Managing Services

Managing Services

1. 4 I'S

   • Intangibility
     • no be held, touched, or seen before the purchase decision.
       • Difficulty evaluating services
   • Inconsistency
     • Quality varies
   • Inseparability
     • Production and consumption occur at the same time
       • No separate the person from the service
   • Inventory
     • Perishable
       • If a service is not being utilized it cannot be stored for future
         • idle production capacity
           • A situation where a service provider is available but there is no demand

2. The service continuum

   • There is a range from the tangible to the intangible or good-dominant to service-dominant offerings referred to as the service continuum

3. Purchasing a Service

   • Search Qualities
     • Experience Qualitites
       • discerned only after purchase or consumption
         • Ex. Restaurant/Childcare
       • Credence Qualities
         • Characteristics that the consumer may find impossible to evaluate even after purchase and consumption
           • Specialized professionals
     • Tangible goods
       • Colour, size and style
         • Jewellery

4. Customer Contact Audit

   • A flow chart of the points of interaction between consumer and service provider

5. Post-Purchase Evaluation

   • Gap Analysis
     • Differences between a consumer's expectations and experience
       • Many restaurants now ask consumers to evaluate their experience on a short questionnaire when they pay their bill.

6. Dimensions of service quality

   • Tangibles
     • Reliability
       • Responsiveness
         • Assurance
           • Empathy
             • Knowing the customer and understanding their needs
           • Respectful, considerate personnel who listen to customers and answer their Qs.
         • Willingness to help customers and provide prompt service
       • Ability to perform the promised service
     • Appearance

7. Seven P'S

   • Product (Service)
   • Price
   • Place (Distribution)
   • Promotion
   • People
     • Employees
   • Physical Evidence
     • The appearance of the environment
   • Process
     • Actual procedures, mechanisms, and flow of act by which the service is created and delivered
       • Capacity management
         • Limited capacity due to the inseparability of the service
           • An airport limousine service will meet people at their homes and deliver them to or bring them home from their local airport. Because demand is much higher before 9 a.m. and after 5 p.m. during weekdays
       • Off-peak Pricing
         • Charging different prices durin different times of the day or days of the week to reflect variations in demand for the service