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
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
Communicati
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
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
Customer Service
refers to human or mechanical activities undertaken by firms to help satisfy their customers' needs and wants
Reliability dimension of service quality
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
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, w
inseparable
Knowledge Gap
the diff between customer expectations and what the firm perceives the customer to expect
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
Communications Gap
diff between actual service provided to customers and the service that the firm's promotion program promises
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
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 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
Intangible
cannot be touched, tasted, or seen
Inseparable
production and consumption occur simultaneously
Variable
due to the human element it tends to deviate from use to use
Perishable
cannot be stored for later
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
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 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
Knowledge Gap example
diners at a restaurant think the portions are too small, but the manager is unaware of this complaint
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
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
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
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
A continuing dilemma for marketers of services is to understand buyers' _______, which means to understand in advance what they think will be delivered
expectations
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
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
heterogeneity
Primary reason there is greater heterogeneity in services than in products is because:
human inputs generate differences
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 re
inseparability
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
justice
Commitment to delivering quality service:
is driven primarily from the top down
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
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
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 b
recovery
Service Quality
customers' perceptions of how well a service meets or exceeds their expectations.
In a delivery of a service, one of the most significant elements is to be able to predict:
consumer expectations
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
Empowered employee example
being able to move passenger to first-class seating
The zone of tolerance refers to
the area between customers' desired expectations and the minimum levels of acceptable service
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
Empowerment
allowing employees to use "their best judgement
The Service-Product Continuum shows:
that most firms combine both goods and services in their offerings
Customer complaint behavior
analyzes the unfulfilled needs of customers in regards to their perceptions 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 standards of acceptable service based on the five service dimensions
Voice of Customer Program
systematically collects customer inputs and integrates them into managerial decisions
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
Much more than when marketing products, service providers such as seaside hotels and restaurants have a dilemma of matching
supply and demand
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
Voice of Customer Program
a systematic program that collects customer inputs and integrates them into managerial decisions
A customer's expectations might vary substantially for the same service provider based on the _____
situation
Customer's expectations of the type of service they will receive is primarily based on their ______
knowledge and experiences
Instrumental support
refers to the systems and equipment used to deliver the service properly
Procedural Fairness
the perceived fairness of the process used to solve complaints and the desire for customers to have efficient and equivalent complaint procedures
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
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
Methods to reduce delivery gaps
empower employees
provide support/incentives
use tech to minimize errors
NOT: threatening firing employees
True or False: When using zone of tolerance marketing metrics, the five scores assigned to service quality dimensions will always total 100%
True
When there is a service failure, customers like an apology but they also want distributive fairness. they want
to receive tangible restitution
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
One of the best methods to ensure that guests at Hilton Hotels receive quality service is to:
involve employees in goal setting
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