Fortune magazine recently combined its lists of the largest industrial companies and the largest service providers into a single Fortune 500 list. D. Unique Characteristics of Services 1. Services are set apart from goods by four unique characteristics known as the four I's of services. Customers can't easily try services before they buy or judge value and quality in advance. To overcome the problems of intangibility, some service marketers offer samples.
Marketers can also work to make benefits as tangible as possible.
Inconsistency a. Services are subject to inconsistency , the variability that occurs because delivery is highly dependent on the people providing the service. This can be an advantage when a marketer wants to build a relationship with customers by responding to individual needs. Service providers are only human, which means that their actions can vary. Inconsistency adds to the risk that customers perceive when buying a service. Inseparability a. Services are subject to inseparability , which means that production can't be separated from consumption.