The document discusses various dimensions of service quality including the SERVQUAL model which measures reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and tangibles. It also discusses people, process and physical evidence as part of an expanded marketing mix for services. Key aspects of measuring service quality are defining standards, benchmarking against competitors, soliciting and analyzing complaints, and conducting critical incident studies. The goal is to improve customer satisfaction and obtain a return on investments in service quality through increased revenues and profits.

1. SERVICE QUALITY DIMENSIONS
Venkatesh Ganapathy
November 2012

2. SERVQUAL MODEL
 Reliability – ability to perform the promised service
dependably and accurately. FIRST TIME RIGHT.
 Responsiveness – willingness to help the customer,
speed of response to resolve customer issues
 Assurance – knowledge and courtesy of employees,
ability to convey trust and confidence
 Empathy – caring and personalized attention to
customers. Look from customer’s point of view.
 Tangibles – appearance of physical facilities,
equipment, personnel and communication materials.
Physical evidence of service. Tangibles provide the
customer proof of the quality of service.

3. EXPANDED MARKETING MIX
 People – Service Employees and Customers
involved in service ; production and consumption
happen at the same time. Quality of service
depends on the extent of involvement of people.
 Process - It provides a benchmark to measure a
service – to know what is good or bad about a
service. Process is dynamic and needs
continuous review to improve services.
 Physical evidence – As services are intangible,
the customer gets a cue(signal) about service
only from physical tangibles - eg. The ambience
in a hotel, the computerisation in a bank or an
insurance company, the office exteriors and
interiors in a BPO, the medical equipments in a
hospital.

4. Measurement of Service Quality
 Define a standard against which service
performance can be compared. This process
begins with goal setting.
 90% of phone calls must be answered within 30
seconds of bell ringing
 Staff related complaints in a hotel or an agency
cannot exceed 1% of all the complaints
 Hotel – 90% check-ins must be completed within
3 minutes of the customer’s arrival at the front
desk.

5. Service Quality Standards
 Company defines standards of service quality. Eg.
PSU banks
 Problem of setting standards is more acute in cases
where the service provider is dealing with a large
volume of retail customers.
 When standards are set, service provider has to keep
in mind the ability of organization and employees to
deliver the service.
 Service expectation changes when customer
compares the company standards with that of its
competitors.
 Sometimes, the customer defines standards when a

6. Benchmarking
 Continuous process of measuring products,
services, practices against the toughest
competitors or those companies recognized as
industry leaders.
 Key words
• Continuous
• Toughest Competitors
• Industry leaders

7.  Quality standards in products and services are
dynamic, so continuous evaluation
 Standards must be internalized for bringing it to
the attention of front end and back end
employees

8. Complaints solicitation & analysis
 To enable the company to understand frequent
and persistent service failures better.
 Customer perception of service failure and
company perception of service failure will be
different.
 Feedback forms collected by some airlines

9. Solicitation of complaints
 Customer gets assurance that grievances are
being looked into
 Positive influence on service delivery employees
by fear
 Govt organisations – officially lodging a complaint
leads to enquiry, so employees try to avoid it.
 Nature of complaints & frequency – pointers –
where are the frequent service failures ?

10. Reason for complaints
 Complaints can be due to human error or system
failure
 HDFC bank , Airtel – server issues
 Airtel experience -
 Only 4% dissatisfied customers actually complain
about it. So, the extent of problem can be much
more grave.

11. Lost Customer analysis
Customers lost because
• Change in location
• Persistent inferior service quality
•Poor value proposition
•Inadequate features of service
•Customers may switch suddenly

13. Critical Incident Study
 Any one incident which affects the customer
perception of the quality of a service.
 Information sought via feedback forms
 In 90% cases, the fact that the incident is being
recognised as critical, will make the customer
dissatisfaction evaporate.
 Actually only 5% of critical incidents are reported.
 Even front end staff are encouraged to report
critical incidents.

14. ROSQ – Return on Service
Quality
 Approach developed by Roland Rust and others
 SERVICE QUALITY IS AN INVESTMENT
 SERVICE QUALITY EFFORTS MUST BE
FINANCIALLY ACCOUNTABLE
 IT IS POSSIBLE TO SPEND TOO MUCH ON
SERVICE QUALITY
 NOT ALL SERVICE QUALITY EXPENDITURES
ARE EQUALLY VALID.

15. Investments in services
 Service improvement effort leads to increased
level of customer satisfaction at process level.
 This leads to increase in overall customer
satisfaction
 This improves behavioral intentions like
repurchase
 Customer becomes more loyal
 Word of mouth referrals
 Higher revenues
 Increased profitability

16. Different methods of listening to
customers
 Addresses Provider Gap 1
 Research
 Formal and informal methods - surveys, critical
incident studies, complaint solicitation
 Upward communication from front line employees
to managers

17. Servuction
 Service + Production
 Customer’s presence compulsory during service
process.
 Services are for real-time distribution.
 INSEPARABILITY - Production & Consumption
same time.
 The inseparability component – important feature
of Servuction model.
 Visible component
 Invisible component
 Customers draw conclusions about service based
on tangibles / physical evidence.