Why the need for service quality

As new destinations emerge and as customers need change, it is of ever-increasing importance to improve existing products and services and to create new ones to meet and exceed the needs of a changing marketplace and to maintain and increase market share. Service quality is therefore of an utmost importance in a destination, as customers will interact with many persons during their period of stay. However to better understand the needs of customers and to provide the type of service quality required, one must first understand the underlying concepts such as service, quality, service quality and why it is needed.

Customer service is an organization's ability to supply their customers' wants and needs. The ACA Group of companies sums up what excellent customer service is beautifully. They define excellent customer service as "the ability of an organization to constantly and consistently exceed the customers' expectations." For a destination to do this, they must understand the characteristics of a service, how it differs from a product and why it is challenging to maintain a good service.The characteristics of a service are as follows:* Intangibility - This means that* services cannot be seen, tasted, felt, heard, or smelt before they are purchased. Buyers therefore look for tangible evidence that will provide information and confidence about the service.

* Inseparability - This means that both c* customer-contact employees or service providers as well as the* customers are part of the product. Therefore customers and employees must understand the service delivery system.* Variability - This means services are highly variable because they are produced and consumed at the same time. Fluctuating demand makes it difficult to deliver consistent quality during periods of peak demand. Lack of consistency is therefore a major source of customer disappointment.* Perishability - This means that services cannot be stored or inventoried.

Capacity and demand must be managed since unsold inventory cannot be carried forward.Quality is therefore needed in the provision of a service. Quality is defined as "the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bear on its' ability to satisfy a stated or implied need." This brings to focus what is service quality.

Service quality is service that consistently meets or exceeds customer expectations and is therefore about ensuring customers; both internal and external get what they want. As travel and technology bring markets, people and products ever closer, it is the single most effective and sustainable means of differentiation between competing destinations.There are three (3) categories of service quality and these are as follows:* Technical Quality - This is what the customer is left with after the customer-employee interactions.* Functional Quality - This is the process of delivering the service or product. Functional quality is however of paramount value to customers, as this is how persons in a destination deliver their customer service. This then becomes the point of differentiation.

* Societal (ethical) Quality - This is a credence quality that is hard for customers to evaluate.There are many reasons why there is a need for service quality, such as:* It is used for retaining customers as high quality builds loyal customers and creates positive word of mouth.* High quality helps to avoid price competition and maximize potential revenues, and therefore even if your price is higher than your competitors, persons will be willing to pay because of the high level of service quality provided.* Good quality operations retain good employees, who appreciate working in well-run organizations that produce high quality and services and therefore a well-motivated staff is the one who will provide good service quality.

There is a cost to poor-quality services, the three main types of costs being:* Internal costs - These are associated with correcting problems discovered by the organization before the product reaches the customer.* External costs - These are errors or poor levels of service quality that customers experience.* Quality system costs - These are viewed as an investment in the future of the destination to ensure that customers return.Greater demands are made of the destination as customers' needs and requirements are changing. They will look for newer and better destinations that place greater emphasis on the service quality, so as to ensure value for money.Today, established destinations face their toughest competition in decades as new ones are constantly emerging and are attempting to meet and satisfy customer needs.

In order for destinations to gain a competitive edge in today's marketplace, they must become customer-oriented by delivering superior value to their targeted customers, by understanding and focusing on who their customers truly are.Whether the customer is on business or enjoying leisure travel, they have become, on average:* More affluent, with an increase in disposable income* More health conscious and interested in more active pursuits,* Older, with a dramatic increase of the active over fifties* More traveled for business as well as for holidays and leisure, most with international travel experience,* More exposed to the media, advertising and the increased access to information via the Internet* More culturally diverse, in terms of ethnic origin as well as in their range of lifestyle choices* More heterogeneous and individualistic in their demands and expectations.In a nutshell, today's traveling customers are now more sophisticated, more diverse, more experienced, more demanding and certainly more quality conscious than ever before. These customers are more likely to make complaints and will readily take action or seek compensation against service providers if their expectations have not been met. These customers choose a potential destination based on key factors of the destination 'mix' which consists of five (5) main elements:* Destination Attractions and Environment - This includes natural, built or man-made, cultural and social attractions.

Examples of these are landscapes, seascapes, infrastructure, architecture, visitor attractions, religion, customs and way of life for locals and residents.* Destination Facilities and Services - This includes accommodation, food and beverage, transportation at the destination, sports and leisure and retail outlets. Examples of these are hotels, apartments, restaurants, bars, taxis, organized excursions, nightlife, small shops and department stores.* Destination Image -The images and perceptions held by a customer of a destination strongly influence their decision to visit.

Business, physiological, psychological, social and religious motives also play an important role, but image and expectations held, regardless to them being factual, are vital in attracting people to a destination.* Accessibility - This includes not only movement within the destination but transportation to the destination from the traveler-generating market, as the total customer experience begins from the moment queries are made and the travel package is confirmed. Accessibility to the destination includes the various modes of transportation, such as air and sea transport. Accessibility within the destination involves infrastructure, equipment and operational factors. Examples of these are roads, car parks, public transport vehicles, routes operated, frequency of service and price.* Price of visiting the destination - The price usually reflects the total cost of visiting the destination such as travel, accommodation and a certain set of services and facilities.

Prices vary according to the market segment targeted and what is included. Customers place importance on the tangible components but seem to place greater emphasis on the intangibles, such as:a) the quality and attitude of people with whom they interact, the fact that they feel 'cared for' and the way in which extra requests or complaints are handled.b) the atmosphere and ambience of the accommodation and attention to detail and comfort.c) the level of service quality provided during the visit.Furthermore, one has to remember that customers have to place a lot of trust in the hands of tourism businesses operating at the destination since the 'product' being purchased is characterized by a high degree of intangibility before consumption.

Therefore customers would expect to experience the product or service, which they were informed of.In the 1980's Booms and Bitner expanded the traditional marketing mix of a tourism destination to include 'People' who are an integral part of the service delivery and interact with the customer during his stay constantly from the time he or she arrives at the destination to the time they leave. There are three (3) types of people who affect the 'customer experience' at the destination, and these are as follows:* Visitor - this relates to the actual customers themselves and their interaction with other tourists at the destination at the same time and place. This 'experience' will play a strong role in influencing the customers overall satisfaction or dissatisfaction.

* Employees - the staff of any hospitality and tourism business working in all areas, both 'front of house' and 'heart of the house' are detrimental to ensuring the customers satisfaction. As well as the primary service providers, all other employees of different business at the destination play a secondary, yet to some extent equal role in the provision of service quality and the entire 'customer experience'.* Host Community - these are the locals and residents who make up the community of the destination. In most cases they do not see themselves as part of the tourism business, but in fact they interact with customers/visitors informally on a daily basis and whose attitude be it friendly or hostile can make or break the customers' experience.

'Moments of truth' is a term first used by Jan Carlzen, president of Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS). This concept was later developed in the late 1980's into an approach for service management by author Karl Albrecht and Ron Zenke. They expanded the earlier concept of it merely being the interaction point between customer and employee to redefining it as "any episode in which the customer comes into contact with any aspect of the organization and gets an impression of the quality of its service."Moments of Truth for the External Customer (Guest)These can be points of interaction such as - a customer arriving at a destination; a customer standing at the front desk to be checked in or a customer asking for directions or assistance.

Below are some examples of Moments of Truth for the external customer (guest). These questions are designed so that managers and staff can view each moment of truth from the guests' perspectives and also in terms of achieving the company's mission.* Guests arrive at the airport - Immigration. When the guests are in the Immigration section, are they greeted by Immigration officers who are friendly in performing their jobs? Or do the guests retreat because of the unfriendly manner in which their business is handled?* Guests arrive in front of the hotel - Do the bellmen open the doors for the guests and take their luggage? Or do the guests have to open their doors themselves and take their luggage to the reception area after coming from a very long flight? Is the front of the hotel clean and welcoming? Or is it dirty and unkempt?* Guests enter the hotel's lobby - Is there a directional sign informing guests how to get to the front desk? Or is the guest left there in the lobby unsure of where to turn?These Moments of Truth give the managers and employees the opportunity to analyse how they can ensure that the guests receive quality service at the destination.Moments of Truth for the Internal Customer (Employees)Employees like customers also have expectations and hold perceptions of what they consider to be value and quality.

Their internal moments of truth form a chain of events that occur during the daily work environment. Professor Ben Scheider, from the University of Maryland has conducted extensive research on service quality and has shown a direct link between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction. He says, "Appreciation is a more powerful motivator than money. Respecting staff for the contribution they can make to managing the business is hence the key ingredient." Below are some examples of internal moments of truth for employees.* When employees arrive at work, is there a well-lit, well-kept place to park? Or do they encounter a poorly-lit parking lot full of pot-holes and trash?* When employees enter the staff room, is it a welcoming environment or is it a temporary storage room cluttered with various items?* When staff uses equipment in performing their jobs, is it in good working condition? Or do they struggle with inefficient equipment?Below are three (3) examples of companies that have looked at the Internal Moments of Truth for employees and have implemented measures to ensure that the employees are satisfied.

* The Disney Empire began with Walt Disney, who stated, "You can dream, create, design and build the most wonderful place in the world...but it requires people to make the dream a reality".

Disney currently employs around 42,000, of which eighty percent (80%) come into direct contact with the external customer. It is estimated that ten (10) million 'moments of truth' occur per day, underlining the fact that the success of Disney depends upon providing a constant exceptional level of quality service.* The Ritz Carlton Co., whom most regard as the market leader of quality and service within the hospitality industry, worldwide, has adopted this 'key ingredient' as mentioned in Professor Ben Scheider's quote.

The company states that one main attribute to their success is that they do not have staff who want to be treated as servants, as there motto implies "We are Ladies and Gentlemen Serving Ladies and Gentlemen."