MKTG 300 - Chapter #13 Material

Product as a service?

• Letting customers to use the product instead of to own the product.

You should consider ”something” as a service if?

• Your product is one time purchased good (e.g., software).

• Your product is expensive to purchase for many customers.

• Your product requires maintenance and after-services frequently.

Services are intangible?

• We cannot see or touch services

• No physical presence

Service providers therefore offer what to help their customers experience and perceived their services more positively, such as a waiting room stocked with a large TV, beverages, and comfortable chairs?

• Cues

Word-of-mouth becomes more important for services than for?

• Hard goods

In the absence of a physical product and associated cues
such as packaging and logo, what becomes a crucially important factor?

• Word-of-mouth

With what, the rate at which information moves has increased exponentially. Consumers are consistently asked to provide ratings of everything from hotels, to restaurants, to contractors and landscapers

• The rise of social media.

Marketers of services must be vigilant about what?, emphasizing positive experiences and dealing quickly and effectively with negative reports.

• Managing their digital reputation 

Even before this new wave of social media, the general rule of thumb was that?

• Every customer who has an extreme service encounter, positive or negative, tells ten other people

Services are perishible?

• Services cannot be inventorized,

Operational excellence?

• Is a necessary core competence for many service business.

Planning for demand fluctuations?

• Offload demand during peak periods

Boost what sufficiently to support the fixed and labor costs necessary to meet peak demand?

• Low-period demand 

Offloading demand?

• Comfortable bar

• Lounge area

Boosting low-period demand?

• 5pm happy hour to generate increased revenues during a commonly slow period.

Other characteristics of service?

• Services are generally produced and consumed at the same time.

• Some services are co-produced by the service provider and the consumer

• Humans typically perform services 

Customers have certain expectations about how a service
should be delivered. When the delivery of that service fails to meet those expectations, what happens?

• A service gap results.

To provide great service?

• Close the knowledge gap

• Close the standards gap

• Close the delivery gap

• Close the communication gap

The knowledge gap?

• An important early step in providing good service is knowing the customer wants.

• The knowledge gap exists when management misunderstand customer expectations for service quality.

Zone of tolerance?

• Define service quality dimensions

• Ask questions about each service quality dimension

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• Desired level

• Customers perception of the service

• Expected level 

The standards gap?

• The standards gap exists when the service standards differ from customer expectations for service quality.

By doing what firms can close the standards gap?

• Setting appropriate service standards

• Training employees 

• Measuring service performance 

The delivery gap?

• The delivery gap is where the rubber meets the road, where the customer directly interacts with the service provider.

Delivery gaps can be reduced when?

• Employees are empowered to spontaneously act in the customers’ and the firm’s best interests when problems or crises arises.

The communication gap?

• If a firm promises more than it can deliver, customers’ expectations won’t be met.

Service recovery?

• Despite a firm’s best efforts, sometimes service providers fail to meet customer expectations.

• When this happens, the best course of action is to attempt to make amends with the customer and learn from the experience.

Effective service recovery efforts can?

• Increase customer satisfaction and positive word of mouth 

Distributive fairness?

• Pertains to a customer’s perception of the benefits he or she received compared with the costs (inconvenience or loss).

Procedural fairness?

• Refers to the perceived fairness of the process used to resolve them.

What is the most important service quality dimension for Lou’s Local Diner business?

• Realiability

Because services cannot be inventoried, _________ ____is necessary?

• Operational excellence 

What becomes a critical factor when the absence of a physical product and associated cues diminish?

• Word of mouth

The restaurant manager asked the new chef, “can you prepare a gluten-free meal that is consistently prepared and predicable?” Which of the service dimensions was the restaurant manager expressing concern about?

• Reliability 

Last month, the cable service was out at Ellis’s house for four days. When Ellis called the cable company, the representative agreed to credit his next bill for a full week of service and gave him free access to a popular movie channel for the next six months. Ellis felt this was adequate compensation for the inconvenience. What is this an example of?

• Distributive fairness