Why do banks belong to the service industry? What service does it have?

Abstract: Facing the new market operation environment, implementing service marketing strategy is an important way for China's commercial banks to survive and develop. This paper analyzes the connotation and characteristics of service marketing, and the core goal of commercial banks to implement service marketing strategy, and puts forward the strategic framework of service marketing strategy of commercial banks in China.

[Keywords:] commercial bank service marketing system

Modern commercial banks belong to the service industry. In essence, like ordinary industrial and commercial enterprises, their business goal is to maximize profits on the premise of meeting customer needs. Without customers, commercial banks will lose the foundation of survival, which is an unavoidable fact for any commercial bank. With the deepening of China's financial system reform, the situation that state-owned commercial banks dominate the world has been broken, and various joint-stock banks and joint venture banks have emerged. In addition, some famous foreign multinational banks are scrambling to land in China, which further intensifies the competition in the banking service industry in China. At the same time, with the gradual improvement of people's living standards, consumers' demand for banking services is constantly changing, financial awareness is constantly enhanced, choices are more rational, and the "buyer's market" for financial services is gradually becoming obvious. In this situation, in order to survive and develop, China's commercial banks must change their management concepts and implement service marketing strategies.

First, the connotation and characteristics of "service marketing"

The so-called service marketing refers to the business activities of commercial banks based on the service industry, with customers as the object and profit as the goal. By using various marketing means and strategies, they deliver banking service products to customers, which is a continuous cycle of transaction realization. This definition includes at least three aspects: first, service marketing is a kind of bank management concept, which recognizes and accepts the concept of "customer-centered" and carries out all bank activities on this basis. This is the premise for commercial banks to carry out marketing activities; Second, service marketing is a kind of business intention, which urges commercial banks to consciously adjust their products and services to meet the needs of customers, so as to achieve the purpose of profit, which is the purpose of service marketing; Third, service marketing is a kind of management activity, which is not only reflected in a certain field or aspect, but also runs through the whole process of commercial banks' business activities. In view of the connotation of service marketing and the characteristics of financial services, we believe that the implementation of service marketing by commercial banks has the following obvious characteristics:

1. Overall marketing. Commercial banks pay more attention to their overall marketing when implementing service marketing than ordinary enterprises. Commercial banks sell their products to customers in an appropriate way by shaping their own image (perfect service network, advanced service facilities, excellent service quality, strength, reputation, etc.). ), so that customers can easily accept, identify and generate trust. Generally speaking, only when customers recognize and trust the industry of a commercial bank will they love my house and my dog and accept the services provided by commercial banks.

2. Brand marketing. Commercial banks market the banking services they provide, paying more attention to the brand marketing of services, and not sticking to the introduction of product functions. In China, the services provided by commercial banks are basically the same. Therefore, the brand is more concerned and noticed by customers. When customers accept the services provided by commercial banks, it is not only the functions of commercial banks or the profits or conveniences that such financial products can bring, but also well-known brands that attract them. Well-known brands will get brand hints when customers need a certain banking service, and will give directions and choices when choosing a bank.

3. Face marketing. One of the most common and effective ways for commercial banks to carry out service marketing is to introduce new banking services and financial products to customers naturally and skillfully through all employees of all branches and outlets of the bank in the process of contacting customers and providing services to customers. Only in this way can it be easily accepted by customers and recognized by customers. Because customers have formed recognition and trust for you in the process of accepting the original service, the new marketing is only an extension and expansion on this basis. This kind of face-to-face marketing is more directional and targeted than other marketing methods such as advertising marketing, and it is also more permeable and has better marketing effect.

4. All-staff marketing. A commercial bank is an enterprise that deals in money and provides financial services. Because services are intangible, intangible products lack intuitive images and shapes that can be repeatedly perceived and touched compared with tangible products, and their internal quality and potential services are generally difficult for customers to understand and grasp. This requires all front-line staff to use certain marketing methods and services in the process of contacting, communicating with customers, handling business and providing services to customers.

Second, the core goal of "service marketing"

With the establishment and development of China's socialist market economic system, commercial banks have entered the market more and more, and obtained the same competitive opportunities and subject qualifications as other companies and enterprises. Commercial banks in China have also begun to attach importance to and apply the principles and methods of marketing, but compared with the marketing activities of western commercial banks, they are still in the initial stage and immature. According to the characteristics, consumers and development process of financial commodities, it is more appropriate to regard service marketing as the transformation and sublimation of the original traditional business model at the current development stage of commercial banks in China. According to the current consensus, the core objectives of service marketing of China's commercial banks under the new situation should be:

1. specialization. This means that the production and service of financial products must reach a considerable technical level. First of all, with the in-depth research and development of banking financial products and new services, new products and services emerge in an endless stream, and their product design, service level, application scope and use mode are constantly changing. In this situation, the sales of financial products and services are inseparable from professional high-tech support capabilities. Secondly, with the rapid development and wide application of e-commerce, specialization has become the core goal of commercial banks to meet customers' growing demand for financial services, have competitive advantages and improve service levels. Thirdly, with the continuous expansion of the scale of domestic commercial banks in China, on the other hand, their businesses are highly convergent and concentrated, and it is the core of future development to define their market positioning, constantly apply new technologies, constantly add new ideas and provide specialized products and services.

2. Personalization. First, banks' differentiated services for homogeneous objects objectively require banks to attach importance to market segmentation and adopt personalized marketing strategies. Faced with the colorful and developing personalized financial consumption demand, commercial banks must actively adapt to its development and changes, constantly update marketing concepts and methods, establish target markets through scientific segmentation, strive to meet the personalized needs and differentiated services of target markets, establish their own brands and characteristics through scientific positioning and differentiated services, and stabilize target consumer groups and competitive positions. Personalization and differentiation of service processes are important means for commercial banks to gain advantages in the fierce market competition. Whether personalized service can be provided determines the development of a commercial bank in a strategic sense. Secondly, the combination of financial products and the growing demand of consumers for personalized financial products determine that commercial banks should change the traditional sales model of financial products into service marketing model, and seek the best balance between the personalized demand of consumers and the scale benefit of enterprises. Third, only by providing as many personalized services with complete quality as possible can commercial banks adapt to the growing personalized demand under the new situation and obtain greater profits, which makes innovative and personalized financial services the first choice for commercial banks to carry out service marketing.

3. Internationalization. The trend of global financial integration has greatly promoted the competition of financial services and improved the quantity, quality and diversification of financial transactions. For China's banking industry after China's entry into WTO, internationalization has become an unavoidable reality in the process of global integration, and it is also an important opportunity for China commercial banks to fundamentally reshape the traditional business model by using service marketing.

4. network. The brand-new operation mode, brand-new management mode, brand-new service mode, brand-new marketing mode and brand-new competition mode owned by commercial banks under the network conditions are all helpful to provide market and financial product information quickly and simply, and provide customers with interactive automated services, personal financial services, international financial services and intangible financial services. At the same time, it also requires that the financial competition of commercial banks must go from the surface to the deep, and realize the value of financial service marketing in a larger space-time range.

Three, China Commercial Bank Service Marketing Strategy System Architecture

1, the "standardization" strategy of service marketing. The service is unstable or inconsistent. This will make it difficult for service quality to be stable, customers to recognize services, service brands to be established and service standards to be strictly enforced, which is not conducive to service marketing. The "standardization" of service marketing aims at establishing core concepts, establishing norms, quantifying the evaluation of service standards and service quality during the construction of service marketing system of commercial banks, and standardizing the behavior of service personnel. First of all, we should unify our thinking, establish the concept of service marketing and bring it into the organizational culture system; Secondly, we should systematically establish a service marketing quality standard management system, and standardize the work and behavior of commercial bank staff through service marketing norms; Thirdly, improve the evaluation of service marketing activities, and comprehensively and quantitatively monitor the service activities and quality of employees according to the organizational concept and relevant standards of service marketing, so as to control the deviation between service activities and quality as small as possible.

2. The "tangible" strategy of service marketing. "Tangibility" of service marketing refers to providing tangible service clues strategically to help customers identify and understand services. Service tangible clues refer to tangible things that customers can directly perceive and prompt during the service process. American service marketer G SHO shostak pointed out that customers can't see the service, but they can see the service environment, service tools, service facilities, service personnel, service information, service price list and other things that customers can see and touch. These tangible things are the tangible clues for customers to understand intangible services [1]. In order to help customers better identify and understand services, commercial banks should do the following: first, promote the construction of service brands, so that society and customers can identify and understand the concept, quality and level of services through contact with various appearances of the environment and organizations; Second, it is necessary to establish and improve the marketing organization and comprehensively improve the service quality and level of commercial banks; Third, it is necessary to implement service commitments and earnestly safeguard customers' right to know, participate and supervise.

3. The "efficiency" strategy of service marketing. The "efficiency" of service marketing refers to improving the internal operation efficiency and the space-time efficiency of service of commercial banks through technological progress, management progress and cultural progress, so as to better serve customers. The non-storability or easy disappearance of services will objectively bring pressure to commercial banks engaged in service industry, prompting commercial banks to cherish time and space resources, attach great importance to the time efficiency and space utilization of services, and realize the efficiency of services. From the practice of service marketing in commercial banks, the so-called "efficiency" is mainly manifested in the timeliness, versatility and packaging of services. The timeliness of service refers to improving the time efficiency of service, and the versatility and packaging of service refers to improving the space efficiency of service. To this end, commercial banks should do the following: first, innovate marketing organizations, build learning organizations, strengthen the construction of service quality, build a management mechanism with capacity building as the core, and promote the continuous learning and growth of organizations and members; Second, adhere to the policy of "technology plus management", accelerate the informatization construction of commercial banks by strengthening the development and application of software systems, data resources and network technologies, and provide quality services to customers; Third, it is necessary to improve the service marketing model and process of commercial banks and further strengthen the system linkage centered on efficiency.

4. The "differentiation" strategy of service marketing. The differentiation of service marketing refers to the partial separation of bank staff and customers in the service process [2]. We know that service is inseparable, that is, the production, consumption and transaction of service are carried out at the same time, and customers participate in it, that is, the inseparability of service producers and service consumers. This will increase the difficulty of service quality management and service innovation, which is not good for service marketing. The way to overcome this is to learn from the manufacturing industry, so that service producers and service consumers can be partially separated, that is, services can be differentiated. There are three main ways to differentiate services. One is self-service, that is, service producers provide customers with some service facilities, tools or supplies, so that customers can complete some services themselves; The second is the channelization of services, that is, service producers provide services or part of services to service consumers through service channels; The third is the networking of services, that is, service producers provide services or part of services to service consumers through computer networks or the Internet.

5. "Relationship" strategy of service marketing. The "relationship" of service marketing refers to the emphasis on word-of-mouth communication, public-private relationship, communication ability of service personnel and service quality of "real time" contact with customers in the service process. From the practice of service marketing, commercial banks should do the following when promoting the relationship strategy of service marketing: First, we should make services role-oriented, let service personnel selflessly enter the role in the service process, that is, in the communication with customers, and turn interpersonal relationships into role relationships in the service process. The second is to make the service subtle, even if the service organization or personnel care about the customer and approach the customer from a subtle point, so that the service relationship will enter a deeper level. Third, service tilt, that is, when developing service relationship, focus on existing customers, and service marketing policy is tilted towards existing customers, especially loyal customers. The fourth is to organize services, that is, to organize scattered customers in some form, so that the relationship between service organizations and customers is more formal and stable. Fifth, realize service collaboration, strengthen intra-bank service collaboration, and approach customers and develop customer relationships through channel cooperation between different departments in the bank.

6. The "differentiation" strategy of service marketing. The "differentiation" of service marketing is to emphasize customer segmentation, realize personalized service and diversified service, and realize all-round service to customers by strengthening service innovation, service characteristics and adaptability and flexibility of service personnel. First, it is necessary to segment customers and provide targeted services, so that services can be personalized on the basis of universality; Second, it is necessary to balance the customer's service demand, and overcome the difficulty that the customer's service demand cannot be balanced with the existing service stock by adjusting the service time, service location, service supply and service demand; Third, constantly innovate service methods, further expand service content and continuously improve service level.