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SERVISIM 4.0 A Business Simulation for Executive Training in Service Marketing Strategy And Management |
Description of the Market Environment
Description of Participant Reports
Descroiption of Administrator Reports
Servisim is the services marketing and services strategy simulation created by PRISM in 1992. Servisim complements services management training sessions by allowing the participants to actively manage companies in a competitive, simulated, environment. Servisim has been continuously updated and its fourth version has been launched in 2017, including adaptations related to recent topics on customer loyalty, CRM, customer value and digital communication tools.
Servisim is an active learning tool, which has been developed:
- To expose students and executives to the concepts of marketing strategy, planning, services management and service quality.
- Give executives experience in applying professional concepts by allowing them to put a service marketing strategy into practice in an organisation, which competes in a competitive, simulated, marketplace. It is also used as an integrative exercise at the end of management development programs.
Even though simulations are "virtual", and can not integrate the full complexity of service company management in the real world, simulations present an opportunity to learn actively, in groups. By alternating conceptual inputs and simulation decision rounds, the transition from theory to application is demonstrated. In fact, simulations offer a risk free laboratory and learning environment.
Many training and development programmes have as objective to demonstrate theoretical concepts and give practical examples of application. A simulation goes beyond this objective by ensuring that participants learn to apply (and sometimes how not to apply) the concepts actively, in groups.
Servisim has been used successfully:
- With students in marketing, strategy and services management courses
- With executives from companies who have the objective of differentiating their offering with the services part of their product.
Management of Service Companies
Market / Segment choiceCompetitor analysis
Service Marketing Strategies
Product pricing in high fixed cost environments
Management of customer expectations, satisfaction & loyalty.
Management of people (staffing levels, training, teambuilding, bonus,...)
Marketing Management (marketing mix, targeting, positioning)
Accounting (product profitability, activity based costing)
Customer Information Data bases, service development
Distribution and production strategy
Pricing.
Description of the Market Environment
Markets & Products
Two Markets
1 business to business market with two segments (Industrial and Service companies)
1 consumer market with four segments (Youngs, Middles, Executives and VIPs)
Three service "technologies" which differ in the way the service is delivered:
1 product type for the business to business market, called "Compers"
2 product types sold to the consumer markets"Regulars" delivered by people only
"Betters" delivered by people, assisted by machines
Possible emergence of a new digital service delivery technology.
The Service Marketing Mix
Promotion (digital advertising in social media, direct mail, key account management,...)
Pricing (base price and quantity discounts)
Product (guarantee, extra support,...)
Place (distribution channels, availability,...)
Positioning the message (managing customer expectations)
People management (service, quality and product training, motivation,...)
Physicals (Physical Layout of distribution, refurbishment,...)
Production & Sales (Distribution) Channels
Three production strategies for the tangible part of the delivered service product
(complete outsourcing, internal tailoring or fully internal)
Three distribution and sales channels
(primary locations, secondary locations and franchises)
Human Resources
Operations, service & support, complaint and account managers
Staffing levels, various types of training, motivation.
Competition
Six companies compete with different strengths, some are niche players, some are
too small to be everything to everyone, some start off with a dominant position.
Description of the Participants Reports
Financial & Accounting Information
Product Accounts
(product contribution) |
Customer Information
Number of customers per
segment/product. |
Operarions Review
Personnel utilisation
rate |
Market Research
Potential business per
segment |
Description of the Administrator Reports
Simulation administrators analyse decisions and results of the teams graphicaly or numerically every period