BNET Business Dictionary
Business Definition for: Service
- any activity with a mix of tangible and intangible outcomes that is offered to a market with the goal of satisfying a customer's need or desire. Early marketing tended to distinguish a service from a physical good, but more recently these two have been seen as interrelated because service delivery frequently has physical aspects. For example, in a restaurant, service is provided by a waiter but physical goods, such as the food and the dining room, are also involved. In modern marketing, all forms of services and goods can be seen as products.
Wiktionary Definition for: Service
- (''economics'') That which is produced, then traded, bought or sold, then finally consumed and consists of an action or work.
- Ex: ''Hair care is a '''service''' industry.''
- (''computing'') A function that is provided by one program or machine for another.
- Ex: ''This machine provides the name '''service''' for the LAN.''
- The military.
- Ex: ''I did three years in the '''service''' before coming here.''
- A set of dishes or utensils.
- Ex: ''She brought out the silver tea '''service'''.''
- The act of initially starting, or serving, the ball in play in tennis, volleyball, and other games.
- Ex: ''The player had four '''service''' faults in the set.''
- A religious rite or ritual.
- Ex: ''The funeral '''service''' was touching.''
- law The serving, or delivery, of a summons or writ.
- Ex: ''The '''service''' happened yesterday.''
- (''public service'') that which is provided by the Government or its agents
- Ex: ''The Job Centre provides a '''service''' to the unemployed.''
- to serve
- Ex: ''They '''service''' the customer base.''
- to perform maintenance
- Ex: ''He is going to '''service''' the car.''
Additional Resources
- Adding Value with Service
- Service is a business concept that is often overlooked. Implemented properly, though, it can be a key differentiator between your business and the competition. Meeting a customer's requirements in the most appropriate and efficient way greatly enhances the perceived value of your product. It also has the potential to increase...
- Articles 2007-05-01
- Putting the Service-Profit Chain to Work
- What drives growth and profitability in a service business? Highly satisfied customers. And to keep those customers profitable, you need to manage all the aspects of your operation that affect customer satisfaction--what the authors call the...
- Articles 2008-07-18
- Improving Customer Service on the Phone
- A customer's first contact with an organization is often by telephone. That's why it's helpful to periodically evaluate how your organization receives and manages phone contact and identify opportunities to improve the quality and accuracy of communications.What You Need to KnowInteractive Voice Response IVR and similar services appear impersonal. Isn't...
- Articles 2007-05-08
- Calling Tesla's Repair Rangers: At-Home Service With a Geek Squad Smile
- As big companies such as Best Buy start selling electric vehicles EVs, attention will inevitably turn to customer service. Best Buy is selling Brammo electric motorcycles, Segways and plug-in scooters at a few stores in California, and that means the Geek Squad is empowered to fix...
- Blog posts 2009-10-13
- A year later, Nokia's music service has few users
- A year after launching in the U.K., with rollouts elsewhere since, Nokia's Comes With Music service has amassed just 107,000 subscribers, according to an analyst report. The report, issued on Thursday by Music Ally, came the same day that Nokia reported dismal financial earnings. Comes With Music lets anyone who...
- News items 2009-10-18
- Determining the Right Price for a Product or Service
- Setting the price of a product or service is both a financial and marketing issue. Clearly, the price has to cover all the costs you have incurred. It also has to generate a profit—the business won't survive otherwise. Then again, you should never gouge your customers or you will lose...
- Articles 2007-05-03
- Be Of Service but NEVER Be Servile
- In olden days, when a knight met another knight, he gave the greeting "I am at your service." Being "of service" implies mutual obligation; you are choosing, as an equal, to be of assistance. It's the exact opposite of being servile, which is how a slave acts when he truckles...
- Blog posts 2009-05-29
- E-Service: Strategies for Success in the Customer Age
- Global competition is ferocious. Companies must work harder than ever before to gain and keep customers, and to do so at a competitive cost. If wielded correctly, e-service, using the Web for customer service, can be a powerful tool in today's business world. Internet-based customer service, or e-service, enables smart...
- White papers 2003-01-01
- Do Proxy Service Firms Have Too Much Power?
- For nearly a decade, proxy service firms have held powerful sway over many C-Suites and their boards, pushing recommendations and ratings to institutional shareholders and others. Born of the last round of corporate scandals such as Enron, proxy service firms are now under fire in a new...
- Blog posts 2008-09-16
- Washington Post, Bloomberg Team Up For New Syndication Service:
- The Washington Post (NYSE: WPO) and Bloomberg News are launching a new syndication service Jan. 1, 2010—the Washington Post News Service with Bloomberg News, which will provide daily content from the paper and the financial newswire to newspapers, website and other subs. The move follows by a day the...
- External links 2009-10-01
- Lufthansa to re-launch onboard Internet service on Panasonic platform
- Lufthansa announced yesterday that it will re-launch onboard Internet service next year in conjunction with Panasonic Avionics following a nearly four-year hiatus sparked by Connexion by Boeing's 2006 failure. Hinted at last week (ATWOnline, Oct. 8), LH and Panasonic yesterday introduced an inflight product that will include allowing passengers to...
- News items 2009-10-12
- Salesforce.com rolls out 'Service Cloud,' eyes social networking connections
- Salesforce.com has unveiled its Service Cloud, a customer service application that's designed for cloud computing and plugged into conversations that occur on Google, Facebook and Amazon. The effort (statement, Techmeme) is built on the Force.com platform. In a statement, Salesforce.com said that "two-thirds of all service conversations will take place...
- News items 2009-08-07
- T-Mobile service outage affects 1.7M customers
- T-Mobile USA said it is researching the cause of "service disruptions" last night that rendered inoperable voice and data services for roughly 1.7 million of the carrier's customers in locations across the country. In a series of posts to its support website throughout the evening, T-Mobile detailed...
- News items 2009-11-04
- The Insider's Guide to Customer Service on the Web: Ten Secrets for Successful E-Service
- The Web is a great place for customer service. It's where people go to find answers fast. It provides a way for customers to navigate their way through lots of content to find the particular piece of information they need. Web-based customer service (also known as "e-service") is one of...
- White papers 2002-10-30
- Service Co-Production, Customer Efficiency And Market Competition
- Customers' participation in service co-production processes has been increasing with the rapid development of self-service technologies and business models that rely on self-service as the main service delivery channel. However, little is known about how the level of participation of customers in service delivery processes influences the competition among service...
- White papers 2003-03-01
- Service Co-Production, Customer Efficiency And Market Competition
- Customers' participation in service co-production processes has been increasing with the rapid development of self-service technologies and business models that rely on self-service as the main service delivery channel. However, little is known about how the level of participation of customers in service delivery processes influences the competition among service...
- White papers 2003-02-03
- Sanyo melds logistics, service units. (Sanyo Fisher Co. merged its Sanyo Logistics Corp. and Sanyo Fisher Service Corp.)(Brief Article)
- Sanyo Fisher Co. has merged its Sanyo Logistics Corp. SLC and Sanyo Fisher Service Corp. The new service organization has been renamed Sanyo Fisher Service Co. and will handle technical service and support as a division of SLC. Both organizations areSanyo Fisher Co. has merged its Sanyo...
- Research articles 1997-04-14
- Excelcomindo launched multimedia message service.(Corporate Highlights)(P.T. Excelcomindo launches service in cooperation with Ericsson and Jatis Solution)(Brief Article)
- Excelcomindo launched multimedia message service. PT Excelcomindo Pratama has launched multimedia message service that all GSM operators in the country have provided the service popularly called MMS multi media messaging. MMS service is provided in Excelcomindo launched multimedia message service. PT Excelcomindo Pratama has launched...
- Research articles 2003-09-01
- US POSTAL SERVICE: U.S. Postal Service expands reach of of Priority Mail Global Guaranteed service.
- M2 PRESSWIRE-19 October 1999-US POSTAL SERVICE: U.S. Postal Service expands reach of Priority Mail Global Guaranteed service C1994-99 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD RDATE:151099 WASHINGTON, DC -- The U.S. Postal Service next month will expand its international expedited services by more than doubling...
- Research articles 1999-10-19
- Best Buy Twitters an Extension of Service Strategy
- When Best Buy realigned its work force several weeks ago, even demoting some employees from supervisory to customer service roles with commensurate pay cuts, observers couldn’t help but wonder if the company could continue to rely on their enthusiasm in the aftermath. Apparently, the company still is...
- Blog posts 2009-07-19
