2. Service Quality
Agenda:
1. A definition of TQM
2. The different roles of our people
3. Service Quality
a. Service
b. Service packages
c. Service quality
d. Measuring service quality
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3. Service Quality
TQM can be explained as follows:
If quality is to satisfy customer‟s requirements
continually…then
Total Quality is to achieve quality at low cost…then
Total Quality Management is to obtain total quality by
involving everyone‟s daily commitment
Kanji
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4. Service Quality
Different Roles of our People
Not directly involved with the
Involved with the marketing mix
marketing mix
Frequent Contactors: Sales and Marketing, Modifiers: Switchboard Operator,
or BSD, PSG, and Customer Service. HD Coordinators, Dept Secretaries.
periodic
Customer Responsible for building relation- No direct contact with customer but
contact ships. Need personality to be still needs to be responsive to
responsive to customers. customer.
Influencers: Product Groups, Isoteds: Finance, HR, IT, Quality.
Infrequent
Development Groups.
or no
No direct contact with customers,
Customer
No direct contact with customers but but as support providers their
contact
are often involved with traditional contribution is crucial to the
elements of marketing mix. organization.
Employee Influence on Customers:
which should influence the appropriate Employee selection, rewards,
performance, and training requirements.
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5. Service Quality
Agenda:
1. What is meant by a „Service‟
2. What is meant by a „Service Package‟
3. What is „Service Quality‟
4. How can we measure „Service Quality‟
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6. Service Quality
So, what is a Service?
A service can be defined as an essentially
intangible set of benefits provided by one party to
another.
Examples of a service:
Having a haircut
Receiving waiter service at a café
Getting support from a call centre etc.
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7. Service Quality
Nature of Service Offering
Standard Complex Simple Complex
Service Service Diagnosis Diagnosis
“Take it or leave it” “Menu” “How can we help you”
Series Cafeteria
Service System Structure
Fast
Parallel Food
Outlet
Bank
Specialized
Branch
IncMg
Repair
Bottom-Up Services
Not a
meaningful choice
Prof’
IT
Top-Down Services
Services
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8. Service Quality
What is the difference between Service and Product (1)
1. Services are produced and consumed simultaneously.
The use of products can be separated from the
production of products.
2. Product delivery results in a transfer of ownership,
Service delivery does not.
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9. Service Quality
What is the difference between Service and Product (2)
3. Services are transitory by nature,
Products are not.
(Hence services can not be easily held in stock)
4. Services are largely intangible,
Products are largely tangible.
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10. Service Quality
Service Packages?
However, services can be made more tangible by
„productizing‟ them.
Examples of productized services include:
Support services graded as Platinum, Gold, Silver and
Bronze.
Airline passenger services graded a First class,
Business class, word class traveller plus, world class
traveller.
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11. Service Quality
Service Delivery Levels
First Class
Business Class
Economy basic
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12. Service Quality
Service Delivery Levels
First Class
Business Class
Economy expected
not expected
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13. Service Quality
Service Delivery Levels
First Class
Business Class
Economy expected
not expected
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14. Service Quality
Service Delivery Levels
First Class
Business Class
Economy + expected
not expected
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15. Service Quality
Service Delivery Levels
First Class
Business Class
Economy + expected
Economy not expected
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16. Service Quality
Service Delivery Levels
First Class
Business Class expected
Economy + not expected
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17. Service Quality
Service Delivery Levels are on
an escalator of change
First Class
Business Class expected
Economy + not expected
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18. Service Quality
But perhaps more simply…..
Quality is the word used to describe how well a
product or service satisfies a Customer‟s
requirements.
Where requirements are classified as:
•Expected
•Wanted
•Excitement
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19. Service Quality
Hotel scenario
Expected Those taken for granted: Bed, light, clean, space for clothes
Wanted Those asked for: Non-smoking room, room service, a view
Excitement Those unlikely to be asked for but delighted to find: Free
flowers, chocolates
Business scenario
Expected Those taken for granted: Business knowledge, tech
specification, regulatory or statutory regulations
Wanted Those asked for: To be identified through consultation with
the customer, may allow for some element of negotiation
Excitement Those unlikely to be asked for but delighted to find:
19 Innovative and imaginative ideas
20. Service Quality
Definition of Service Quality
Service Quality can be defined as the difference
between customer expectations of service and
perceived service.
If expectations are greater than performance,
then perceived quality is less than satisfactory
and hence customer dissatisfaction
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21. Service Quality
So, how do we measure Service Quality?
The most often used approach for determining
or measuring service quality is to compare a
customer‟s expectations before a service
encounter with their perceptions of the actual
service delivered.
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22. Service Quality
Customer Manager’s
Expectation Gap 1 Perception
of
Customer
Communicated Expectation
Service Delivery
Manager’s
Gap 4
Perception
and
Customer
Expectation
Gap 3
Actual Service
Service Quality
Delivered
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Specification
23. Service Quality
The 5 dimensions of Service Quality
1. Tangibles
2. Reliability
3. Responsiveness
4. Assurance
5. Empathy
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24. Service Quality
The 5 dimensions of Service Quality (1)
1. Tangibles: Physical facilities, equipment and
appearance of personnel.
2. Reliability: Ability to perform the promised service
dependably and accurately.
this is the most important dimension
3. Responsiveness: Willingness to help customers
and provide prompt service.
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25. Service Quality
The 5 dimensions of Service Quality (2)
4. Assurance (including competence, courtesy,
credibility and security):
Knowledge and courtesy of employees and their
ability to inspire trust and confidence.
5. Empathy (including access, communication,
understanding the customer):
Caring and individualized attention that the firm
provides to its customers.
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26. Service Quality
The Customer as a Service participant
Engage the customer as a service participant, rather
than customer contact, which emphasizes the
dynamic role customers play in service encounters .
By regarding a customer as being a „partial
employee‟, we can apply organizational socialization
tactics, and leverage this relationship change
consumer behaviour and expectations with the aim
of increasing productivity.
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27. Service Quality
The 5 dimensions of Service Quality
So, Service Quality is not just about customer
expectations and service performance.
It is also about you interacting with the customer,
and his perception of you!!!
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Given that there are more definitions of TQM than there are quality guru’s, there is not much value in offering another definition. However, the following definition, as taken from the University of Winchester Quality and Customer Care course module, is worthy of note.They define TQM as: A management philosophy focusing on customers’ expectations, preventing problems, building commitment to best practice in the entire workforce, and promoting open decision making. A process of individual and organisational development and change, the purpose of which is to increase the level of satisfaction of all those concerned with the organisation. Its primary focus is to gain an understanding of customer needs and to meet or exceed them. It also embraces a philosophy which stresses that quality is “every” employee’s concern.We can regard the strength of this definition is in the emphasis of TQM as being a management philosophy and a process. However, the it could be argued that it lacks of reference to ‘lowest cost’, and for some would raise this as an issue. For this reason, we should compare and discuss the differences between the University of Winchester’s definition with the definition of Professor Kanji, from Sheffield City Polytechnic - now known as Sheffield Hallam University.In general TQM can be defined as follows: Quality is to satisfy customer’s requirements continually Total Quality is to achieve quality at low cost Total Quality management is to obtain total quality by involving everyone’s daily commitment
PeopleWhen viewing people as an element of the marketing mix, it is important to understand how different people relate to the customer, and to what extent they have an impact on the marketing mix. In applying the tool shown above, we are able to segment our people and focus on service provision and training to ensure service quality. By classifying the employee frequency of contact with the Customer as being; Contactors, Modifiers, InfluencersIsoteds, the appropriate selection, rewards, performance, and training requirements can be identified. The slide is an application of Judd ‘s classification of people.Did you know?In reviewing the causes of customer migration, Tom Peters argues that 75% of customers migrate because of the human side of doing business with their prior provider of the product or service.
A hair cut is a service, the benefits are hard to describe, they are a bit vague, the benefits I receive from a haircut may not be the benefits you receive.
Services can be structured in different ways depending on the complexity of the service.From this slide we can see some services are simply ‘take it or leave it’, if is not on the menu you can not have it.However, other services are more complicated, where a how can we help you’ service offering is provided.Some services can be categorized as ‘repair service’ where symptoms are diagnosed before the problem can be fixed.Others services can be categorized as ‘professional services’, this is normally where we sit with the customer and understand their needs and deliver the required service.(Buzacott, as cited by Johansson et al, no date)
We can all recognize the difference between first class, business class and economy class on a aircraft. These can be regarded as different service packages, where services have been productized into 3 different classes.Ultimately we are all receiving one basic service, we are being flown from one place to another, so we can say this is taken for granted, it is expected, and we also expect in-flight service (food, entertainment) to be available.However, we may want more, and if we do then we have to pay extra for it.The first class passenger requires access to the best lounge, a very personal almost one-on-one service, a comfortable seat, a choice of menus, a choice of films etc. The business class passenger also requires access to a lounge and more choices than he would get if flying economy. In all these cases we can recognize that when we discuss levels of service package (class), we are of course implying expense. The customer who pays more for the first class seat, will have a different set of expected and wanted requirements than business class, like wise the business class will have a different set of expected and wanted requirements than economy class.
In delivering these services, we can say the customer should expect the services he has purchased, as per his contract.In this case, we should not say that the service quality provided to a bronze customer is poor, it is what he has asked for (his wanted requirement).If we are able to provide a reliable service( at the class / grade as purchased by the customer) we can say we provide service quality.
However, there may be a good reason to over deliver.For example, one airline introduced back of seat monitors with active selections in economy class.
And customers were (initially) be delighted and it gave the airline a competitive edge.
However what delights the customer today will become an expectation tomorrow– what airline does not have back of seat monitors with active selection in economy?
However, let us be aware of another dimension. Given that our competitors are there, and that our customers expectations will change, we are actually on an escalator of change of expectations, with the customer expecting more and more for his $. To give an example of this is, let’s go back to the airline scenario.Some airlines give no choice of film selections to economy class, others give access to films that can start before take off. So now, this service improvement (this competition) has changed my expectation and may influence my choice of service provider.
However, let us be aware of another dimension. Given that our competitors are there, and that our customers expectations will change, we are actually on an escalator of change of expectations, with the customer expecting more and more for his $. To give an example of this is, let’s go back to the airline scenario.Some airlines give no choice of film selections to economy class, others give access to films that can start before take off. So now, this service improvement (this competition) has changed my expectation and may influence my choice of service provider.
Requirements can be classified at different levels as described on the next page .
So:Where does a customer state his wanted requirements? Answer: In the request for proposal, in the business requirements specification, in change orders etc. Does a request for proposal give the expected requirements?Answer: Not usually, it is normal for the customer to write his RFP with the expected requirements being assumed as required. If I ask for a bundle of software with a PC (my wanted/stated requirement), I would expect it all to be installed!How can we identify the expected requirements? Answer: By asking questions to understand where the customer is coming from and to confirm our assumptions
Perhaps we should ask why should service quality be measured? Measurement allows for comparison before and after changes, for the location of quality related problems, and for the establishment of clear standards for service delivery. Some argue that analysis and measurement is the starting point in developing quality in services.
Luk et al (2002) cites the work of PZB in identifying the following 5 service gaps that need to be controlled and closed, and in doing so Luk et al offers two ‘qualification’ gaps to Gap 1 which are shown as gaps 1a and 1b,: Gap 1 is the difference between customer expectations and the management perceptions of customer expectations Gap 1a is the significant differences between customer expectations on service delivery and management’s perceptions of those expectations Gap 1b is the significant differences between customer expectations on service delivery and front line service providers understanding of such expectationsGap 2 is difference between management perceptions and the customer expectations and service quality specifications Gap 3 is difference between service quality specifications and the actual service delivered.Gap 4 is difference between service delivery and what is communicated about the service to the customer.Gap 5 is discrepancy between customer expectations on the service and their perception of the service performance. As such, this gap is a function of the other 4 gaps. Shahin (2004) cites Luk et al in explaining that gaps 1, 1b and 5 are most important as they have a direct relationship with the customer.
In the service industry, SERVQUAL has been the predominant method used to measure consumers’ perceptions of service quality. It has five generic dimensions or factors.
A customer satisfaction perspective:In reviewing the causes of customer migration, Tom Peters is recorded as saying 75% of customers migrate because of the human side of doing business with their prior provider of the product or service. Customer satisfaction may be influenced by many factors including the company’s relationship with the customers that helps build trust, confidence, and loyalty.
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