Topic:

Improving Service
Quality and
Productivity

Integrating service quality

and productivity strategies
What is service quality?
The Gaps Model
Measuring and improving
service quality

1. Integrating Service Quality and

Productivity Strategies

Quality and productivity : twin paths

Quality focus and productivity focus
Importance of improving productivity:
o Keeps costs down to improve profits and/or
reduce prices
o Enables firms to spend more on improving
customer service
o Secures firms future through increased
spending on R&D
o May impact service experiencemarketers
must work to minimize negative effects,
promote positive effects

2. What Is Service Quality?

*Comparison of expectation with

performance

*Different things to people according to

context

* The Transcendent view of quality

Experienced gained from repeated exposure
The Manufacture based approach
Supply based and related to engineering and
manufacturing
User based definitions
quality with maximum satisfaction, depends on
needs and wants of the customer
Value based definitions
in terms of value and price

Tangibles:
Tangibles: Appearance
Appearance of
of physical
physical elements
elements
Reliability:
Reliability: Dependable
Dependable and
and accurate
accurate performance
performance
Responsiveness:
Responsiveness: Promptness;
Promptness; helpfulness
helpfulness
Assurance:
Assurance: Competence,
Competence, courtesy,
courtesy, credibility,
credibility, security
security
Empathy:
Empathy: Easy
Easy access,
access, good
good communication,
communication,
understanding
understanding of
of customer
customer

3. The Gaps Model

word of mouth

personal needs

past experience

Knowledge gap: Learn what customers expect

o Understand customer expectations
o Improve communication between frontline staff and
management
o Turn information and insights into action
Policy gap: Specify SQ standards that reflect
expectations
o Set, communicate, and reinforce customer-oriented
service standards for all work units
o Measure performance and provide regular feedback
o Reward managers and employees

Delivery gap: Ensure service performance meets

standards
Clarify employee roles
o Train employees in priority setting and time management
o Eliminate role conflict among employees
o Develop good reward system
o

communications gap: Ensure that communications

promises are realistic
Seek comments from frontline employees and operations personnel
about proposed advertising campaigns
o Get sales staff to involve operations staff in meetings with customers
o Ensure that communications sets realistic customer expectations
o

Perceptions gap: Educate customers to see reality of

service quality delivered
Keep customers informed during service delivery and debrief after
delivery
o Provide physical evidence
o

Service gap: Close gaps 1 to 6 to meet customer

expectations consistently

4. Measuring and Improving

Service Quality

Customer feedback collection tools

Total market surveys, annual surveys,

transactional surveys
Service feedback cards
Mystery shopping
Analysis of unsolicited feedback

Control charts to monitor a single variable

Offer a simple method of displaying performance over time against
specific quality standards
o Are only good if data on which they are based is accurate
o Enable easy identification of trends
o

Service quality indexes*

o

Embrace key activities that have an impact on customers

Fishbone diagram
o

Pareto Chart
o

Cause-and-effect diagram to identify potential causes of problems

Separating the trivial from the important. Often, a majority of
problems is caused by a minority of causes (i.e. the 80/20 rule)

Blueprinting
o

Visualization of service delivery, identifying points where failures are

most likely to occur

Facilities,
Equipment
Arrive late
Oversized bags

Customers
Customers

Frontstage
Front-Stage
Personnel
Personnel

Procedures
Procedures

Aircraft late to Gate agents cannot Delayed check-in

procedure
process
gate
Mechanical fast enough
Acceptance of late
Failures
passengers
Late/unavailable
airline crew
Late pushback

Delayed
Departures
Late food
service

Other Causes
Weather
Air traffic

Late baggage
Late fuel
Materials,
Materials,
Supplies
Supplies

Backstage
Personnel

Late cabin
cleaners

Poor announcement of
departures
Weight and balance
sheet late

Information

Case: Analysis of Causes of

Flight Departure Delays

15.3%

23.1%

15.4%

All stations, excluding

Chicago-Midway Hub
11.7%

23.1%

23.1%

Newark

15%

Late passengers
Waiting for pushback
Waiting for
fuelling

19%

33.3%

9.5%

8.7%
11.3%

4.9
%

33.3%
53.3%
Washington Natl.

Late weight and balance sheet

Late cabin cleaning/supplies
Other