1. CUSTOMER-FOCUSED SERVICE
Chapter 13
CUSTOMER-FOCUSED SERVICE
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
© 2003 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved.

2. LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Describe factors that affect customer satisfaction with the service
encounter.
Outline core customer needs related to service encounters.
Review the service satisfaction equation and describe hot to improve
customer satisfaction through managing both performance and
expectations.
Introduce the zone of tolerance and its implications for service delivery.
Describe types of service encounters and the challenges they present.
Define sources of customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction.
Introduce the concept of customer relationship management and its
advantages for service firms.
Introduce the concepts of service recovery, service guarantees,
and zero defections.
Describe the concept of Six-Sigma Quality in services.

3. Fairness: the need for just treatment.
THREE CORE NEEDS OF CUSTOMERS
Fairness: the need for just treatment.
Security: the need to feel free from harm.
Esteem: the need to protect or even
enhance one’s self concept.

4. Improve the customers perception of performance Decrease expectations
TWO WAYS TO INCREASE CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
Improve the customers perception of performance
and
Decrease expectations

5. Adequate service level
Exhibit 13.1
THE ZONE OF TOLERANCE
Delight
Zone of Tolerance
Dissatisfaction
Desired service level
Adequate service level

6. Adequate service level
Exhibit 13.2
THE ZONE OF TOLERANCE FOR DIFFERENT SERVICE FACTORS
Desired service level
Adequate service level
Delight
Zone of Tolerance
Dissatisfaction
Factor 1 Most Important
Factor 2 Most Important
Factor 2 Most Important

7. Types of Encounters THE SERVICE ENCOUNTER Remote Encounter
Phone Encounter
Face-to-Face Encounter

8. Sources of Customer Satisfaction
THE SERVICE ENCOUNTER
Sources of Customer Satisfaction
Recovery
Adaptability
Spontaneity
Coping
Source: Bitner, Mary Jo, Brooms, Bernard H., and Tetreault, Mary Stanfield, “The Service Encounter: Diagnosing Favorable and Unfavorable Incidents,” Journal of Marketing, Volume 54, January 1990, pp

9. Exhibit 13.3 GENERAL SERVICE BEHAVIOR DOs AND DON’TS
Source: Zeithaml, Valerie A. and Bitner, Mary Jo, Services Marketing, Irwin McGraw-Hill, Boston, 2000

10. Exhibit 13.3 cont. GENERAL SERVICE BEHAVIOR DOs AND DON’TS
Source: Zeithaml, Valerie A. and Bitner, Mary Jo, Services Marketing, Irwin McGraw-Hill, Boston, 2000

11. Benefits for Customers
BUILDING CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS
Benefits for Customers
Confidence
Social
Special Treatment

12. Benefits for the Firm BUILDING CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS
Less costly to keep current customer
Potential for positive word-of-mouth advertising
Employee retention

13. MASS CUSTOMIZATION Customizing the service around a standardized core.
Creating customizable services.
Point-of-Delivery customization.
Offering standard modules that can be combined
in different ways.

14. Types of Justice for Customers
RECOVERING FROM SERVICE FAILURES
Types of Justice for Customers
Outcome Fairness
Procedural Fairness
Interaction Fairness

15. Service Guarantees OBTAINING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION INFORMATION
Force firms to focus on what their customers want
and expect from each element of the service.
Set clear standards.
Require the development of systems for generating
meaningful customer feedback and acting on it.
Force service organizations to understand why they fail.
Reduce the consumer’s risk of the purchase decision
and build long-term loyalty.

16. KEY TERMS Adaptability Adequate Service Confidence Benefits Coping
Desired Service
Esteem
Face-to-Face Encounters
Fairness
Phone Encounters
Recovery
Remote Encounters
Security
Service Guarantee
Six Sigma Quality
Social Benefits
Special Treatment Benefits
Spontaneity
Zero Defections
Zone of Tolerance