INTRODUCTION

When customers evaluate retail service, they compare their perceptions of the service they receive with their expectations Customers are ________ when the perceived service meets or exceeds their expectations Customers are ________ when they feel the service falls below their expectations

customer may be satisfied with low levels of actual service in one store and dissatisfied with high service levels in another.

THE GAPS MODEL OF SERVICE QUALITY

It introduces a framework, called the gaps model of service quality. Demonstrate that the most critical service quality gap to close is the customer gap, the difference between customer expectations and perceptions. Show that four gaps that occur in companies, which we call provider gaps, are responsible for the customer gap. Identify the factors responsible for each of the four provider gaps.

Measuring the gap

Customer evaluations of service quality are often based on the manner in which store emplyees provide the service. Most retailers have a 'Gap' - the difference between the promise and the actual delivered performance Most organisations involved in customer service have to rely on people to deliver that service people being only human do not always perform to specification. Customer service measurement is largely about measuring the Gap

Gaps Model for Improving Service Quality

THE CUSTOMER GAP

Expected service
Customer Gap

Perceived service

Provider Gap 1 (The Knowledge Gap)

Customer Expectations
Provider Gap 1: Not knowing what customers expect Provider Gap 2: Not selecting the right service designs and standards

Customer Gap

Provider Gap 3: Not delivering to service standards Provider Gap 4: Not matching performance to promises

Customer Perceptions

Key Factors Leading to Provider Gap 1

Customer Expectations
Inadequate marketing research orientation
Insufficient marketing research Research not focused on service quality Inadequate use of market research

Lack of upward communication

Gap 1

Lack of interaction between management and customers Insufficient communication between contact employees and managers Too many layers between contact personnel and top management

Insufficient relationship focus

Lack of market segmentation Focus on transactions rather than relationships Focus on new customers rather than relationship customers

Inadequate service recovery

Lack of encouragement to listen to customer complaints Failure to make amends when things go wrong No appropriate recovery mechanisms in place for service failures

Company Perceptions of Customer Expectations

Closing the Knowledge GAP

Customer

research More interactions between managers and customers Better communications between managers and service providers

Key Factors Leading to Provider Gap 2

Customer-Driven Service Designs and Standards
Poor service design Unsystematic new service development process Vague, undefined service designs Failure to connect service design to service positioning Absence of customer-driven standards Lack of customer-driven service standards Absence of formal process for setting service quality goals Inappropriate physical evidence and servicescape Failure to develop tangibles in line with customer expectations Servicescape design that does not meet customer and employee needs Inadequate maintenance and updating of the servicescape

Gap 2

Management Perceptions of Customer Expectations

Closing the Standards GAP

High

quality service commitment Define the role of service providers Innovative solutions Set service goals Measure service performance

Key Factors Leading to Provider Gap 3

Customer-Driven Service Designs an Standards

Gap 3

Deficiencies in human resource policies

Ineffective recruitment Role ambiguity and role conflict Inappropriate evaluation and compensation systems Lack of empowerment, perceived control, and teamwork

Customers who do not fulfill roles

Customers who lack knowledge of their roles and responsibilities Customers who negatively impact each other

Problems with service intermediaries

Channel conflict over objectives and performance Difficulty controlling quality and consistency Tension between empowerment and control

Failure to match supply and demand

Failure to smooth peaks and valleys of demand

Service Delivery

Closing the Delivery GAP

Information

and training Instrument and emotional support Internal communications Reduce conflicts Empower employees Providing incentives

Key Factors Leading to Provider Gap 4

Service Delivery

Gap 4

Lack of integrated services marketing communications Tendency to view each external communication as independent Absence of strong internal marketing program Ineffective management of customer expectations Absence of customer expectation management through all forms of communication Lack of adequate education for customers Overpromising Overpromising in advertising Overpromising in personal selling Overpromising through physical evidence cues Inadequate horizontal communications Insufficient communication between sales and operations Insufficient communication between advertising and operations Differences in policies and procedures across branches or units

External Communications to Customers

Closing the Communications GAP

Realistic

commitments Managing customer expectations

CONCLUSION

When making merchandise presentations decisions, retailers should attempt to view the store through the customers eye Importance of communication with customers and examine the concept of retail image How retail store image is related to the atmosphere it creates Ways of encouraging customers to spend more time shopping

CONCLUSION
The

retail environment must match the mood and motivation of each shopper from design of the fixture to the adjancencies, product mix, shelf edge walkways. It is a symbiosis between what we are doing as a shopper and what the retail environment is doing to the shopper