Marketing Services: Customer Interaction Encounters - Assignment Example

Marketing Services: Customer interaction encounters This is a diary of the service encounters for the last two weeks. The purpose of this diary is to keep track of all service encounters in order to analyze them from the point of view of customer service theories. Episode 1 The first encounter of the day is one with the internet service as e-mails need to be checked first thing in the morning, before attending to new tasks. This service can be rated as exemplary for the most part – connection is always stable and fast, computers and keyboards are clear, there is proper ventilation in the premise; there are also refreshments available, including coffee, juice and water. However, the employees of the cyber café can be sometimes not polite when there number of customers increases (this happens in the morning, at noon or in the evening). Episode 2 The second service encounter is during the break at the college canteen; there are sometimes difficulties experienced with getting this service. The main problem is that the canteen is seriously understaffed and sometimes it takes some time for them to add water to boilers; students are thus inconvenienced because they have to wait until the water boils. Of course, a canteen is a place without ambitions towards customer satisfaction (as opposed to a restraint, for example), however good service is always appreciated. Episode 3 Gas Station. Service at gas stations varies from station to station; in addition, depending on people working there, one might not get proper attention and a customer would have to do everything him/herself. In such places, where there are people specially employed to assist with filling up the car with gas, such attention is crucial. This is enhancing customers’ experience and adding extra comfort to it. While the car is being serviced, the driver can go have a bite or a cup of coffee, all of which looks very appealing if it’s a long drive Episode 4. McDonald's. If it weren’t for the setting of a particular restaurant, it would be possible to rate customer experience as overall positive. The company strives to maintain high service standards, keep waiting times low and always make sure that all customers are attended to within shortest possible time. It is interesting to note that company’s standards are maintained in its chain throughout the world. From country to country, its staff is always ready to serve you and make sure you get proper attention. Episode 5 Shopping center. While shopping one day, it was shocking to see that shop assistants never bothered to come up to the customer and help, thus facilitating sales and overall customer experience. On the contrary, they preferred to stay in there places, read and talk. The service provided there (or rather the absence of such) was terrifying and it was noticeable that all customers were not happy with their experience either. Lack of attention, obvious lack of competence and willingness to ensure positive customer outcomes were quite noticeable. Episode 6 Gym. Gym has been the worst experience of the past four months. Its employees, a father and a son became unconcerned with such customer sentiments as dirty towels, lack of paper towels, no greetings and an empty dispenser for over 3 days. On one occasion a customer went against gym regulations by disregarding gym etiquette, instead of using headphones he went on blasting the TV. The encounters experienced at the gym can be called unsatisfactory service encounters. This can be analyzed from underlying gym management problems. First the managers failed to align with its mission as spelled out in its service distinction “customer comfort is our primary objective.” In such consideration most of customers' expectations and needs were not met. Lack of greetings on my arrival has caused failure to meet customer expectations. The gym management failed in recovering the service, behaving as if customer’s needs were of no concern. The second instance causing dissatisfaction was related to towels, where no clean towels remained, all of which made customer experience unsatisfactory. Had the employee offered regrets it would have been understandable. However no apology followed. The next “people” aspect was when a gym member (customer-customer interaction) who decided to blast TV on his workout machine instead of using headphones, forcing others to listen to loud music for over fifty minutes. This was total contravention of gym regulations and etiquette requiring members to watch television in toned down volume or use headphones while listening to music. Hence outcomes of the service became extremely distressing. Episode 7 Although eating out among families has become common among Australian society, the author rarely considers it. The reasons for it are that dinning out is viewed as a special treat on specific occasions, therefore entry into a restaurant raises higher expectations with narrower tolerance value compared to more frequent diners. However one restaurant which exceedingly satisfies customer service expectations is XZY a Japanese Restaurant. It offers friendly, prompt, adaptable service and delicious food. Three perceivable elements as evidence of the restaurant quality service have been identified. They are physical evidence, people, and process. It is not by shear accident since XZY shines repeatedly in all the mentioned customer satisfaction elements. Accordingly, the restaurant management recognizes, how each of the element impacts on the customers’ desire for return and applies this to win competitive advantage. Episode 8 Another episode of positive experience is related to shopping for home appliances. Advancement of technology has made the array of offered goods extremely varied and diverse, and it is next to impossible to select an item that suits one’s needs. Of course, it’s next to impossible if there is no one to advise on the choice of a proper appliance. However, client satisfaction is always attained if there is competent and professional consultation available. The shop assistant was able to identify my needs and offer a solution, which would totally meet customer's expectations. As a result, positive perception of the shop is established, and high levels of satisfaction are attained. Episode 9 Footwear selection. A visit to a shoe shop is impossible without effective help from shop consultants. Again, there are many factors to consider, including size, material, brand, price etc. and it is very difficult to select appropriate footwear independently. Staff were able to identify customers’ needs, and to offer adequate solutions. Their friendly smiles, positive attitude and willingness to help also contributed to overall satisfaction. Episode 10 Dry cleaner's is another episode of service interaction resulting in customer satisfaction. Again, customer satisfaction was a result of friendly and positive attitude combined with competence, professionalism and knowledge of the subject matter has left customers highly satisfied with the service. In the course of conversation information pertaining nature of stains on the piece of clothing was requested, quality of fabric as well as preferable detergents that would be used. Afterwards recommendations were given and a plan of actions was made. In the course of the conversation client needs were established and subsequently met. Step 2 Lessons in marketing services: Customer dissatisfaction and satisfaction From above incident encounter discussions, appraisal of each encounter was accompanied with deep assessment of the interaction based on the marketing theory of 3 P’s marketing mix which is: people, process, and physical evidence. Also, the critical role these concepts play in provision of service quality evidence was given (Booms & Bitner, 1981). Each encounter with service or range of interactions offers an opportunity for a service company to generate positive feelings in the minds of prospective customers. Failure to achieve customer satisfaction will result in customer frustration and is likely to affect the future incomes of the service providing company (Keaveney, 1995). In order to be able to address customers’ needs effectively, members of a company or organization have to think from the global perspective of their company, not frrom their individual perspectives. A sense of mission is therefore critical to any organization. (Meliones, 2000). This strengenths the company from the inside and attracts customers to it. While preparing the paper, attention was paid to the influential factors and perceptions of service satisfaction and quality. Now, it can be realized how service quality is important to any firm engaged in service delivery (Booms & Bitner, 1981). Acknowledgement of the influence of these factors and initiating control measures ensures that customers’ needs are attended to effectively and efficiently (Tax & Brown, 1998). These control measures are envisaged in marketing concepts, strategies, and models as discussed in the following sections. Marketing theories 1. Communicative action theory In this theory, greater focus is drawn on the impact of communication acts which are applied in co-ordination of social interactions. This then implicates the necessity of speech actions in relation to service in the social context of facts, actors, commitments, intentions, rules, norms, social relationships and as well as subsequent actions (Habermas, 1984). In this assignment as discussed in the first section of Fitness, the communication process is of great importance because failure to communicate leads to customer dissatisfaction. Communication is used to generate information and establish commitments, which ultimately govern the customer encounters in a social interaction scenario. 2. Information systems actability theory. This theory is also oriented towards social interaction perspective as an important aspect service encounter. This is defined within customer-service social interaction taking place when both the customer and the service provider come into contact creating a service in interaction. Actability theory places emphasis on service actors in performing communication actions through bringing service marketing theory and the information systems actability theory (Agerfalk, 2003). Customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction Customer satisfaction with services involves definition of customer’s negative or positive feelings over the value of consuming the service in a defined context. This feeling can be a reaction to an immediate use situation or an overall reaction to a series of use situation experiences (Leonard & Parasuraman, 1991). Of course, it is worthwhile remembering that customer dissatisfaction and customer conflicts are inevitable. Despite this fact is it critical that such dissatisfaction is addressed by the company in each individual case (Tax & Brown, 1998). Based on this definition, customer satisfaction is related to customer value. In other words, customer value is an experience of accomplishment facilitated by the service to attain a specific or desirable goal. Thus satisfaction of customers is a representation of customer’s reactions in relation to the value gained from that service. Recommendations and conclusion In most companies, there is justifiable evidence that employees form a vital resource in the firm’s service delivery. As seen in this paper customer perception over services is dependent on of interactions with employees of the service. Therefore, motivation of employees is crucial for increasing consistently high quality services. Present world of business is characterized by continued services prevalence in all sectors. Therefore understanding specific customer needs and considering implications for influencing their perceptions remains the only successful antecedent in services marketing. Ability to assess customer-service interaction together with consultative proposals on appropriate improvement strategies becomes of crucial value. References Agerfalk, P.J. (2003). Information Systems Actability: Understanding Information Technology as a Tool for Business Action and Communication. Retrieved from http://www.vits.org/?pageId=10&pubId=669 Berry, L. L. & Parasuraman, A. (1991). Marketing Services: Competing Through Quality. New York, NY: Free Press. Booms, B.H. & Bitner, M.J. (1981). Marketing Strategies and Organization Structures for Service Firms. In Donnelly, J.H. & George, W.R. (Eds), Marketing of Services, American Marketing, (47-51), Chicago, IL. Habermas, J. (1984). Theory of Communicative Action. (McCarthy, T., Trans.). Boston, MS: Beacon Press. (1984). Tax, S. & Brown S., (1998). Recovering and Learning from Service Failure, Sloan Management Review, 40, 75-88 Keaveney, S. M., (1995). Customer switching behavior in service industries: an exploratory study. Journal of Marketing, 59, 71-82. Meliones, Jon (2000, November-December). Saving Money, Saving Lives. Harvard Business Review, 5-11. Read More