Service Quality
Dimensions of Service Quality
 Reliability:
Perform promised service dependably and
accurately. Example: receive mail at same time each day.
 Responsiveness:
Willingness to help customers promptly.
Example: avoid keeping customers waiting for no apparent
reason.
Dimensions of Service Quality
 Assurance:
Ability to convey trust and confidence.
Example: being polite and showing respect for customer.
 Empathy:
Ability to be approachable. Example: being a
good listener.
 Tangibles:
Physical facilities and facilitating goods.
Example: cleanliness.
Perceived Service Quality
Word of
mouth
Service Quality
Dimensions
Reliability
Responsiveness
Assurance
Empathy
Tangibles
Personal
needs
Expected
service
Perceived
service
Past
experience
Service Quality Assessment
1. Expectations exceeded
ES<PS (Quality surprise)
2. Expectations met
ES~PS (Satisfactory quality)
3. Expectations not met
ES>PS (Unacceptable quality)
Service Quality Gap Model
Customer
Perceptions
Managing the
Evidence
Customer Satisfaction
GAP 5
Customer
Expectations
Customer /
Marketing Research
GAP 1
Communication
GAP 4
Understanding
the Customer
Management
Perceptions
of Customer
Expectations
Service
Delivery
Conformance
GAP 3
Design GAP 2
Conformance
Service
Standards
Service Design
Quality Service by Design
 Quality
in the Service Package
Budget Hotel example
 Taguchi
Methods (Robustness)
Notifying maids of rooms for cleaning
 Poka-yoke
(fail-safing)
Height bar at amusement park
 Quality
Function Deployment
House of Quality
Classification of Service Failures
with Poka-Yoke Opportunities
Server Errors
Task:
Doing work incorrectly
Treatment:
Failure to listen to customer
Tangible:
Failure to wear clean uniform
Customer Errors
Preparation:
Failure to bring necessary materials
Encounter:
Failure to follow system flow
Resolution:
Failure to signal service failure
House of Quality
Relationships
*
Strong
Medium
O
Reliability
9
8
Responsiveness
7
3
Assurance
6
5
Empathy
4
Tangibles
2
Capacity
Attitude
Training
Customer Expectations
9
9
Equipment
*
*
Servic e Elements
Im
po
rta
nc
e
5
5
3
2
2
1 2 3 4 5
+ o
o
+
+
3
o
o
o
o
_
Improvement difficulty rank
+ Volvo Dealer
7
o
Weighted score
Customer Perc eptions
o Village Volvo
6
+
Comparison with Volvo Dealer
127 82
4
5
Weak
O
Informatiion
Relati ve
O
63 102
1
3
65
2
+
+
o
o
o
Achieving Service Quality
 Cost
of Quality (Juran)
 Service
Process Control
 Statistical
Process Control (Deming)
 Unconditional
Service Guarantee
 Walk-through-Audit
Costs of Service Quality
(Bank Example)
Failure costs
External failure:
Loss of future business
Negative word-of-mouth
Liability insurance
Legal judgments
Interest penalties
Internal failure:
Scrapped forms
Rework
Recovery:
Expedite disruption
Labor and materials
Detection costs
Prevention costs
Process control
Peer review
Supervision
Customer comment card
Inspection
Quality planning
Training program
Quality audits
Data acquisition and analysis
Recruitment and selection
Supplier evaluation
Service Process Control
Customer
input
Service
process
Resources
Take
corrective
action
Identify reason
for
nonconformance
Service
concept
Customer
output
Monitor
conformance to
requirements
Establish
measure of
performance
Percentage of flights on
time
Control Chart of Departure Delays
100
expected
90
Lower Control Limit
80
70
60
1998
p(1  p
UCL  p  3
n
1999
p(1  p
LCL  p  3
n
Unconditional Service Guarantee:
Customer View
 Unconditional
 Easy
(L.L. Bean)
to understand and communicate (Bennigan’s)
 Meaningful
(Domino’s Pizza)
 Easy
to invoke (Cititravel)
 Easy
to collect (Manpower)
Unconditional Service Guarantee:
Management View
 Focuses
 Sets
on customers (British Airways)
clear standards (FedEx)
 Guarantees
feedback (Manpower)
 Promotes
an understanding of the service delivery system
(Bug Killer)
 Builds
customer loyalty by making expectations explicit
Walk-Through-Audit
 Service
delivery system should conform to customer
expectations.
 Customer
impression of service influenced by use of all
senses.
 Service
 Need
managers lose sensitivity due to familiarity.
detailed service audit from a customer’s perspective.
Service Recovery Framework
Approaches to Service Recovery
addresses each customer’s complaint
individually but could lead to perception of unfairness.
 Case-by-case
 Systematic
response uses a protocol to handle complaints
but needs prior identification of critical failure points and
continuous updating.
 Early
intervention attempts to fix problem before the
customer is affected.
 Substitute
service allows rival firm to provide service but
could lead to loss of customer.