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Every customer has an ideal expectation of the service they want to receive when they go to a restaurant or store. Service quality measures how well a service is delivered, compared to customer expectations. Businesses that meet or exceed expectations are considered to have high service quality. Let's say you go to a fast food restaurant for dinner, where you can reasonably expect to receive your food within five minutes of ordering. After you get your drink and find a table, your order is called, minutes earlier than you had expected! You would probably consider this to be high service quality. There are five dimensions that customers consider when assessing service quality. Let's discuss these dimensions in a little more detail.
One dimension of service quality has to do with the tangibles of the service. Tangibles are the physical features of the service being provided, such as the appearance of the building, cleanliness of the facilities, and the appearance of the personnel. Going to a restaurant and finding that your table and silverware are dirty would negatively impact your assessment of the service quality. On the other hand, walking into a beautifully decorated, clean restaurant with impeccably dressed wait staff would positively affect your opinion of the service.
Another dimension of service quality is the reliability of the service. Reliability refers to the ability to provide the service as it was promised on a regular basis. It is very important that businesses are able to fulfill the service that they advertise. For example, if you own a pizza restaurant and promise to deliver a pizza within 30 minutes, you must consistently provide that service in order to meet your customers' expectations and be considered a reliable business.
Responsiveness, or responding to customers in a timely manner, is another dimension that affects service quality. It is very important that businesses are prepared to respond to customers quickly. For example, if a customer calls a store with a complaint about a product they purchased, they shouldn't be left on hold for an hour before being connected to a manager. The call should be taken promptly and with a sense of urgency.
Another dimension that plays role in service quality is assurance. Customers have to be able to trust that service providers are knowledgeable about the service they are providing. Let's say you go to a wine bar to try some different wines, but when you ask your server some questions about the wines being served, they don't know any of the answers. It's reasonable to expect that the staff would have some knowledge about wines, so if they didn't, this would definitely have an impact on your view of the service quality.
Customers will also rate the service quality of a business based on empathy. Empathy is the ability to understand and relate to the customer's feelings. Customers want to receive service from businesses that understand what they are feeling and that take the time to relate to their situation. If a customer is upset because their order was incorrect, the service staff should listen to their concerns, give a sincere apology, and immediately try to resolve the situation. This would positively impact the customer's view of service quality.
Service quality measures how well service meets customer expectations. Every customer will have different expectations, which makes service quality an important challenge to any business owner. Customers will take several dimensions into account when determining the service quality of a business, including tangibles, the physical features of a service; reliability, following through with promises; responsiveness, answering customers in a timely manner; assurance, trust that service providers understand their own service; and empathy, the ability to relate to customers. Business owners must always consider all of the dimensions in order to provide the highest quality service possible.
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Suppose you have a bank account at Big Bank. You see there are 3 tellers working and you think that depositing your check should not take long. However, the tellers are having a private conversation and finish the conversation after several minutes with one of them finally waiting on you. How would you feel during this event? What would you think about the service quality of the bank? Would you say something to the management of the bank? What would you tell your friends about the bank?
Cutthroat Cleaners is an agency that cleans houses for people. A person hires Cutthroat to clean just the bathrooms in the house. How should service quality be measured? Specifically, what tasks should be inspected to make sure a good job was done? Should the employee who did the cleaning do the inspection?
Ask at least 10 people the following questions:
1. What is the best service you have ever received? Why?
2. How did you feel after this great service?
3. Did you tell anyone of this great service before now? If so, what did you say?
4. What is the worst service you have ever received? Why?
5. How did you feel after this bad service?
6. Did you tell anyone about? the bad service before now? If so, what did you say?
Take the answers and find the common themes. Write a report about what you found.
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AMA PCM Exam Study Guide - Professional Certified Marketer20 chapters | 119 lessons | 16 flashcard sets
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