Service Quality

SERVICE QUALITY

Service quality is the assessment of quality is done during the service delivery processes.

Service Quality:

It is an attitude formed by a long-term overall evaluation of a firm‟s performance.

Quality:

“The quality of service is the degree of conformance of all the relevant features and characteristics of service to all the aspects of customer needs limited by the price and delivery he/she will accept.”

Quality may be judged from the following:

1)                      Design reflected through the relevant feature and characteristics of service.

2)                      Satisfaction of customer needs

3)                      Production and delivery of service

PRINCIPLES OF SERVICE QUALITY:

^v          S.Q is more difficult for the consumer to evaluate than the quality of goods.

^v          It is based on consumer perception.

Service quality perception result from a comparison of what the customer expected prior to the service and the perceived level of service received.

UNDERSTANDING SERVICE AND GOODS QUALITY CHARACTERISTICS:

DIMENSIONS OF SERVICE QUALITY

DIMENSIONS OF SERVICE QUALITY:

1.TANGIBLES: This includes the service provider‟s appearance of employees.

E.g. park Sheraton, interior design, menu card, staff appearance

2.RELIABILITY: It is the ability of the service firm to perform the service promised dependably and accurately.

E.g. catering services

3.ASSURANCE: It refers to the knowledge and courtesy of the employees of companies and their ability to inspire trust and confidence in the customer mind.

E.g. BPO service

4.EMPATHY: It is the caring individualized attention the service firm providers to each customer. E.g. Medical service

5.RESPONSIVENESS: It is the willingness of the firm‟shem prompt service.

E.g. Airline service, Enquiry desk

PERSPECTIVES OF SERVICE QUALITY: 1. Transcendent View –Quality judged E.g. Medical service experience

2.     Product based View –Quality depends on each service E.g. Saloon ingredients

3.     User based View –Quality lies in the eyes of the user E.g. Education

4. Manufacturing View –Quality based productivity E.g. BPO services

5.     Value based View –Service quality is judged in terms of value and prices E.g. Transport services

THE CHAIN OF CONFORMANCE:

SERVQUAL

It means service quality. It is the instrument which is used to measure service quality.

The instrument was based on the promise that service quality is the difference between customer expectations and their evaluation of the service they received.

It is a test instrument which consists of various questions. The first part of the questionnaire asks the customer to indicate the level of service they would expect from a firm in a particular industry.

The second part of the questionnaire asks the customer to evaluate the service performed by a specific service firm. Service quality is equal perceived service score –customer expectation.

This method of determining service quality is called GAP theory.

MEASURING AND IMPROVING SERVICE QUALITY

1.SOFT MEASURE:

They        can‟t   be   easily   observed   and   must   be   coll

SERVQUAL can be used to measure

a.           On going surveys

b.           Employee surveys

c.            Mystery shopping

d.           Focus group discussion

2.HARD MEASURE:

They refer to operational procedures and include data as service response time, failures rates and delivery costs

E.g. how many minutes a customers had to wait in line to get the service?

TOOLS FOR ANALYSING THE SERVICE QUALITY PROBLEM

1.ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS. THE FISH BONE DIAGRAM

Diag1: cause and effect chart for flight departure delays.

1.Late food service, Late fuel –materials 2.Back stage personnel –Late cabin cleaners

3.Information –Poor announcement of departures

4.Procedures –Delayed check in procedures, acceptance of late passengers 5.Front stage personnel –Too few agents, agents arrive late agents under trained. 6.Facilities –Air craft late to gate.

7.Customers –arrive late 8.Others –weather air traffic

2.THE PARETO ANALYSIS: 80% of quality is maintained by monitory 20% of the activities. E.g. Customer enquiry

3.BLUE PRINTING

It enables us to visualize the process of service delivery by depicting the sequence of front stage enter actions that customer‟s experience.

Thus blue printing helps us to understand how failures at one point may have multiple effects in the process of service. An effective tool to design fail points can be done by using POKA –YOKE

4.     RETURN ON QUALITY –RETURN ON INVESTMENT

A) Assess costs and benefits of quality initiatives.

B) Determine the optimum level of reliability

5. CONTROL CHART:

The quality of service is indicated by the performance indicator

6. X chart: Monitor the average level of performance.

7. R chart: Monitor the variability

8. P chart: It is used when the result of service of each customer can be either acceptable or not.

9. C chart: It is where the quality is indicated by no. of defects.

Diagram 1: Control chart for services.

Diag1: Gaps model of service quality

GAP 1: Not knowing what customer expects

2. Not selecting right customer design & standards

3. Not delivering the service standards

4. Not matching performance with promises.

FACTORS LEADING PROVIDER GAP 1:

Co. perception of customer expectation

a) Inadequate Marketing Research Orientation

^Ø           Insufficient marketing research

^Ø           Research not focused service quality

^Ø           Inadequate use of market research

b) Lack of upward communication:

^Ø           Lack of interaction between management and customers

^Ø           Insufficient communication between contact employees and managers

^Ø           Too many layers between contact personnel and top management

c) Insufficient relationship focus:

^Ø           Lack of market segmentation

^Ø           Focuses on transaction rather than relationships

^Ø           Focuses on new customers rather than existing customers

d) Inadequate service recovery:

STRATEGIES TO REDUCE GAP1:

The emphasis on acquiring new customers should be changed in order to retain the old customers.

GAP 2:

Three factors leading to provider gap 2

Customer driven service design and standards.

a) Poor service design:

Unsystematic new service development process

^è          Undefined service design

^è          Failure to connect service design to service positioning

b) Absence of customer defined standards:

^è          Absence of process management to focus on customer requirement

^è          Absence of formal process for getting service quality goals.

c) Inappropriate physical evidence and service scale:

^è          Management perception of customer expectation

HOW TO REDUCE GAP 2:

1. Design clearly without over simplification, incompleteness and subjectivity.

2. Develop effective strategies for new service and use service ability as an implication tool.

3. Develop customer defined service standards

4. Design physical evidence to meet customer expectation.

PROVIDER GAP 3:

This is the discrepancy between development of customer driven standards and actual service performance by company employees.

REASONS LEADING TO PROVIDER GAP 3:

a) Deficiency in HR policies:

^«          Ambiguity and role conflicts

^«          Inappropriate evaluation and compensation system

^«          Lack of empowerment perceived control and team work

b) Failure to match supply and demand:

^«          Inappropriate customer mix

^«          Over lies on price

^«          Failures to smooth peaks and barriers

c) Customers are not fulfilling:

Customer‟s   ignorance   of   responsibilities

^«          Customers negatively affect each other

^«          Problems with service intermediaries

^«          Channel conflict

^«          Difficulty in controlling quality and consistency

^«          Tension between empowerment and control

STRATEGIES TO REDUCE GAP 3:

Ensure that all the resources is needed to achieve standards are in place

PROVIDER GAP 4:

This is the difference between service delivery and   service   provider‟s   exter

REASONS: service delivery

a) Lack of integrated service marketing communication:

√Not including interactive marketing plans

√Absence of strong marketing program

√Tendency to view each external communication as independent

b) Ineffective management of customer expectation:

√Not managing the customer expectation in communication

c) Over promising through advertisements

d) Inadequate horizontal communication:

√Differences in policies and procedures across the branches

√Insufficient communication between advertising and operation

STRATEGIES TO REDUCE GAP 4:

Improved service delivery through communication