Sullivan Ford Auto World
CASE 1
SULLIVAN FORD AUTO WORLD
OVERVIEW
The owner of a Ford car dealership dies unexpectedly. His 28-year-old daughter, a health care manager with an MBA degree, temporarily takes command. She is shocked to find that the once-thriving dealership is losing money and realizes that she must choose between selling the business at an unfavorable price, or working to turn it around. She suspects that improving the performance of the service department will be the key to saving the business.
STUDY QUESTIONS
1. How does marketing cars differ from marketing services for those same vehicles?
2. Compare and contrast the sales and service departments at Auto World.
3. From a consumer perspective, what useful parallels do you see between running an automobile sales and service dealership and running health care services?
4. What advice would you give to Carol Sullivan-Diaz?
Answers
1. Marketing a service for cars is usually harder than marketing the same cars and the consumer behavior towards purchasing a car service differs from a consumer behavior towards purchasing car. Products have search qualities representing the characteristics that are easily reviewed before a purchase occurs. This is a challenge for marketers to communicate the benefits of a car service which is harder than a product (car) to evaluate. Price too is an important factor in a marketing mix and the pricing strategy of a car service differs from the pricing strategy of a car.
The characteristics of services address a clear framework from which we can differentiate between the marketing of cars and the marketing service of those same cars. These characteristics are intangibility, inseparability, variability, and perishability.
Intangibility:
A car as a product is tangible, which means the customer can touch and see the product before deciding to make a purchase unlike car services which are intangible. So service marketing should
SULLIVAN FORD AUTO WORLD
OVERVIEW
The owner of a Ford car dealership dies unexpectedly. His 28-year-old daughter, a health care manager with an MBA degree, temporarily takes command. She is shocked to find that the once-thriving dealership is losing money and realizes that she must choose between selling the business at an unfavorable price, or working to turn it around. She suspects that improving the performance of the service department will be the key to saving the business.
STUDY QUESTIONS
1. How does marketing cars differ from marketing services for those same vehicles?
2. Compare and contrast the sales and service departments at Auto World.
3. From a consumer perspective, what useful parallels do you see between running an automobile sales and service dealership and running health care services?
4. What advice would you give to Carol Sullivan-Diaz?
Answers
1. Marketing a service for cars is usually harder than marketing the same cars and the consumer behavior towards purchasing a car service differs from a consumer behavior towards purchasing car. Products have search qualities representing the characteristics that are easily reviewed before a purchase occurs. This is a challenge for marketers to communicate the benefits of a car service which is harder than a product (car) to evaluate. Price too is an important factor in a marketing mix and the pricing strategy of a car service differs from the pricing strategy of a car.
The characteristics of services address a clear framework from which we can differentiate between the marketing of cars and the marketing service of those same cars. These characteristics are intangibility, inseparability, variability, and perishability.
Intangibility:
A car as a product is tangible, which means the customer can touch and see the product before deciding to make a purchase unlike car services which are intangible. So service marketing should