Marketing: customer service

The presence of personnel and other customers In the operational system makes It official to standardize and control variability in both service inputs and outputs. Manufactured goods can be produced at a distant factory, under controlled conditions. For services, however, Inputs and outputs tend to vary widely and make customer service process management a challenging task. When services are consumed as they are produced, final ” assembly” must take place under real-time conditions, which may vary from customer to customer and even from one time of the day to another.

As a result, mistakes and shortcomings are both more likely and harder to conceal. These factors make it difficult for service organizations to Improve productivity, control quality, and offer a consistent product. Nevertheless the best service firms have made significant progress Is reducing variability. Egg: Hotel room service and Beauty parlous – Customers will be less sure about It than buying a product, they would be unsure if the service they provide would be good enough for the money they are paying. 3. Why is time so important in services? Many services are delivered in real time.

Customers have to be physically present to receive service from organizations such as airlines, hospitals, haircuts, and saturates. There are limits as to how long customers are willing to be kept waiting and service must be delivered fast enough so that customers do not waste time receiving service. Even when service takes place In the back office, customers have expectations about how long a particular task should take to complete-? whether It Is repairing a machine, completing a research report, cleaning a suit, or preparing a legal document.

Today’s customers are increasingly time sensitive and speed is often 4. How has the development of SST (Self service Technologies) affected services arresting strategy? What factors determine whether customers make use of them or not? Technology has provided new opportunities for self-service, where delivery takes place electronically through interactions with equipment rather than people. Examples of these self-service technologies (Sets) include bank Atoms, automated package tracking, pay-at-the-pump terminals at gas stations, automated kiosks for airline tickets and Internet investment transactions.

In these types of encounters, employees are not present to compensate for problems or customize the service experience. There is a need to educate customers about effective use of Sets and training them to ” self-recover” when a service failure has occurred. 5. What is the difference between core and supplementary services? The core service should deliver the consequences expected by the customer justifying the associated real or nominal charges. Supplementary services either facilitate the use of the core service or enhance it.

Facilitating or support services are taken for granted by customers (more likely by users) who expect these to be bundled with the core service and not be additionally charged. An elemental part of arrive strategy is to determine the bundle of core and supplementary services that constitutes a viable, competitive, and compliant product in a target market. 6. What is the meaning behind intangible elements accounting for a greater part of the value delivered by a service value chain?

Give examples. Services often include important tangible elements such as hotel beds, restaurant Meals and bank cards. However, as the non-ownership perspective and the definition of services implies, it is the intangible aspects of the service (Including labor and expertise of service employees) that dominate the creation of value in service references. Intangibility consists of both mental and physical dimensions.