Explain any four features of business services.

Answer: Business services are activities like banking, insurance, transport, warehousing and communication that support business. Their features are:

1. Intangibility: Services cannot be seen, touched or stored; they can only be experienced, e.g. the service of a bank or a doctor.
2. Inseparability: Production and consumption of a service take place at the same time; the service provider cannot be separated from the service.
3. Inconsistency (heterogeneity): Services are not uniform. The quality of service differs from person to person and from time to time according to customer needs.
4. Perishability (no inventory): Services cannot be stored for future use. An unsold seat on a train or an unused hour of a consultant is lost forever.
5. Customer involvement / participation: The customer takes part in the delivery of service, e.g. giving details to a bank or insurance company, and services are often customised.