The First P: Service Product or Service Package:
A service is a bundle of features and benefits. However these benefits have relevance to a specific target market. Hence while developing a service package it is important that the package of benefits in the service offer must have a customer perspective. Gronroos constructed that the services are product offers consists of 3 levels. The first level is that of basic service package which includes core service, facilitating services and supporting services. The 2nd level is that of an augmented service offering where accessibility interaction and customer participation is given equal importance in delivering the service product . the third level is that of the market communication of the service offering as in its absence the augmentation service package doesn’t have any relevance to the customer.
The service package:
The package concept of service product suggests that what you offer to the market is a bundle of different services, tangible and intangible, but there is a main or substantive or core service and around it are built the auxiliary or peripheral or facilitator services. It is important to note that facilitating services are mandatory and if these were left out, the entire service would collapse. In the service package there are yet other type of services called supporting services. The basic difference between the 2 is that supporting services don’t facilitate the consumption of core services but are used to increase the value and thus differentiate it from competition
e.g. in a 500 room hotel the core service is lodging and room service, bellboy services are facilitating services and health club , car rental are support services. However it may not always be possible to draw a line ...