People constitute an important dimension in the management of services in their role both as performers of service and as customers.
a. Performers of service / Service Personnel
Service Personnel are important in all organizations but more so in an organization involved in providing services. The behaviour and attitude of the personnel providing the service is an important influence on the customers' overall perception of the service and he can rarely distinguish between the actual service rendered and the human element involved in it.
Service personnel are two types- visible service personnel and non-visible service personnel. In a restaurant the waiters are visible while the cook in the kitchen is not. As a marketing manager you have to devote more time training the visible personnel, since they have greater responsibility in maintaining relations with the customer. The rice dish which is not cooked properly is the cook's fault but it is the waiter who will have to bear the brunt of the customers' anger. The manner in which the waiter behaves with the customer will be an important determinant in the restaurant losing that customer forever or retaining him as a regular client. As a marketing manager your primary concern is the visible service personnel.
b. Customers
Customers are important because they are a source of influencing other customers. In the case of doctors, lawyers, consultants one satisfied customer will lead to a chain reaction, bringing in his wake a number of other customers. Thus as a marketing manager, your first task should be to ensure complete satisfaction of the existing customers. The kind of customers that you attract exerts an important influence on prospective customers. The prospective customer may feel attracted towards the organization (it may be a restaurant, club, school, college) because it has his 'type' of customer.
