Page 216 - DMGT522_SERVICES MANAGEMENT

Unit 10: Service Quality

the expectation of the customer before the receipt of service and measure his perception after the Notes
experience, that is, the service encounter. The gap between the two is a measure of the service
quality. The larger the gap, the worse is the service quality; the narrower the gap, better the
service quality of the firm; i.e., the firm is successful in meeting the customer’s expectations... so
far.

the measurement of the expectation of the customers (in this case, students) before the
service delivery (before admission), and

the measurement of perception of the experience, after the service encounter (after
admission, during the 2-year course and after the convocation);
Thus measuring the gap between the two.

!
Caution Since consumer expectations keep inching upward constantly, so must the quality
of service.

The model professes two types of gaps:
The Customer Gap

Customer Gap is the gap between customer expectations and customer perceptions. This, in
other words, is the service quality shortfall as seen by the customers. Customers develop
expectations from receipt of external stimuli from many sources – ranging from those that are
company-controlled to social influences. These form the bases of his reference-to-come for the
service experience. The customer’s perceptions indicate the service as actually received, for all
practical purposes, since what we perceive is what is real to us. Perceptions are everything.

Company-controlled external stimuli are service product/offer, price, advertising,
promotions, displays, outlets, etc.
Social influences as external stimuli are word of mouth communications and reference
groups.
Other influencers of expectations are personal needs and past experience of the customer.
The customer gap indicates the difference between actual performance and the customer’s
perception of the service. There are a lot of subjective judgments made by customers. Last
experiences may prejudice them and change their estimation of quality.

Example: A customer is satisfied with a certain restaurant; but his last experience there
(it could be because of a new waiter) could leave him embittered, washing away years of happy
experiences at one go.
Lesson: We are only as good as our last ‘Moment of Truth’, and what it signified to the customer.
The quality of a service has two components:

Technical Quality: This is the end result of the service operations process.
Functional Quality: This is about the process, especially concerning the interaction between
the customer and service provider.

These two factors inject a heavy dose of subjectivity into the service process.
Any service organisation would be desirous of closing the gap between what is expected and
what the customer has received. To them, this would be absolutely necessary to build a long-

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