Customer Satisfaction, Service Quality & Service Standards (Chs. 11,12) Flashcards
The Three-Stage Model for Services
- Pre Purchase - Need recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision
- Service Encounter
- Post Purchase - Post Purchase Behaviour
Indirect measurement of customer satisfaction?
Sales or profit
Number of complaints
Returning customers
Direct measurement of customer satisfaction?
Purely continuous scale:
“on a scale that ranges from 0-100, how satisfied are you with the service that you received today?” Score:____
Likert-type scale:
“How satisfied are you with the service that you received today?”
“How satisfied are you with the service that you receive from club XYZ?”
Combination of the above with open ended-questions:
“What could the firm have done better?“
“What did the firm do particularly well?”
What is Service Quality?
The customers’ judgements of overall excellence of the service provided in relation to the quality that was expected
There are four different perspectives/approaches to “service quality”: What are they?
The transcendent view is synonymous with innate excellence recognised through experience.
The manufacturing-based approach sees quality as conformance to the firm’s developed specifications.
The user-based definition argues that quality lies in the eyes of the beholder.
The value-based approach sees quality as a trade-off between price and value.
Regardless of perspectives/approaches, “service quality” is based on five fundamentals ? They are?
(R-A-T-E-R).
Reliability: accurate service, no mistakes, delivers what is promised, on time.
Assurance: employee behaviour gives customers confidence and makes them feel safe, courteous employees with necessary knowledge to respond to questions.
Tangibles: the appeal of the facility, equipment and materials, the appearance of employees (e.g., uniforms)
Empathy: employees understand customers’ problems, performs in their best interests, individual personal attention.
Responsiveness: willingness to help customers and respond to requests, inform customers when service will be provided, prompt service.
transaction-specific level refers to
the actual point of interaction between customers and service.
How customers perceive service quality comes from three different levels.
transaction-specific level
critical incidents also come together to produce an overall impression
Finally, perceptions of the industry also influence service quality perceptions through expectations (when customers are unfamiliar with the service firm).
The Customer Gap?
Difference between what customers expect to receive and their perception of the service that is actually delivered.
The Provider Gaps
Not knowing what customers expect (knowledge gap).
Not selecting the right service designs and standards (standards gap).
Not delivering to service designs and standards (delivery gap).
Not matching performance to promises (communications gap).
The 5 main types of expectations?
Expectation . - Characteristic-Typical service
Explicit
Clear, conscious picture of what they wish for. Know if they are met or not.
–> Search type
Implicit
Do not actively think of all aspects of the service. Become explicit (revealed) when not met.
–> Credence type
Fuzzy
Expect something without being sure what it is. Unmet expectations dissatisfy but no reason can be identified.
–> Experiential
Unrealistic
Impossibly high level; unlikely to be met. Need to be lowered.
–> Opportunities (entertainment)
Realistic
Likely to be met if standards are appropriate and processes are well executed.
–> Problem solving (medical, law, etc.)
Service Quality ≠ Productivity
Service quality primarily focuses on the benefits offered to customers.
In contrast, productivity addresses financial costs incurred by firm, and does not always result in a better quality experience for customers.
Measuring Service Quality
Soft measures - Not easily observed, must be collected by talking to customers, employees or others.
Hard Measures - Can be counted, timed or measured through audits. Typically operational processes or outcomes. e.g. pizza delivery time
