Introduction
Service marketing is a specific type of promotion of services that a business makes to its customers and clients. It is the promotional aspects that include the techniques that might be used to further and advance the reputation and notoriety associated with that product and/or service. This paper explores the concept of service marketing within eight experiences, and utilizes three service marketing constructs to examine how effectively said companies are marketing to consumers.
Methodology
For this particular research, both primary and secondary data were utilized. Primary data collection was an essential element of this report and was gathered by documenting eight services journals based on the firsthand encounters. Secondary data consisted of reading through journals and articles on the particular service concepts and analyzing them in comparison to the encounters that occurred. A variety of types of service encounters were analyzed and evaluated by applying three theoretical concepts of service marketing: service quality, service blueprinting and zone of tolerance.
Findings
Concept: The Zone of Tolerance
The Khas Tandoori Restaurant
If I take into consideration my dining experience at Khas Tandoori, my zone of tolerance was narrow and the service expectations were discriminating. Having a love of Indian food and wanting to satisfy my family, I was intrigued by the restaurant's reviews. They were heightened upon frequenting the restaurant. Specifically, the people at the restaurant were extremely polite and assisted us in selecting the dishes. Moreover, they explained the complexity of the dishes, even though the restaurant was very busy with other patrons. Johnston (1995), Yap & Sweeney (2007) and Nadiri (2013), explain that zone of tolerance is a variable scale model that emphasizes a customer’s satisfaction with the quality and service associated with a particular product or setting. The three states are: delight, satisfaction, and dissatisfaction. The satisfaction element is typically observed to be the zone of tolerance (1995; 2007; 2013). Essentially, the concept is that consumers are assumed to be satisfied with a particular service that they receive and this perception can be heightened or disillusioned depending on the circumstances surrounding said service or product.
For the restaurant, it is assumed that my zone of tolerance was narrow because of my love of Indian cuisine already and the fact that I had read the reviews on the restaurant beforehand. In addition to this, I also believed the politeness of the individuals that I spoke with would be on par with the food. My expectations were met as the food was delicious and delightful – and was in accordance with the graciousness experienced over the phone. My zone of tolerance was heightened so much that I would not only recommend the restaurant to lovers of Indian food, but also to others who have wanted to try this particular restaurant, having seen the hustle and bustle that takes place within it. There is a strong likelihood that I will frequent this place again in the future – and try out different dishes, which will only serve to elevate my expectations of the restaurant further given my initial impression of the place.
Easyjet
Having heard about Easyjet, and its relatively low prices, my expectations were very broad in terms of my zone of tolerance. I have used Priceline before in terms of comparing airline flights and have also purchased directly from the airline companies. I did not necessarily have a satisfaction factor as there was no preexisting knowledge of Easyjet per se other than word of mouth. The experience was relatively painful to say the least. The website and purchase was easy to do. However, the flight was delayed for more than 3 hours and the items in some of the belongings in my suitcase were broken. Believing that there was something that Easyjet could have done to rectify the situation, they simply told me that there was nothing they could do. The service was lousy.
Campos & Nobrega (2009) discuss that within the concept of zone of tolerance is the relationship between the expectation and the overall perception of a particular concept (p.56). To this end, a customer expects a reasonable amount of customer service from a place that they frequent, or a service that they use. This includes professionalism, the reliability of the service/product and the attitudes/behaviors of the people at the service or marketing the product. Given that Easyjet did not do anything to fix the problem, it was as if they were blaming me for the flight being delayed more than three hours and also the broken items in my suitcase. I did not have high expectations per se as they were rather broad, but even the satisfaction element was not met from the zone of tolerance standards. I was extremely dissatisfied with the way they operated and the various characteristics that are traditionally associated with customer service. The possibility of using Easyjet again is unlikely without them making significant adjustments to their customer service, which would thereby alter my zone of tolerance and overall expectations based on prior experience.
Concept: Service Blueprints
Bitner (2007) writes that the service blueprint is a particular tool that companies use to help define how they will interact with their customer and the necessary evidence and processes associated with ensuring that they are viable within their respective industry and the innovativeness related to said service/product (2007). This concept can be applied to the encounter with UPS.
UPS
In dealing with UPS, the encounter initially took place online and then occurred in person. The laptop that I purchased was arranged for delivery by UPS. The service that was obtained was horrible to say the last. They initially tried to deliver it on the arranged day and then stated that no one was home to receive it. Another delivery attempt was made, which was also unprofessional. I ended up having to pick up the laptop from the warehouse. Service blueprinting can be used here because it relates to the structure that a company sets up to deal with their customers and the innovation that they create to ensure that they maintain a prominent reputation. UPS is said to have exceptional service, so for them to have proverbially dropped the ball on the delivery of my laptop seems to be contrary to their service blueprint.
Lings (1999) states that in order to function effectively as a business, the services that said business provides should happen in a process nature. This essentially means that the company must work with the customer in their interaction to ensure effective and timely experiences that are satisfactory. It also plays a role in how the consumer will evaluate said service process (p.452). The entire blueprint within UPS seems to be haphazard. There is a lack of cohesion between the customer service center in terms of scheduling and the drivers are not notified to what they need to do as far as interacting with the consumer. On the initial delivery date, the driver did not attempt to ring the doorbell nor knock, which was odd and strange. The hassle associated with the laptop delivery might have been avoided if that occurred because a person was home even though UPS stated that there was not. It makes me believe that the driver just didn’t bother trying to even deliver the laptop at all and just skipped my house. On top of that, after UPS was informed of the issue, they did not attempt to rectify the situation – but instead told me that I would need to pick up the laptop from the warehouse since there had been two failed delivery attempts.
Concept: Service Quality
Service quality is one of the most important areas of business. It appears as though many businesses and organizations tend to overlook the quality element when they are creating their tools for the workforce and the operation aspect as a whole. Simply put, businesses do not exist or rather cannot exist without the consumer frequenting them often. As such, the quality should not only be satisfactory, it should be above average (Sachdev & Verma 2004; Dominic et al. 2010; Mosahab, Mahamad & Ramayah 2010; Buell, Campbell & Frei 2016). The remaining service encounters relate immensely to this particular concept.
NHS
The encounter dealt with the NHS system within a UK based hospital. The service quality was above what I expected. One of the key factors that appear to have made the place so fantastic is the professionalism and speed of the service. The hospital thoroughly understands what was needed to make sure that patients are treated with respect, and as quick as possible. The entire NHS system was extensive. I went in for a visit to investigate a medical issue and was treated swiftly and a surgery was also scheduled that day. This was quite surprising given my prior experiences with hospitals and what I had come to expect as far as service quality. The hospital seamlessly wove service quality into their DNA and this made my experience delightful. They essentially understood and continue to understand how quickly patients want to get their test results back and move forward accordingly with a potential diagnosis.
Ocado, Salao, Dermacenter & the Consulate
Three different encounters within different industries proved to be quite interesting in observation of the service quality. For Ocado, my expectations were surpassed as I had read good things about the British based online supermarket. Everything was laid out to the tee as far as delivery times, product catalog and the helpfulness of the chat staff. They went so far as to tell me the name of the driver and the details of when the individual would be delivering. They went above and beyond in ensuring that I would be satisfied with their online supermarket. I would wholeheartedly recommend their services to anyone based on the quality of my experience. The Dermacenter encounter was similar to that of Ocado in terms of the expectations being exceeded. They were very helpful in explaining the skin products for my skin type and I felt as if I had a personalized visit. This was and is very important as companies see consumers all day long and deal with them online as well. Making a customer feel as if they are the only one was the prime takeaway from my experience with the Dermacenter.
My experience with the consulate was the complete opposite of that of Ocado. Obtaining a passport for Spain was one of the most stressful experiences that I have ever encountered. It seemed as though they did not understand the necessary documents that I needed to obtain my passport in a timely manner. They kept asking me to provide additional documents because of the lack of service quality and knowledge level of the people working at the consulate in London. Having people in the correct roles to begin with would definitely have made for a better visit and overall experience.
The Salao visit was very much like the consulate experience, where my expectations were high and were not met. The service itself was great, but I was charged more than I was expecting and they attempted to correct the issue, but in the end it was not. Service quality is what keeps people coming back to the particular place and wanting to experience the service, or product again. There is a reason why certain companies within various industries perform well and are known among consumers, while others fail, flounder and falter because of mishaps, missteps and general lack of understanding of the importance of quality in not only the products/service they offer but in how they treat their customers.
Recommendations
It is recommended that companies observe and understand their strengths and weaknesses in order to make certain that the service they provide to consumers is met and/or surpassed each and every time. This will require them focusing intently on how well they are treating consumers and the effectiveness of their products/services. It will also involve an examination of the types of people who greet consumers immediately upon said individuals frequenting their business – either in person or online. Companies can learn something by comprehensively analyzing the ways in which they operate and can potentially save their reputation both in the short and long term in doing so.
Conclusion
This paper discussed the service encounters that were conducted with eight separate businesses. The paper delved into three distinctive service marketing concepts: zone of tolerance, service blueprinting and service quality – and why they are important to the element of ensuring that a company/organization maintains its reputation among consumers. The paper made recommendations on what organizations can do in order to make sure that they capitalize on the concept of customer service whenever possible.
References
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