The Basis of The Servqual Model: The Gaps The Key Service Dimensions Causes & Solutions To Gaps
The Basis of The Servqual Model: The Gaps The Key Service Dimensions Causes & Solutions To Gaps
The Basis of The Servqual Model: The Gaps The Key Service Dimensions Causes & Solutions To Gaps
The Gaps The Key Service Dimensions Causes & Solutions to Gaps
Gap 1: The difference between management perceptions of what customers expect and what customers really do expect Gap 2: The difference between management perceptions and service quality specifications the standards gap
Gap 3: The difference between service quality specifications and actual service delivery - are standards consistently met? Gap 4: The difference between service delivery and what is communicated externally - are promises made consistently fulfilled?
Gap 5: The difference between what customers expect of a service and what they actually receive
expectations are made up of past experience, wordof-mouth and needs/wants of customers measurement is on the basis of two sets of statements in groups according to the five key service dimensions
TANGIBLES - the appearance of physical facilities, equipment, personnel and information material RELIABILITY - the ability to perform the service accurately and dependably RESPONSIVENESS - the willingness to help customers and provide a prompt service
Competence - having the requisite skills and knowledge Courtesy - politeness, respect, consideration and friendliness of contact staff Credibility - trustworthiness, believability and honesty of staff Security - freedom from danger, risk or doubt
Access (physical and social) - approachability and ease of contact Communication - keeping customers informed in a language they understand and really listening to them Understanding the customer - making the effort to get to know customers and their specific needs
Past experience
PROVIDER
Gap 3 Gap 1
Service Delivery
Gap 4
lack of a marketing orientation inadequate upward communication (from contact staff to management) too many levels of management
inadequate commitment to service quality lack of perception of feasibility - it cannot be done inadequate task standardisation the absence of goal setting
inadequate commitment to service quality lack of perception of feasibility - it cannot be done inadequate task standardisation the absence of goal setting
role ambiguity and role conflict - unsure of what your remit is and how it fits with others poor employee or technology fit - the wrong person or system for the job inappropriate supervisory control or lack of perceived control - too much or too little control lack of teamwork
We can assess service quality from the customers perspective We can track customer expectations and perceptions over time and the discrepancies between them We can compare a set of Servqual scores against those of competitors or best practice examples
We can compare the expectations and perceptions of different customer groups - this is particularly useful in the public sector We can assess the expectations and perceptions of internal customers - eg other departments or services we deal with
Hard measures refer to standards and measures that can be counted, timed or measured through audits typically operational processes or outcomes e.g. how many trains arrived late? Soft measures refer to standards and measures that cannot easily be observed and must be collected by talking to customers, employees or others e.g. SERVQUAL, surveys, and customer advisory panels. Control charts are useful for displaying performance over time against specific quality standards.
Control charts to monitor a single variable Service quality indexes Root cause analysis (fishbone charts) Pareto analysis
Fishbone diagrams: A cause-and-effect diagram to identify potential causes of problems. Pareto charts: Separating the trivial from the important. Often, a majority of problems is caused by a minority of causes i.e. the 80/20 rule. Blueprinting: A visualization of service delivery. It allows one to identify fail points in both the frontstage and backstage.
Procedure Procedures
Customers Customers
Delayed check-in Gate agents Aircraft late to procedure cannot process gate Mechanical fast enough Acceptance of late Failures passengers Late/unavailable airline crew Late pushback
Delayed Departures
Other Causes
Weather Air traffic
Backstage Personnel
Information