TABLE OF CONTENTS Monitoring and reinforcing customer satisfaction involves:
understanding the expectations of customers
measuring customer satisfaction
reinforcing the benefits of the relationship.
Proctor (2000) discusses the factors that influence expectations. Generally, customers measure their experiences against a benchmark of the service that they expect to receive. Expectations are comprised of what customers expect will occur and what they desire from an encounter. An encounter above these levels is likely to delight the customer and below these levels will make the customer dissatisfied. A number of factors influence expectations including:
the personal needs of the customer
alternative services or products considered
specific promises made by service providers in a bid to win the business
past experiences.
It is generally recognised that customer expectations rise with time. An effective sales process will surface all the issues associated with a customers expectations. This should help the process of meeting those expectations.
The SERVQUAL model has become the most popular measure of customer satisfaction levels over the past decades. The authors Parasuraman et al (1988) argue that in order to balance customer perceptions and expectations the supplier needs to:
know exactly what customers expect
set proper service quality standards
support employees in delivering quality service
never over-promise.
The SERVQUAL model measures service quality over five service quality dimensions:
Tangibles the appearance of the physical facilities and materials related to the service
Reliability the ability to perform the service accurately and dependably
