Service Quality

Measuring Service Quality &

Customer Feedback Systems

Lecture Week 7
TODAYS MOTO!

Not everything that counts can be counted,

and not everything that can be counted,
counts........

Albert Einstein
Aims
Measuring Service Quality
Monitoring internal operations
Organisational strategies
ISO9001, CQI, EFQM, North of England etc.
Measuring Customer Satisfaction (CFS)
Qualitative methods
Quantitative methods
Why do we need to measure service
quality (Lovelock, Wirtz and Chew, 2009)

Assessment and benchmarking of service

quality and performance How satisfied are our customers?
Customer-driven learning and improvements
What makes our customers happy or unhappy? Where and how do we need to improve?
Creating a customer-orientated service
culture moving the organisation towards a service quality culture
Techniques & Methods for Assessing
Service Quality
Process Strategies
Service Standards
Key Performance Indicators
(or super measure)
Techniques to assess quality during
the service experience

Job Performance Standards

Managerial Observation
Employee Observation
Service Guarantees
Structured guest interviews
External organisations
ISO 9001 (LRQA)
EFQM
CQI
BQF
North of England Excellence
 SERVQUAL Quantitative Method
Most popular instrument for measuring service quality
Look at the example..........
It aims to measure perceptions of service across the 5 service
quality dimensions PZB (1988)
o Tangibles: physical evidence

o Reliability: consistency, dependability

o Responsiveness: readiness, timeliness

o Assurance: knowledge, skill, reputation,

security
o Empathy: individuality, caring
 SERVQUAL Quantitative Method
Most popular instrument for measuring service quality
ZPB developed a research survey instrument called
SERVQUAL
Customers can evaluate a firms service quality by comparing
their perceptions of its service with their own expectations
SERVQUAL is a generic measurement tool
Respondents complete a series of scales that measure their
expectations
When perceived performance ratings are lower than
expectations, this is a sign of poor quality
The reverse indicates good quality!
Surveys
Lets be critical.
Criticism is largely concerned with the design and reliability
Cultural factors should be taken into account when applying
the model
Questionnaire design
Scoring issues People bring differing expectations into a
situation and have different starting points
To measure quality just through a satisfaction score may have
a limited value
Use a mix of customer feedback collection tools:

Recognising that different tools have different

strengths and weaknesses, service managers
should select a mix of customer feedback
collection tools.
As PZB observe, combining approaches
enables a firm to tap the strengths of each
and compensate for weaknesses.
Measuring after the service
experience
Comment Cards
Cold calls
Surveys
Focus Groups
Mystery Shoppers
Interviews
Comment Cards
 Analysis, Reporting, and Dissemination of Customer
Feedback
Choosing the relevant feedback tools and collecting customer feedback is meaning-less
if the company is unable to disseminate the information to the relevant parties to take
action. Hence, to drive continuous improvement and learning, a reporting system needs
to deliver feedback and its analysis to front-line staff, department managers, and top
management. The feedback loop to frontline staff should be immediate for complaints
and compliments e.g. during daily briefings.
In addition Lovelock and Wirtz (2007) recommend three types of service
performance reports to provide the information necessary for service
management and team learning:
A monthly service performance update
A quarterly service performance review
An annual service performance report

Note: The reports should be short and reader-friendly, focussing on key indicators and providing an easily understood commentary.
In summary..
The monitoring of service delivery and
collection of feedback is very important
Variety of methods can be used
Including both qualitative & quantitative
techniques
These must have no end in order to facilitate
continuous improvement
Week 7 Reading: Communication,
Branding, Standards & Guarantees
Berman, B. & Mathur, A. (2014) Planning and implementing effective service
guarantee programs, Business horizons. 57. pp.107-116
He, H., & Li, Y. (2011) CSR and Service Brand: The Mediating Effect of Brand
Identification and Moderating Effect of Service Quality, Journal of business ethics.
100, pp. 673-688.

Book chapter - Shahril, A., Aziz, Y., Othman, M., & Bojei, J. (2012)Impact of service
guarantee on empowerment, employee responsiveness in service recovery and
service quality in the Malaysian upscale hotels. In Zainal et al (eds) Current issues
in hospitality and tourism research and innovations. London: Taylor & Francis
Group.
Journal
Other reading in the week 7 tag.
articles can
be found in
My Module
Resources
 Any questions?

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