This document discusses customer expectations and perceptions, and the gaps that can occur between them. It outlines four key gaps that can occur within organizations providing services: 1) The listening gap, which occurs when a company's perception of customer expectations does not match customers' actual expectations, due to inadequate customer research. 2) The service design and standards gap, which occurs when management's perception of customer expectations does not align with customer-driven service design and standards. 3) The service performance gap, which occurs when actual service delivery does not align with customer-driven design and standards, due to issues like inadequate training or resources. 4) The communication gap, which occurs when external communications to customers do not

1. Dr. Binod Sinha
Professor of Marketing BIMM Pune

2. Providers Gap
Closing the gap

3. Customer GAP
 Gap between
 Customer Expectation and Customer Perception
 Customer expectations are standard or reference
points that customers bring into the service experience
where as Customer perceptions are subjective
assessment of actual service experience.

4. Continue……
 Customer expectation often consists of what a
customer believe should or will happen.
 Closing the gap between what the customer expects
and what the customer perceive is critical to delivering
quality services, it form the basis of gap model.
 The sources of customers expectations are market
controlled factors…price, advertising, sales promises
as well as the factors market has limited ability to
effect such as innate personal needs, word of mouth
and competitive offering.

5. In perfect world customer
expectations and customer
perceptions
 Identical
 Customers would perceive what they have received
what they thought they would and should.
 ……….the goal of services marketing is to bridge the
gap between CE and CP.

6. To close customer gap
 We need to close Providers Gap
 These Gap occurs within the organisations providing
services
 The Listening Gap
 The Service design and standards gap
 The Service Performance Gap
 The Communication Gap

7. The Listening Gap
Customers expectations and Company Perception of
Customer expectations
 Inadequate Customer Research
 Lack of Upward Communication
 Insufficient Relationship Focus
 Inadequate service recovery

8. The Service Design and Standard Gap
Customer driven service design and standard and Management
Perception of customer expectation
 Poor service design
 Absence of Customer driven standard
 Inappropriate Physical evidence and Services cape

9. The Service Performance Gap
Customer Driven design and standard and Service
delivery
 Deficiencies in Human Resource Policies
 Customers are fulfilling the roles
 Problem with service intermediaries
 Failure to match Supply and Demand

10. The Communication Gap
Service Delivery and External Communication to Customers
 Lack of integrated Service Marketing Communications
 Ineffective Management of Customer expectation
 Overpromising
 Inadequate horizontal communication
 Inappropriate Pricing Policies

11.  Three case situation ……..40 minutes(case 01 =07
minutes, Case 02..12 minutes case 03 = 21 minutes)

12. Case situation 01
 “ Careful understanding of customers needs and
expectation in ever evolving lifestyle of a typical
Indian house hold had led HP Gas launch the
concept ‘Jee Haa’ along with ‘Promise Yahi
Weight Sahi’ campaign reinforcing a strong
positive service orientation thereby building a
strong market share through greater customer
satisfaction.”
 Analyze the case and explain service provider gap
2 in detail with diagrammatically presentation.

13.  Mr. Ghosh while driving back home in his Maruti
Esteem VX got stuck in heavy rain. Frantic calls to the
Maruti Helpline but he did not get help. He called
India Garage service station which services Mahindra
Vehicle , and within 10 minutes, Mr. Varun Goswami
from India Garage arrived on the scene with his team
and fished out his car. For attending his distress call he
did not accepted any payment as a sweet gesture.

14. C2 continue ……..
 For Mahindra it was the service culture that
encompassed ail the partners so passionately whereas
for Maruti it was a service delivery failure that could
provide insight to formulate future service recovery
strategy.

15. Case situation 03
 At Shoppers Stop, we believe in a world of limitless
possibilities. We have always set benchmarks, crossed
limits, achieved the impossible and celebrated our
successes. Innovation being the key driver, Shoppers
Stop has adopted a new philosophy of 'Start
Something New' to give retail a new dimension. We
endeavor to Start Something New in performance.
Start Something New in products.

16. Continue 03…
 Start Something New in customer service. Start
Something New in life. This philosophy is embraced &
practiced by our Customer Care Associates every day.
All employees across the organization are designated
as Customer Care Associates, implying that we are first
and foremost dedicated to serving our customers. This
creates a service orientation within our employees as
well as reinforces the feeling of being partners working
towards a common goal.

17. Continue 03….
 Our company anthem – ‘Hadh Se Aage’ is played
across the organization – from our head office to
regional offices, stores to distribution centers at 10:45
a.m. every morning, with associates singing the lyrics
which encourage & inspire them to make a
wholehearted and meaningful contribution to
society.As a consequence, employees develop a deep
sense of belonging and loyalty.
 Analyze and Connect with Performance gap.