Page 230 - DMGT522_SERVICES MANAGEMENT

Unit 10: Service Quality

15. Loyal customers contribute to positive word-of-mouth publicity. Notes

16. Higher the quality of services provided by the provider, higher will be the attrition rate
with the provider.

10.5 Summary

In manufacturing, quality is defined by the degree of compliance between stated goals
and achieved targets. It is therefore rather easy to measure and conform to a standard.

In service it becomes difficult to comprehend the concept of quality and measure it. This is
due to the mother of all characteristics for services – the intangibility factor – and it makes
measurement and assessment of service quality extremely challenging.

Quality in service has two-window viewpoints: internal and external to the service firm.
Internal quality is all about the entire service delivery process—from concept to encounter/
experience/transaction/consumption and external refers to the customer expectations.
The Gap model can help a firm desirous of improving service quality to focus better on its
strategies and service processes. This model can not only be used to find and identify areas
in service delivery and designs but also measure and monitor quality in service. It consists
of two types of gaps–consumer gaps and provider gaps.

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.

There are four provider gaps and these in sum total are the cause of the Customer Gap.
They are the shortfalls within the service firm.
Gap 1 is the customer expectation and management perception gap, Gap 2 is the management
perception and service quality expectation gap, Gap 3 Service quality specifications and
service delivery gap and Gap 4 is the service delivery and external communications gap.

The Industrial Management Model is an approach to organizing a firm that focuses on
revenues and operating costs and ignores the role personnel play in generating customer
satisfaction and sustainable profits.

The Market-focused Management Model focuses on the components of the firm that
facilitate the firm’s service delivery system. It proposes that the firm should be supportive
of those personnel who serve the customers and interact with them.
SERVQUAL method says that customer expectations can be judged based on following
factor: responsiveness, assurance, tangibility, empathy and reliability.

The importance of quality in services finds its base in lowered costs, higher customer
loyalty, higher market share, loyal internal customers and higher ROI.

10.6 Keywords

Customer Gap: Gap between customer expectations and customer perceptions

External Marketing: Communication between company and customers
Interactive Marketing: Communication between providers and customers
Internal Marketing: Communication between company and providers

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