SERVQUAL and Gaps Analysis Exercises
When SERVQUAL and/or Gaps Analysis is not the foundation of the semester-long consulting project, one or both of the following exercises will be implemented in class, as time permits.
SERVQUAL:
Students will break out into 5 small groups to work on this task for 20-30 minutes and then reunite with the whole class to present and discuss results. Each of the five groups will be assigned one of the SERVQUAL dimensions (Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance, Empathy, and Tangibles) and asked to use the Perception scale items to develop Expectations measures for these same items.
When the class comes back together as a whole, each group will use a different part of the board to write a representative questionnaire item for its dimension. We will discuss the merits of each group’s statement/question and review some alternatives for formats for measuring customer expectations using SERVQUAL.
Service Gaps Analysis:
Students will work in 5 small groups (see above) for 20 minutes and reunite with the whole class to present and discuss results. Each of the five groups will be assigned one of the service quality gaps in the Gaps Model of Service Quality (Customer Gap and Provider Gaps 1-4*). Using the Elements in an Effective Marketing Research Program for Services table, the gaps model, and any other readings or internet-searched materials in service quality, students will identify the types of research that can be used to analyze the gap.
When the class comes back together as a whole, each group will share its results. Discussion can include agreement/disagreement with research methods recommended as well as additional ideas to enhance the group’s recommendation.
*Customer Gap: Difference between customer expectations and perceptions of service delivery; Provider Gap 1: Not knowing what customers expect; Provider Gap 2: Not selecting the right service designs and standards; Provider Gap 3: Not delivering to service designs and standards; and Provider Gap 4: Not matching performance to promises.
Alternative SERVQUAL Exercises:
Design a multidimensional scale to capture customer perceptions and expectations of service quality for Higher Education.
Look at each SERVQUAL scale dimension separately. What items/statements appear to be missing?
SERVQUAL Perception Items
Since it was first published in 1988, the SERVQUAL scale has undergone numerous improvements and revisions. The version below contains 21 perception items distributed throughout the five service quality dimensions. Responses to each statement are on a 7-point scales where 1 = strongly disagree and 7 = strongly agree.
Reliability
1. When XYZ Company promises to do something by a certain time, it does so.
2. When you have a problem, XYZ Company shows a sincere interest in solving it.
3. XYZ Company performs the service right the first time.
4. XYZ Company provides its services at the time it promises to do so.
5. XYZ Company insists on error-free records.
Responsiveness
1. XYZ Company keeps customers informed about when services will be performed.
2. Employees in XYZ Company give you prompt service.
3. Employees in XYZ Company are always willing to help you.
4. Employees in XYZ Company are never too busy to respond to your request.
Assurance
1. The behavior of employees in XYZ Company instills confidence in you.
2. You feel safe in your transactions with XYZ Company.
3. Employees in XYZ Company are consistently courteous with you.
4. Employees in XYZ Company have the knowledge to answer your questions.
Empathy
1. XYZ Company gives you individual attention.
2. XYZ Company has employees who give you personal attention.
3. XYZ Company has your best interests at heart.
4. Employees of XYZ Company understand your specific needs.
5. XYZ Company has operating hours that are convenient to all customers.
Tangibles
1. XYZ Company has modern-looking equipment.
2. XYZ Company’s physical facilities are visually appealing
3. XYZ Company appear neat.
4. Materials associated with the service (such as pamphlets or statements) are visually appealing at XYZ Company.
Parasuraman, Zeithaml & Berry (1988), “SERVQUAL: A Multiple–Item Scale for Measuring Consumer Perceptions of Service Quality,” Journal of Retailing, 64, 1 (spring), 12-40.
Exercise: # 5
Services Marketing Course Objectives
Debriefing
1. Develop an understanding of the unique challenges involved in marketing and managing services.
2. Identify differences between the marketing of services and the marketing of manufactured goods.
3. Identify and analyze the various components of the services marketing mix. This includes the 4 Ps of the traditional marketing mix (product, price, place, and promotion) plus the physical environment, processes, people, and productivity/quality involved in service transactions.
4. Understand and discuss key issues concerning managing and measuring service quality and customer satisfaction.
5. Appreciate the intertwined role of service personnel and customers with respect to service delivery, service failures, and service recovery issues.
6. Discover sources of competitive advantage in service businesses.
7. Understand how “service aspects” of every type of firm can become a competitive advantage.
8. Develop an appreciation for key issues in service organizations such as managing supply and demand, relationship management, and the overlap in marketing, operations management, and human resource systems.
9. Build important workplace skills (e.g., cooperation, teamwork, meeting deadlines, report writing) through team projects and cooperative learning activities.
10. Become better, more aware, and maybe less naïve service consumers.
Which course objectives were addressed either directly or indirectly by this exercise?
How?
9. Any company has to be improving the skills of workers. For example, workers and managers have to have a good communication between them with the customers because the buyers will come to the company again. Managers have to find the gaps between the company and the customers. After that, they can work as cooperation and teamwork.
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