QUALS 2

• Quality Service Encounter

  Lesson 2 topic
• Service quality


  A measure of how an organization delivers its services compared to the expectations of its customers
• 5 dimensions of service quality (SERVQUAL model)


  • Tangibles
  • Reliability
  • Responsiveness
  • Assurance
  • Empathy
• Tangibles

  Physical facilities, equipment, and appearance of employees
• Reliability

  Ability to perform the required service dependably and accurately
• Responsiveness

  Willingness to help customers and provide prompt service
• Assurance


  Knowledge and courtesy of employees
• Empathy

  Caring and individual attention provided by the staff
• 3 Central Components in producing a quality service experience

  • People
  • Processes
  • Physical Evidence
• Three groups who participate in the customer's experience of quality service


  • Customers
  • Employees
  • Management
• Homogeneity of the customer mix


  Contributes to a positive customer experience, while a heterogenous customer mix may create problems
• Allocentric (The Wanderers)


  A tourist who seeks new experiences and adventure in a wide range of activities. This person is outgoing and self-confident in behavior. An allocentric person prefers to fly and to explore new and unusual areas before others do so, an outgoing self confident.
• Psychocentric Tourist

  Self inhibiting, nervous and non adventurous, worried about safety and security. Prefer to return to familiar travel destinations where they can relax. They often refuse to travel by air for psychological reasons rather than financial or other practical concerns.
• Mid-centric Tourist


  The mid-centric traveler falls between the allocentric and psychocentric types. This is a person who isn't exceptionally adventurous but is still open to new experiences. The preferred destinations for this type of traveler are cultural, historical, and even ecological.
• "Take care of your employees, and they will take care of your customers" - J. W. Marriott
• Processes

  • Benchmarking
  • Continuous quality improvement strategies
  • Service evaluation
  • Application of technology
• Benchmarking


  Examines operational performance in tandem with improvement efforts to compare operational performance and identify best practices. It measures four domains: Profitability, Service Quality, Marketing Effectiveness, Productivity
• Blueprinting


  Examines the flow of service. Does this activity add value? If it does not add value, why do we do it (LeBoeuf, 1993)?
• Handling Service Problems


  Keeping customers is more cost effective than finding new ones. "It is not what you say but how you say it."
• Continuous Quality Improvement Strategies

  Customer Comment Cards: Satisfiers, Dissatisfiers, Criticals, Neutrals
• Service Evaluation


  Improving the client experience will stimulate the development of technology used in hospitality and tourism in the future. With the aid of technology, the industry is transitioning from a one-sided transaction model to a personalized experience.
• Application of Technology


  Benefits: Increasing customer satisfaction, Improving efficiency, Providing better information
• Physical Evidence


  The tangible aspect of the service experience. It can be both controllable and uncontrollable.
• Understanding the Role of the Service Encounter in Tourism, Hospitality, and Leisure Services


  • Social Interactions
  • Service Encounters
  • Encounter Management
  • Selection
  • Training
  • Organizational Culture
• Frontline employees can perform adequately at the customer interface so long as there is a culture of support, an appropriate service delivery system, and adequate training.
• Management of the service encounter is notoriously problematic because direct provision relies solely on the employee.
• Social Interaction


  An exchange between two or more individuals
• Service Encounters


  Complex affairs because the social contact between actors carries a variety of expectations. Key features: They have a narrow focus, They are purposeful, Roles are defined, Providers are performing a job, There is often no prior acquaintance, Task-related information predominates, There may be temporary status differences
• Encounter Management


  Employees act as ambassadors for their organizations and play a crucial role influencing overall customer perceptions of quality. Approaches: Blueprinting, Scripting, Empowering employees to deal with each individual situation as it arises
• Selection


  Selecting the right person for the position is one of the most controllable aspects of controlling the service encounter. Common selection practices: Application forms, Resume screening, Reference checks, Interviews, Knowledge tests, Performance/work sample tests, Ability tests, Personality inventories, Assessment centers
• Training


  Importance of Training: Teaching people how to do their jobs. Three kinds of training: Job instruction, Retraining, Orientation. Dimensions of staff training: Traditional, Quality circles, Encouragement. Benefits of Training: More time to manage, Less absenteeism and less turnover, Less tension, Higher consistency of product and service, Lower costs, Happier customers and more of them, Enhancement of your career. Problems in Training: Urgent need for trained workers, Lack of time, Lack of money, Short-term workers, Diversity of workers, Kinds of jobs and skills, Complexity of some jobs, Not knowing exactly what you want your people to do and how. How employees learn best: Actively involved, Relevant and practical, Organized and presented in small chunks, Informal and quiet setting, Good trainer, Feedback and reward
• Organizational Culture


  "The way things get done here". Includes values, heroes, rites and rituals, cultural network. Building a Positive Work Climate: Focus on the individual, the job, and the supervisor. For the individual: Get to know your people, Deal with security and social needs, Reward and develop your people. For the job: Provide an attractive job environment, Provide a safe and secure work environment, Make the job interesting and challenging. For the supervisor: Manage by example - managing people at work by setting a good example – by giving 100 percent of your time, effort, and enthusiasm to your own job.
• Service Quality


  The ability of a service provider to satisfy customer in an efficient manner while improving business performance
• Quality


  A strategic tool for attaining operational efficiency and better performance of business
• "Quality is whatever the customer perceives it to be" - (Buzzell & Gale, 1987)
• Service quality


  • Multidimensional
  • Has underlying quality dimensions, some of which change over time
  • Intangible
  • Is the result of both service processes and service outcomes
  • Depends on the difference between customers' expectations and perceptions

  
• Gap Analysis Model


  1. Customer Perception

  2. Customer Expectation

  3. Actual expected service

  4. Actual received service

  
• Reasons for Gap


  • Lack of adequate market research and lack of upward communication
  • Lack of whole hearted commitment of management to service quality and inadequate leadership
  • Discrepancies in the actual service delivery (can be caused by ineffective recruitment, lack of proper incentives and motivations)
  • Due to exaggerated promise or ineffective communication to the customer
  • Inequality in the service expectations of customer and his service perception

  
• Five Dimensions of Service Quality


  • Tangibles
  • Reliability
  • Responsiveness
  • Assurance
  • Empathy

  
• SERVQUAL Instrument


  A multidimensional instrument used for research purposes, designed to capture the perceptions and expectations of customers