- Services are intangible, heterogeneous (performance varies), inseparable (production & consumption)
- Meeting expectations rather than conformance becomes important
- Inspection difficult/not possible
- Quality evaluations based on outcome and process of delivery
- Intangibles such as culture can help alleviate problem of non-proprietary nature of service
- Customer satisfaction tends to be the only reliable measure of service quality
3 dimensions of performance
- Levels of material
- Levels of facilities
- Levels of personnel
3 dimensions of quality
- Physical quality
- Corporate quality
- Interactive quality
2 types of service quality
- Technical – what customer is actually receiving
- Functional – manner in which service is delivered
Gap Model of Service Quality
Model assumes customer homogeneity
Ways to close various gaps:
GAP 0/ GAP6 – Swim in the fishbowl
GAP 1/ GAP 2 – Use a robust design; ask more detailed questions
GAP 3 – Training; flagging special causes
GAP 4 – More cross-functional integration
Good service has four benefits:
- Number of repeat customers increases
- Referrals increase
- Positive word of mouth increases
- Negative word of mouth decreases
To justify benefits of increased customer service, helps to know the current % of satisfied customers, % of satisfied customers who repeat, average purchase per customer (one-time vs. repeat) and gross margin.