Professional Documents
Culture Documents
• Franchisees
• service outlets licensed by a principal to deliver a unique service concept it has
created
• e.g., McDonald’s, Burger King, Holiday Inn, Dun & Bradstreet, IDP Education -
Australia
• Agents and Brokers
• representatives who distribute and sell the services of one or more service
suppliers
• e.g., travel agents, independent insurance agents
• Electronic Channels
• all forms of service provision through electronic means
• e.g., ATMs, travel agent softwares (Galileo, Dolphin), Expedia.com,
makemytrip.com, university video courses, TaxCut software
Direct Delivery
• Benefits: • Challenges:
• Leveraged business format for • Difficulty in maintaining and
greater expansion and motivating franchisees
revenues • Disputes and conflict
• Consistency in outlets • Inconsistent quality
• Knowledge of local markets • Control of customer
• Shared financial risk and more relationship by intermediary
working capital
Benefits and Challenges for
Franchisees of Service
• Benefits: • Challenges:
• An established business • Encroachment
format • Disappointing profits and
• National or regional brand revenues
marketing
• Lack of perceived control over
• Minimized risk of starting a operations
business
• High fees
Emirates Fast
Foods Co
Benefits and Challenges in Distributing Services through
Agents and Brokers
• Benefits:
• Challenges:
• Reduced selling and
distribution costs • Loss of control over pricing
• Intermediary’s possession • Representation of multiple
of special skills and service principals
knowledge
• Wide representation
• Knowledge of local markets
• Customer choice
Benefits and Challenges in Electronic Distribution of
Services
• Benefits: • Challenges:
• Consistent delivery for • Price competition
standardized services • Security concerns
• Low cost • Competition from widening
• Customer convenience geographies
• Wide distribution
• Customer choice and ability
to customize
• Quick customer feedback
Common Issues
Involving Intermediaries
• channel ambiguity
Strategies for Effective Service Delivery
Through Intermediaries
Source: J. A. Fitzsimmons and M. J. Fitzsimmons, Service Management, 4th ed. (New York: Irwin/McGraw-Hill, 2004), chap. 11, p. 296.
Issues to Consider in Making Waiting
More Tolerable
Goal:
Manage Delivery is Improve
service greater than customer
promises or equal to education
promises
Manage
internal
marketing
communication
Approaches for Managing
Service Promises
Create tiered-value
offerings
Offer service
guarantees
Goal:
Delivery is
greater than
or equal to
promises
Approaches for Improving Customer Education
Create
effective vertical
communications
Create
effective horizontal
communications
Align back-office
personnel with
external customers
Create
cross-functional
teams
Review
• The Customer Gap
Consumer Behavior in Services
Customer Expectations of Service
Customer Perceptions of Service
• Gap 1 – Not Knowing What Customers Expect (The Knowledge Gap)
Building Customer Relationships
Service Recovery
• Gap 2 – Not Having the Right Service Quality Designs and Standards (The Service Design and Standards Gap)
Service Development and Design
Customer-Defined Service Standards
Physical Evidence and the Servicescape
• Gap 3 – Not Delivering to Service Standards (The Service Performance Gap)
Employees’ Roles in Service Delivery
Customers’ Roles in Service Delivery
Delivering Service through Intermediaries and Electronic Channels
Managing Demand and Capacity
• Gap 4 – Not Matching Performance to Promises (The Communication Gap)
Integrated Services Marketing Communications