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Amity Business School


Customer PerceptionsProf. P K Bansal


Customer Perception

of Service

Perceptions are always considered relative to

expectations.

Since expectations are dynamic evaluations

and may shift over time from person to personand from culture to culture, the Perceptions are

also Dynamic in nature.

Customers perceive services in terms of theQuality of the service and Satisfaction they

receive in overall with their experiences.


Service QualityElements

Each service quality dimension is a focusedevaluation that reflects the customers

perception of elements of service:

Interaction quality

Physical environment quality

Outcome quality

Amity Business SchoolSatisfaction

Satisfaction is the consumers fulfillmentresponse. It is a judgment that, a product orservice features, or the service itself,provides a pleasurable level of consumption-related fulfillment.

It can also be reflected as Contentment,Pleasure, Delight or a sense of relief.

Satisfaction is a dynamic, moving target thatmay evolve over time.


Strategies for Influencing

Customer Perceptions

1. Measure and manage customer Satisfactionand Service Quality

Measure and track trends, diagnose problems, linkto other customer-focused strategies like,employee training, reward system, andorganizational structure etc.

Quality firms benefit from customer satisfaction interms of market share, sales per employee,return on sales.


2.Aim for Customer Quality and Satisfaction inEvery Service Encounter

Satisfaction/Dissatisfaction can be caused by anyof the four main areas of employee responseduring any service encounter viz.

1. Recovery (Employee response to servicefailures)

2. Adoptability (Employee response tocustomer needs and requests)

3. Spontaneity (Unprompted and UnsolicitedEmployee actions)

4. Coping (Employee response to problemcustomers)

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1 - Recovery

Used when service delivery system has notdelivered the desired results and the employee isrequired to respond.

The content or form of the employees responsemakes the customer remember the event favourablyor unfavourably.

Recovery strategies include:

Fail-safe your service- Do it right the first time. AdoptTQM, Poka Yokes.

Act quickly. Employees not only need the authority toact but they should not be punished for takingappropriate action.

Amity Business School2 - Adaptability

Customers judge service encounter quality in termsof flexibility of employees and the system.

Customer perceives that something special isbeing done for her and is pleased when the serviceprovider puts forth the effort to accommodate.

Employee should know, when and how thesystem can be flexed, and when and how toexplain to customer why a particular request cannotbe granted.

It requires knowledge of the service concept andservice delivery system.


3 - Spontaneity

Includes pleasant surprises like, special attention,treated like royalty, receiving something nice butnot requested.

Negative in this group represent, rude behaviour ofemployee, ignoring the customer etc.

Besides adopting the following strategies, theorganisations should encourage employeespositive spontaneous behaviour and discouragenegative behaviour


Hire the right people.

Develop competencies and service inclination.

Empower employees.

Promote teamwork, every one has a customer.

Provide needed support systems.

Retain the best employees.

Develop service culture.

Amity Business School4 - Coping

Here, Uncooperative customers are the causeof their own dissatisfaction.

Nothing the employee could do would result inthe customer feeling pleased about theencounter.

Managers need to acknowledge that, customeris not always right, nor she always behave inacceptable ways. So, they should also be giventraining and tools to deal with problemcustomers.


Understanding of customer expectations in theabove four areas helps building relevantstrategies for aiming customer quality andsatisfaction in every service encounter at the pointof contact.

Aim for Zero defect or 100% satisfaction.

3.Manage the Evidence of Service to ReinforcePerceptions.

Evidence of Service, People, Process and PhysicalEvidence help in the tangibilising the service forthe customer and creating positive impression.

Documents

195d209 Perceptions