Lakhasly

The literature on service provides knowledge on how to deliver quality and satisfy the customer. By applying a range of concepts, models and techniques the service provider should be in a position to deliver what the market wants. The everyday service reality experienced by customers and employees and often expressed through the media suggests something different. Why, then, is there such a discrep- ancy? A number of points are worthy of consideration:
● Probably at the top of any list should be efficiency, a word we hear much of today and one, according to a leading authority, that has a bad name.48 Whether public or private, service organizations are seeking to obtain more and more output from fewer and fewer inputs (resources). Tight control and demanding use of resources is not necessarily a formula for delivering service quality.
● Front-line employees are regarded as pivotal for success by service organizations. That at least is the theory. The reality is that working conditions on the front line can be less than favourable: demanding management and customers, low pay and inadequate training. Consequently the resulting stress, frustration and lack of motivation impacts on performance.
● The ever-increasing use of technology frustrates those who equate service with personal service. Being served by a fellow human being is viewed by many as the hallmark of service. When the technology fails or is poorly designed from a user perspective, customer dissatisfaction is inevitable.
● ‘All consumers are not created equal’, as Hallberg observed.49 Who you are (defined in terms of job status) and what you are worth to an organization (defined in terms of profitability) determines the quality of service received. In a study50 of who gets the best service from British businesses, the customer’s occupation was found to be significant. On the matter of profitability Zeithaml, Rust and Lemon51 suggested that by sorting customers into profitability tiers or levels service can be tailored to achieve even higher profitability levels (see Chapter 11).
● We live in an environment of rising expectations with marketing promising better and better service. Competitive pressures are a major driving force. The trouble is that promises are not always matched with proper resources and commitment.
The above points may be contested and rightly so. Other reasons should be con- sidered. In the course of such a discussion, two questions should be borne in mind:
● Who defines service?
● What constitutes good or bad service?

          18 Services Marketing Management

In addressing these questions you should consider, for the first question particu- larly, the three perspectives already mentioned in this chapter: management, employees, customers. For the second question, who or what is to be congratulated