5

Slide 2007 by Christopher Lovelock and Jochen Wirtz Services Marketing 6/E Chapter 14 - 1

Learning Objectives
Integrating service quality and productivity
What is service quality?
The Gaps model
Measuring and improving service quality
Learning from customer feedback
Hard measures of service quality

Slide 2007 by Christopher Lovelock and Jochen Wirtz

Services Marketing 6/E

Chapter 13 - 2

Integrating service
quality and productivity

Slide 2007 by Christopher Lovelock and Jochen Wirtz

Services Marketing 6/E

Chapter 13 - 3

Integrating Service Quality and

Productivity Strategies

Quality and productivity are

twin paths to creating value for
both customers and companies
Quality focuses on the benefits
created for customers;
productivity addresses financial
costs incurred by firm

Slide 2007 by Christopher Lovelock and Jochen Wirtz Services Marketing 6/E Chapter 14 - 4

What Is Service Quality?

Slide 2007 by Christopher Lovelock and Jochen Wirtz Services Marketing 6/E Chapter 14 - 5

Different Perspectives of Service Quality

Quality = Excellence. Recognized only through

Transcendent: experience

User-based:

Quality lies in the eyes of the beholder

Manufacturing- Quality is in conformance to the firms developed

specifications
based:

Value-based:

Quality is a trade-off between price and value

Slide 2007 by Christopher Lovelock and Jochen Wirtz Services Marketing 6/E Chapter 14 - 6

Components of Quality:
Service-based

Tangibles: Appearance of physical elements

Reliability: Dependable and accurate performance
Responsiveness: Promptness; helpfulness
Assurance: Competence, courtesy, credibility, security
Empathy: Easy access, good communication,
understanding of customer

Slide 2007 by Christopher Lovelock and Jochen Wirtz Services Marketing 6/E Chapter 14 - 8

The Gaps ModelA Conceptual Tool to

Identify and Correct Service Quality
Problems

Slide 2007 by Christopher Lovelock and Jochen Wirtz Services Marketing 6/E Chapter 14 - 13

Seven Service Quality Gaps

(Fig 14.3)
CUSTOMER

Customer needs and

expectations
1. Knowledge Gap

MANAGEMENT

Management definition of
these needs
2. Standards Gap
Translation into
design/delivery specs

4. Internal Communications
Gap

3. Delivery Gap
Execution of
design/delivery specs

4.

5. Perceptions Gap
Customer perceptions of
service execution

Advertising and sales

promises
6. Interpretation Gap
Customer interpretation
of communications

7. Service Gap
Customer experience
relative to expectations
Slide 2007 by Christopher Lovelock and Jochen Wirtz Services Marketing 6/E Chapter 14 - 14

Prescriptions for Closing the

Seven Service Quality Gaps (1) (Table 14.3)
1. Knowledge gap: Learn what customers expect
o
o
o

Understand customer expectations

Improve communication between frontline staff and management
Turn information and insights into action

2. Policy gap: Establish right service processes and

specify standards
Set, communicate, and reinforce customer-oriented service standards
for all work units
o Get the customer service processes right
o Develop tiered service products that meet customer expectation
o

Slide 2007 by Christopher Lovelock and Jochen Wirtz Services Marketing 6/E Chapter 14 - 15

Prescriptions for Closing the

Seven Service Quality Gaps (2) (Table 14.3)
3.Delivery gap: Ensure service performance meets
standards
Clarify employee roles
Train employees in priority setting and time management
Eliminate role conflict among employees
Develop good reward system

4.Internal communications gap: Ensure that

communications promises are realistic
Seek comments from frontline employees and operations personnel
about proposed advertising campaigns
o Get sales staff to involve operations staff in meetings with customers
o Ensure that communications sets realistic customer expectations
o

Slide 2007 by Christopher Lovelock and Jochen Wirtz Services Marketing 6/E Chapter 14 - 16

Prescriptions for Closing the

Seven Service Quality Gaps (3) (Table 14.3)
5. Perceptions gap: Educate customers to see reality of
service quality delivered
Keep customers informed during service delivery and debrief after
delivery
o Provide physical evidence
o

6.Service quality gap: Close gaps 1 to 6 to meet

customer expectations consistently

Slide 2007 by Christopher Lovelock and Jochen Wirtz Services Marketing 6/E Chapter 14 - 17

Measuring and Improving

Service Quality

Slide 2007 by Christopher Lovelock and Jochen Wirtz Services Marketing 6/E Chapter 14 - 18

Soft and Hard Measures

of Service Quality
Soft measuresnot easily observed, must be collected
by talking to customers, employees, or others
Hard measurescan be counted, timed, or measured
through audits

Slide 2007 by Christopher Lovelock and Jochen Wirtz Services Marketing 6/E Chapter 14 - 19

Soft Measures of Service Quality

Key customer-centric SQ measures include:
o
o
o
o

Total market surveys, annual surveys, transactional surveys

Service feedback cards
Mystery shopping
Analysis of unsolicited feedbackcomplaints and compliments, focus
group discussions, and service reviews

Ongoing surveys of account holders to determine satisfaction in

terms of broader relationship issues
Customer advisory panels offer feedback/advice on performance
Employee surveys and panels to determine:
Perceptions of the quality of service delivered to customers on specific
dimensions
o Barriers to better service
o Suggestions for improvement
o

Slide 2007 by Christopher Lovelock and Jochen Wirtz Services Marketing 6/E Chapter 14 - 20

Hard Measures of Service Quality

Slide 2007 by Christopher Lovelock and Jochen Wirtz Services Marketing 6/E Chapter 14 - 5

Hard Measures of Service Quality

Control charts to monitor a single variable
Offer a simple method of displaying performance over time against
specific quality standards
o Are only good if data on which they are based is accurate
o Enable easy identification of trends
o

Service quality indexes

o Embrace key activities that have an impact on customers

Slide 2007 by Christopher Lovelock and Jochen Wirtz Services Marketing 6/E Chapter 14 - 21

Composition of FedExs
Service Quality IndexSQI (Table 14.4)
Failure Type

Weighting
Number of
X
=
Factor
Incidents

Late deliveryright day

Late Deliverywrong day
Tracing request unanswered
Complaints reopened
Missing proofs of delivery
Invoice adjustments
Missed pickups
Lost packages
Damaged packages
Aircraft delays (minutes)
Overcharged (packages missing label)
Abandoned calls

Daily
Points

1
5
1
5
1
1
10
10
10
5
5
1

Total Failure Points (SQI) =

Slide 2007 by Christopher Lovelock and Jochen Wirtz Services Marketing 6/E Chapter 14 - 22

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