" Parasurama (1988), Ziethmal (1990). In cite of this statement what gaps can occur in service quality and how can service marketing reduce them? (25) Knowing what customers expect is the first and possibly the most critical step in delivering service quality (Kotler 2000). Ziethmal et al (1988) propounds that the central focus of the gaps model is to close the all important the customer gap - the difference between customer expectations and perceptions.According to Seaton and Bennett (1996) the gaps model suggest four provider gaps which need to be closed which are; gap 1: the listening gap – not knowing what customer expect, gap 2: the designs and standards gap - not designing services to meet customer's expectations, gap 3: the service-performance gap - not performing the service as designed and gap 4: the communication gap - not matching performance to promises.
Firms need to close these gaps by understanding customer needs and delivering services to match customer expectation and perceptions through internal and relationship marketing in order to satisfy their customers and build long term relationships with them. Gap 1 is defined as lack of understanding of customer's expectations and perceptions of the service, motivated by both lack of initiative to listen customers (Ziethmal 1989) and by a lack of common understanding when these initiatives are taken (Parasurama 1985).Managers may cause this gap if they do not interact directly with customers, be unwilling to ask about expectations or be unprepared to address them. Formal and informal methods of capturing information about customer's expectations must be developed to curd this gap through market research. Relationship marketing is essential as it ensures that the company's strategy is designed to retain customers and strengthen relationships by creating customers for life.According to Brogowicz (1990) the difference between company understanding of customer expectations and development of customer driven service designs and standards creates provider gap 2.
Standards signal to contact personnel what management priorities are and which type of performance really count. Gap 2 originates from lack of management commitment to service quality and short term profit orientation. (Zeithmal et al 1980). Absence of goal setting and inadequate commitment to service quality and unwillingness to invest jeopardize service standards.When the standards in place do not reflect customers' expectations, quality of service as perceived by customers is likely to suffer (Kotler 2000). Therefore, closing provider gap 2 by setting customer defined performance standards has a powerful positive effect building relationships with customers.
In this regard management should show support through measurement of results and rewarding employees for superior service. Gronroos (1990) propounds that one of the most important ways to avoid gap 2 is to design service clearly without over simplicity, incompleteness, subjectivity, or bias.Innovative thinking can also eliminate gap 2 problems. Marriott's express check out system was developed by someone who viewed queues at the check out desk as a challenge rather than a challenge that was inherent in the system. There are similarly effective best practices to close the design and standards gap, starting with the catchy phrase, "service research and development.
" Besson (2004) advocates "blueprinting" the company's services to get inside the customer's head that is, to understand the service process from the customer’s point of view.Gap 3 is the discrepancy between development of customer-driven service standards and actual service standards performance by company employees. The wrong employees, who do not clearly understand their roles and duties, inadequate technology, inappropriate compensation and recognition, and lack of teamwork are possible inhibitors to the service-performance gap (Ziethmal et al 1988). Because services are perishable and cannot be inventoried, service companies often lack the capacity to handle over demand and loss sales.Marketing strategies for managing demand such as price changes, promotions and alternative service offering can supplement approaches to managing supply. Gap 3 can also be narrowed by backing standards to deliver better service performance with the appropriate resources in the form of people, systems and technology.
Internal marketing and human resources management can be utilized to minimize the gap by an effective hiring, monitoring process and developing reward services.Companies should take advantage of the technologies available that make it easier for agents, customers and channel partners to find what they need in order to solve customers’ problems (Besson 2004). For instance, Econet broadband has a content and knowledge management system featuring a sophisticated technical content search and display engine complemented by new technical knowledge management processes and infrastructure that substantially reduce calls costs and support time while enhancing first-call problem resolution.Kotler (2000) suggests that employees at all levels must be aligned with a service vision of what the organization is trying to accomplish.
Employees need to be trained to offer assistance rather than waiting for a patient to ask for help. Because consumers generally prefer the human touch when seeking advice, agents must be well-equipped for their jobs. More comprehensive training and development programs, combined with new incentives are called for to encourage and reward appropriate, personable agent behavior. The discrepancy between actual and promised service has an adverse effect on the customer gap.Gap 4 may result from a lack of communication between marketing department and operational department in an organization or a propensity to over promise (Ziethmal et al 1988) or an inability to communicate clearly or accurately the benefits of service offering to customers (Brogowicz 1990). Promises made by a company through its media, sales force and other communications may potentially raise customers expectations that serve as the standard by which customers assess service quality.
The inseparability of the service from the provider means that the people are part of the product.However the employee-customer interactions may vary as what people do cannot be controlled like machines. Because service advertising promises what people do, interactive marketing must be coordinated with the types of external marketing used in service firms. The Meikles hotel chain is an example of a corporation that's nailed how to close the service-performance gap. Executives figured out those well-treated employees to take good care of customers, so it's not surprising that Meikles Hotel always makes those top celebrities enjoy the hotel ''home of total external leisure hotel'' experience.Everything human-resource related, from hiring to training programs, is specifically structured to drive customer satisfaction.
IBM Global Services is another firm that focuses on human resource techniques; in this case, specifically hiring and training people to work on services research and development, and training employees in how to build key relationship with customers. According to Lovelock (1992) great service instills strong loyalty whereas average or even slightly above-average service will still result in substantial customer churn.To profit companies that have learned to close the service quality gap such as Econet actually encourages customer complaints, considering them valuable field data, and routinely does customer-satisfaction tracking studies. To close the communications gap, the company should understand that anything that sends a message to the customer can interrupt the company's service delivery. Like an off-key note in a melody, inconsistent cues can trigger trouble. Failing to match performance to promises is essentially damaging.
For instance customers would hear companies make promise like ''your pizza delivered in 15 minutes or less'' and too often are let down by the firm's inability to enable that promise. Everything from the annual report on charitable giving to the discount coupons in an advert circular, functions as external communications to customers. As the ultimate test of any organization delivering lies in what customers tell others. The best company finds ways to listen to the real voices of customers (Kotler 2000).
Lovelock (1999) suggests every company interested in boosting service quality start by drilling down on how well it is meeting or exceeding customer expectations. Ineffective sales calls translate into lost opportunities. Establishing a differentiated, positive service experience requires organizations to shift their thinking from service starts after the sale to service sells the product; and from service is operated as a cost center with “call avoidance” being a key metric to service is operated as a profit center with customer intimacy being a differentiating feature.The tools, approaches and resources do need to be coordinated effectively today for companies to create world-class customer service capabilities that live up to customers’ expectations while remaining fiscally sensible by building enduring customer loyalty and achieve high performance in an ever changing world.
