Chapter 16: Integrating Services Marketing Communications CUSTOMER Service Delivery External Communications to Customers COMPANY (Gap 4) The Communication Gap Part 6 Opener

Key Reasons for Service Communication Problems – Factors that Contribute to provider Gap 4 Inadequate management of ________________ You purchase a new refrigerator, and the salesperson informs you that the refrigerator will be delivered to your apartment this Thursday between 1:00pm and 3:00pm. However, the refrigerator is not delivered until 4:00pm Friday.

Key Reasons for Service Communication Problems – Factors that Contribute to provider Gap 4 Inadequate management of ___________ __________________ The ad guaranteed that you would be skydiving after only a couple of hours of lessons. After enrolling in class, you learn that instead of skydiving by yourself (which is what the ad implied), you will be skydiving in tandem (belted to another experienced skydiver) due to safety requirements.

Key Reasons for Service Communication Problems – Factors that Contribute to provider Gap 4 Inadequate ___________________ You have hurt your back and have to go to physical therapy every other day. You have a series of exercises to complete on days you do not see the therapist. After two months, you are not feeling any better and complain to your therapist who at this point realizes you have not been performing all of the stretching exercises. You had been handed a booklet when you started your therapy. Because you had been instructed to perform some of the exercises in the booklet but not all of them, you had thought you were not to do the others.

Key Reasons for Service Communication Problems – Factors that Contribute to provider Gap 4 4. Inadequate ___________________________ You read in the newspaper that you can receive a free month’s cable television service if you agree to use the service for three years. The ad has no other stated restrictions and appears to apply to the entire county where you live. At the cable television office, you are told that your area of the community is not eligible for the free month offer. If you want cable, you will have to pay $400.00 to have the cable service brought to your house.

Figure 16.2: Approaches for Integrating Services Marketing Communication Manage Customer Expectations Manage Service Promises Goal: Delivery Greater than Or equal to promises Improve Customer Education Manage Internal Marketing Communication

Manage Service Promises (page 491) 1. Create Effective Services Advertising (p. 492) Use narratives to demonstrate the service experience (services are experiential; _______________________) Present vivid information (_______________________) Use interactive imagery (company logo + expression) Focus on the tangibles (bank’s marble columns; ______ _______________________________) _________________________________________

Manage Service Promises Coordinate External Communication UCA’s television ads, website, brochures to prospective students, campus tour guides, admissions staff, etc. should be consistent

Manage Service Promises Make Realistic Promises 4. Offer Service Guarantees For those who arrive at the airport with only time enough to catch their flight, parking has been a nightmare until the development of GoldParker System, which guarantees a convenient parking place to its members

Manage Customer Expectations (p. 500) Offer Choices Create Service Offerings Eddie Bauer, a catalog retailer offers three different delivery options: 5 to 7 days via standard delivery; 3 to 4 days via express delivery; or 2 days via express plus delivery. The delivery rates are higher for faster service

Manage Customer Expectations 3. Communicate the Criteria and Levels of Service Effectiveness Ex: ______________________________ 4. Negotiate Unrealistic Expectations ______________________________________

Improve Customer Education Prepare Customers for the Service Process Step-by-step instruction; customer is unfamiliar with process Confirm Performance to Standards and Expectations: Help customer better evaluate effectiveness of service – advertise that guarantee is available; explain in “customer-friendly” terms

Improve Customer Education 3. Clarify Expectations after the Sale Service providers sometimes need to tell customers that services have been performed for them. To get credit for their actions, service providers need to reinforce their actions with appropriate communication about their accomplishment of the service ___________________ Teach Customers to Avoid ________________ Periods and Seek ________________ Periods Bank gives new customers a brochure entitled “How to Lose Wait” that gives advice on how to avoid delays at the bank, and lists banks’ busiest and slowest times.

Manage Internal Marketing Communication Create Effective ___________ Communications Company newsletters and magazines, emails, recognition programs; keep employees informed of everything that is being conveyed to customers through external marketing 2. Create Effective ___________ Communications Coordination between departments; open channels of communication between marketing, sales, and operations.

Manage Internal Marketing Communication 3. Align Back-Office and Support Personnel with External Customers through Interaction of Measurement