What is Customer Expectation?

Customer expectation encompasses everything that a customer expects from a product, service, or
organization. Customer expectations are created in the minds of customers based upon their individual
experiences and what they have learned, combined with their pre-existing experience and knowledge.
Willott (2019)

Internal and external customers are equally demanding, they expect quick answers to their questions,
expect cooperation and communication, and even expect you to drop everything you are doing, so you
can take charge of their problems. Although these escalating demands and expectations are often
unreasonable. It is the nature and progression of customer service and as a service provider; we have to
be working hard to meet these unreasonable expectations. Our goal should be to create an increasingly
positive service experience as quickly, efficiently, and memorably as possible. It is not always possible to
meet unreasonable demands and expectations, and the customer isn't always right. Our job, however, is
to make the customer feel right – like he or she received the right service, at the right time, in the right
way. (Martinez et al., 2013, p.57)

There are varying factors that influenced customers’ expectations as we have discussed earlier,
advancement in technology plays a big role in these expectations. It is now in the power of our
customers to learn about our organization even before they set foot on our company and be able to
compare what we offer to that of others. These expectations can be explicit or implicit implied by our
customers. Willott (2019) provided a few key elements which are recognized as important influences on
customer expectations and tips on managing these expectations.

Previous Customer Experience

One of the most significant factors influencing customer expectations is their prior experience with your
organization. If they are highly satisfied with existing customers then this sets a high level of expectation
that must be maintained. But if their previous experience has been suboptimal then they may lack
confidence in your business and their expectations may be quite low.

Customer Communications

Every piece of outbound communication from your business may have influenced your customer
expectations. Blog posts, tweets, web pages, emails, print advertising, radio, and TV advertising all
contribute to the expectations that your customers will have. Your communications must be all honest,
consistent, clear, and unambiguous.
Reviews and Word of Mouth

The internet is a magnificent research tool so you can expect your customers to have researched before
making their purchase. They will have read reviews of your product or service and they will have
potentially read reviews of your business. They may also have read what people are saying in forums
and on social media. What they derive from these sources will influence their expectations so you need
to be aware of what's being said.

Previous Experience with Other Companies

People’s experiences with other companies and organizations greatly influence their expectations.
Regardless of whether other companies are in the same niche as yours, these days customers expect the
same high levels of great customer service from all businesses and organizations.

6 Customer Expectation Management Tips

Communicate Clearly and Honestly

As noted, your customer expectations will have been influenced by what they have read and possibly
seen. Since you have complete control over how you communicate with your customers you should
ensure that the information you provide is clear, consistent, complete, and honest. Lack of clarity in
communications has been widely cited as a significant issue that negatively affects the customer
experience. Here are some fundamental guidelines:

• Ensure that the information provided from your website is accurate, complete, consistent, and
always up to date.

• The language used on your website and in all communications must be appropriate for your
customers. Don’t bamboozle them with technical jargon. Engage them using the right language and tone
of voice.

• Your social media communications need to be responsive and timely. What's stated needs to be
accurate, honest, and positive.
• Advertising and promotion must not be misleading or dishonest.

• Any printed documentation such as brochures, pamphlets, and flyers, must be accurate, honest,
and clear.

• Any video and visual messaging from your organization need to be aligned with other
communications.

• Service agents and all staff involved in direct customer communications must be appropriately
trained and skilled. The information they provide must be consistent with other communication
channels and their style and manner must be appropriate.

• Let your customers know how long they need to wait. These days people expect almost
instantaneous responses, but this is not always realistic, especially when dealing with a worldwide
customer base. Informing your customers of how long they will need to wait can effectively set their
expectations and avoid disgruntlement. Willott (2019)

Cultivate Loyalty

Fostering customer loyalty is enormously beneficial to all businesses. It costs far less to retain an existing
customer than it does to create a new one. And loyal customers can be enormously helpful in identifying
and defining changing customer expectations.

Some basic tactics that contribute to developing customer loyalty include:

• Always personalizing communications by using their names.

• Ensuring that each customer is made to feel special.

• Always thank them for their custom and their loyalty.

• Regularly and routinely communicating with them.

• Pay attention to the details which can affect customer expectations.

• Monitor Your Market and Beyond

• The expectations of your clients and customers will be greatly influenced by what they may have
experienced from other businesses in your sector and elsewhere. If a customer has previously used an
online ‘chat’ facility on another website to get some customer support and they received a response
within maybe 30 seconds then they are likely to expect the same from you when you implement an
online chat tool. Similarly, if a customer has previously received a fast response via social media from an
unrelated organization or business then they are likely to expect the same level of response from your
social media channels.

• You need to be aware of these expectations and ideally endeavor to match or beat them. If this
is not possible then you need to communicate with your customers to realistically set their expectations.
Willott (2019)

Be Expert

Your people need to be recognized as experts in what they do and what they are providing. Every
member of staff involved in direct customer communications, from front-line service personnel to
switchboard operators and sales professionals, need to be adequately trained and highly confident in
their skills and their ability to manage even the most demanding customer expectations.

Always Follow Up

Customer experience can be greatly influenced by whether or not an organization follows up after initial
contact. For example, if a customer has contacted a service desk, via telephone or maybe via an online
chat facility, and a resolution to their issue was provided, this should be followed up, possibly via email,
to confirm the recommendations provided and that the solution was successful.

Similarly, after a purchase, it's good practice to contact customers to verify that they are satisfied.
Simple, easy-to-complete customer satisfaction surveys are a great way to follow up and derive some
potentially valuable customer feedback.

Discover and Exceed

By establishing a rapport with your customers you're in a great position to discover their anticipated
expectations. What are they looking forward to in the future? What do they expect of the products or
services provided by your industry? What are they experiencing elsewhere that is influencing what they
expect from you?

Armed with this incredibly valuable insight your business will be able to not only meet their expectations
but to significantly exceed them. Willott (2019)

The Four Customer Types

According to Berdik (2013 as cited in Martinez et al., 2013) trust occurs at a cognitive level, producing
positive responses in our internal reward system. When trust is broken, feelings similar to pain may
emerge. These deep reactions explain why customers become loyal when their expectations are met but
show frustration when they are not met.

The dynamic and sometimes complex interaction between customer expectations and customer
satisfaction produces different types of costume s and how each views us as service providers. Figure
5.1 profiles the four different customer types based on expectations and satisfaction. Martinez et al.
(2013)

Figure: 5.1 Customer Types

Source: Creating service culture in higher education administration by Dr. Mario Martinez et al. (2013)

The Loyal Customer

Customer loyalty is a measure of a customer’s likeliness to do repeat business with a company

or brand. It is the result of customer satisfaction, positive customer experiences, and the overall value of
the goods or services a customer receives from a business. (SendPulse, 2020)

When a customer is loyal to a specific brand, they are not easily influenced by availability or
pricing. They are willing to pay more as long as they get the same quality product or service they are
familiar with and love. Other characteristics of a loyal customer include the following:

• they are not actively searching for different suppliers;

• they are more willing to refer a brand to their family and friends;
• they are not open to pitches from competing companies;

• they are open to other goods or services provided by a particular business;

• they are more understanding when issues occur and trust a business to fix them;

• they offer feedback on how a brand can improve its products or services; as long as there is a
need, they will keep purchasing from a business. SendPulse (2020, June 23). What is Customer Loyalty:
Definition and Guide. Retrieved from https://sendpulse.com/support/glossary/customer-loyalty

The Status Quo Customer

According to Martinez et al. (2013), a common mistaken assumption is that if you meet the customer's
expectations, then satisfaction automatically follows. The problem with this assumption is that it does
not distinguish between expectations and satisfaction. They are related but not the same.

Organizations that have mostly status quo customers do enough to get by – just to meet the
expectation – but no more. Measuring service performances based on a minimally acceptable service
standard makes it difficult to generate loyal customers. Status quo customers won't complain about
your service, but they certainly won't rave about it either. Status quo customers will not generate word
of mouth that is so valuable to any organization.

Status quo customers are customers whose expectations are met but satisfactions remain low. These
types of customers are quick to try alternatives and seek new solutions because they feel no loyalty to
you. To transform the status quo into loyal customers the organization should provide more than just
what is expected. (Martinez et al., 2013, p.63)

The Intrigued Customer

Imagine you had never heard of the movie director Peter Jackson, but you agreed to accompany us to
his latest movie. You had no expectations because you did not know anything about Jackson's previous
movies (King Kong, The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and other films). As the movie progresses, you
lose yourself in the movie. You feel the emotion as you watch. Your need for entertainment, escapism,
and intrigue is fulfilled. You are happy and satisfied with the movie that you start asking about his other
films, now curious about his other work.

It may seem impossible to create customers’ satisfaction when the customer has no expectations in the
first place. But what if you intrigue the customer by fulfilling a need the customer was not expecting or
did not even know he or she had? Remember, needs to lie beneath expectations. It is only after
customers become conscious of these needs and simultaneously experience the satisfaction of having
them met that they develop expectations.

Intrigued customers will talk about your services because there is an element of surprise or curiosity.
The human propensity to share surprises or talk about unexpected services with others generates
positive advertising. (Martinez et al., 2013, p.63)

The Disgruntled Customers

Disgruntled customers have unmet expectations and low-levels of satisfaction. It is unlikely that any
organization could survive for a very long with even a small percentage of disgruntled customers. A 2011
marketing study by COLLOQUY, an organization that comprises a collection of resources devoted to the
global loyalty marketing industry, (as cited in Martinez et al., 2013) found that a person is 26% more
likely to spread the word about a bad experience than a good one.

It is not advisable to dismiss your disgruntled customers, they are very predictable in that they want to
tell other people about the problems they had on your organization and how they did not meet their
expectations. If they can't express their dissatisfaction with another person, they will take it to the
internet. A good dose of excellent customer service will prevent your customers from ever reaching this
stage. (Martinez et al., 2013, p.65)

Identifying Your Customer by Type

If you take an inventory of your current customers, how would you classify them according to the four
customer types? Think about your external and internal customers and then complete the right -hand
column of Activity 11. (Martinez et al., 2013, p.66)

According to Martinez et al. (2013) ideally, you would want 100% loyal customers and 0% disgruntled
customers, but this is not realistic. It is impossible to have only loyal customers. How does your
completed table look? Is there an ideal mix of customer types to strive for?

Using Pareto Law or Richard Koch's The 80/20 principles (as cited in Martinez et al., 2013) here are some
helpful parameters to set your customer service goals.

• At least 80% of your customers should fall into the loyal category.
• Less than 20% of your customers should be, at any point, intrigued, status quo, or disgruntled.

• Of the 20% who are intrigued, status quo, or disgruntled, 80% should be in the intrigued
category, giving you a chance to convert them to loyal customers.

• Of the 20% who are intrigued, status quo, or disgruntled, no more than 15% should be in the
status quo category, giving you a chance to convert them to intrigued or loyal customers.

• Of the 20% who are intrigued, status quo, or disgruntled, less than 5% should be in the
disgruntled category. This means that for every 100 customers, you should be dealing with no more
than one disgruntled customer. (Martinez et al., 2013, p.66)

According to Martinez et al. (2013), the percentage you identified in Activity 11 helps you look at your
services from a customer perspective. You may find it beneficial to separate your internal and external
customers for purposes of Activity 11. Aim for the ideal of 100% customer satisfaction, knowing that no
organization or a department has only loyal customers.

Customer Expectations Summary

Customer expectations are not static. Customer preferences, needs, wants, and desires to drive
changing expectations. Internal and external customers also formulate expectations based on their
service experiences inside and outside of your organization, and they subconsciously compare your
service delivery against those experiences. Each customer is unique and carries different expectations
about what leads to true satisfaction. The portrait of the four customer types is a tool to help you
understand why customers may differ in what they expect and how they come to think about satisfying
customer experience. Creating loyal customers is a matter of common sense. Take the time to
understand your customers and assess their needs. Make common sense common practice. (Martinez et
al., 2013, p.67)

Chapter 5 Takeaways

• Underneath every customer expectation lies a need, which a customer experts a service
provider to fulfill.

• A satisfied customer may or may not spread the good word about your service delivery, but an
unsatisfied customer will surely share negative perceptions about it.
• There are four customer types: loyal intrigued, status quo, and disgruntled.

• To create more loyal customers, go back to the basics: Understand your customers (Chapter 2
and 3) and implement excellent service delivery practices (Chapter 1). (Martinez et al., 2013, p.68)

CREATING A CULTURE OF SERVICE

Think about organizations known for their exceptional customer service. Probably there are quite a few
that will come to your mind immediately; we have mentioned some of these brands and companies
from the previous chapter. Yet understanding service culture may remain trivial. Let's try to dissect and
define each word separately. Culture can be defined as a way of life, it is who we are as a whole, an
accumulation of habits, practices, behaviors, beliefs, and traditions that we have acquired through life,
some of these are too deep-rooted that we never question them.

Service (in a business sense) can be defined as an enterprise composed of a professional or team of
experts that deliver work or aid in completing a task for the benefit of its customers. (What Is a Service
Business? 2017)

Every organization has a unique culture. As earlier mentioned this culture is what set each company
apart from the rest; Toyota and their culture of providing quality cars, Starbucks for their exemplary
service delivery and green marketing are some of the examples of this culture.

Culture of Service, therefore, is the over-all sets of practices and efforts of an organization towards the
delivery of their service.

The connection between culture and service is sometimes difficult to make sense culture is simply a part
of who we are and what we do. Culture is always present but sometimes we are not aware of it, much
like the air we breathe. Some elements of service culture are easier to change than others, and all of
these elements interact in complex ways that influence internal customers (employees) and their level
of service delivery. Ultimately, the many service successes and challenges we experience are influenced
by the service cultures of our organization. (Martinez et al., 2013, pp.70–71)

The Effects of Formal Structure on Service

The very word organization evokes an image of a reporting chart with boxes and arrows showing who
reports to whom. Many of these diagrams look like a confusing maze of roads traveling through a very
busy city, especially for a large company or corporation. But reporting charts are important because
they spell out the formal relationships guide internal customer interactions, so they are an important
influence on service delivery. (Martinez et al., 2013, p.71)

Formal Organizational Structure Elements

In a formal organizational structure, the management and divisions within a company are typically
written and explained so all employees understand how things work. This documentation may take the
form of an organizational chart that visually depicts how each level of management works to prevent
misunderstandings.

Formal structure organizations usually have a hierarchical pyramid structure with a company president,
CEO, and senior managers at the top; mid-level managers in the middle; low-level managers at the
bottom. Staff employees are expected to implement decisions and processes made at the levels above
them.

The primary advantage of a formal organizational structure is that it delineates the roles and
responsibilities of every employee, from the top-level to a staff member. As a result, everyone in your
company knows what they have to do and how they're supposed to achieve desired goals. (Basic Types
of Organizational Structure: Formal & Informal, 2019)

Physical Layout and Distance

The physical layout of a work environment can influence or inhibit service delivery. The physical layout
of a two-story fire station demonstrates this point. We normally think of a fire station as an orderly,
open building that is easy to move through. When the alarm sounds, the fire-fighters' quick and
response times are almost immediate, partly because the layout of the fire station is neat and orderly,
not cluttered and mazelike.

Many organization offices have arranged the physical layout of their offices using cubicles whose
arrangement resembles a maze. Though many vice-presidents and directors have offices, it is not
uncommon to find both administrators and professional staff working in cubicles. Philosophically,
cubicles are supposed to connote equality and democracy, and the physical layout of the office
reinforces these cultural values. The purpose of the cubicle is also to increase interaction and
accessibility.

Reporting charts and office layout are both what might be referred to like structural elements of the
service culture. (Martinez et al., 2013, p.71)

Work Processes and Service Delivery

A work process is the way work gets done. In some organizational cultures, strict rules govern
the work processes; in other cultures, there no rules. Many things determine whether a work process is
rigid or flexible. Flexibility in work processes may be a product of the administrator's management style
or even the function of the office. Several departments in an organization must follow government
regulations and policies, and, therefore, their work processes are well-defined and there is little
flexibility. If employees stray too much from standard work processes that are designed to adhere to
these regulations and policies, legal problems may result. Figure 6.1 shows that the work processes
associated with any job or organization can range from strict to flexible. Where a given work process
falls on this continuum depends on the nature of the work and, often, the size of the organization.
(Martinez et al., 2013, p.74)

Source: Creating service culture in higher education administration by Martinez et al. (2013)
Work Process Design and Customer service

Work processes include more than just how individual people do their jobs; they also include how the
organization does its job. Such works processes are more accurately called internal work processes
because they include the internal rules that everyone must follow to do things such as buy computers
and pens or arrange for travel. Good internal work processes allow you to be more efficient and
productive. It is also important for another reason - they directly affect how we provide customer
service. (Martinez et al., 2013, p.76)

Here are my suggestions for how to take customer service into account in business process design:

• Allow for discretion by your customer service team. You can’t – and shouldn’t – design for every
contingency. Empowering your team is good for their morale and can drive positive customer
experiences.

• Don’t make a workflow or automated menu system something your team hides behind. Every
step is a trade-off of efficiency at the expense of customer satisfaction, especially when you have a
frustrated customer.

• Give the process some flexibility in handling long-time repeat customers. This is not just a
different phone number for your “elite” members. It should allow for what you already know about your
customers and what sort of questions a repeat customer will ask.

• Don’t try to upsell someone who wants to cancel your service or return a product. You win with
your customers by showing respect and trust; aggravate them by deflecting their concerns. That’s not
respectful or trustworthy.

• Allow entry into your process for someone who's not a customer. Don't make the first question
in your automated response system: "Enter your account number." They might not be a customer now,
but a good experience might convert them. (Five Tips for Process Design that Keeps Your Customers in
Mind, 2017)

A good example of how work processes affect service delivery is the Theatre Experience on Campus
explained in Chapter 4. The Theatre Experience on Campus is identified as a Cycle of Service. A Cycle of
Service is a series of events, or moments, that relates to service delivery and thus influences customer
satisfaction. One Moment of Truth is called “Ticket office,” the time when the customer buys or picks up
a ticket from the box office. The traditional process by which customers buy tickets is shown in Figure
6.2. (Martinez et al., 2013, p.76)

Source: Creating service culture in higher education administration by Martinez et al. (2013)

Figure 6.2 resembles some ticket offices but also represents the work process that most supermarkets
use as customers purchase their goods. Most people their best to choose the shortest line in this
situation, but somehow the person in the front of the line always argues about a price or cannot get his
credit card to work. It is only then that you realize it would have been better to choose the longer line.
In the case of the ticket office, the cashiers are not to blame for the long lines if administrators use to
the work process shown in Figure 6.2. Nut customers do want to blame somebody, and the cashier is
their immediate point of contact. (Martinez et al., 2013, p.76)

Creative Work Process Design

Many years ago, the work process by which banks served their customers was changed in a way that
improves service and eased the burden on the tellers. To reduce customer's waiting time the single-file
line is used, thus no customer had to choose a line instead everyone was in the same line.

Work Process Assessment

1. Do the work processes in your office help you do your job more effectively?

2. Goes your job require you to follow strict rules and procedures, or do you need the flexibility to
individualize service delivery to your customers?

3. Have those recurring processes that can be improved by technology been automated or
standardized?

Ponder on these following questions by Martinez et al. (2013) and answer them based on your
organization, if applicable. Otherwise, you can refer to PLMun as an example of an organization. Which
procedures are more effective for PLMun, is flexibility can be applied and is there something that
technology can offer to improve the service?

Values and Beliefs

The collective values and beliefs of an organization are elements of service culture that often lie beneath
the surface. It doesn’t have to remain unspoken or subconscious. The more that management and staff
are conscious of service culture values, the more focus and attention will be directed to service delivery.
Martinez et al. (2013)
Core Values are the fundamental beliefs of a person or organization. These guiding principles dictate
behavior and can help people understand the difference between right and wrong. Core values also help
companies to determine if they are on the right path and fulfilling their goals by creating an unwavering
guide. (Example of Core Values, n.d.)

According to Martinez et al. (2013), a value is an important and sustained attitude or feeling about the
worth we attach to something. A belief is how we go about experiencing, or living, that value. If you
value "hard work," then you may believe that it is important to work at least ten hours a day to live up
to that value. Ideally, values drive beliefs. Martinez et al. (2013)

Some examples of core values for a company include:

• A commitment to sustainability and to acting in an environmentally friendly way. Companies like

Patagonia and Ben & Jerry's have environmental sustainability as a core value.

• A commitment to innovation and excellence. Apple Computer is perhaps best known for having
a commitment to innovation as a core value. This is embodied by their "Think Different" motto.
• A commitment to doing well for the whole. Google, for example, believes in making a great
search engine and building a great company without being evil.

• A commitment to helping those less fortunate. TOMS Shoe Company gives away a pair of shoes
to a needy person for every pair it sells to alleviate poverty and make life better for others.
• A commitment to building strong communities. Shell Oil Company donates millions of dollars to
the University of Texas to improve student education and to match employee charitable donations.
(Example of Core Values, n.d.)

Answer the questions in Activity 12 to see how familiar you are with the values and beliefs of your
department or organization. (If not applicable to you, again, refer to PLMun or your college as an
example of an organization.)

Source: Creating service culture in higher education administration by Martinez et al. (2013)

Additional Pieces of the Service Culture Puzzle

Service culture also includes the way people within a certain culture speak (language); the way they
dress; and the habits, customs, or activities that are part of their group. Finally, service culture includes
what is referred to as climate, or the general attitude employees have about their work environment.
Martinez et al. (2013, pp.82-83)

Language and Dress

According to Martinez et al. (2013) Language illustrates how department cultures vary even within the
same organization. Language contributes to a strong service culture as long as everyone (including
internal and external customers) understands the language.

Imagine a newly hired professor at PLMun were ask my colleagues if he/she would like to join them
have lunch at KFC, he/she might not know that his/her colleague doesn't mean the real fast-food chain
KFC (Kentucky-Fried Chicken).

Routines, Customs, and Activities

While language and dress are immediately observable elements of service culture, routines and customs
are the behind-the-scenes, internal workings that enable an organization to deliver its services. It
defines the daily or weekly life of the office. In some departments, it is customary to have parties and
get-together for even the smallest occasion. An example of a routine can be the weekly 9:00 am
meeting or the non-uniform day (wash day) every Friday.

Organizational Climate
Organizational climate concerns the policies and practices of an organization or unit of an organization.
It concerns the behaviors that are encouraged and supported. It is communicated in several ways.

• Policies: These are the written rules for the behaviors that people should and should not do.
Policies describe how things should be done.

• Practices: These are the behaviors that employees and their supervisors engage in, in other
words, how policies are or are not enacted.

• What is encouraged and discouraged? These are the expectations that supervisors and other
employees express what each employee should and should not do. For Beth, It was customer service
and for Mike it was efficiency.

• Where the rewards are. Nothing expresses expectations like rewards. These can be monetary,
such as bonuses for high sales volume, or nonmonetary, such as praise for a job well done. (What Is
Organizational Climate? 2019.)

How Is Climate Different from Culture

The terms climate and culture are often used interchangeably, but they are not the same concept.
Climate is part of the culture and reflects the sorts of behaviors that are encouraged and presumably
engaged in within an organization. Culture is far more than encouraged behavior patterns. Culture
includes artifacts (e.g., the sorts of clothes people wear), symbols (e.g., the company logo), technology
(e.g., salespeople's use of tablets to ring up sales), and values (e.g., profitability). Although these aspects
of culture might support the climate, they go beyond climate, and much of organizational culture might
not link to climate. (What Is Organizational Climate? 2019.)

Why Is Organizational Climate Important?

Climate is important because employees are likely to engage in the behaviors that are encouraged. In
Mike's company the emphasis is on efficiency and productivity, so that focuses on employee attention in
those areas. Employees are likely to adopt an efficiency/productivity mindset that guides their
interactions with others and their work. In Beth's company, the emphasis is on customer service. There
will be less focus on efficiency/productivity and more on serving customer needs. If a potential customer
leaves a message, Beth is likely to call back right away and will be patient if the customer is long-winded
on the phone. Mike, on the other hand, will be more strategic in how he spends time, and he might not
be in a hurry to return the call if he does not believe the customer is a good prospect. The amount a
customer is likely to purchase will determine the time he is willing to invest.

Companies can use climate to encourage the behaviors they wish from their employees. To a great
extent, the climate is encouraged by the sorts of issues and problems the company deals with. (What Is
Organizational Climate? 2019.)

Creating a Culture of Service Summary

Every service culture comprises people who, in the best case, work together to live certain values and
beliefs. We have seen that reporting charts, work processes, and even how people speak and behave
are all reflections of culture. The secret to delivering enthusiastic service – no matter where you work,
rests largely in the alignment of your values and beliefs to the values and beliefs of your organization.
(Martinez et al., 2013, p.86)

Chapter 6 takeaways

• Service culture defines many things about a formal group of people: who they are, what they
do, how they do things, and why they do what they do.

• The many pieces of service culture, from reporting charts to work processes and values and
beliefs influence service delivery.

• Organizational climate is an indicator of service climate.

• Professional values that are aligned with the values and beliefs of their organizations have a
greater chance of delivering consistent and ongoing service excellence. (Martinez et al., 2013, p.85)

MANAGERIAL INFLUENCE ON SERVICE DELIVERY

Managers hold a special place in our organizations, as their jobs put them squarely in the business of
service delivery. A manger's purpose is to help a team of professionals to do their jobs. The manager
sets the tone and facilitates the team's work by reinforcing, building, or changing the elements of the
culture of the group. Most important to service delivery, the manager directly influences internal
customer service delivery through interacting with the team and each employee.

Management Style and Customer Service

Managers have different management styles, which means they have different ways of
communicating and accomplishing their objectives. Managers affect how employees feel about their
jobs and how they go about managing their work. It is just as important for a staff member to know
about management styles as it is for the manager. (Martinez et al., 2013, pp.87 - 88)

Task – Centered Manager (result-oriented) vs. People-Centered Manager (people and relationship-
oriented)

As a manager, which do you deem more important: The well-being of the people you manage or
the effective attainment of your company’s objectives?

Of course, both of these factors are important, and therefore should be taken into consideration.
Although some managers can balance being people-oriented and task-oriented; they still have their
default, and still fall under each category, especially in situations where a manager has to choose
between getting the job done or prioritizing the well-being of his/her team.

Task-Oriented Leadership focuses on the tasks that needed to be carried out to reach goals. The
leadership style here can be described as autocratic. Autocratic leaders don't involve their team in
decision making. Task-orientated leadership involves some task management features. This involves
placing emphasis on administrative activities, co-ordinating job-related activities, preparing financial
reports, etc. As we can see leaders who opt for this style focus on completing tasks to reach targets. This
type of leader doesn't care about relationship building or the employees who are needed to reach these
goals. They are more concerned with following their plan to reach organizational targets.

One of, if not the biggest strength of this type of leadership is that all tasks are complete to a high
standard promptly. These leaders set an example for employees by focusing on the necessary
procedures concerning how tasks as completed. As a result, they can delegate work and make sure that
tasks are completed on time to a high standard. This style of leadership would be suitable in well-
structured environments like for example manufacturing assembly lines where repeating well-defined
processes produces high levels of both productivity and quality.

Relationship-Oriented Leadership focuses on creating success as a result of building lasting relationships

with employees and the motivation, job satisfaction, and work-life balance of their employees. They still
care about getting tasks done, however, they believe that work culture is more important. Leaders who
use this style concentrate on motivating, supporting, and developing their employees. Relationship
oriented leaders also promote collaboration and teamwork, by encouraging communication and
building positive relationships. The welfare of employees is the top priority for these leaders and as a
result, they put time and effort into meeting their employee's individual needs.

One of the strengths of this leadership style is that these leaders establish teams that all employees
want to be a part of. Members of these teams are often more productive and willing to take risks
because they understand that they will get support from the leader if necessary. Strength is that
employees are in an environment where they know their leader cares about their welfare. These leaders
know that workplace productivity requires creating a positive environment where employees feel
motivated. As a result, these leaders prioritize people to ensure that issues such as personal conflicts,
dissatisfaction, and turnover are low.

One of the weaknesses of this leadership style is that focusing on creating team spirit may get in the way
of completing tasks and reaching goals. Some leaders can put the development of their team above
tasks. (RFC Leading Talent, Task vs. Relationship Leadership, n.d.)

Management Expectations and Service Delivery

According to Martinez et al. (2013) the expectation your manager has of you influence your interaction
with others, how you perform your job, and the service you deliver. Social Psychologist Elliot Aronson
(as cited in Martinez et al., 2013) indicates that one adult expectation (sender) of another adult
(receiver) influences how the receiver feels and acts. Perception and assumptions develop into implicit
and explicit expectations.
Since most managers manage multiple employees, they develop different expectations and begin to
categorize employees based on those expectations. Most of us shudder at the idea of being categorized
because that begins to sound like someone is stereotyping us. But all of us naturally categorize objects,
ideas, and even people to make sense of the world. This is how our brain works. It's important to be
aware of one's categorizations but not be bound by them. Given this background, it is hard to blame a
manager for naturally developing expectations and categorizations. Managers develop performance
expectations based on past results or on perceptions they have formed about the employee. (Martinez
et al., 2013, pp.94-95)

Figure 7.1 shows how managers assess employees, based on the expectations they formulate from the
time of hire to their present-day interactions and experiences with the employee. According to the
management assessment grid, managers categorize employees as Stars, Worker Bees, Problem
Employees, or Misplaced Employees. Martinez et al. (2013)

• Star Employee

A star employee is a top performer. The Star has valuable knowledge, skills, ability, and commitment to
the organization and is respected by co-workers and managers. True Star employees are not only good
at their jobs but they also get along well with others. They bring both technical and relational
competencies to the workplace.

• Worker Bee

The Worker Bee's primary assets are optimism and motivation. Worker Bee must put in extra time to
succeed. The extra effort pays dividends because performance is still high. Worker Bee profile is often
new to the profession. New staff members typically need time to acculturate and learn the ropes. They
need training even though they may come with the general knowledge that was a factor in their hiring.
In some sense, there is no replacement for experience.

• Problem Employee
Problem Employees do not perform to their potential. The cause of problem employees' difficulties is a
certain level of discontent with other people or with themselves. Some Problem Employees are just
chronic complainers who never see the positive side of others or their work. These employees' negative
attitude overshadows any potential to become a Star. A problem Employee's negative attitude also
influences others.

Negative feelings and attitudes are often traced to interpersonal conflicts. Work environments are social
environments, and conflicts and disagreements are inevitable. Thus, a Problem Employee may be a
problem because he or she is unable to get along with another person; perhaps his/her co-worker or
manager.

• Misplaced Employee

Misplaced Employees are those individuals who are experiencing serious problems or have not found a
job that fits their talents. Misplacement can result because of poor relationships or lack of ability.
Misplaced Employees experience other challenges, many of which are similar to those of a Problem
Employee: personal problems change in job assignments or miscommunication with management.
Misplace Employees who are experiencing temporary problems often need support, just as Problem
Employees do. (Martinez et al., 2013, pp.98-99)

Assessing your Performance and Potential

According to Martinez et al. (2013), the utility of the Management Assessment Grid is as much for
employees as it is for managers. It is a self-awareness tool to assess your performance and potential
realistically. Your self-assessment of your potential and performance is arguably the most important
exercise you can complete.

Martinez et al. (2013) pointed out that every person is capable of moving from one category on the
Management Assessment Grid to another, but it starts with self-assessment and self-awareness.

Managerial Influence Summary

The employee-manager relationship is the foundation that defines service delivery in any higher
education office. Managers and employees should have an explicit understanding of different
management styles and how those styles influence the employee-manager relationship and, ultimately,
service delivery. (Martinez et al., 2013, p.102)

Chapter 7 Takeaways

• Both task-oriented and people-oriented managers have strengths and weaknesses. No one style
is better than another in every situation and for managing every employee.

• Employees who understand and appreciate different management styles can work more
effectively with their managers – in effect, they are better able to manage their managers.

• The low performance of Problem or misplaced Employees may be attributed to attitudinal,

technical, or relational issues, but an honest assessment of the issue is the first step toward solving the
problem.

• Star and Worker Bee Employees must seek learning opportunities and work challenges to
maintain high performance. (Martinez et al., 2013, p.102)

ACHIEVING SERVICE EXCELLENCE

Even if customer service has become a part of your organization's DNA, it still important to personalize
the general service question that we asked about your organization: How can your organization achieve
service excellence? The question then becomes how can you, as part of that organization, achieve
excellent service delivery? Chapter 1 – 7 provide the tools to help you achieve service excellence; they
lay the groundwork for implementation. Whether implementation happens depends on three things:
commitments, attitude, and action. (Martinez et al., 2013, p.103)

Service Excellence = Commitment + Attitude + Action

Martinez et al. (2013) pointed out that commitment, attitude, and action are three ingredients that
determine whether you are personally implementing and sustain excellent service delivery.
• Commitment

Commitment to work or work commitment is defined as the level of enthusiasm an employee has
towards his/her tasks assigned at a workplace. It is the feeling of responsibility that a person has
towards the goals, mission, and vision of the organization he/she is associated with.

High levels of employee satisfaction in an organization are related to work commitment and
engagement in their organization. This results in superior business performance, which in turn results in
increased profitability, productivity, employee retention, and an overall improvement in the work
atmosphere. (Question Pro, Commitment to work: Definition, importance, and tips to improve work
commitment, n.d.)

People who are committed to service excellence know why their jobs are important. They know their
work has meaning, and they believe they are providing something valuable to the customers. True
commitment is only possible if your professional values and beliefs match those of your organization.
(Martinez et al., 2013, p.104)

• Service Attitude

When you believe in what you do, it isn't very hard to motivate yourself to work on your tasks. A strong
commitment fuels a strong service attitude. But attitude is also influenced by emotions of the moment,
and these fluctuate. It takes conscious effort to overcome fleeting emotions and sustain a positive
attitude that matches one's deeper commitment if the effort can influence attitude and overcome the
emotional lows we all experience, then it follows that attitude is a choice and if we choose to focus on
the positive, we will have a powerful service attitude to match our service commitment. (Martinez et al.,
2013, p.104)

Keeping a positive attitude is the key not only in delivering excellent service, but it is also to maintain a
harmonious relationship with people you encounter every day; your co-workers and your customers. A
positive attitude can be challenging at times, as humans as we are, we are susceptible to negative
emotions caused by unforeseen events. But at the end of the day, maintaining a positive attitude is a
choice; we cannot always control the situations around us, but we can control how we react or what we
allow to affect us. Take a deep breath and assess the situation; in most cases, difficult co-workers and
customers have underlying issues needed to be resolved. Focus on resolving the issues or problems at
hand, and not so much on the unruly behavior of that person. Martinez et al. (2013) provided a list of
reminders in maintaining a positive attitude, it is as follows:

1. Smile at people and make eye contact.

2. Make humor a part of your life.

3. Whether on the phone or talking face-to-face make sure your voice, body posture, and facial
expressions all reflect a positive attitude.

4. Thank people for small things

5. Call people by name.

6. Remember that your service to others is a reward in itself.

7. Make an effort to listen to or read positive material.

8. If you have to resolve a disagreement with a colleague, be the one to initiate a discussion.

9. At the start of every day, choose a positive attitude.

10. Connect daily tasks to your larger purpose.

• Service Action

Service Question: What do you call a person who s committed to a cause and has a great attitude but
never gets around to taking the action to make things happen?

a. Unemployed

b. A philosopher

c. A procrastinator

d. All of the above

The answer to the question is "d. All of the above." We have all met people who fervently believe in
their organization. They can state the goals of their department, and they exhibit an infectious positive
mental attitude. There is only one problem. Vision and passion go nowhere without steps that guide the
passion and move toward the vision to which they are so committed. There is no action. These are the
people who are philosophers (or office sages) because they have all the answers and can tell us what to
do even though they have not shown that they can do it themselves. These are the people with big plans
– but they never get moving on those plans. (Martinez et al., 2013, p.108)

Action is associated with the activity, with doing. If you have completed all the activities and
assessments, then you have already taken the first step to deliver excellent customer service and
contribute to a culture that can sustain it. The tools and activities you have accomplished throughout
this module are commonsense reminders to keep on doing the things you should be doing and avoid
doing things you know you should not be doing. (Martinez et al., 2013, p.108)

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