Customers recovery expectations

Service Recovery

Customers recovery expectations

When customers take the time and effort to complain, generally they have high expectations.

They not only expect a responce; They expect the firm to be accountable To be helped quickly To be treated nicely in the process To be compensated for their grief and for the hassle of

being inconvenienced.


Understanding and Accountability

Eight most common «remedies» that customers seek when they experience a serious problem;

Three of this remedies are; To have the product repaired or service fixed Be reimbursed for the hassle of having

experienced a problem Receive a free product or service in the future


Understanding and Accountability

The Other five remedies ; Including an explanation by the firm Assurance that the problem will not be repeated Thank you for the customers’ business An apology from the firm An opportunity for the customer to vent his/her

frustrations

These five nonmonetary remedies providing employees the opportunity to communicate with customers.


Fair Treatment

Service recovery experts Steve Brown and Stave Tax have documented three spesific types of justice that consumers are looking for following their complaints ;

Outcome fairness Procedural fairness Interactional fairness

Fairness Themes in Service Recovery

Fair Treatment

Outcome Fairness Customers expect equity in the exchange ,

They want to feel that the company has paid for its mistakes in a manner at least equal to what customer has suffered.

The company’s punishment should fit the crime .

Interactional FairnessCustomers expect to be treated politely, with care and honesty.

Fair Treatment

Prosedural FairnessCustomers expect fairness in terms of policies, rules and timeliness of the complaint process.

- They want easy access to the complaint process and things to be handled quickly, preferably by the first person they contact.- Fair procedures are characterized by clarity, speed and absence of hassles.

- Customers feel unfair if they have to proof their case.

Switching versus staying following service recovery

• Researchers found that customers who were not satisfied with the service recovery were much likely to switch to a different provider.

• The magnitude and criticality of the failure will clearly be a factor in the future repurchase decisions;

• If the failure more serious, customer is to switch no matter what the recovery effort.

To remian loyal to the service provider or to switch to

another provider.

Switching versus staying following service recovery

Types of customers’ relationship with the firm also influence whether the customers stays or switches providers.

If customers have a true relationships with service providers are more forgiving of service failures and less likely to switch than are those who have a pseudo-relationship or a first time encounter.

True relationship : customer has had repeated contact over time with the same service provider.

First time encounter : customer has had only one contact.

Pseudo relationship : customer has interacted many times with the same company, but with different service providers each time.

Service Recovery Strategies


Make the service fail-safe

- to do it right the first time

Encourage and Track complaints:

- Satisfaction surveys

- Critical incidents studies

- Lost customer research


Act quickly

Complaining customers want quick responses. Half of all customers who have problems resolved immediately or with in 24 hours are completely satisfied.

Many companies require customers contact lots of employees to solve a complaint.Research suggest that if a problem can be handled by the first contact customer satisfied with the firms response %46, however once three or more contacts are needed the percentage drops to %21.

Service Recovery Strategies Provide Adequate Explanations

Explanations can help diffuse negative reactions and convey respect for the customer.

Firm’s ability to provide adequate outcome is not successful, further dissatisfaction can be reduced if an adequate explanation provided to the customer.

Content of the explanation must be appropriate and style of the delivery of the explanation also reduce customer dissatisfaction.


Treat Customers Fairly

Customers expect to be treated fairly.

Cultivate Relationships with customers

Research suggests that strong customer-firm relationships can help shield the firm from negative effects of failures on customer satisfaction.

Learn from recovery experiences

Problem – resolution situations are opportunuties to fix flawed services and strengthen ties with customers.

Learn from lost customers

Another key of an effective service recovery strategy is to learn from the customers who defect or decide to leave.

Service Guarantees

A guarantee is a particular type of recovery tool.

With a tangible product,the customer is quaranteed that it will perform as promised and if not it can be returned.

With services , it is generally not possible to take returns or to undo what has been performed.

Companies find they can guarantee their services and that are benefits for doing so.

Service Guarantees

Service Guarantees

Unconditional Meaningful Easy to Understand Easy to Invoke

Characteristics of Effective Guarantees

Benefits of Service Guarantees

A good guarantee forces the company to focus on its customers

An effective quarantee sets clear standards for the organization

A good guarantee generates immediate and relevant feedback from customers

When the quarantee is invoked there is an instant opportunity to recover

Information generated through the quarantee can be tracked and intagrated in to continuous improvement efforts

For customers , the quarantee reduces their sence of risk and builds confidence in the organization.

Business

Customers recovery expectations