Page 204 - DMGT522_SERVICES MANAGEMENT

Unit 9: The Service Encounter

things go wrong in a service encounter, employees frequently attempt to sooth disgruntled Notes
customers by apologizing, offering to compensate, and explaining why the service delivery
failure occurred. Any of these behaviours may influence customer attributions about the firm’s
responsibility for the failure and the likelihood of its occurring again. Similarly, variations in
the firm’s physical facility may suggest different underlying causes when a failure occurs.

9.3.2 Influencing Customer Perceptions

A customer’s purchase decision of a particular service largely depends on his perceptions of the
service. Therefore, it is necessary for service organisations to know the factors that influence
customer perceptions. Based on these factors, service organisations should develop strategies to
influence customer perceptions and achieve higher levels of customer satisfaction. The following
strategies will help service organisations influence customer perceptions.

Enhance Customer Satisfaction through Service Encounters

Service organisations should understand that service encounters play a crucial role in satisfying
or dissatisfying customers. To increase the satisfaction level of customers during service
encounters, service organisations should innovate ways of delivering their service. Further,
service organisations should train their employees on ways to recover from a service failure,
give them flexibility in delivering the services, offer tips to be spontaneous, and assist them in
coping with difficult customers.

Reflect Evidence of Service

Before making a purchase decision, customers often try to assess the service evidence with the
help of tangible clues like the service organisation’s personnel, processes, and physical evidence.
They evaluate the behaviour of the service organisation’s personnel in terms of friendliness,
knowledge of procedures, and their willingness to help customers. Customers also assess the
flexibility involved in the processes and the physical evidence in terms of ambience and layout.
Organizations should understand the significance of these clues and make efforts to reflect
evidence of their service in terms of their people, processes, and physical evidence.

Communicate and Create a Realistic Image

A service organisation should not only communicate its promises clearly but should also ensure
that it keeps its promises. This will create a positive image of the company in the eyes of its
customers. Word-of-mouth publicity about a company can create a positive or a negative image
of it in the minds of existing or potential customers. While customers who have had positive
experiences with the company will indulge in good word-of-mouth publicity, those who have
had unpleasant experiences will try to tarnish the image of the company by indulging in bad
publicity. Therefore, it is important for organisations to be realistic in making promises to their
customers. They should desist from making exaggerated claims that could damage their
companies’ image in future, due to their failure to meet promises.

Enhance Customer Perceptions of Quality and Value through Pricing

Often, customers view price as an indicator to assess the value or quality of a service. Customers
are dissatisfied if they feel that the service is not worth the price they are paying for it. The
dissatisfied customers will engage in negative word-of-mouth publicity, which can be dangerous
to the service organisation. Therefore, service organisations should adopt a pricing strategy that
can give a clue about the true value and quality of the service.

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 199