SDSU Mktg 370 Ch. 13 Learnsmart

Communication Gap example

A restaurant advertises they are open for breakfast, but when guests arrive on Sunday morning, there is a sign on the door indicating they only open for brunch at 11am

Service Quality

customers' perceptions of how well a service meets or exceeds their expectations.

Communications Gap

diff between actual service provided to customers and the service that the firm's promotion program promises

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

A continuing dilemma for marketers of services is to understand buyers' _______, which means to understand in advance what they think will be delivered

expectations

Since service delivery is not always uniform, it is important for the provider to be sure to close the ________ gap and not promise more in their messages to buyers than they can deliver on a regular basis.

communications

In a delivery of a service, one of the most significant elements is to be able to predict:

consumer expectations

Zone of Tolerance

creates the area between the desired and minimum standards of acceptable service based on the five service dimensions

Knowledge Gap example

diners at a restaurant think the portions are too small, but the manager is unaware of this complaint

Jane has realized that she does not enjoy taking a taxi to work because there is substantial ______ in the delivery of the service depending on who is driving her cab that day.

heterogeneity

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.

research

Reliability dimension of service quality

ability to perform the service dependably and accurately

The zone of tolerance refers to

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

Knowledge Gap

the diff between customer expectations and what the firm perceives the customer to expect

Perishable

cannot be stored for later

Primary reason there is greater heterogeneity in services than in products is because:

human inputs generate differences

Assurance

knowledge and courtesy by employees and their ability to convey trust and confidence

Inseparable

production and consumption occur simultaneously

The Service-Product Continuum shows:

that most firms combine both goods and services in their offerings

Responsiveness

willingness to help customers and provide prompt service

Use of technology in delivering services is beneficial in these ways:

- greater info imparted to customers - providing a competitive adv over other service providers - lower costs and higher profitability to the firm - more control over the process in the hands of the buyer

Delivery Gap example

A restaurant usually service fresh bread made on the premises, but at the end of the day the ovens are shut down early and only cold loaves are available

The Zone of Tolerance

The marketing metric used to evaluate if a firm is performing on the 5 service quality dimensions by finding the minimum level of acceptable service

True or False: When using zone of tolerance marketing metrics, the five scores assigned to service quality dimensions will always total 100%

True

Voice of Customer Program

a systematic program that collects customer inputs and integrates them into managerial decisions

Empowerment

allowing employees to use "their best judgement"

Customer complaint behavior

analyzes the unfulfilled needs of customers in regards to their perceptions of the performed service used to modify future performance

Tangibles

appearance of physical facilities, equipment, personnel, and communication materials

Intangible

cannot be touched, tasted, or seen

Empathy

caring, individualized attention provided to customers

If the Americana Hotel has successfully closed the standards gap, the knowledge gap, and the deliver gap in providing customers with service, it is still necessary to close the ______ gap

communications

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

customize

Standards Gap

diff between the firm's perceptions of customers wants and the service standards it sets

Delivery Gap

diff between the firm's service standards and the actual service it provides to customers

Variable

due to the human element it tends to deviate from use to use

Methods to reduce delivery gaps

empower employees provide support/incentives use tech to minimize errors NOT: threatening firing employees

In the provision of a service, there are several possibilities to mismatch the service and customer needs resulting in a service _______, in communications, delivery, standards, or knowledge.

gap

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

One of the basic ways in which services differ from products is that production and consumption are _______ from each other. Consequently, service providers often include options for the customer to become more involved in the production of the service, which usually results in greater customer satisfaction.

inseparable

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

intangible

Match service gap with corresponding way of achieving closure

knowledge gap - match customer expectations with actual service provided through research standards gap - set appropriate service levels for performance and measure service perf. Delivery Gap - get employees to meet or exceed service standards Communications Gap - be realistic in telling potential buyers about the services that can be provided and manage those customer expectations effectively

Often an otherwise horrible service delivery failure can be turned around and used to build customer loyalty and commitment. The firm needs to allow the customer to air his grievance and for the firm to _______ him.

listen to

A tool that is increasingly used by service providers to minimize the variance between those who deliver the service is to employ:

machines such as ATMs and service kiosks

Standards Gap example

management believes that customers in a restaurant think the service is very slow, however, mgmt allows servers to stand around and chat

A customer of a restaurant who is dissatisfied with the firm's service delivery and finds it to be quite diff from what was promised in the advertisings is very likely to:

not return to the restaurant, communicate negative word-of-mouth via internet and to his friends/fam

Despite having to deal with difficult guests, the service provider has to respond inoffensively and can be motivated to provide "service with a smile" when the firm:

provides support and incentives to motivate quality service

While no service provider hopes for a situation of poor service delivery, it can be converted into a situation of building positive interaction and buyer loyalty. The key is to deliver sound, swift, service ______ that resolves the problem and shows the buyer that the firm is listening to the complaint and working to find a fair solution.

recovery

Customer Service

refers to human or mechanical activities undertaken by firms to help satisfy their customers' needs and wants

Much more than when marketing products, service providers such as seaside hotels and restaurants have a dilemma of matching

supply and demand

Voice of Customer Program

systematically collects customer inputs and integrates them into managerial decisions

A good way for managers to reduce the knowledge gap

to conduct ongoing research and regularly talk with customers to determine what they expect to get from the brand and the firm

When there is a service failure, customers like an apology but they also want distributive fairness. they want

to receive tangible restitution

Example of way to reduce Variability in service delivery at a restaurant

a manager who designs a specific way for all hostesses to accept reservations over the phone

Empowered employee example

being able to move passenger to first-class seating

Since humans' work output cannot be standardized to the same degree as the output of a machine, one substantial difference between the marketing of services and products is the _____ of service delivery. For example, a restaurant is dependent on different chefs, servers, customers, and conditions within the restaurant that alter the uniformity of the output.

heterogeneity

Point-of-Purchase Surveys

inexpensively collects customer's service perceptions in the process of exchange

Buying a service such as a haircut, a medical treatment, or a lawyer's advice is perceived as more risky to the consumer, to a large extent, because of the service characteristic of _______. the service cannot really be sampled in advance nor can it be returned.

inseparability

One of the best methods to ensure that guests at Hilton Hotels receive quality service is to:

involve employees in goal setting

Commitment to delivering quality service:

is driven primarily from the top down

Ethical guidelines for advertising by service firms (such as law firms) are important because

it is difficult to separate the provider from the service and lawyers have the potential to abuse the buyer

A restaurant is facing a problem in a service delivery on a night when there are twice as many customers dining as usual. An integral part of recovery of the service dilemma is to provide both distributive and procedural _______ in resolving the delays in getting all customers served.

justice

Customer's expectations of the type of service they will receive is primarily based on their ______

knowledge and experiences

One of the problems in using customer complaint behavior to assess buyer's service expectations is that:

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

Distributive Fairness

refers to the manner in which customers want to be compensated for a fair amount to correct a perceived loss that resulted from a service failure

Instrumental support

refers to the systems and equipment used to deliver the service properly

A customer's expectations might vary substantially for the same service provider based on the _____

situation

A customer with a complaint about the way in which a washing machine repair was made will become increasingly more annoyed with the service provider

the longer it takes to get an answer from the firm

Procedural Fairness

the perceived fairness of the process used to solve complaints and the desire for customers to have efficient and equivalent complaint procedures