Service Quality and the Sales Force: A Tool for Competitive Advantage

Author(s): C. David Shepherd

Source: The Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, Vol. 19, No. 3 (Summer, 1999), pp
. 73-82
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.
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 Selling and Sales Managementin Action
ofSouthFlorida
GregW.Marshall, University

Service Quality and the Sales Force:

A Tool forCompetitiveAdvantage
C. DavidShepherd

It has beensuggestedthatdelivering superiorservicequalityis a prerequisite

forsuccessintoday's
businessenvironment. As a boundary spanner,theindustrial salespersonplaysa criticalroleinthe
servicedeliveryprocess.However,littlesales forceresearchhas focusedon servicequality.This
articlefocusesonthelinkbetweenpersonalsellingand servicequality,and demonstrates howone
firm toolinmanagingitssale force.
utilizeda measureofservicequalityas a diagnostic Additionally,
thearticleshowshowthesamefirmuseda competitive servicequalityassessmenttogaininsights
intoitscompetitive position.

In reviewingthe lessons learned over the last
decade of service quality research, Berry,
Parasuraman,Zeithamland Adsit conclude,"Ex-
cellentserviceis a profitstrategybecause itresults
in morenew customers,morebusinesswithexist-
ing customers,fewerlost customers,moreinsula-
tion fromprice competition, and fewermistakes
requiringthe reperformance of services"(1994, p.
32). As strong as this statement sounds, it is
groundedin research.For example,PIMS (Profit
ImpactofMarketStrategy)researchhas indicated
thatcompaniesthatoffersuperiorserviceare able
to charge8% morefortheirproduct(Gale 1992),
whileachievinghigher-than-normal marketshare
growth(Buzzell and Gale 1987) and profitability
(Phillips,Chang,and Buzzell 1983).
Giventhe potentialconnectionbetweenservice
qualityand profitability, it comes as no surprise
that"delighting" the customerby providingexcel-
lentservicehas becomethegoalofmanybusinesses
(Färberand Wycoff1991). It has been suggested
C. David Shepherd (Ph.D., University ofTennessee)is cur-
rentlyan AssociateProfessorin the DepartmentofMarketing
and ProfessionalSales at Kennesaw State University. His
experienceincludesoverfiveyearsofsales and sales manage-
mentin thecomputerindustry.Dr. Shepherdhas publishedin
theJournalofPersonalSelling& Sales Management, Journalof
HealthCareMarketing, JournalofProfessional ServicesMarket-
ing,Marketing IndustrialMarketing,
Intelligence, International
JournalofManpower,theproceedings oftheAmericanMarket-
theAcademyofMarketingScience,theAmeri-
ingAssociation,
can Psychological
Association,and the NationalConference on
Sales Management.
Theauthorgratefullyacknowledges theconstructiveandhelpful
comments oftheeditor,AlanJ.Dubinsky, Jr.,thesectioneditor,
JonM. Hawes,and theanonymous JPSSM reviewers.
thatcustomer serviceimprovement programs should
includean assessmentof the servicequalitycur-
rentlybeing deliveredto customers(Berryand
Parasuraman 1997). These assessments are de-
signedto identify the strengthsand weaknessesof
the servicecurrently beingdelivered.
Servicequalityliteratureis repletewithexamples
ofservicequalityassessmentsin industriesrang-
ingfromarchitecture tohealthcare(e.g.,Bopp1990;
Baker and Lamb 1993;Mittaland Baldasare 1996;
Jaklevic1996). As insightful as such assessments
can be,an assessmentoftheservicequalitypercep-
tionsofexistingcustomersalone offersonlya lim-
itedperspective. Forexample,measuresofcustomer
servicethatfocusexclusivelyon existingcustomers
do littleto identifythecompany'scompetitive posi-
tion. For insightsinto competitivestrengthsand
weaknesses,the firmmustmeasurethe servicede-
liveredbytheircompetitors (Parasuraman,Zeithaml,
andBerry1988;BerryandParasuraman1997).Such
a comparisonassists in settingpriorities forservice
qualityimprovement and offers into
insights strate-
for
gies differentiating through servicequality.
It has beensuggestedthatthefirm'ssales forceis
criticalto its servicedeliveryprocess(Grewaland
Sharma 1991). On average salespeoplespend67%
of theirtime in face-to-face or telephonecontact
withcustomers(Heide 1996). In fact,salespeople
are normallythe primary,if not only,contactbe-
tweenthe organizationand its customers(Grewal
and Sharma 1991; Sharma and Sarel 1995). Each
JournalofPersonalSelling& Sales Management,
VolumeXIX,Number3 (Summer1999,Pages 73-82).

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74
ofthesecustomercontactshas thepotentialofposi-
tivelyor negativelyimpactingthe customer'sview
of the serviceprovidedby the salesperson'scom-
pany.Althoughlittlehas been stated concerning
thesalesperson'scriticalrolein the servicequality
deliveryprocess,Ingram recently(1996) pointed
outthatsalespeople,operatingin today'srelation-
shipsellingenvironment, are chargedwith: a) fol-
lowing-upto assess customersatisfaction,and b)
takingaction to assure customersatisfaction.In
otherwords,it is thesalesperson'sresponsibilityto
assure that customersreceivethe level of service
necessaryto createsatisfiedcustomers.
This manuscripthas two main purposes.It is
writtento drawattentionto the criticalrolesales-
peopleplay in the servicedeliveryprocessand to
showhowa servicequalityassessmentcan be used
in the sales managementprocess.To thatend,we
will show how one firmconducteda competitive
assessmentofcustomerserviceand used the infor-
mationgainedfromthis assessmentas inputinto
the managementof its primaryservice delivery
medium,its sales force.
Background
Servicequalityhas receiveda significantamount
ofattentionbybothresearchersand practitioners.
It has beendefinedas a formofan attitude,related
butnotequivalentto satisfaction, thatresultsfrom
thecomparisonofexpectedservicelevelswithper-
ceived performance (Bolton and Drew 1992;
Parasuraman,Zeithaml,and Berry1988; Cronin
and Taylor1992). In otherwords,consumersenter
a consumption experienceexpectinga certainlevel
ofservice.Duringthatconsumption experiencethey
observeactualserviceperformance. The consumer's
subjectiveevaluationof how well (or poorly)that
actual performance comparesto expectedperfor-
manceresultsin the perceivedservicequality(for
moredetaileddiscussionsofthisprocess,see Woo-
druff,Cadotte,and Jenkins1983; Parasuraman,
Zeithaml,and Berry1988;Croninand Taylor1992).
Thereis considerableevidencethatservicequal-
ity is an antecedent to customer satisfaction
(Reidenbach and Sandifer-Smallwood 1990;
Woodside,Frey,and Daly 1989; Croninand Taylor
in 1992).In particular,a 1992 studybyCroninand
Taylorusing structuralequationmodelingoffered
strongevidenceof this relationship.Importantly,
Croninand Taylor'sresearchalso offered evidence
supportinga positiverelationshipbetweensatis-
factionand repurchaseintentions.The brandloy-
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JournalofPersonal Selling & Sales Management
alty that is generatedby such repurchaseinten-
tionsis extremelyimportantas customerstendto
generateincreasinglymoreprofitseach year they
staywitha company(Reichheldand Sasser 1990).
In fact,Reichheldand Sasser contendthatcompa-
nies can boosttheirprofitsby almost100% by re-
tainingjust 5% moreoftheircustomers.Jonesand
Sasser summarizethe servicequality-satisfaction-
customerloyaltyrelationshipas follows:
High-qualityproductsandassociated services
de-
signedtomeet customerneedswillcreatehighlevels
ofcustomer satisfaction.
Thishighlevelofsatisfac-
tionwillleadtogreatly
increased customer loyalty.
Andincreased customerloyaltyis thesinglemost
important driver
oflong-term
financialperformance
(1995,p.91).
Withthe mountingevidencethatservicequality
leads to satisfactionwhichleads to customerloy-
alty,considerablepractitioner interesthas focused
onprogramsto improveservicequality(Färberand
Wycoff 1991;Schlesingerand Heskett1991;Treacy
and Wiersema1993). One of the key elementsin
many of these service quality improvement pro-
gramshas been the measurementofservicequal-
ity.Servicequalitymeasurementis important as it
has thepotentialto offerinsightsintoareas ofser-
vice quality strengthsand weaknesses. In other
words,it can serveas a diagnostictoolthatguides
managementin its servicequalityimprovement ef-
fortsby focusingattentionin the areas that are
mostneedful(Berryet al. 1994).
Since its inceptionin 1988,the SERVQUAL ser-
vicequalitymeasurement instrument (Parasuraman,
Zeithaml,and Berry 1988, 1991, 1994) has been
heavilyutilizedin servicequalityresearch(e. g.,
Bojanic 1991;Baker and Lamb 1993). SERVQUAL
was designedtobe a genericmeasureofservicequal-
itythathas cross-industry applicability.SERVQUAL
assumesthatservicequalityis a comparison ofex-
pectedperformance withperceivedperformance. As
a result,SERVQUAL includesbothexpectation and
performance versionsofits 22 items.Parasuraman,
Zeithamland Berry(1988,1991,1994)suggestthat
analyzingthegap betweenexpectations and perfor-
manceoffers diagnosticinsightsusefulin efforts to
assess and improveservicequality.However,in re-
centyearstheefficiency ofthe44 itemSERVQUAL
instrument has comeintoquestion.Croninand Tay-
lor (1992) foundthat administering an instrument
containing onlyperformance itemsexplainedmoreof
the variationin servicequalitythan did the entire
SERVQUALinstrument. CroninandTaylor'sinstru-
mentwas titledSERVPERF and consistedof21 of
Summer 1999
theoriginal22 SERVQUAL performance items.The
one SERVQUAL itemthat was deletedby Cronin
andTaylorwas,"EmployeesofXYZ Companydo not
giveyoupersonalattention." This itemwas deleted
as part of the reliabilityanalysis.The decisionto
focusonperformance itemswas consistent withstud-
ies conductedby Carman (1990), Teas (1993), and
Brown,Churchill,and Peter (1993). In particular,
Teas (1993)strongly recommended elimination ofthe
expectation itemsin applied service qualityresearch.
Table 1 presentsthe 21 itemsthat composethe
SERVPERF instrument. Althoughthelinkbetween
salespeople and customer satisfactionhas been
widelyaccepted(Grewal and Sharma1991;Sharma
1997),Table 1 goesfurther bysuggesting thatsales-
people have the potential of impacting the
customer'sperceptionof servicequality as mea-
sured by this instrument.For example,consider
the SERVPERF item'When XYZ Companyprom-
ises to do somethingby a certaintime,it does so."
Given the fact that the salespersonis a contact
betweenthe firmand its customers,it followsthat
the performance of the salesperson in this area
wouldhave someimpacton the customer'sservice
qualityperceptionofthecompany.In fact,giventhe
factthatthesalesperson isoften theprimary, andsome-
timestheonly, contactbetween thefirm anditscustom-
ers,thecustomer'sassessment ofthecompany's follow-
through maybe largely basedonhowwellthesalesper-
sonfollows-throughonhisorherpromises.
Applicationof SERVPERF in a
InstitutionalSelling Situation
To illustratehow a customerserviceassessment
can be used as a diagnosticand competitive sales
managementtool, an actual institutionalselling
applicationwill now be presented.Based on the
recommendations ofCroninand Taylor(1992) and
Teas (1993),SERVPERF was used as thecustomer
serviceassessmentinstrument in thisillustration.
The companyparticipatingin this studyis a na-
tional photographicfirmthat producespictorial
membership forchurches.Churchestend
directories
to contractwithphotographicfirmsto producea
directoryof their membership,includingphoto-
graphsoftheirmembership, approximately every
twotofouryears.Churchesuse thesepictorialmem-
bershipdirectoriesformanypurposes.Forexample,
pictorialmembershipdirectoriesassist new mem-
bersin learningthenamesofothermembers.Addi-
tionally,thedirectoryprovidesa pictorialhistoryof
the church,and servesas an addressbookforthe
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75
membership. Otherinstitutions, suchas civicorga-
nizations, also often producepictorialdirectories of
theirmemberships. School"annuals"or"yearbooks"
are a variationon the pictorialdirectory concept.
The pictorialmembership directoryindustry con-
sists ofseveralnationalcompetitors. Additionally,
in manycommunitieslocal independentphotogra-
phystudiosproducepictorialmembershipdirecto-
ries. The national competitorsproducea similar
directoryproduct.The directoriescome in either
hardor softcovereditions.In mostcases thedirec-
torycontainsseveralintroductory pages containing
photographsthat documentthe activitiesof the
churchmembership.For example,these"activity"
pages usually include "slice-of-life" photographs
takenat functions suchas sporting events,
parties,and
"group-shots" ofcohortgroupssuch as studygroups.
Thebodyofthedirectory consistsofphotographsofthe
churchmembership arrangedalphabetically.Finally,
the directory includesa completemembership roster
including addresses,andtelephone numbers.
The nationalcompetitors in thisindustry market
their directoriesthroughtheir own sales forces.
Sales territories are allocatedon a geographicba-
sis. The salespersonis theprimarycontactbetween
the institutionand the directorycompany.Sales-
people are expectedto provideconsiderableafter-
the-saleserviceto the institutionthroughout the
directoryproductionprocess. For example,sales
peopleoftenassist the churchesin settingup pho-
tographicschedules, insuringthat photographic
schedulesare met,in the selectionofdirectory
op-
tions,and insuringthatthe directory processpro-
ceeds in a timelyfashion.Additionally, the sales-
personis normallythechurch'scontactwhenprob-
lemsarise in thedirectory development process.
InstrumentModification
AlthoughSERVQUAL and SERVPERF werede-
signedas genericmeasuresofservicequalitythat
have cross-industryapplicability,it is importantto
view the instrumentsas basic "skeletons"thatof-
ten requiremodification to fitthe specificapplica-
tion situation and supplementalcontext-specific
items(Parasuraman,Berryand Zeithaml1991).To
determineif the SERVPERF instrumentneeded
modification in this applicationa series of three
focusgroupswereconducted.The firstfocusgroup
consistedof representatives(ministersor office
managers) fromchurchesthat had recentlypro-
duceda pictorialmembership directory. The second
focusgroupwas conductedwith salespeoplethat
76 JournalofPersonal Selling & Sales Management

Table 1
SERVPERF Items and Comment on Potential Impact of Salespeople on the
Customer's Perception of Service Quality

SERVPERF Items Rationale

TangiblesItems
XYZ Companyhas modem-looking equipment. This area is notnormally
impactedbythe salesperson.
XYZ Company'sphysicalfacilities are visuallyappealing. This area is notnormally
impactedbythe salesperson.
XYZ Company'semployees are neat-appearing. May be largelybased on the salesperson's appearance.
Materialsassociated withthe serviceare visually This area is notnormally
impactedbythe salesperson,
appealingat XYZ Company.

Items
Reliability
When XYZ Companypromisesto do somethingbya May be largelybased on the salesperson's follow-through on
certaintime,itdoes so. promises.
Wheyyou have a problem,XYZ Companyshows a May be largelybased on the salesperson's interestinsolving
sincereinterestinsolvingit. customerproblems.
XYZ Companyperforms the service right
thefirst
time. May be largelybased on the salesperson's ability
to "getit right"
the
first
time.
XYZ Companyprovidesitsservices at thetimeitpromises May be based on the salesperson's consistencyinadheringto a
to do so. schedule.
XYZ Companyinsistson error-free
records. May be largelybased on the salesperson's accuracy inrecord
keeping.

ResponsivenessItems
EmployeesofXYZ Companytellyou exactlywhen May be largelybased on the accuracy of informationprovidedby
serviceswillbe performed. the salesperson.
EmployeesofXYZ Companygive you promptservice. May be largelybased on the accuracy ofpromptness.
EmployeesofXYZ Companyare always willing
to help May be largelybased on the salesperson's willingnessto help,
you.
EmployeesinXYZ Companyare nevertoo busyto May be largelybased on the salesperson's ability
to respondto
respondto yourrequests. customerrequests.

AssuranceItems
The behaviorofemployees ofXYZ Company instills May be largelybased on the behaviorofthe salesperson,
confidenceinyou.
You feelsafe inyourtransactionswithXYZ Company. May be largelybased on the customer'sfeelingofsecurityin
dealingwiththe salesperson.
EmployeesofXYZ Companyare consistently
courteous May be largelybased on the levelofcourtesydisplayedbythe
withyou. salesperson.
EmployeesofXYZ Company have the knowledgeto May be largelybased on the salesperson's levelofknowledge,
answeryourquestions.

EmpathyItems
XYZ Companygives you individual
attention. May be largelybased on the individualattention
givenbythe
salesperson.
XYZ Companyhas operatinghoursconvenientto all its May be largelybased on the salesperson's normalworkinghours,
customers.
XYZ Companyhas yourbest interestat heart. May be largelybased on the salesperson's concernforthewell
beingofthe customer.
EmployeesofXYZ Company understandyourspecific May be largelybased on the salesperson's understandingofthe
needs. customer'sneeds.

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Summer 1999
representthe nationalpictorialdirectory producer
thatparticipatedin the study.Participantsin the
finalfocusgroup were sales managers fromthe
participating company. The focusgroupsbeganwith
a generaldiscussionofcustomerservice,thenmoved
to the subjectof customerservicein the pictorial
directory industry.As partofthatdiscussion,par-
ticipants were asked to discussinstancesofexcep-
tionallygood and poor servicetheyhad encoun-
teredinthedevelopment ofdirectories.Finally,par-
ticipants were presentedtheSERVPERF itemsand
askedtoassess theinstrument's adequacyas a mea-
sure of servicequality in this industry.Based on
the focusgroupstwo modifications were made to
the 21 itemSERVPERF instrument. First,as cus-
tomersdo notvisitthe vendor'sofficesor physical
facilities(all photographicworkis normallycon-
ductedon the institutionpremise),the following
twotangibleitemsweredeleted: a) XYZ's physical
facilitiesare visuallyappealing,and b) The appear-
ance ofthe physicalfacilitiesofXYZ is in keeping
withthe typeof servicesprovided.Second,recog-
nizingthat customersneed to be able to contact
theirsales representative duringthe directory de-
velopmentprocess,the following assessibilityitem
was added: It is difficult to contactthe sales repre-
sentativebytelephone.Thisitemwas phrasednega-
tivelytobe consistent withthemixedphrasingfound
in theSERVPERF instrument.
Finally,as thepurposeofthisstudywas to assess
thequalityofservicedeliveredbysalespeople,a deci-
sionwas madeto deleteanySERVPERF itemsthat
are notnormallyimpacted by the salesperson.As
notedin Table 1, thesalespersonnormallydoes not
havean impacton thequalityofequipmentutilized
byhis/her company.Therefore, theitem"XYZCom-
panyhas modernequipment"was deletedfromthe
SERVPERF instrument. Whilethe impactthe indi-
vidualsalespersonhas on customerservicepercep-
tionswillvarywithsellingsituations, Table 1 illus-
tratesthatthe salespersonhas thepotentialofim-
pacting,tosomedegree,all theremaining SERVPERF
items.Therefore, all remainingitemsweredeemed
germanetoassessingtheservicequalityprovidedby
salespeopleand wereretainedforthisstudy.
Methodology
The servicequalityquestionnairewas adminis-
teredin a telephoneformatto respondentslocated
acrosstheUnitedStates. All respondentshad pro-
duced a pictorial directorywithin the last six
months.The respondentshad been selectedfroma
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77
list of 583 churchesthat had recentlyproduceda
pictorialdirectory. This list was createdfromthe
competitiveactivityreportsof the participating
company'ssalespeople,and a telephonecanvassing
by their telemarketingdepartment.Of the 583
churchescontacted,a totalof256 respondents par-
ticipatedin the study,yieldinga responserate of
44%. Of the 256 respondents,58% (148) had con-
tractedwiththecompanyparticipating inthisstudy
(CompanyA), while the other42% (108) had con-
tractedwith its two major competitors(73 with
CompanyΒ and 35 withCompanyC).
In all cases the respondentwas the individual
thathad beenresponsiblefortheoriginalpurchase.
Whencontactedtherespondents wereinformed that
thestudywas beingconductedas partofa studyof
customersatisfactionin the pictorialmembership
directoryindustry.The sponsorshipof the study
was not disclosedto the respondentsand all indi-
vidualresponseswerekeptinstrictconfidence. Con-
sistentwiththe Croninand Taylor study(1992),
respondents wereasked to ratetheirlevelofagree-
mentwith each item on a 5 point scale ranging
from"StronglyAgree"(1) to "StronglyDisagree"
(5). No labels were providedforthe intermediate
scale points(i.e., 2 through4), and the question-
naire itemswerepresentedin a randomorder.
Findings
Single CompanyResults
One of the challengesof any researchis deter-
miningthe most appropriatemannerin whichto
reporttheresultsofthe study.As theparticipating
companyintendedtodisclosetheresultsofthestudy
toitsentiresales force,mostofwhichhad no statis-
tical training,managementwanteda concisepre-
sentationof the results that was easy to under-
standand devoidofstatisticaljargon.To thatend,a
decisionwas madebythemanagement ofthepartici-
patingcompanyto simplyfocuson the percentage
agreeing(responding withstronglyagree"1"ormod-
eratelyagree"2")witheach ofthestatements in the
servicequalityquestionnaire. to avoid
Additionally,
any confusion, the negativelyphrasedSERVPERF
itemswere presentedin reverse-coded format.Fi-
nally,theresultswerecategorized as follows:
excellent 90% or above
good 80% to 89%
fair 70% to 79%
poor below 70%
78 JournalofPersonal Selling & Sales Management

AsseeninTable2,Company A received excellent ever,severaldifferences doemerge. First,basedon

ratingson four on
items,goodratings eightitems, theresultsofζ testsofproportions, showninTable
fairratingson fiveitems,and poorratingsontwo 3,Company A is out-performing Company Β infive
items.Obviously, theresultsdisplayedin Table2 areas: a) employees followthrough on time-ori-
identifysome areas in whichCompany A can con- entedpromises, b) thecompany providesservices
gratulate itself,as well as areas that demand at- whenpromised, c) performing servicesrightthe
tention.Inparticular, A
Company management was firsttime,d) insistingonerror-free records, ande)
troubled bythetwopoorratings.In fact,a closer having the customers' bestinterest at heart.The
lookat theresultsofall fourresponsiveness items factthatfourofthesefiveareasareinthereliabil-
(onepoor,onefair,andtwogoodratings) suggested itycategoryindicated toCompany A'smanagement
toCompany A thatthiswas an areaofconcern. thatthiswas an area in whichCompany A had a
Although Table2 offers insightsintotheservice advantageoverCompany
significant B. Whenthe
qualityperformance ofCompany A, in isolationit servicequalitydeliveredby CompanyA is com-
failsto answertwoimportant questions.First,is paredwithCompanyC theonlystatistically sig-
thequalityofservicedelivered bythecompany im- nificantdifferencethatemerges is thatCompany C
proving,declining orsimply remaining constant over out-performed Company A intheareaofdelivering
time? Second,howdoestheservicedelivered by serviceswhentheyarepromised.
thiscompany compareto its majorcompetitors? Thiscomparison between Companies A,B, andC
Theanswertothefirstquestionwillemergeover offeredseveralcompetitive insightsforCompany
timeas theresultsdisplayed inTable2 areusedas A.First,Company A holdsan advantage overCom-
a benchmark forcomparison withfutureassess- panyΒ inthearea ofperceived As reli-
reliability.
mentsofservicequality.Theanswertothesecond abilityhas beenshownto be an aspectofservice
question requires an assessment oftheservice qual- qualitythatis extremely important to customers
itydelivered bycompetitors. (Zeithaml,Parasuraman, andBerry1990),thiscan
be seenas a significant advantageforCompany A.
Analysis
Competitive However, thereis littletodifferentiateCompany A
from Company C intermsofservicequality. In fact,
Intheir1988articleParasuraman, Zeithaml, and thisassessment indicated thatCompany A wasnot
Berry suggested thata service qualitymeasure could perceivedbycustomers as significantly
outperform-
be used as a toolforcompetitive analysis.To ac- ing CompanyC, a majornationalcompetitor, in
complish thisobjective,it is necessary toadminis- any singleservicequalityarea. This resultcap-
terthesamequestionnaire toa groupofcompetitor's turedtheattention ofCompany A management as
customers. Thisallowsa comparison ofthelevelof theyhad expectedtheirsales forceto outperform
service qualitydelivered byyourcompany withthe competition inservicequalitydelivery.
levelofservicequalitydelivered bythecompetitive
company. Thiscomparison illuminates theservice Service Qualityas a Diagnostic
qualitygapbetween thecompetitors. Byidentifying
thisgapthecompany isabletoisolate areasinwhich the ManagementTool
company (thoseareaswiththecompetitive
is excelling To addresstheserviceshortcomings identifiedin
gapfavors thesponsoring company), as wellas those Tables2 and3,themanagement andsalespeople of
areasthatneedimprovement (theareaswhere thecom- Company A conducted a seriesofmeetings. A con-
petitivegapisinfavorofthecompetitor/s). sensusemerged thatcertainterritory andjob de-
To illustratetheuseofSERVPERFas a competi- signissuescontributed to theweaknessesofthe
tivetoolwewillcontinue touse thesameexample. company. Salespeopleindicated thattheirlargegeo-
As previously mentioned, in additionto surveying graphicterritories forcedthemto minimizethe
Company A'saccounts, thesamequestionnaire was amountoftimespentwitheach customer. Under
administered to 108 customers thathad recently sucha timeconstraint thesalesforce indicatedthat
contracted witha competitor of CompanyA (73 itwasdifficulttostressprompt, personalattention.
withCompany Β and35 withCompany C). Table3 Further,thedemands ofsucha largeterritory made
showstheresultsofthatcomparison. itdifficult
forthesalesperson tomaintain theindi-
TheresultsshowninTable3 suggestmoresimi- vidualcustomer contactnecessary tokeepthecus-
laritiesthandissimilarities inthequalityofservice tomeradequatelyinformed throughoutthedirec-
delivered by Company A and itscompetitors.How- torydevelopment process.Additionally,thetravel

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Summer1999 79

Table 2
Single Company Service Quality Assessment

SERVPERF Item Results

XYZ Company's employees are neat-appearing. Excellent

Itis difficult
to contactthe sales representativebytelephone. Poor
When XYZ Company promisesto do somethingby a certaintime,itdoes so. Good
When you have a problem,XYZ Company shows a sincere interestin solvingit. Fair
XYZ Company performsthe service rightthe firsttime. Good
XYZ Company providesitsservices at the timeitpromisesto do so. Good
XYZ Company insistson error-free
records. Good

Employees ofXYZ Company tellyou exactlywhen services willbe performed. Fair

Employees of XYZ Company give you promptservice. Poor

Employees in XYZ Company are always willingto help you. Good

Employees inXYZ Company are nevertoo busy to respond to yourrequest. Good

The behaviorof employees ofXYZ Company instillsconfidencein you. Good
You feel safe inyourtransactionswithXYZ Company. Excellent

Employees ofXYZ Company are consistentlycourteouswithyou. Good

Employees ofXYZ Company have the knowledgeto answer yourquestions. Excellent

XYZ Company has operatinghoursconvenientto all itscustomers. Excellent
XYZ Company has employees who give you personal attention. Fair
XYZ Company has yourbest interestat heart. Fair

Employees ofXYZ Company understandyourspecificneeds. Fair

required to maintainthelargeterritoriesmadeit Conclusion and Implications

difficultforcustomers tocontact salespeople.
Based on theresultsofthisstudythedirectory This manuscript has used an exampleto illus-
company formulated a plantoallowitssales force tratethesignificant between
relationship thesales
to giveeach accountmorepersonalattention. To forceandservicequality. the
Further, example dem-
thatend,the sales forcewas expandedand geo- onstrated howa servicequalityassessment canbe
graphic territories
werereduced. Additionally,
steps usedas a salesmanagement tool.It is importantto
weretakentosimplify thesalesperson's
job so s/he notethattheexampledepictedin thismanuscript
couldspendmoretimein front ofcustomers. For wasusedtoillustrate theconcept ofservicequality
example, certainroutine taskswereturnedoverto measurement, nottodetailspecifically howtheser-
telemarketers, andsalespeople wereprovided with vice qualityassessmentshouldbe appliedin all
laptopcomputers tosimplify territory
management. cases. For example,thecompany featured in this
Also,a centralized
customer serviceoffice
beganwork- illustration
chosetofocusonagreement percentages.
ingwithcustomers toalleviatesomeoftheproblem Suchan approach maynotfitinothersituations.
solving burdens thesalesperson hadbeenhandling.

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80 JournalofPersonal Selling & Salée Management

Table 3
Competitive Service Quality Assessment

SERVPERF Item CompanyA CompanyΒ CompanyC

XYZ Company'semployeesare neat-appearing. Excellent Good Excellent

Itis difficult
to contactthesales representative
bytelephone,(reversescored) Poor Poor Poor
WhenXYZ Companypromisesto do something
bya certaintime,itdoes so. Good Poor· Fair
Whenyouhave a problem,
XYZ Companyshowsa sincereinterest
insolvingit. Fair Fair Good
XYZ Companyperforms
theserviceright
thefirst
time. Good Fail* Good
XYZ Companyprovidesitsservicesat thetimeitpromisesto do so. Good Fairb Excellent·
XYZ Companyinsistson error-free
records. Good Fail* Good

EmployeesofXYZ Companytellyouexactlywhenserviceswillbe performed. Fair Poor Poor

Employeesof XYZ Companygiveyou promptservice. Poor Poor Fair

EmployeesinXYZ Companyare alwayswilling

to helpyou. Good Fair Fair

EmployeesinXYZ Companyare nevertoo busyto respondto yourrequest. Good Fair Fair

The behaviorofemployeesofXYZ Companyinstills
confidenceinyou. Good Good Good
You feelsafe inyourtransactionswithXYZ Company. Excellent Good Excellent
EmployeesofXYZ Companyare consistently
courteouswithyou. Good Excellent Good

EmployeesofXYZ Companyhave the knowledgeto answeryourquestions. Excellent Good Excellent

XYZ Companyhas operatinghoursconvenientto all itscustomers. Excellent Good Excellent
XYZ Companyhas employeeswhogiveyou personalattention. Fair Fair Good
XYZ Companyhas yourbest interest
at heart. Fair Poor0 Good

EmployeesofXYZ Companyunderstandyourspecificneeds. Fair Good Good

Note: A z test of proportions was used to determine ifa significant difference existed between the results for Company A and the results for
either of the other two companies.
■Indicates a significant difference (p value< .01).
indicates a significant difference (p value< .05).

It is alsoimportanttonotetwootherlimitations In othersellingsituations,
thesalesperson maybe
oftheprocedure depictedin thisstudy.First,the only one ofmany contactsthe buyer has with the
impact of theindividual
salespersononservice qual- seller'sfirm.These othercontactswill certainly
will
ityperceptions vary with the client responsi- impactthesalesperson's relativeinfluenceon the
bilitiesofthesalesperson. The examplepresented customer's of
perception service quality.
inthispaperassumeda traditional salessituation A secondlimitationoftheexampleillustrated in
inwhichthesalesperson wasthedominant contact thisresearchis thefactthatitincluded noassess-
thebuyerhas withthesellingfirm. In suchsitua- mentofthe"importance" ofeachoftheservice qual-
tionsthe salesperson's actions,or lack ofaction, ity items to customers.Certainly, we can expect
willgreatly influence
thebuyer'sperception ofthe thatservicequalityitemswillvaryin importance.
quality ofservice
delivered the
by salesperson's firm. Forexample, inthisstudyCompany C was signifi-

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Summer1999 81

cantlyout-performing Company A in the area of servicequalityassessmentshouldbe administered to

delivering services when are
they promised. Is Com- competitors' customers. Atthispointmanagement will
pany A at a competitive disadvantage inthis situa- possessthe threepiecesof information necessaryto
tion? ShouldCompany A focussignificant atten- identifyareas ofcompetitive advantageand disadvan-
tionandresources onimproving inthisservice qual- tage: a) thecompany's servicequalityassessment, b)
ityarea? Only if thisarea of customer serviceis competitors' servicequalityassessment, and c) an as-
important tocustomers. We are limitedin thisex- sessment oftheimportance ofeachservicequalityitem
amplebecausewedonotknowhowimportant each tocustomers. Management's nextstepis toassesswhy
factoristoourcustomer base.Inotherwords, while competitive deficiencies exist,and whatcorrective ac-
theapproachpresented in thisstudyfacilitates a tionsto take.Focus groupsand personalinterviews
performance comparison of competitors acrossa with customersand salespeopleare excellentap-
rangeofservicequalityissues,itdoesnotexplicate proachesto explicatingwhycustomerservicedefi-
therelativeimportance ofeachofthoseaspectsof cienciesexist.As in the illustration providedin this
servicequality.Clearly, Company A wouldwantto manuscript, it is advisableto allow the sales force
focusitsattention andresources onservicequality inputintotheformulation ofcorrective action.Along
improvements thatare important tocustomers. In withproviding valuableinput,thisstep: a) helpsthe
future applications ofthe service qualitymeasure- sales forceunderstandtherationaleunderlying any
mentapproach illustratedinthisstudyrespondents necessarychanges,and b) helpsgainthesales force's
shouldbeaskedtoalsoratetherelative importance commitment to thecorrective actions.
ofeachoftheservicequalityitems.Thisrelative Finally,it is important thatservicequalitybe reas-
importance information canbe usedtoassistman- sessedona periodic basis.Thefirst assessmentprovides
agement inprioritizing service quality
improvement a baselineforcomparison withfuture assessments.This
effortsas suggested byBurns(1986). comparison is essentialforgaugingtheeffectiveness of
servicequalityimprovement effortsandidentification
of
servicequalitytrendsas theyemerge. Thefrequency of
Managerial Implications reassessments willvarywiththeindividual firm'ssitua-
The examplepresented in thispaperprovides man- tion.However,customer satisfactionstudiesare typi-
agement witha specific,actionable framework forinte- callyconducted eitherquarterlyor annually(Dutka
gratingservicequalityassessmentintothesales force 1993).Thefirm illustrated inthisexamplemadea com-
management process.Thefirst stepinactually applying mitment to an annual servicequalityassessment.It
thisapproachis determining the appropriate assess- wasfeltthatanannualreassessment wouldallowenough
mentinstrument. In thisexample, a decision was made elapsedtimebetweenassessments forimprovement ef-
tousea genericmeasureofservice qualityperformance, fortstohavean impact, whileat thesametimestillbe
SERVPERF,foundinthemarketing literature.
While frequent enoughtoidentify emerging customer service
somefirmsmaydecidetodevelopand validatetheir trends(formoreon thefrequency ofcustomer service
own unique servicequalitymeasurementinstru- surveys,see Dutka 1993).
ment(forscaledevelopment andvalidationinsights,
see Churchill1979, 1992),a genericmeasuresuch Research Implications
as SERVPERF providesa "skeleton"that can be
modifiedto fitspecificsituations.Assumingthat Thisresearchhas beenbuiltupontheassump-
managementdecidesto use a genericinstrument, tionthatsalespeople, byvirtueoftheirroleas the
the second step entails modification of the mea- primary contact between the buyingand selling
surementinstrument to fitthespecificapplication. organizations, have a significantimpacton per-
Instrumentmodification should be based on cus- ceivedservicequality.Exploring thenatureofthe
tomerinput.As shownin this study,customerfo- relationshipbetween thesalesperson andperceived
cus groupscan be used to gain insightsinto the servicequalityis a highfuture research To
priority.
natureofservicequalityin thegivenindustry. thatend,we suggestthatfutureresearchbe di-
Thenextstepis administration oftheservicequality rectedat thedevelopment ofan instrument specifi-
measurement instrument to a broadbase ofthefirm's callydesigned to assess the servicequalityperfor-
customers.As previously mentioned, customers should manceofsalespeople.Such a salespersonservice
notonlybe askedtoratethefirm's servicequalityper- qualityinstrument wouldallowresearchers tobe-
formance,butalsotoindicatehowimportant eachser- gin to isolatethe impactof salespeopleon their
vicequalityitemis to thecustomer. Additionally, the company's overallperceived service Itwould
quality.

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82 JournalofPersonal Selling & Sales Management

alsoallowresearcherstoexploresuchresearch ques- Grewal,Dhruvand ArunSharma (1991), "The EffectofSales

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