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Identify and fulfill customer service expectations
Identify and Fulfill Customer Service Expectations Thomas L. Powers The delivery of quulity service is becoming increasingly important to successful industrial marketers. This article examines the components of service quality and discusses how those areas can be capitalized on to increase sales and customer sutisfaction.
INTRODUCTION Industrial marketers face many challenges in order to market their products successfully. One of the most important tasks is to deliver a high level of quality to the customer. This delivery includes not only the product itself, but also less tangible factors. These include information on your product and company, the sales contact and presentation, and service support after the sale. In many cases these non-product related elements are of primary importance to potential customers and deserve greater attention. Unfortunately, defining and being able to deliver these less tangible components of the industrial marketing mix is not easy. This paper examines these areas of quality and discusses how industrial marketers
Address Marketing, 35294.
correspondence to Professor Thomas L. Powers, Department of School of Business, University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL
Industrial Marketing Manugement 17, 273-216 ( 1988) 0 Elsevier Science Publishing Co., Inc., 1988 6.55 Avenue of the Americas. New York, NY 10010
can more effectively manage these elements to increase sales and profitability.
DELIVERING
QUALITY
One of the most difficult tasks that industrial marketers face is being able to identify what the customer desires and then develop programs that deliver that desired level of service. This process is relatively easy for the more tangible components of the marketing mix, but for the less tangible areas, identification and implementation become difficult. The differences between what our customers want, what they see us delivering, and what we believe them to desire, can be referred to as “gaps,” or voids, where there is not an easy transfer of correct information. Several gaps have been seen to exist in this process [ 11. From the marketer’s side, there are gaps between what managers perceive customer expectations to be, and the process of developing those services into actual delivery. From the customer’s side there are gaps between the perception of the service received and the level of expectation, or what the customer is actually looking for. This process can be seen in Figure 1, where, in order to deliver service at or above the customer’s expectation, 273 0019-8501/88/$3.50
There are several components of service quality that must be identified. ‘
Customer Expectation
Perceived Service
FIGURE
1.
SERVICE
In order to identify the areas where service quality may vary from what the customer is looking for, market research is necessary. For example, in a study of the office
THOMAS L. POWERS is Assistant Professor of Marketing University of Alabama at Birmingham.
274
Perception of Customer Expectations
Quality of Service
the industrial marketing manager must be fully aware of what the customer is looking for and then be able to translate that into a tangible mix of marketing elements. The overall goal, to deliver the service at or above the customer expectation, is critical in achieving satisfied customers. Most managers have had first hand experiences with this problem. Customers often receive service that is not at the level they require or expect. Ironically, the firm marketing that product may not even see the problem. They may be convinced that the customer is truly receiving the type of service that they are looking for. This problem has two sources. First, the company does not adequately research the customer needs. This shortcoming is complicated by the second factor, which is that there are several components of service that must be identified.
IDENTIFYING CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS
Service Delivery
c
at the
furniture market, it was determined that product distribution elements of the marketing mix were of primary importance in achieving customer satisfaction and increased market share, compared with price and promotional elements [3]. Many times our efforts are placed in areas that we assume to be important. Unfortunately, we are not the customer and cannot see their needs as they do. Also, because there are different dimensions to these intangible factors, we may not understand the wide variety of customer needs.
THE ELEMENTS
OF QUALITY
What are the elements of service quality that can be used as guidelines to identify customer needs and areas for improvement ? Several areas of quality have been identified. These include time dimensions of quality [4], and differences between tangible and intangible dimensions of quality [2]. Industrial marketers need to be aware of the time dimension of quality. It includes dimensions of search, experience, and credence qualities. Search qualities are those that the customer can perceive prior to the purchase. These include information about the product’s expected performance and takes the form of information provided to the intended buyer. Experience quality is that which is based on a postpurchase evaluation of the product. The third dimension is that of credence quality, which relates to the overall credibility of the product offer. Each of these areas are important to the customer. We may focus
From the customer’s perspective, compare your service level with that of competitors. on the wrong one. For example, a marketing program may place all of its emphasis on information and credence. Information prior to the purchase could be conveyed through extensive sales literature and product knowledge by the salesperson. Credence could be created through use of image advertising, both for the product and the company selling it. The customer may be totally neglected after the sale, with no follow-up calls or assistance with minor problems. This oversight in the experience dimension of quality could cost future sales. Other means of quality assessment have been developed which include the following categories [2] that can help industrial marketing managers identify areas for improvement. These include: Tangibles-These are the things the customer can see, such as physical facilities, equipment, and appearance of personnel. Reliability-This represents our ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately. Responsiveness-Our willingness to help customers and provide prompt service Assurance-Knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to convey trust and confidence Empathy-The caring, individualized attention that our firm provides to its customers By seperating tangible elements of quality from intangible elements, and by looking at different aspects of the intangible area, industrial marketing managers can more easily understand what their markets are looking for and how to improve delivery. For example, what do customers expect in terms of reliability? How important is this dimension to them? How does its importance compare with that of responsiveness and assurance? In many cases industrial marketing managers do not understand the relative importance of these factors and place their emphasis on the wrong area. For example, a company may invest substantial sums of money convincing its market that they offer the quality of empathy, or that they “care,” and
provide individualized service. The customer may be totally unconcerned with this aspect, and may be much more concerned with the quality of responsiveness, or prompt service.
IMPROVING
QUALITY
With this information, how can an industrial marketer improve quality? First, the customer expectation level must be obtained through market research. By using the components of service quality, one can identify what the customers may want in each area. It also helps to have customers compose this list, as the seller can totally miss a real customer need. Second, the level of service perceived by the customer must be ascertained to see how one’s company compares with competitors in fulfilling customer needs. Corrective actions must be taken to insure that our service delivery by area is at or above the customer’s level of expectation. A final consideration is that, where changes have been made, the customer must be made aware of the improvement; otherwise, their assessment will be made exclusively on past experience. An example of this process appears in Table 1. Here, an assessment has been made of what the market is looking for, the relative importance of that quality component, how customers perceive the supplier’s delivery of that component, and what corrective actions will be required to take to bring delivery in line with what they desire. The key to this process is to identify quality components by area; otherwise too many things that are important become lumped into one group, making identification and improvement all but impossible. Through this process, industrial marketers can gain a distinct competitive advantage that is difficult for competitors to match. In many markets the tangible, or product component that one firm delivers is very similar to the competitor’s. The less tangible components, if managed properly, can make one’s firm stand above the competition.
275
TABLE 1 Quality Assessment
and Action Plan
Customer Need Tangibles:
Quality
Importance
Perceived Quality
Change Needed?
High
High
No
High
Low
Ye\-
Product Reliabiity:
Repairs made
has discussed how elements of service quality can be identitied by customer needs, and their perception of the delivery of that need. A framework has been presented to improve service quality by component area. This information can assist industrial marketing managers to evaluate their performance and make decisions which can result in a distinct competitive advantage.
Improve
correctly: 90% first time Responsiveness:
Inquiries
Moderate
High
No
REFERENCES
responded to quickly Assurance:
Employee
Moderate
Low
Empathy:
Feelmg of
Ye\Improve
contidencc Low
caring
High
I. Parasuraman. A., Zeithaml,
Valarie A., and Berry, Leonard L., A Con-
ceptual Model of Service Quality and Its Implications for Future Research,
Yes-
/ournu/
decrease
2. Parasuraman. A., Zeithaml,
ofMarketing
49 (Fall), 41-W
emphasis
Itcvn Sculefi~r Mrtisurittg
(19X5).
V., and Berry, L. L.. Srrvyuulc A Multiple
Customw’s
Prrwption
o/Sirrvicr
Quality.
Marketing
Science Institute, 1986. 3. Sterling, Jay U., and Lambert, Douglas M., Establishing Customer Service
SUMMARY
AND CONCLUSIONS
Strategies within the Marketing Mix. in Lngktic~s Council of Logistical Management,
pp. 147-ISI,
A Broudening
Prrqrctivr,
1986.
4. Zeithaml, V., How Consumer Evaluation Processes Differ Between Goods
Delivering high quality service is becoming increasingly important for industrial marketing firms. This paper
276
and Services, 1984.
in Marketing
of Scrviws,
American
Marketing
Association,
INTRODUCTION Industrial marketers face many challenges in order to market their products successfully. One of the most important tasks is to deliver a high level of quality to the customer. This delivery includes not only the product itself, but also less tangible factors. These include information on your product and company, the sales contact and presentation, and service support after the sale. In many cases these non-product related elements are of primary importance to potential customers and deserve greater attention. Unfortunately, defining and being able to deliver these less tangible components of the industrial marketing mix is not easy. This paper examines these areas of quality and discusses how industrial marketers
Address Marketing, 35294.
correspondence to Professor Thomas L. Powers, Department of School of Business, University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL
Industrial Marketing Manugement 17, 273-216 ( 1988) 0 Elsevier Science Publishing Co., Inc., 1988 6.55 Avenue of the Americas. New York, NY 10010
can more effectively manage these elements to increase sales and profitability.
DELIVERING
QUALITY
One of the most difficult tasks that industrial marketers face is being able to identify what the customer desires and then develop programs that deliver that desired level of service. This process is relatively easy for the more tangible components of the marketing mix, but for the less tangible areas, identification and implementation become difficult. The differences between what our customers want, what they see us delivering, and what we believe them to desire, can be referred to as “gaps,” or voids, where there is not an easy transfer of correct information. Several gaps have been seen to exist in this process [ 11. From the marketer’s side, there are gaps between what managers perceive customer expectations to be, and the process of developing those services into actual delivery. From the customer’s side there are gaps between the perception of the service received and the level of expectation, or what the customer is actually looking for. This process can be seen in Figure 1, where, in order to deliver service at or above the customer’s expectation, 273 0019-8501/88/$3.50
There are several components of service quality that must be identified. ‘
Customer Expectation
Perceived Service
FIGURE
1.
SERVICE
In order to identify the areas where service quality may vary from what the customer is looking for, market research is necessary. For example, in a study of the office
THOMAS L. POWERS is Assistant Professor of Marketing University of Alabama at Birmingham.
274
Perception of Customer Expectations
Quality of Service
the industrial marketing manager must be fully aware of what the customer is looking for and then be able to translate that into a tangible mix of marketing elements. The overall goal, to deliver the service at or above the customer expectation, is critical in achieving satisfied customers. Most managers have had first hand experiences with this problem. Customers often receive service that is not at the level they require or expect. Ironically, the firm marketing that product may not even see the problem. They may be convinced that the customer is truly receiving the type of service that they are looking for. This problem has two sources. First, the company does not adequately research the customer needs. This shortcoming is complicated by the second factor, which is that there are several components of service that must be identified.
IDENTIFYING CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS
Service Delivery
c
at the
furniture market, it was determined that product distribution elements of the marketing mix were of primary importance in achieving customer satisfaction and increased market share, compared with price and promotional elements [3]. Many times our efforts are placed in areas that we assume to be important. Unfortunately, we are not the customer and cannot see their needs as they do. Also, because there are different dimensions to these intangible factors, we may not understand the wide variety of customer needs.
THE ELEMENTS
OF QUALITY
What are the elements of service quality that can be used as guidelines to identify customer needs and areas for improvement ? Several areas of quality have been identified. These include time dimensions of quality [4], and differences between tangible and intangible dimensions of quality [2]. Industrial marketers need to be aware of the time dimension of quality. It includes dimensions of search, experience, and credence qualities. Search qualities are those that the customer can perceive prior to the purchase. These include information about the product’s expected performance and takes the form of information provided to the intended buyer. Experience quality is that which is based on a postpurchase evaluation of the product. The third dimension is that of credence quality, which relates to the overall credibility of the product offer. Each of these areas are important to the customer. We may focus
From the customer’s perspective, compare your service level with that of competitors. on the wrong one. For example, a marketing program may place all of its emphasis on information and credence. Information prior to the purchase could be conveyed through extensive sales literature and product knowledge by the salesperson. Credence could be created through use of image advertising, both for the product and the company selling it. The customer may be totally neglected after the sale, with no follow-up calls or assistance with minor problems. This oversight in the experience dimension of quality could cost future sales. Other means of quality assessment have been developed which include the following categories [2] that can help industrial marketing managers identify areas for improvement. These include: Tangibles-These are the things the customer can see, such as physical facilities, equipment, and appearance of personnel. Reliability-This represents our ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately. Responsiveness-Our willingness to help customers and provide prompt service Assurance-Knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to convey trust and confidence Empathy-The caring, individualized attention that our firm provides to its customers By seperating tangible elements of quality from intangible elements, and by looking at different aspects of the intangible area, industrial marketing managers can more easily understand what their markets are looking for and how to improve delivery. For example, what do customers expect in terms of reliability? How important is this dimension to them? How does its importance compare with that of responsiveness and assurance? In many cases industrial marketing managers do not understand the relative importance of these factors and place their emphasis on the wrong area. For example, a company may invest substantial sums of money convincing its market that they offer the quality of empathy, or that they “care,” and
provide individualized service. The customer may be totally unconcerned with this aspect, and may be much more concerned with the quality of responsiveness, or prompt service.
IMPROVING
QUALITY
With this information, how can an industrial marketer improve quality? First, the customer expectation level must be obtained through market research. By using the components of service quality, one can identify what the customers may want in each area. It also helps to have customers compose this list, as the seller can totally miss a real customer need. Second, the level of service perceived by the customer must be ascertained to see how one’s company compares with competitors in fulfilling customer needs. Corrective actions must be taken to insure that our service delivery by area is at or above the customer’s level of expectation. A final consideration is that, where changes have been made, the customer must be made aware of the improvement; otherwise, their assessment will be made exclusively on past experience. An example of this process appears in Table 1. Here, an assessment has been made of what the market is looking for, the relative importance of that quality component, how customers perceive the supplier’s delivery of that component, and what corrective actions will be required to take to bring delivery in line with what they desire. The key to this process is to identify quality components by area; otherwise too many things that are important become lumped into one group, making identification and improvement all but impossible. Through this process, industrial marketers can gain a distinct competitive advantage that is difficult for competitors to match. In many markets the tangible, or product component that one firm delivers is very similar to the competitor’s. The less tangible components, if managed properly, can make one’s firm stand above the competition.
275
TABLE 1 Quality Assessment
and Action Plan
Customer Need Tangibles:
Quality
Importance
Perceived Quality
Change Needed?
High
High
No
High
Low
Ye\-
Product Reliabiity:
Repairs made
has discussed how elements of service quality can be identitied by customer needs, and their perception of the delivery of that need. A framework has been presented to improve service quality by component area. This information can assist industrial marketing managers to evaluate their performance and make decisions which can result in a distinct competitive advantage.
Improve
correctly: 90% first time Responsiveness:
Inquiries
Moderate
High
No
REFERENCES
responded to quickly Assurance:
Employee
Moderate
Low
Empathy:
Feelmg of
Ye\Improve
contidencc Low
caring
High
I. Parasuraman. A., Zeithaml,
Valarie A., and Berry, Leonard L., A Con-
ceptual Model of Service Quality and Its Implications for Future Research,
Yes-
/ournu/
decrease
2. Parasuraman. A., Zeithaml,
ofMarketing
49 (Fall), 41-W
emphasis
Itcvn Sculefi~r Mrtisurittg
(19X5).
V., and Berry, L. L.. Srrvyuulc A Multiple
Customw’s
Prrwption
o/Sirrvicr
Quality.
Marketing
Science Institute, 1986. 3. Sterling, Jay U., and Lambert, Douglas M., Establishing Customer Service
SUMMARY
AND CONCLUSIONS
Strategies within the Marketing Mix. in Lngktic~s Council of Logistical Management,
pp. 147-ISI,
A Broudening
Prrqrctivr,
1986.
4. Zeithaml, V., How Consumer Evaluation Processes Differ Between Goods
Delivering high quality service is becoming increasingly important for industrial marketing firms. This paper
276
and Services, 1984.
in Marketing
of Scrviws,
American
Marketing
Association,