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Today’s consumer has become increasingly demanding. They not only want high
quality products but they also expect high quality customer service. Even
manufactured products such as cars, mobile phones and computers cannot gain a
strategic competitive advantage through the physical products alone. From a
consumer’s point of view, customer service is considered very much part of the
product. Listen to Nick Coster – Head of Training Services discuss the Customer
Service Gap Model with Phil Dobbie.
Identify the gaps between customer expectation and the actual services
provided at different stages of service delivery
Close the gap and improve the customer service
This model developed by Parasuraman, Zeithalm and Berry in 1985 identifies five
different gaps:
The Customer Gap: The Gap
between Customer Expectations and
Customer Perceptions
The customer gap is the difference between customer expectations and customer
perceptions. Customer expectation is what the customer expects according to
available resources and is influenced by cultural background, family lifestyle,
personality, demographics, advertising, experience with similar products and
information available online.
The customer gap is the most important gap and in an ideal world the customer’s
expectation would be almost identical to the customer’s perception. In a customer
orientated strategy, delivering a quality service for a specific product should be
based on a clear understanding of the target market. Understanding customer needs
and knowing customer expectations could be the best way to close the gap.
If a knowledge gap exists, it may mean companies are trying to meet wrong or
non-existing consumer needs. In a customer-orientated business, it is important to
have a clear understanding of the consumer’s need for service. To close the gap
between the consumer’s expectations for service and management’s perception of
service delivery will require comprehensive market research.
Service Performance
Apart from defining their service delivery, Amazon goes one step further and
delivers on its promises. Amazon performs! Orders often arrive ahead of the
promised dates; orders are accurate and are in excellent condition because of
careful shipping practice. Customers can track packages and review previous
orders at any time.
Amazon also makes sure that all its partners who sell used and new books and
other related items meet Amazon’s high standards. The company verifies the
performance of each purchase by surveying the customer and posting scores that
are visible to other customers.
Every page is very easy to understand and to navigate. For example the page
dealing with returns eliminates customer misunderstanding by clearly spelling out
what can be returned. The page describes how to repack items and when refunds
are given. The customer account page shows all previous purchases and exactly
where every ordered item is in the shipping process Amazon strategy has been well
received by its customers and the Amazon brand is known worldwide.
Conclusion
Effective product management is a complex undertaking which includes many
different strategies, skills and tasks. Product managers plan for creating the best
products and operational excellence to maximize customer satisfaction, loyalty and
retention. Recognising and closing gaps offers high quality customer service to the
consumer and helps them to achieve their goal whilst maximising market position,
market share and financial results through customer satisfaction.
It also helps managers to identify areas of weakness and make improvements to a
company’s service delivery. Check out our blog post on “The Value Curve:
visualising the value proposition”. This tool allows product managers to take
information gleaned from gap analysis to develop or refine products that are both
compelling to customers and distinct from competitors.