"O state regulation foreign trade activities" dated 10/13/1995 N 157-FZ:

service for taxation purposes, an activity is recognized, the results of which do not have a material expression, are realized and consumed in the process of carrying out this activity.

The service is characterized by intangibility, perishability, variability of quality and inseparability from the source. The service can be seen as:
Service- actions aimed directly at the consumer.
Service- an action or activity performed by one person (natural or legal) in the interests of another person.
Service- benefits provided in the form of activity.
Service(in economic theory) - a type of product that can be produced, transferred and consumed at the same time.
Service- short-term use of material wealth without the right to untimely possession of it (rent).
Service- changing the properties of objects without changing their belonging to a person, carried out by the supplier to the consumer.

Service- an activity carried out by someone instead of the consumer.
Service- activity for the production of a product (tangible or intangible), carried out
at the request of the client (consumer),
together with the client and
for the client
with the transfer of the product to the client
for the purpose of exchange.

The service includes joint with the client:

• designing the product and the process of its creation (order approval),
• creation (production) of a product (order fulfillment) and
• evaluation (acceptance) of the product.

Services

The provision (rendering) of a service may include, for example, the following:

• activities carried out on consumer-supplied tangible products (for example, repairing a faulty car);
• activities carried out on consumer-supplied intangible products (for example, filing an income statement necessary to determine the amount of tax);
• provision of intangible products (for example, information in the sense of knowledge transfer);
• creation favorable conditions for consumers (for example, in hotels and restaurants).

Services provided to the population are divided into material and socio-cultural services according to their purpose:

• material service- a service to meet the material and domestic needs of the consumer of services. It ensures the restoration (change, preservation) of the consumer properties of products or the manufacture of new products on the orders of citizens, as well as the movement of goods and people, the creation of conditions for consumption. In particular, material services may include household services related to the repair and manufacture of products, housing and communal services, public catering services, transport services, etc.
• Socio-cultural service(non-material service) - a service to meet the spiritual, intellectual needs and maintain the normal life of the consumer. Provides maintenance and restoration of health, spiritual and physical development of the individual, improvement of professional skills. Socio-cultural services may include medical services, cultural services, tourism, education, etc.

Services can be: private or commercial, voluntary or forced, paid or free, instant or long, mutual and anonymous, state etc.
The general category, which includes all types of commercial and non-commercial services and is part of the economy, is the service sector.

AT Russian Federation the provision of services is regulated by the Civil Code, federal law “On protection of rights consumers” and others.

Service examples

• Legal services. The services of a lawyer and a lawyer are in many cases vital, therefore, the contractors for their provision should be chosen with particular seriousness and responsibility. The main directions of the services of a lawyer and a lawyer:
  • Comprehensive legal services for organizations of various forms of ownership;
  • Arbitration - representing the interests of organizations in arbitration courts;
  • Representation of interests of companies in courts of various instances;
  • Professional legal support of transactions and contracts of organizations;
  • Services to legal entities related to the bankruptcy of enterprises;
  • Services of professional lawyers for the return and collection of debts;
  • Representing the interests of organizations in the event of tax disputes;
  • Processes related to registration of inheritance;
  • Services of a professional lawyer in case of traffic accidents (Legal assistance in road accidents);
  • Services of a lawyer and a lawyer in the event of housing disputes;
  • Services of a family lawyer;
  • Provision of legal and criminal defense services;
  • Ensuring consumer protection.
• Accounting services necessary for both newly opened firms and existing structures that need to establish an accounting service or control the work of a full-time accountant. Accounting services are also relevant in the case of business expansion, as new employees appear in the company, salaries are revised and associated costs arise. Professional accounting services are the foundation of a successful commercial activity, ensuring the prosperity of the business due to the precise control of all the company's financial assets.
• Rendering Services

Until now, in the economic literature, you can find various definitions of service.

- this is an activity that does not create an independent product, material object or material values.

- intangible assets produced for marketing purposes.

- a series of actions that are tools for the production of value, they can create value, but they are not independent value.

A process involving intangible activities that occur in interactions between customers and service personnel, physical resources, and service providers.

- the result of direct interaction between the contractor and the consumer, as well as the contractor's own activities to meet the needs of the consumer.

In modern literature, the following characteristics of services are distinguished:

1. intangibility - most of services is intangible. They are not material objects. Unlike goods, services cannot be tasted, touched, seen or heard until they are directly consumed. The result of purchasing a service does not imply ownership of it (the concert can be watched only once with one ticket, but you can buy a cassette with a concert - this is a product and it belongs to you);

2. inseparability of production from consumption - most goods can be transported, unlike services; it also implies the inseparability of the buyer from the process of providing the service;

3. Perishability of the service - the main difficulty is associated with the possibility of changing the demand for services - it is necessary to control it or anticipate its change in the future. Services not sold today cannot be sold tomorrow. For example, if the hotel did not sell 30% of the rooms today, then tomorrow it will not be able to sell 130%, because. its capabilities are limited by the number of rooms.

4. variability of quality - most of the services are performed by people and occur through the interaction of the buyer and the service worker; the human factor plays an important role; and there is also a difference in the perception of the service by different buyers, even if the service is provided in exactly the same way. On the other hand, the person providing the service may vary his actions depending on various factors (mood, fatigue, client). Another difficulty is that most of the services cannot be standardized - it is impossible to standardize the final product if each client differs in his desires, both before the provision of the service and during it. The variability in the quality of service outcomes complicates the existence of quality control and assurance.

The service may consist of various operations affecting certain areas:

1. impact directly on the consumer (on the body of the buyer) - these services require the presence of the client throughout the entire service process;

2. tangible actions aimed at the buyer's tangible assets (property) - these services require the presence of a material object, but not necessarily the buyer himself. The process of providing the service does not require the presence of the buyer;

3. intangible actions aimed at the mindset of the buyer. When providing these services, the client must be present mentally, his physical presence is not necessary - the received message is the only contact of the buyer with the service organization. For others, such as concerts, medical consultations, the physical presence of the client is required. In the latter case, the actions of the person providing the service and his behavior determine the client's perception of the service received, in addition to the physical environment, the policy of the organization, etc.;

4. intangible actions aimed at the intangible assets of the buyer (finance, data, information, etc.) in the presence of the involvement of the buyer is not necessary.

The service is the result of direct interaction between the performer and the consumer (customer), as well as the performer's own activities to meet human needs.

Main characteristics of services:

1. intangible nature;
2. inseparability of the process of production and consumption;
3. impossibility of storage;
4. continuity of services from the manufacturer;
5. quality variability.

The most important problem in the field of service activities is the question of structuring and classifying services, since the service sector is quite diverse. It is customary to refer to the service sector: trade (wholesale and retail); food and accommodation services (hotels, restaurants, etc.); transport; communication and information services; services for the supply, procurement and storage of material and technical resources; credit, finance and insurance, real estate transactions and other services to ensure the functioning of the market; education, culture and art; science and scientific service; health care, including physical culture and sports; household services; personal services; public administration services.

There are various classifications of types and types of services, and each of these classifications reflects a specific approach to the analysis of service activities. There is a classification of services according to the following criteria: by the amount of capital costs, by the degree of qualification of performers, by complexity technological processes, according to the social status of the clientele (individuals and legal entities).

Five can be identified common types services:

1) production - engineering, leasing, maintenance and repair of complex household appliances and vehicles, construction services;

2) distribution - trade, transport, communications;

3) socio-professional - banking, insurance, financial, consulting, advertising, audit, real estate;

4) consumer - the so-called mass services related to household and pastime: housing and communal services, household, manufacturing and repair of goods by order of the population, rental of complex household appliances and vehicles;

5) public (social) - television, radio, education, culture, science and scientific services, physical education and sports, medicine, tourism, protection of rights, social assistance, hospitality, security, rituals.

A more systematic classification of services divides them according to the principle of materiality or immateriality for 4 classes.

Tangible actions directed at the human body. Such services are provided by health care, passenger transport, beauty salons and hairdressers, sports facilities, restaurants and cafes.

Tangible actions directed at goods and other physical objects. This is the work of freight transport, repair and maintenance of equipment, security, maintenance of cleanliness and order, veterinary services.

Intangible actions aimed at human consciousness. This includes education, radio and television broadcasting, information services, theaters, and museums.
Intangible actions with intangible assets . It can be banking, legal and consulting services, insurance.

FUNCTIONAL PURPOSE services can be divided into tangible and intangible (socio-cultural).

Material services create a branch of material production - these are services aimed at meeting material needs, continuing the production process in the sphere of circulation, transportation, storage of the product, as well as trade, catering, transport and communications, household and communal services.
Intangible(socio-cultural) services - services that do not receive a subject-tactile form. These are services, the actions of which are directed directly at the person, the conditions surrounding him. The production of such services is inseparable from consumption (services for the sale of tour packages, services for tourists in hotels and catering establishments, the organization of concert performances, as well as education, consulting, and the provision of information).

Services vary according to the degree of their algorithmization. Standard types of services are provided according to strictly established rules. Creative services can be formed and changed according to the individual requirements of the consumer. Yes, in tourism business exotic types of services may arise, for example, a tourist orders a guide dressed and disguised as a historical character.

Services personal and collective directed at different consumers. Some services, such as tutoring and medical activities, are useful only for certain individuals (a surgeon cannot operate on a team). Other services, on the contrary, are always provided to entire groups of people: the services of a lecturer in a student audience, the provision of public order by the state, transportation by public transport, the work of mass media.

Production and non-production services are provided in various areas of society. The production sector includes, for example, the transportation of goods and the maintenance of equipment, while the non-production sector includes health care, culture, tourism, recreation, etc.
Commercial and non-commercial services differ in the end goal. The former are produced for profit and other commercial gain.
The second is not aimed at profitability. These include the services of charitable foundations and organizations, a number of public services (defense of the country, maintenance of public order, care for the education and health of its citizens). As the standard of living of the population rises, the share of commercial services increases. This leads to differentiation of the level of service depending on the effective demand of people.
According to the form of organization of services, they can be divided into state and non-state. The main difference between these types of services is that public services, in principle, cannot be provided by anyone other than the state. These are services for the defense of the country, maintaining public security, keeping records of citizens, registering means of transport, state registration of commercial transactions (for example, real estate transactions). In society, there is a need for state accounting of births, deaths, marriage, property relations, etc.

Services are divided into pure and mixed . The pure service is the sole activity of the producer (specialized production of services). A mixed service accompanies goods and materials, facilitating their circulation and making them more attractive to the consumer. This, for example, pre-sales and after-sales service that accompanies the act of buying and selling goods.
In service science there are concepts ideal and real services.

Ideal A service is an abstract theoretical model of a particular type of service activity. It includes the rules for serving the population, quality standards, technology for providing services.

Real A service is a concrete material action aimed at meeting the needs of the client. Services in their real performance are always different from ideal ones. Real services are individualized by performers, consumers, specific conditions for their provision.

Legitimate and illegitimate services differ in relation to them state and society. Legitimate services are approved by the state and society, illegitimate ones are condemned and usually prosecuted. Services that satisfy needs that are considered reasonable, useful, approved in a given society are recognized as legitimate. Services that satisfy needs condemned by society (narcotic, criminal, immoral) are classified as illegitimate.
Services can be divided into personal and impersonal . Personal services are valued, first of all, for their connection with the distinctive features of a person with exceptional professional qualities. Such are the services of doctors, lawyers, psychoanalysts, outstanding artists and musicians, scientists, managers.
Impersonal services usually include simpler services, the performance of which is little influenced by the personality of the person who provides them (trade, transport, repair and maintenance). One specialist in the field of service can be quite easily replaced by another specialist of approximately the same qualifications.
Services can also be divided into simple and complex (comprehensive service), voluntary and forced etc.

In Russia, there is the "All-Russian classifier of services to the population" (OKUN), which is a structural element of a unified classification and coding system for technical, economic and social information. The classifier includes the following groups of services: 01 - household services; 02 - transport services; 03 - communication services; 04 - housing and communal services; 05 - services of cultural institutions; 06 - tourist services and services of accommodation facilities for temporary residence of tourists; 07 - services of physical culture and sports; 08 - medical services, sanatorium and veterinary services; 09 - services of a legal nature; 10 - banking services; 11 - services in the education system; 12 - trade and public catering services, market services; 80 - other services to the population.

A service is an action aimed at satisfying the desires of the consumer for a certain monetary reward. As a rule, such an action is performed by one physical or legal entity in relation to the other. In other words, a service is an intangible type of product that can also be sold. Allocate different kinds services that differ in the end result. A more detailed classification of such activities will be presented below.

Kinds

All services that are offered to the population are divided into material and socio-cultural. The first type of activity is based on the satisfaction of material goods. These include such types of services as repair of household appliances and cars, construction, apartment cleaning, dry cleaning, cargo transportation, etc. Socio-cultural services are aimed at satisfying spiritual as well as intellectual needs. For example, services such as training foreign language, haircut, massage, belong specifically to the socio-cultural.

The activity can be private or commercial. In the first case, the types of basic services are provided by a specific person who has all necessary equipment and a certificate. If the activity is carried out by a specific organization, the services are considered commercial. In addition, activities can be carried out both on a paid basis and on a free basis. Mutual services deserve special attention, when two people satisfy each other's requirements (one make-up artist does make-up to another, and vice versa).

Below are the most common examples of services.

Legal services

You have to deal with legal acts and laws at almost every step. However, a person without special education will not know all the nuances. But ignorance of the law is no excuse. What to do? To study law? Completely optional. A qualified lawyer will come to the rescue, who will be able to provide services for a small financial reward.

There are various types of services that are based on jurisprudence. The most demanded are notaries and lawyers. These specialists will always be able to help re-register documents for an apartment or resolve a controversial issue. Activities are carried out by both public and private lawyers. To whom to contact, everyone decides for himself. Frequent specialists perform the work more conscientiously, but they also charge an appropriate fee for the services.

Educational services

As long as a person lives, he must learn something new. It is no coincidence that the types of services provided related to training and education remain in demand. Every day there are more and more private kindergartens, schools and universities. educational institutions. Universities manage to obtain an international diploma. And children who study in a private preschool educational institution, even before the first grade, know how to write and read in syllables.

Various advanced training courses are also popular. Girls are trained in make-up, nail, hair and eyelash extensions, guys are trained in extreme driving and repair. All these are types of social services that are aimed at spiritual development. A person develops, learns new information.

Cleaning service

Many today live in a frantic rhythm. Much attention is paid to work. But look at own house succeeds not always. Cleaning services are considered in demand today. For a financial reward, a cleaning specialist will clean an apartment or office space to a shine. In this case, the most modern cleaning products that do not cause an allergic reaction will be used.

When discussing the types of services associated with cleaning, one cannot but mention dry cleaning. It is not always possible to remove stains from juice, berries, fat or blood at home. But special firms have all the necessary means to put things in order. In addition, in dry cleaning you can put in order a down jacket, a natural sheepskin coat or a fur coat. These types of services are chargeable. Depending on the pollution, you will have to pay from 100 to 5000 rubles for dry cleaning. The most expensive is the removal of stains on delicate fabrics.

Transport services

Has anyone ever had to send or receive a package at least once in their life? As a rule, this type of activity is carried out by mail. Goods transportation services became even more in demand when online stores appeared. Now, to purchase a particular product, it is not necessary to go to shopping center. The choice can be made sitting at your home computer. The purchase will be delivered to your home as soon as possible.

Types of public transportation services are less expensive. Along with this, the product or securities delivered over a long period of time. If you trust one of the private transport companies, you will have to pay a little more. But the goods will be delivered to the end point in just a few days.

Transportation services also include transportation of goods when moving. If you do not have your own car with a trailer, you can use the help of a special company. For a small fee, they will not only deliver a bulky load to its destination, but also help to bring it to the floor.

Medical services

For almost everyone, health comes first. The medical sphere in Russia, unfortunately, is underdeveloped. People have to stand in long lines to get to the right specialist. All this was the impetus for the development of private medicine. Everyone is willing to pay a certain amount to get quality service.

There are different types of service delivery in the medical field. These are diagnostics, various types of examinations, outpatient treatment. In order to get into a private clinic, you just need to have a certain amount of finance and strive for recovery. Private medical services are provided to absolutely everyone, regardless of citizenship.

Banking services

In the material world, banking services remain the most in demand. People draw up invoices for transfer wages, put money on deposit, take loans. There are different types of services in the financial sector. According to statistics, lending is the most popular. In order to get what they want here and now, many agree to borrow money. A small overpayment is a reward for this kind of service.

A financial institution can also become a reliable tool for saving your savings. Deposits and bank accounts are types of social services that are absolutely free for the consumer. At the same time, the financial institution can dispose of the money at its own discretion until the termination of the contract.

Services of a hairdresser and makeup artist

Activities of this kind are aimed at satisfying both the material needs of a person and the socio-cultural ones. The consumer derives joy from improving his appearance. This also includes the services of a cosmetologist who solves skin problems, treats acne and redness.

The services of a hairdresser and makeup artist are relatively inexpensive and can be provided both in the salon and at home. The quality of performance depends on the qualifications of the master. More experienced specialists take from five hundred rubles. Almost all types of services require appropriate financial costs.

Tourist services

Traveling to foreign cities and countries always causes a lot of positive emotions. But it is dangerous to go anywhere without knowledge of the language and accompaniment. It is always possible to use the help of a tour operator. Specialists will not only recommend a good hotel, but also help you get a visa, take care of insurance. The characteristics of the types of services in the tourism sector are based on the countries with which the tour operator works. If vouchers are provided only in the territory of the homeland, the activity of the agent is reduced to providing a hotel. Working with other countries requires more attention. In this case, travel services may include insurance, visas, search for a Russian-speaking hotel, etc.

Tourist services remain in demand today. Hitchhiking is, of course, much cheaper. But it’s better to overpay a little so that the vacation is not only rich, but also safe. Prices for the services of individual tour operators practically do not differ.

Advertising services

AT modern world trade is one of the first places. Some people know what types of goods and services to offer to the consumer, but they do not understand how to interest him. pledge successful sales is the correct advertisement. If information about the product is provided in the maximum volume, there will be much more people who want to buy it.

Popular today is advertising on the Internet. People who know how to draw a banner correctly can make good money. Quality advertising services are quite expensive. But those who want to earn really a lot should not spare money at the initial stage.

Summing up

There are a huge number of services that differ in the way they are provided and the end result. Anyone who knows how to perform their duties well will be able to earn good money. You can build a business on services minimum investment. The main thing is focus on results and respect for the consumer.

Definition of the term "service"

The concept of service and classification of services

Services as an economic activity have existed for a long time. However, defining a service proved to be a difficult task. Until now, various definitions of service can be found in the economic literature; Below are some of the more typical ones.

Services are sometimes called activities that do not create an independent product, material object or material values. It is quite common to see the definition of a service as useful action, deeds, deeds or actions in general.

R. Maleri's definition is interesting: "Services are intangible assets produced for marketing purposes." By definition, intangible assets (or intangible values) are values ​​that are not physical, material objects, but have a cost, monetary value. A service is a process, a series of actions. These activities can be a tool for producing value, they can create value, but they are not value in themselves. If some actions are useful only for those who perform them, then they can hardly be considered a service.

According to K. Grenroos, a service is a process that includes a series of actions that, of necessity, occur in the interaction between buyers and service personnel, physical resources, systems of an enterprise - a service provider. This process is aimed at solving the problems of the buyer of the service. Some researchers (for example, K. Grenroos and J. Bateson) believe that describing the properties of a service is more productive than trying to derive a definition.

The purpose of the development of the non-productive sphere is the direct satisfaction of human needs. But material production also has as its goal the satisfaction of human needs. However, such satisfaction is not carried out directly. It has several steps and stages separated in time and space. The non-productive sphere functions in conditions of coincidence of production and consumption. Its peculiarity lies in the fact that it is not just a part of social production, but an element that directly forms socio-economic conditions. It is in the non-productive sphere, its proportionality and level of development that reflects the quality of life of the population, the degree of its well-being and living arrangements.

A significant part of the service industries (primarily manufacturing services) receives effective development in the conditions of the market mechanism based on the implementation of paid services. The market for paid services is considered in conjunction with the commodity market and is subject to the laws inherent in market relations. But there is no complete identity between the market for paid services and the commodity market. Their differences are due to the specifics of services as a special kind of product, as well as the specifics of economic relations that are developing in the paid services market. The economic relations operating in the service market are distinguished, firstly, by a stronger motivation in the economic behavior of market entities.

More often than others, among the specific properties of services, they name that they represent an action or process, they are intangible, they cannot be stored, their quality is more variable compared to a tangible product, and also that the production and consumption of services are simultaneous. The following are the properties of the service:

services are a combination of the process of providing a service and consuming the result of the service;

services, depending on the object and result, are divided into tangible and intangible;

In many cases, the subject (performer) of the service is individual entrepreneur or small business;

In many cases, the consumer is the object of the service and is directly involved in the process of its provision;

provision and consumption of services can be simultaneous;

As a rule, the service has an individual nature of provision and consumption;

In the service sector, there is a high proportion of manual labor, the quality of which depends on the skill of the staff;

The provider of the service, as a rule, is not the owner of the result of the service;

services are local, non-transportable, may have regional character;

Services may not be persistent.

The reason for the difficulty of finding a definition of "service" is that it is a flexible object, the boundaries of which change depending on the desires of the provider or consumer of the service. The presence of an unambiguous exhaustive definition is required to create a theoretical structure that describes the process of interaction between a producer and a buyer in the service market. Based on the definitions and classifications already given, the following definition can be given: a service is an economic benefit in the form of activity; this is an action (or sequence of actions), the purpose of which is to increase the consumer utility of the object to which this action is directed, and the task is to influence this object.

The most common foreign and domestic classifications of services:

1. Classification of the World Trade Association

2. International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC)

3. Classification of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

4. All-Russian classifier of services

The All-Russian classifier of services to the population contains 13 higher classification groups of services, only one of them - "household services" - includes about 800 items. These services are very diverse. In total, the classifier contains about 1,500 items, and it should be borne in mind that it does not include a number of new services to the population, such as audit, trust and others.

Below is a table of classification of services and their definitions. The theory and practice of the economy of the service sector today exist separately from each other. First of all, this will be noticed by those who try to highlight the common features in those types of activities that, in accordance with various classifications, are classified as services. The most common service classifications are listed below (Table 1).

Table 1 "The most common foreign and domestic classifications of services"

The main conclusions that can be drawn from this table are that the range of services is numerous and varied.

The activities that today, according to statistics, belong to the class of services are quite diverse. They are aimed at different objects, have different target audiences, sensitivity to promotion, price elasticity of demand, differ in the degree of tangibility, the possibility of transportation and storage. The performance of some services depends to a greater extent on the use of technological developments and inventions, others on the talent and skill of the one who provides the service, etc. Existing classifications capture services as they appear, but do not offer the possibility of separating them by type. For example, one of such criteria could be the presence of elements of the production process in the performance of services. Such typology would be important when developing a marketing strategy.

The presence of various types of services in the sphere of production and circulation allows us to classify them into five groups:

1. Production services - engineering, leasing, customer service for the repair of equipment and various machinery.

2. Distribution services - in trade (for the purchase and sale of steam), transport services and communications;

3. Consumer services (the most massive) - for tourism, utilities, related to the household;

4. Public services - television, radio broadcasting, education, health and culture;

5. Professional services - banking, insurance, financial, consulting, advertising, etc.

The listed classifications of services are successfully developing both in Russia and abroad. If we turn to foreign experience, it can be noted that various types of services are developing at a faster pace than the manufacturing sector. Thus, 73% of the population is employed in the non-manufacturing sector in the United States, and 66% in Western Europe.

Also, services are classified in the field of tangible and intangible production.

Material production services are associated with a change in the state of materials, industrial products, which are sold at the request of consumers. They are most often found in the field of circulation. This is the provision of various services to consumers for cutting metal, cutting roll paper, bottling liquid chemicals and edible oils, etc.

Intangible services differ from production services in the following ways: intangibility, inseparability of production of services from consumption, heterogeneity or change in quality, and inability of services to be stored.

So, we can draw some conclusions. Today, there is no unity in the definitions of a service and its properties, and there are several reasons for this. One of the main reasons is that the activities that can be called services are many and varied, as are the objects to which these activities are directed. Often the purchase of goods is accompanied by related services, and almost every purchase of services is accompanied by related products.