Chapter 13 Services: The Intangible Product

Which of the following best illustrates a specific service standard that is directly measurable?

Address each shopper by name when delivering the purchased item and receipt.

Match each of the following marketing metric used to measure customer service expectations with its explanation.

Customer complaint behavior -> Analyzes the unfulfilled needs of customers in regards to their perception of the performed service used to modify future performance. Point-of-purchase surveys -> Inexpensively collects customer's service perceptions in the process of exchange. Zone of tolerance -> Creates the area between the desired and minimum standard of acceptable service based on five service dimensions. Voice of customer program -> Systematically collects customer inputs and integrates them into managerial decisions.

A travel agency has made several major mistakes in booking a trip to Greece and wants to make amends and try to retain customer loyalty. Which of the following would not be a good way for the travel agency to address the problem?

Delaying the resolution of the problems until all managers at the agency can meet to agree on an approach

Which of the following is not one of the gaps that might be encountered by a service provider in meeting the customer's needs?

Financial

Susie decided to try a weight loss program by Extreme Fit Foods that promised she could lose 15 pounds for her first week. Susie followed the guidelines exactly and only lost 1 pound the first week. She is planning on canceling her membership and telling her other friends not to try Extreme Fit Foods. What mistake did Extreme Fit Foods make?

It needs to communicate accurate results information to meet customers' expectations.

Joe owns a large retail company and wants to find out more about his customers' service expectations. Which one of the following is the best way for Joe to gain this insight?

Joe needs to engage in structured market research on his industry and brand.

Match each type of service with its definition.

Knowledge gap -> the difference between customer expectations and what the firm perceives the customer to expect Standards gap -> difference between the firm's perceptions of customers wants and the service standards it sets Delivery gap -> difference between the firm's service standards and the actual service it provides to customers Communications gap -> difference between actual service provided to customers and the service that the firm's promotion program promises

Mary went to the local supermarket, where she shopped regularly, to purchase her groceries for the week. Which of the following was a delivery gap that resulted in a service failure by the grocery store?

Mary had to wait a long time in the checkout line because the clerk kept making errors using the cash register.

Match each of the following traits with an example of how that trait affects the delivery of the service in a manicurist's salon.

Perishable -> There is a waiting line on Friday and Saturday afternoon, but those time slots cannot be inventoried for when there is no demand. Intangible -> It is difficult for the salon to convey the benefits of a new hand cleaning technique. Heterogeneous -> On Friday and Saturdays the staff is different and the normal process is shortened from 55 to 45 minutes per customer. Inseparable -> Customers tend to get upset when their favorite manicurist is not working.

Match each of the five dimensions of service quality with its definition.

Reliability -> Ability to perform the service dependably and accurately Responsiveness -> Willingness to help customers and provide prompt service Assurance -> Knowledge and courtesy by employees and their ability to convey trust and confidence Empathy -> Caring, individualized attention provided to customers Tangibles -> Appearance of physical facilities, equipment, personnel, and communication materials

Lily went to Yummy Fork for lunch, and her food arrived in a timely manner and was hot and tasty. However, the server took a long time to bring her check, which caused her to be late to work. She later posted a negative comment about Yummy Fork on a blog. Which one of the five service dimensions was used by Lilly to determine she did not like the service by the Yummy Fork?

Responsiveness

One of the most effective methods to assess how well a firm is delivering adequate service to consumers is to employ the _ Model to evaluate their service provision.

Service Gaps

Marissa works for a local restaurant. Each time a customer reports a compliment to a manger about an employee, the employee receives a star pin to wear. What is the advantage of the "star pin" to the restaurant and Marissa?

The star pin is a reward that reinforces the provision of excellent customer and service and makes the employee feel recognized.

True or false: Delivery gaps always result in a service failure.

True

True or false: To assess service quality, it is necessary to understand both customers' perceptions and their expectations.

True

Customer service is best represented by which of the following statements? Customer service _.

adds to marketing efforts by helping to meet buyers' needs and wants

In addition to empowering and rewarding service providers, as well as offering instrumental support, service managers are advised to _.

be consistent and predictable in their support

A commitment to delivering quality service _.

begins with management

Susan is looking to purchase a cruise to Alaska. In the search process, she discovers that this purchase is different form purchasing an automobile, in that the cruise _.

cannot be easily separated from the service providers such as the stewards and crew

One way for a firm to reduce the _ gap is to ensure that the sales force does not make promises the firm cannot keep.

communication

Ryanair advertised the lowest rates in Europe with fares of $12 between Paris and Munich. However, when Bill arrived at the airport, he had to pay $28 in taxes, $25 for one small carry-on bag, $6 for a non-alcoholic beverage, and $2.50 to use the restroom on the plane. Between Ryanair an the customer there is a _.

communication gap

A hotel advertises package deals that include tickets to a nearby theme park. When the customer asks for this offer, he is informed they are sold out as only a limited number of tickets were available. The customer experiences a _ gap and is very unhappy.

communications

An effective method to assess customer service expectations is to analyze customer _ behavior in which management is told by buyers what dissatisfies them.

complaint

One of the distinct advantages of heterogeneity of services is that it enables the provider to _ the service and not deliver a standardized, cookie-cutter approach uniformly to every buyer.

customize

Replacing people with machines in the delivery of services has _ through the use of in-store kiosks.

decreased the rate of service heterogeneity

An airline employee is able to make a decision at the moment of assigning a passenger at the gate when it is obvious the flier is disabled and will have difficulty getting very far through the plane in a wheel chair. The firm has _ the employee by allowing him to move the passenger to first-class seating.

empowered

When a firm such as Ruth's Chris Steak House tells servers to "use your best judgement" in serving a customer who is not satisfied with his $40 steak, it is allowing the server to make decisions at the point of delivery. This is called _.

empowerment

A continuing dilemma for marketers of services is to understand buyers' _, which means to understand in advance what they think will be delivered based on their previous experiences and knowledge.

expectations

One of the characteristics of services that makes them different from product marketing is the fact there is tremendous _ in delivery based on how the provider is performing the task at different times. The same waiter, for example, might provide excellent service one day, and the next day, when he is not feeling well, his delivered service might be terrible.

heterogeneity

The primary reason there is greater heterogeneity in services than in products is because _.

human inputs generate differences

In addition to providing service employees with emotional and instrumental support, management should offer the staff _ that reward them for providing customers with good service.

incentives

Buying a service such as a haircut, a medical treatment, or a lawyer's advice is perceived as more risky to the consumer, because of the service characteristic of _, since the service cannot really be samples in advance nor experienced without the provider.

inseparability

One difference between products and services is demonstrated by a hair salon, where the stylist delivers the service at the same time the customer receives it. This is called _.

inseparability

When a dentist fills a cavity in a patient's tooth, there is the element of _ that indicates the dentist should try to engage the patient in the process as much as possible since she must be present for the service.

inseparability

Sally is having deciding which college to attend. While there are buildings, classrooms, and libraries to evaluate, the actual learning is much more difficult to evaluate. It is this _ of the purchase that makes marketing the service, a college education, complicated.

intangibility

A brand like Google will invest resources in creating a simple attractive sites that has interesting images and icons, such as the daily updates of the Google logo for holidays and special events, in order to better communicate the _ element of their service and image to users.

intangible

Bill's father is going to have major heart surgery. The uncertainty the family is family is feeling is in part due to health care services being _. In other words, the patient and his family are not able to precisely measure the quality of his care and treatment.

intangible

The most fundamental difference between services and goods is that services are _.

intangible

One of the best ways for managers to reduce the _ gap to conduct ongoing research and regularly talk with customers to determine what they expect to get from the brand and the firm.

knowledge

The marketing manager needs to communicate with customers and employees on an ongoing basis in order to understand buyers' expectations and to reduce the _ gap.

knowledge

A tool that is increasingly used by service providers to minimize the heterogeneity between those who deliver the service is to employ _.

machines, such ATMs and service kiosks

In the delivery of good service, employees usually take their cue from the attitude and actions of _, which sets policy and have the ability to influence the entire corporate posture on quality service performance.

management

The delivery of quality service is the task of everyone in the firm, but the commitment to quality service is established and illustrated best by _, which established policy and sets examples for the entire company.

management

One of the problems in using customer complaint behavior to assess buyers' service expectations is that _.

managers often are more concerned with resolving the complaint than analyzing the essence of the problem

For the marketing manager to be able to deliver consistent quality service, it is imperative to set _.

measurable goals that are based on customer expectations

Firms are able to gain a better understanding of customers' service expectations by engaging in quantitative and qualitative market _, which can be extensive and expensive.

metrics analytics research

An important element of offering emotional support to employees is to _ when they have been empowered to make decision in dealing with the customer.

not punish them should they be "generous" with the buyer

To reduce the uncertainty of the intangible nature of services, a medical provider will often _.

offer cues to customers, such as comfortable waiting rooms and sparkling examination rooms with their diplomas on the wall

The customer who is using the self-checkout:

perceives he is bing processed faster than through the traditional employee-assisted checkout

Joanna learned from customer satisfaction surveys that diners in her restaurant wanted to be able to make substitutions. She has decided to allow substitutions, but has not told all of the servers of this. This is an example of a(n) _ gap.

standards

One of the gaps customers experience is a _ gap, when quality is unreliable because there are no predictable guidelines or benchmarks systematically established by the service providers' management. Consequently, the service employee does not know how to provide the service effectively.

standards

A tire store finds that its business is heavily skewed to the weekend and they have less than 15% of customer on Monday through Wednesday. Since rotating, rebalancing, and replacing tires is a service, one of the dilemmas facing the firm is that they cannot _ the service for the weekend.

stockpile

Service providers, such as seaside hotels and restaurants, have a greater problem matching _ than product manufacturers do.

supply and demand

The market metric used to evaluate if a firm is performing on the five service quality dimensions by finding the minimum level of acceptance service is _.

the Zone of Tolerance

The zone of tolerance refers to _.

the area between customers' desired expectations and the minimum level of acceptable service

One factor that differs between products and services is heterogeneity, which can arise form all of the following sources at a hair salon except _.

the standard price of $25 for men's cuts and $35 for women's cuts

A restaurant delivers particularly bad service at lunch one Tuesday. One of the biggest problems with the marketing of such services is that the restaurant service providers cannot _.

undo "bad" service and often are unaware of the extent of the problem until the buyer complains