Page 205 - DMGT522_SERVICES MANAGEMENT

Services Management

Notes

Task Discuss the customer encounter situations in Airline industry.

Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:
11. The model of service .......................... evaluation relies on the definition of the term service
encounter as a period of time during which a consumer directly interacts with a service.
12. Before making a .........................., customers often try to assess the service evidence with
the help of tangible clues like the service organisation’s personnel, processes, and physical
evidence.
13. 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 .......................... publicity,
which can be dangerous to the service organisation.
14. Because services are .......................... and usually cannot be tried prior to purchase, customers
look for tangible evidence of what they are about to experience in a given service encounter.
15. A service organisation should not only .......................... its promises clearly but should also
ensure that it keeps its promises.

Case Study Case: First Serve, then Deserve

he concept of customer service in India is often shrouded in myth and mystery. For
Tthe same reason it does not get the importance it deserves. I would therefore like to
start with debunking a popular myth.

Customer Service is for Correcting Wrongs or Pacifying Customers
Incorrect. Customer service is to make sure that the customer’s expectations are met. It
gives the customer hope, confidence, faith and joy.

These are what the customer takes home with him before, during and after the sale. The
brand experience that follows is what will decide whether she will come back for more.
And that is what successful marketing is all about. Wooing a customer. Winning her over.
Keeping her satisfied. And making her come back for repeats.
Customer satisfaction is one crucial aspect of the entire process. It is present before, during
and after the sale. If you can satisfy the customer, you can be sure that you are well on your
way to carving a niche for your brand in his mind and heart. And that’s what brand
building is all about.
A customer service professional can make or mar a brand depending on the brand
experience he delivers. Even though a brand is good, it may be destroyed in a customer’s
mind due to a bad brand experience. A smile, a nod, eye contact, touch, feel, taste, voice,
speech – all these are parts of the brand experience, as they are the tangible and intangible
elements of the brand.
The equity of a brand is a dynamic concept. It is alive and just like a human being who
breathes. A brand continuously gives its customers a brand experience. The customer
service professional is the custodian of the brand. He either adds or subtracts to its equity
Contd...

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