Service Quality
Service quality and customer satisfaction are qualities customers expect everywhere they go. It does not matter if the business is a restaurant, hotel, gas station, or a grocery store. In today’s society, customers (internal and external) demand a high level of quality service. If they do not feel they have received the quality of service they have demanded, they will not return to that particular place of business. For that reason alone, it is important that organisations realise the need and importance of improving their service quality.
Quality service is a competitive advantage that an organisation can use to draw customers to use its services. Service quality has emerged as an irrepressible, globally pervasive strategic force, as well as a key strategic issue in the organisation’s agenda, according to Rapert and Wren (1998).
Service quality can be defined as the relationship between the customer’s expectations of a service and the perception of the service after it was received according to Edvardsson, Thomasson and Ovretveit (1994). Because service quality is based on expectations and perceptions, service quality changes with every customer. Along with expectations and perceptions, quality of the product or service is included in how a customer views service quality.
Organisations need to be able to adapt their services to each customer they deal with in order to survive in today’s society. If they are able to do this, customers will realise that the organisation is focussed on treating customers with the service and respect they desire.
There are strategies that organisations can use to achieve a high level of service quality and customer satisfaction :
• The first strategy is to have an objective that is clearly defined. This objective should include the organisation’s definition of service quality and what goals that organisation is trying to meet for its customers.
• The second strategy is to improve basic conditions within the organisation. It is important that all employees understand that they can be successful. Show employees that the organisation is committed to them and that they are what makes the organisation a success.
• The third strategy is to pay attention to what customers and employees are saying. The organisation needs to have open ears to listen to suggestions, compliments, and complaints that internal and external customers may have. It is important that the goals and objectives are clearly understood by both the customer and the employee, especially when it comes to international customers. By listening, the organisation will be able to see perceptions of the services that are provided.
• The fourth strategy to achieve service quality is to implement training and education for employees and for customers. By training the customer and the employee, the organisation will continue to be successful. The employee will learn new techniques to provide quality service to customers, and the customer will be able to see that the service is reliable because the organisation cares about the customer.
The fifth and last strategy is to stress the need for continual improvement. Everyone must work together to achieve a high level of service quality. Service quality is a way of life for the organisation as well as for the customer (Stamatis, 1996).
Two unique approaches of service quality need to be looked at carefully by organisations that strive for a high level of service quality. The first approach is the customer-perceived quality and the needs of the market. This approach looks at the external customers and is income-oriented. This approach is cantered on the expectations and experiences that are related to the customer. Because the quality in this approach is perceived, it is cantered on the customers’ background characteristic features.
The second approach is directed toward quality control within the organisation. This approach is directed toward the internal customers, the employees, and management staff. The internal customers need to understand and fulfil what is expected of them to attain a high level of service quality throughout the organisation (Edvardsson, Thomasson and Ovretveit, 1994). Employees need to understand the importance of doing it right the first time, every time. Rework just adds additional costs and frustrations for the organisation that are not necessary.
Service Process
Many international organisations have similar service processes. The international service managers, who run these organisations overseas, need to understand the different cultures that he or she will be living and working in.
The most important thing for international service managers to do is keep their customers. Service process is one of the most fundamental areas of service management. It is described as the method and design of how service-operating systems work. Service process involves transforming input from the customer to output of the product or service. A service process is a list of steps an organisation follows to reach its main goal of “satisfying its customer.”
Service processing can be categorised in four different areas such as people processing, possession processing, mental stimulus processing, and information processing. People processing involves tangible actions to the customer. These tangible service items are physically present while the service is going on. Such items include transportation, machines, or technologies. The customer has to be physically present to absorb these benefits throughout the service.
If customers want the benefits of the people processing service, they must cooperate with the service operation. For instance, their involvement in travelling from one place to another requires them physically to take a car, bus, train, or airplane. The output of this is that the customer reached their destination and is satisfied with everything that happened along the way, from the beginning to the end. This is where the decisive moment sets in. It is very important for organisations to have an international service manager to think about these processes and outputs.
The last thing an international service manager wants is to lose customers, just because the process was not beneficial to the customer. “Do not do unto others, as you would have them do unto you: their tastes may not be the same” (Albrecht, 1990). The next area of service process is possession processing; taking a product the customer already has and keeping it in operational condition. Examples of this are cleaning, improving, painting, restoring, or anything that would add value to the product.
Customers are rarely involved in this stage. For example, when a customer travels, they drop off their luggage. They do not see where it goes or how it is delivered. If a customer has a product that is too heavy to move, the service provider will assist such a customer. Possession processing involves customers trusting the organisation providing the service. After the possession process, international service managers need to focus on the mental or psychology aspect of the service process. In some countries, services that interact with people’s minds have to be very careful in what they provide for the customers.
The reason for this is that many countries have different religious backgrounds. Some countries have ethical standards to live and go by. This is a big problem for many US organisations looking into the international marketplace. Many US organisations see this as a reason for not going global. However, for some they find it necessary to go after foreign markets.
Receiving a mental service takes time on the customer’s part. For instance, education and entertainment are examples of services dealing with a customer’s mind and behaviour. Television and seeing an event in person are components that translate information to the customer. This leads service managers to use the information processing service area. Mainly computers, the Internet, and many other technologies have developed the area of information processing service. Customer involvement in information processing is low, based on tradition or personal desire to use this service.
The banking and insurance industries focus mainly on this. Customers can get all the information over the Internet about the service needed. Some customers prefer to use the telephone or e-mail to build strong relationships with their service provider. Another way for customers to receive good service is through ATM machines. Information processing is a way of getting the product or service to the customer quickly and efficiently.
The most important thing about the service process is whether you can deliver the service. Many international organisations use the Internet as a way of dealing with customers. Other organisations use call centres as a way of getting information, which will better serve their customers. Call centres have become an interactive tool that organisations can use to communicate efficiently and effectively with their customers.
Organisations are realising that customers need a place to call when they have questions or when they have compliments and/or complaints. Customers today do not want to speak to machines and voice mail; they prefer real people with real voices. The service process is a unique way of establishing good solid relationships with customers. Without the service process layout, an organisation could find itself left in the dark. Many organisations strive to have good service but do not have a process of achieving it.
