Recently,
banks are in a period that they earn money in servicing beyond selling money.
The prestige is get as they offer their services to the masses. Like other
services, banking services are also intangible. Banking services are about the
money in different types and attributes like lending, depositing and
transferring procedures. These intangible services are shaped in contracts. The
structure of banking services affects the success of institution in long term.
Besides the basic attributes like speed, security and ease in banking services,
the rights like consultancy for services to be compounded are also preferred.
Price:
The price
which is an important component of marketing mix is named differently in the
base of transaction exchange that it takes place. Banks have to estimate the
prices of their services offered. By performing this, they keep their relations
with extant customers and take new ones. The prices in banking have names like
interest, commission and expenses. Price is the sole element of marketing
variables that create earnings, while others cause expenditure.
While
marketing mix elements other than price affect sales volume, price affect both
profit and sales volume directly.
Banks should
be very careful in determining their prices and price policies. Because
mistakes in pricing cause customers’ shift toward the rivals offering likewise
services.
Traditionally,
banks use three methods called “cost-plus”, “transaction volume base” and
“challenging leader” in pricing of their services.
Distribution:
The
complexity of banking services is resulted from different kinds of them. The
most important feature of banking is the persuasion of customers benefiting
from services.
Most banks’
services are complex in attribute and when this feature joins the intangibility
characteristics, offerings take also mental intangibility in addition to
physical intangibility. On the other hand, value of service and benefits taken
from it mostly depend on knowledge, capability and participation of customers
besides features of offerings. This is resulted from the fact that production
and consumption have non separable characteristics in those services.
Most authors
argue that those features of banking services make personal interaction between
customer and bank obligatory and the direct distribution is the sole
alternative. Due to this reason, like preceding applications in recent years,
branch offices use traditional method in distribution of banking services.
Promotion:
One of the
most important elements of marketing mix of services is promotion which is
consist of personal selling, advertising, public relations, and selling
promotional tools.
Personal Selling:
Due to the
characteristics of banking services, personal selling is the way that most
banks prefer in expanding selling and use of them.
Personal
selling occurs in two ways. First occurs in a way that customer and banker
perform interaction face to face at branch office. In this case, whole
personnel, bank employees, chief and office manager, takes part in selling.
Second occurs in a way that customer representatives go to customers’ place.
Customer representatives are specialist in banks’ services to be offered and
they shape the relationship between bank and customer.
Advertising:
Banks have
too many goals which they want to achieve. Those goals are for accomplishing
the objectives as follows in a way that banks develop advertising campaigns and
use media.
1. Conceive
customers to examine all kinds of services that banks offer
2. Increase
use of services
3. Create
well fit image about banks and services
4. Change
customers’ attitudes
5. Introduce
services of banks
6. Support
personal selling
7. Emphasize
well service
Advertising
media and channels that banks prefer are newspaper, magazine, radio, direct
posting and outdoor ads and TV commercials. In the selection of media, target
market should be determined and the media that reach this target easily and
cheaply must be preferred.
Banks should
care about following criteria for selection of media.
1. Which
media the target market prefer
2.
Characteristics of service
3. Content of
message
4. Cost
5. Situation
of rivals
Ads should be
mostly educative, image making and provide the information as follows:
1. Activities
of banks, results, programs, new services
2. Situation
of market, government decisions, future developments
3. The
opportunities offered for industry branches whose development meets national
benefits.
Public Relations:
Public
relations in banking should provide;
1.
Establishing most effective communication system
2. Creating
sympathy about relationship between bank and customer
3. Giving
broadest information about activities of bank.
It is
observed that the banks in Turkey perform their own publications, magazine and
sponsoring activities.
Selling Promotional Tools:
Another element of the
promotion mixes of banks is improvement of selling. Mostly used selling
improvement tools are layout at selling point, rewarding personnel, seminaries,
special gifts, premiums, contests.
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