CUSTOMER

PERCEPTIONS OF
SERVICE
CUSTOMER PERCEPTIONS
 We are focusing on the perceived service box in
the gaps model.

 Keep in mind that perceptions are always

considered relative to expectations.

 Customers perceive services in terms of quality

of the service and how satisfied they are overall
with their experiences.
Satisfaction Vs Service Quality
 Satisfaction
is generally viewed as a
broader concept while Service Quality
assessment focuses specifically on
dimensions of service.

 PerceivedService Quality is a component of

customer satisfaction.
Customer Perceptions of Quality
and Customer Satisfaction
RELIABILITY

RESPONSIVENESS SITUATIONAL
SERVICE FACTORS
ASSURANCE QUALITY

EMPATHY

TANGIBLES
PRODUCT CUSTOMER
QUALITY SATISFACTION

PRICE
PERSONAL
FACTORS
Customer Satisfaction
 The customers’ evaluation of a product or
service in terms of whether that product or
service has met their needs and
expectations.

 Failureto meet needs and expectations is

assumed to result in dissatisfaction with the
product or service.
Customer Satisfaction
 Customer satisfaction will be influenced by
specific product or service features and by
perceptions of quality.

 Satisfaction is also influenced by

customers’ emotional responses, their
attributions and their perceptions of equity.
Customer Satisfaction
 Product and Service Features:
 Customer satisfaction, influenced significantly by the
customers’ evaluation of product or service features.
Ex. Resort with pool and golf, room comfort, privacy,
helpfulness, courtesy of staff, room price etc.

 Consumer Emotions:
 Like mood and life satisfaction. Happy mood, positive
mind frame influences positively, while when bad
mood, negative feelings may carry over into how you
responds to the services.
Customer Satisfaction
 Attributions for Service Success or Failure:
 The perceived causes of events – influence
perceptions of satisfaction. Ex. Customer of
VLCC, fails to lose weight as hoped for, she will
likely search for cause –was the diet plan
ineffective or she was not able to follow up?

 Perception of Equity or Fairness:

 Have I treated fairly compared to other
customers?? Did other customers get better
treatment, better prices, or better quality service?
SERVICE QUALITY
 Service
Quality a critical component of
customer perceptions
 In case of pure services: more dominant
 In case of physical product with services: may
also be very important.
DIMENSIONS OF SERVICE
QUALITY
 Reliability:
Ability to perform the promised
service dependably and accurately.

 Responsiveness: Willingness to help

customers and provide prompt service.

 Assurance: Employees’ knowledge and

courtesy and their ability to inspire trust and
confidence.
DIMENSIONS OF SERVICE
QUALITY
 Empathy: Caring, individualized attention
given to customers.

 Tangibles:
Appearance of physical facilities,
equipments, personnel, and written materials
SERVICE ENCOUNTERS OR
“MOMENTS OF TRUTH”
 When the customer interacts with the service
firm.

 Types of service encounters:

 Remote encounters
 Phone encounters
 Face-to-face encounters

A customer may experience any of these types

of encounters or a combination of all three.
Remote encounters
 Encounters that occurs without any direct human
contact
 Ex. Interacting with bank through ATM
 Automated ticket machine
 Mail order through automated dial-in ordering

 Tangible evidence of the service and the quality of the

technical processes and systems become the primary
bases for judging quality.
 More and more services are being delivered through
technology, particularly with the advent of Internet.
Phone encounters
 In many organizations (e.g. insurance,
telecommunications, financial services etc.),
the most frequent type of encounter between
an end customer and the firm occurs over the
telephone.
 Tone of voice, employee knowledge, and
effectiveness/efficiency in handling customer
issues become important criteria for judging
quality in these encounters.
Face-to-face encounters
 Encounters that occurs between an employee
and a customer in direct contact.
 Ex.: customer and salespeople, delivery personnel,
food & beverages servers, maintenance
representatives, professional consultants etc.
 Verbal and non-verbal behaviors are important
determinants of quality besides tangible clues
like employee dress etc.
 Customer also plays a role in creating quality
service
Evidence of Service
 Because services are intangible, customers are
searching for evidence of service in every interaction or
encounters.
 The three major categories of evidences are:
 People
 Contact employee
 Customer himself/herself
 Other customers
 Process
 Operation flow of activities
 Steps in process
 Flexibility vs standard
 Technology vs human
Evidence of Service
 Physical Evidence
 Tangible communication
 Service space
 Guarantees
 Technology

 Thenew mix elements essentially are the

evidence of service in each moment of truth.
Strategies for influencing
customer perceptions
 Measure and Manage Customer satisfaction
and Service Quality
 Track the trends, diagnose problems, link to
customer focused strategies
 Aimfor customer quality and satisfaction in
every service encounter – aim for zero defects
 Plan for effective recovery
 Service has been disappointed first time, doing it very
right the second time is essential, identify root cause of
failure and redesign to ensure reliability
 Failures are inevitable in services, but should have strong
recovery strategies
Strategies for influencing
customer perceptions
 Facilitate adaptability and flexibility
 Know when and how system can be flexed,
and when and how to explain to customers
why cannot be granted

 Encourage spontaneity
 Encourage positive spontaneous behaviors
and discourage negative behaviors
Strategies for influencing
customer perceptions
 Help employees to cope with problem customers
 Training to employees to cope with problem
customers
 Manage dimensions of quality at the encounter level
 Relate five dimensions (reliability, responsiveness,
assurance, empathy and tangibles) to each
encounter to ensure quality service

 Manage the evidence of service to reinforce

perceptions