![Gap Model of Service Quality
• Gap refers to any deviations
• Gaps are the leakages which takes place during the service
delivery process
A] Customer Gap
• It is the difference between customer expectations and
perceptions Expected Service
Perceived Service](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/servicequalityencountermanagement-180811091329/85/Service-quality-encounter-management-3-320.jpg)
Service quality & encounter management
- 1. Service Quality and Encounter Management
- 2. Gap Model of Service Quality
- 3. Gap Model of Service Quality • Gap refers to any deviations • Gaps are the leakages which takes place during the service delivery process A] Customer Gap • It is the difference between customer expectations and perceptions Expected Service Perceived Service
- 4. B. Provider Gap 1. The Listening Gap • It is the difference between customer expectations of service and company understanding of those expectations • Reasons • Inadequate customer research orientation • Lack of upward communication • Insufficient relationship focus • Inadequate service recovery Customer Expectation Company Perceptions Of Customer Expectations G a p 1
- 5. Strategies to Reduce Listening Gap • Environmental scanning and monitoring • Collect accurate information about customer’s expectation • Developing a system to acquire continuous information from the service employees • Implementing relationship marketing • Developing a well-defined complaint handling system • Empowerment of employees
- 6. 2. Service Design and Standard Gap • It occurs when service provider fails to design and provide service as per the standard. • Difficulty experienced in translating customer expectations into service quality specifications that employees can understand and execute. • Reasons • Poor Service Design • Absence of customer driven standards • Inappropriate physical evidence and service scape Customer Driven Designs and Standards Management Perceptions of Customer Expectations G a p 2
- 7. Strategies to reduce service design and standard gap • Identification of customer preferences • Clearly designing the service • Develop service blueprinting
- 8. 3. The service Performance Gap • It is the discrepancy between the development of customer-driven service standards and actual service performance by company employees • Reasons • Deficiencies in human resource policies • Failure to match supply and demand • Customers not fulfilling roles • Problems with service intermediaries Customer-driven service designs and standards Service Delivery G a p 3
- 9. Strategies to minimize service performance gap • Select and train the service employees • Top and middle management’s continuous support to employees • Proper management of service environment • Empowerment of employees • Focus on internal marketing
- 10. 4. The Communication Gap • It illustrates the difference between service delivery and the service provider’s external communication • Reasons • Lack of integrated services marketing communications • Ineffective management of customer expectations • Overpromising • Inadequate horizontal communications • Inappropriate pricing Service Delivery External communications to customers G a p 4
- 11. Strategies to minimize the communication gap • Educate customers to receive services • Manage word-of-mouth • Train, educate and motivate staffs to involve in service delivery process • Integrated service marketing communications
- 12. Measurement of Service Quality: The SERVQUAL Instrument • Simply, SERVQUAL is a questionnaire or a measurement scale that is designed to measure the quality of service • SERVQUAL is a multi-dimensional research instrument, designed to capture consumer expectations and perceptions of a service along the five dimensions that are believed to represent service quality • The scale consists 21 perception items that are distributed throughout the five service quality dimensions
- 13. Uses of SERVQUAL Survey • To determine the average gap score for each service attributes • To assess a company’s service quality along each of the five SERVQUAL dimensions • To track customers’ expectations and perceptions over time • To compare a company’s SERVQUAL scores against those of competitors • To identify and examine customer segments that differ significantly in their assessments of a company’s service performance
- 17. Service Encounters (Moment of Truth) • It is duration of interaction of customers with firms internal employees and technology • Service encounters are building blocks for customer perceptions • Also called real time marketing • Service encounters are where promises are kept or broken • Some services have few encounters where other have many
- 18. Importance of Encounters • Determines the consumption of service • Multiple encounters are significant in shaping the composite image of the company • Determines the retention of customers
- 19. Types of Service Encounters Remote encounters Technology-mediated encounters Face to face encounters A. By Zeithaml (2001)
- 20. Remote Encounter • Can occur without direct human contact • E.g. ATM system in banks, retail purchasing through internet, airlines ticketing, etc. • Tangible evidence of service and the quality of the technical processes and system become the primary basis for judging quality
- 21. Technology-Mediated Encounters • Encounter occurs via mediation of technology like telephone, live chat, social networking medium, etc. • It has better prospect to improve encounter than remote encounter • E.g. insurance companies, utilities and telecommunications companies
- 22. Face to Face Encounter • Occurs in direct personal contact • Verbal and non-verbal communication play significant role • E.g. in hospitals with doctors, teaching, Lawer, etc
- 23. B. Service Encounters on the Basis of Process • People Processing • Customers involve physically • E.g. trekking, travelling, body building, etc • Possession Processing • Services are provided to the assets/possession of customers • E.g. bicycle servicing, painting a house, laptop maintenance • Mental Stimulus Processing • Involves services that interact with peoples mind • Mental attention of the customer is vital • E.g. education service, news and information, psychological counseling
- 24. • Information Processing • Information is processed and provided to customers • Information may be provided through letters, books, CDs, etc • E.g. Banking, Accounting, Legal Services, etc
- 25. Main Drivers of Service Quality • People • Process • Service Product