Strategies to Improve Customer Satisfaction in Service Sector

Rai (2008) states that when companies are analysing customer expectations in service sector, the following issues need to be studied and addressed by company management:

Firstly, analysing what customers expect from the services. Following this specific advice can prove extremely helpful due to the fact that sometimes service companies commit to considerable investments aiming to improve customer satisfaction spending money on some aspect of the service that customers do not value, at the same time failing to recognise the issues that are causing customer dissatisfaction.

Secondly, analysing factors influencing on the formation of customer expectations. Once these factors are learned it will be much easier for service companies to undertake strategies aimed at improving customer satisfaction.

Thirdly, analysing the ways of changing customer expectations. Learning how to manipulate with customer expectations will give service companies tremendous advantages in forming customer expectations in a way that is easier for the company to exceed these expectations.

Fourthly, service companies should devise efficient strategies that are aimed at exceeding customer expectations. Once all the above specified measures are implemented exceeding customer expectations would not prove to be extremely challenging.

Rai (2008) discusses following five dimensions that form basic ‘skeleton’ of corporate relationship management of a service company:

First, tangibles associated with a service. Although the main difference of services from products is that services are intangible, still ‘tangibles’ associated with services such as decoration, design of the premises, the quality of seating, cleanness of place etc. do play an important role on customer satisfaction.

Second, offers associated with services. This relates to the level of attractiveness of service offers made from the financial points of view.

Third, the delivery of the service. Regardless of type of the service the level of its delivery is going to affect customer satisfaction. Therefore, some service companies try to innovate and offer additional tangible and intangible benefits associated with the delivery of services.

Fourth, grievance handling mechanism of services. The way service company employees handle any complaints associated with the level of service the company provided is found to affect customer satisfaction level significantly.

Fifth, service company employee behaviour. As it has been indicated earlier, the impact of employee behaviour on customer satisfaction is significantly greater in service companies than in product companies.

References

• Rai, AK, 2008, Customer Relationship Management: Concepts and Cases, PHI Learning