CUSTOMER SERVICE

In the very competitive world of marketing a product or service, what consumers will buy and when, where, and how they will purchase it is often determined by the type, level, and quality of customer service provided by competing marketers. This purchase determination has become even more of a strategic issue with the advent of new marketing channels such as the Internet and television-shopping networks. A growing number of organizations are giving increased attention to customer service. Financial institutions, hospitals, public utilities, airlines, retail stores, restaurants, manufacturers, and wholesalers are just a few of the businesses that face the problem of attracting new customers and retaining the patronage of existing customers.

Building long-term relationships with customers has been given a high priority by the majority of America's most successful enterprises. These companies realize that customer satisfaction is an important key to success. Customer service can be defined as those activities that enhance or facilitate the purchase and use of the product or service. Today's emphasis on customer satisfaction can be traced to a managerial philosophy that has been described as the marketing concept.

THE MARKETING CONCEPT AND CUSTOMER SERVICE

The significant increase in the desire to provide effective consumer service is a direct result of a shift to the marketing concept in the early 1950s. The marketing concept has three major components: (1) identifying what the consumer needs and wants, (2) developing products/services to meet those needs/wants, and (3) designing marketing plans to effectively and efficiently deliver the products/services in a manner that will satisfy the customer and the long-term objectives of the organization. The foundation for the success of the marketing concept is a business philosophy that leaves no doubt in the mind of every employee that customer satisfaction is of primary importance. All energies are directed toward satisfying the consumer. The degree to which customer satisfaction is dependent on the quality of service varies greatly with different products/services. The service continuum (see Figure 1) shows the significant difference between a necktie (tangible product with little service involved) and a lawn mowing service (no tangible product).

SERVICE QUALITY

Whether consumers patronize an organization on a continuing basis is often strongly influenced by the level and quality of service they receive from that firm. Since this service experience is an important determinate of future purchase behavior, then it becomes important to examine how consumers evaluate the service provided and how a business might assess how well they deliver quality service.

Research has found that consumers often evaluate the quality of the service they receive based on five criteria. Businesses and organizations should consider these criteria

when they examine how well they are satisfying their customer's needs:

Tangibles—Physical facilities, equipment, employees' appearance, etc.
Reliability—Dependable and accurate service
Responsiveness—Prompt customer assistance
Empathy—Firm/employees show concern about the individual needs of the customer
Assurance—Employees instilling trust and confidence in the service provider through their knowledge, courtesy, and helpfulness

Gap Theory

One method of examining the degree to which a firm is meeting the service expectations of the consumer on these five dimensions is called the gap theory. The gap theory first determines the difference between the customer's service expectations and the customer's perception of the service actually received. This gap is referred to as the service gap and is considered the most important because it determines the level of satisfaction/dissatisfaction with the service and, ultimately, the organization.

If a service gap exists, management should examine four other gaps that most likely are the reason for the service gap. These four gaps are:

Knowledge gap—The difference between the consumer's service expectations and management's perception of consumer's expectations
Standards gap—The difference between the management's perception of consumer's expectation and the standards established by the organization for service delivery
Delivery gap—The difference between the established standards and the actual quality of service delivered by employees
Communications gap—The difference between the actual quality of service provided and the quality of service communicated to consumers through promotional material and activities

If any of these gaps exist, a service gap will follow—with the probability of customer dissatisfaction.

THE NEW CUSTOMER

Customers, and the type and quality of service they demand, are constantly changing. This requires businesses to stay alert for changes and adjust to meet new service challenges. In an article by Ron Zemke (2002), the consumer of the twenty-first century was briefly characterized by customer service professionals. Zemke described new consumers as more knowledgeable about the products they purchase, possessing more sophistication, being a little more impulsive and less patient, wanting to be treated as individuals rather than numbers, and desiring to be treated fairly and like everyone else or knowing a clear reason why not.

At the end of the article Zemke presented a laundry list of fourteen customer needs identified by Chip Bell, a Dallas-based consultant and author of Customer Love: Attracting and Keeping Customers for Life.

Make me smarter.
Help me do it myself.
Make the response fast … but don't sacrifice quality—quick and rushed aren't the same.
Help me customize the experience like I want it.
Anchor your offering to a cause I like and believe in. Good works sell.
Entertain me. Make the experience bright, shiny, and memorable.
Don't invade my privacy; never let me worry about whether you know too much about me.
Respect my time by making your offer super easy to deal with.
Anticipate my needs.
Treat me with respect when things go wrong … not some cheap, generic atonement that is unmatched to the incident.

Never take me for granted. I will drop you in a heartbeat.

My time is as important as my funds … maybe more.

Help me integrate … link stuff together to increase the efficiency of my life.

Life is complex: Make service simple. Life is harried: Make service calm. Life can be shallow: Make service have resonance and depth. Life can be painful: Make service joyful. Life is too fast: Help me keep up. Life can be lonely: Make service a value connection. (quoted in Zemke, 2002, p. 49)

SEE ALSO Marketing

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Albrecht, Karl, and Zemke, Ron (2002). Service America in the new economy (rev. ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Bell, Chip R. (2000). Customer love: Attracting and keeping customers for life. Provo, UT: Executive Excellence.

Hoffman, K. Douglass (2006). Marketing principles and best practices (3rd ed.). Mason, OH: Thomson South-Western.

Lascu, Dana-Nicoleta, and Clow, Kenneth E. (2004). Marketing frontiers: Concepts and tools. Cincinnati: Atomic Dog.

Lovelock, Christopher, and Wirtz, Jochen (2004). Services marketing: People, technology, strategy (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Manning, Gerald L., and Reece, Barry L. (2004). Selling today: Creating customer value (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Pride, William M., and Ferrell, O. C. (2006). Marketing concepts and strategies. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Reece, Barry L., and Brandt, Rhonda (2005). Effective human relations: Personal and organizational applications (9th ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Sewell, Carl, and Brown, Paul B. (2002). Customers for life: How to turn that one-time buyer into a lifetime customer (rev. ed.). New York: Doubleday.

Solomon, Michael R., Marshall, Greg W., and Stuart, Elnora W. (2006). Marketing: Real people, real choices (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Zemke, Ron (2002). The customer service revolution. Training, 39(7), 44–49.