examples

Reliability – problem fixed the first time, vehicle ready when promised.

Responsiveness – Accessible ; no waiting ; responds to requests

Assurance – Knowledgeable mechanics, trained service engineers

Empathy – acknowledges customers by name – ‘Mr Harish”. “Mr Yaseen” “Mr Nabeel”, service center recalls previous problems & preferences- (because of CRM and data mining)

- “Yes, we remember Mr Harish, the last time, your car battery was down and we had come to your place”.

Tangibles – Repair facility, availability of spare parts, facilities, waiting areas, uniforms, equipment, magazines to read during waiting period.

Reliability – Flights to promised destinations depart and arrive on schedule.

Responsiveness – Prompt system for ticketing, inflightbaggage handling. Amit asks for proper care of fragile items and air line responds swiftly by tagging his package as “Fragile”.

Assurance – Trusted name, good safety record, competent employees

Empathy – understands special individual needs, anticipates customer needs. “ Mr Ankush Mohit, do you prefer a window seat ?” “ Mr Jarnees, your seat is close to the emergency exit, do you mind ?’

Tangibles – Aircraft, Ticketing counters, baggage area,uniforms.

Reliability – Appointments on time, accurate diagnosis – “Mr Abhinand, you need a root canal treatment”.

Responsiveness – accessible, no waiting, willingness to listen.

Assurance – knowledge, skills, credentials, reputation

Empathy – acknowledges patient as a person. Remembers previous problems, listens well, has patience. “Mr Harish, how is your tummy now?”

Tangibles – Waiting room, exam room, equipment, written materials.

Face to Face

Remote – ATM, Email.

Phone

Recovery (after failure)

Adaptability

Spontaneity

Coping

How is the employee response in case of

service failure

Flexibility of employees and system in

meeting special needs or requests of

system

(South West Airlines rewards employees

who break rules in an attempt to satisfy

customer)

Customer feels “special” even though for

the employee it may be a routine affair.

Special attention

Receiving something nice but not

requested

Un expected

Eg. Naveen Kumar B G and Lingaraju visit

a resort during Raksha Bandhan. The

female staff in the resort tie a “rakhi”

around their wrist. It was unexpected !

Strategy to handle problem customers

In some cases, customers were the own cause of dissatisfaction because they do not want to obey rules.

In such cases, explain to the customers, listen to them and try to accommodate them.

“Mr. Tayeb Owais, this is a no-smoking zone. Can we request you to move to the smoking zone ?”

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH QUANTITAIVE RESEARCH

Exploratory, conducted to get an

insight

Into problems

Describe nature, attitudes or behaviors

of customers

Simply talk to customer to get more

clues

Important to assess and improve

service delivery

The research outputs are useful when

a more formal research needs to be

done.

Relationship surveys, Servqual

surveys : Monitor and track

performance

Complaint solicitation – ask

dissatisfied customer , identify service

failure areas

Assess company performance vis-à-

vis that of competitors

Critical Incident Studies – Identify best

practices at transaction level, identify

strengths and weaknesses of system

Assess gaps between expectations

and perceptions

Qualitative research

Researchers observe consumption

behavior in natural settings. Observe how

and when a service is used in a home

environment e.g. Watching consumers

attend concerts

Or observing consumers in restaurants

Study customers from other cultures in an

unbiased manner

Quantitative

Measure individual performance for evaluation, recognition and rewards

Identify strengths and weaknesses in customer contact services

Companies hire outside research organizations to send people to service establishments and experience the service as if they were customers. Then they complete questionnaires about service standards,

Identify benefits and attributes that customers expect in a service.

IBM’s structured brainstorming – a technique in which

Sample of customers assembled.

Facilitator leads the group

Customers are asked to describe the ideal service provider

Facilitator probes further – what customers want, why, how do they know when they receive it.

Qualitative , why has the customer

defected ?

Our best ideas come from delivery and

stock boys.

Upward communication

Make service fail safe. Do it right first time.

Adapt TQM for service implications.

Encourage and tracks complaints using

customer research, satisfaction surveys,

critical incident studies and lost customer

research.

Act quickly.

Empower employees to solve problems as

quickly as possible.

Provide adequate explanations

Treat customers fairly

Learn from Recovery Experience

Cultivate relationships with customers

Anticipate problems before and surprise

customers with a solution

Develop the mind set that complaints are

good

Make complaining easy

Be an active listener

Ask customers about specific service

issues

Conduct follow up surveys

A customer complaint is a gift !