumed by the service consumer. Example: the passenger has been transported to the destination and cannot be transported again to this location now.

Inseparability

The service provider is indispensable for service delivery as he must promptly generate and render the service to the requesting service consumer. In many cases the service delivery is executed automatically but the service provider must assign resources and systems and actively keep up appropriate service delivery readiness and capabilities. Additionally, the service consumer is inseparable from service delivery because he is involved in it from requesting it up to consuming the rendered benefits. Examples: The service consumer must sit in the hair dresser's shop and chair or in the plane and seat; correspondingly, the hair dresser or the pilot must be in the same shop or plane, respectively, for delivering the service.

Simultaneity

Services are rendered and consumed during the same period. As soon as the service consumer has requested the service (delivery), the service must be generated from scratch without any delay and friction and the service consumer instantaneously consumes the rendered benefits for executing his upcoming activity or task.

Variability

Each service is unique. It is one-time generated, rendered and consumed and can never be exactly repeated, as the time, location, circumstances, conditions, current configurations, and/or assigned resources are different for the next delivery, even if the same service consumer requests the same service. Many services are regarded as heterogeneous (or lacking homogeneity) and are typically modified for each service consumer or each new situation (‘consumerised’). Example: The taxi service that transports the service consumer from his home to the opera is different from the taxi service which transports the same service consumer from the opera to his home - another point in time, the other direction, maybe another route, probably another taxi driver and cab.

Each of these characteristics is retractable, per se, and their inevitable coincidence complicates the consistent service conception and makes service delivery a challenge in each and every case. Proper service marketing requires creative visualization to effectively evoke a concrete image in the service consumer's mind. From the service consumer's point of view, these characteristics make it difficult, or even impossible, to evaluate or compare services prior to experiencing the service delivery.

Mass generation and delivery of services is difficult. This is a problem of inconsistent service quality. Both inputs and outputs to the processes involved providing services are highly variable, as are the relationships between these processes, making it difficult to maintain consistent service quality. For many services there is labour intensity as services usually involve considerable human activity, rather than a precisely determined process; exceptions include utilities. Human resource management is important. The human factor is often the key success factor in service economies. It is difficult to achieve economies of scale or gain dominant market share. There are demand fluctuations and it can be difficult to forecast demand. Demand can vary by season, time of day, business cycle, etc. There is consumer involvement as most service provision requires a high degree of interaction between service consumer and service provider. There is a customer-based relationship based on creating long-term business relationships. Accountants, attorneys, and financial advisers maintain long-term relationships with their clients for decades. These repeat consumers refer friends and family, helping to create a client-based relationship.