Characteristics of Services
inseparability of production and consumption
both the service provider and the customer must work together to provide and receive the service's full potential
customer contact
can minimize customer dissatisfaction by changing high contact service to low contact
inseparability of production and consumption
centralized mass production is difficult
perishability
challenges: balancing supply and demand, and planning for peak and off-peak times
client-based relations
customers= clients= lawyers
customer contact
employee training programs
customer contact
employees of high contact service providers are a crucial ingredient in creating satisfied customers
inseparability of production and consumption
hard to market service because the customer must be involved in production
perishability
services cannot be inventoried and sold at a later date
heterogeneity
standardization and quality are difficult to control
intangibility
suggesting that the customer place some degree of trust in the service provider
intangibility
the characteristics that a service is not physical and cannot be perceived by the senses
heterogeneity
the first message given each day is better than the last
perishability
the inability of unused service capacity to be stored for future use
inseparability of production and consumption
the quality of being produced and consumed at the same time
heterogeneity
usually increases as the degree of labor intensiveness increases
heterogeneity
variation in quality
perishability
wish some of the empty slots from earlier in the week were available on this Saturday afternoon
client-based relations
word of mouth is a key factor
1. intangibility 2. inseparability of production and consumption 3. perishability 4. heterogeneity 5. client-based relations 6. customer contact
What are the characteristics of services?
client-based relations
accountants, beauticians, lawyers, and doctors
customer contact
installing ATMs have increased production capacity and reduced the number of personnel
client-based relations
interactions that result in satisfied customers who use a service repeatedly over time
intangibility
judge overall appearance, cleanliness of the physical organization (clean, sharp looking employees)
heterogeneity
machinery such as ATMs and online customer service can reduce it
customer contact
main principle: satisfied employees= satisfied customers
intangibility
may have a problem evaluating service offerings
customer contact
refers to the level of interaction between the service provider and the customer necessary to deliver the service
