By :Amritraj D.

Bangera

Meaning of customer service expectation

Customer expectations are belief about service delivery that serve as standards or reference points against which performance is judged. Knowing what customers expects is the first and possibly most critical step in delivering quality service. Customers compare their perceptions of performance with reference points like service quality, through knowledge about customer expectations is critical to service marketers.

Aspects need to be explored and understood for successful service marketing??

1.What type of expectations standard do customer hold about services? 2.What factors most influence the formation of these expectations? 3.What role do these factors play in changing expectations? 4.How can a service company meet or exceed expectations?

Types of Service Expectations

High Ideal expectation or desires Normative should expectations Experience based norms Acceptable expectations Minimum tolerable expectations Low
Everyone says this hotel is as good as one in France & I want to go somewhere special for birthday From the looks of it, it seems to be a good restaurant When Raju cooks the food in this restaurant is good I expect this hotel to serve me in an adequate manner Although the food is not the best but it is good enough for everyday consumption

Expected Service: Levels of Expectations

Desired Service: the level of service the customer hopes to receive . Adequate Service: the level of service the customer will accept. The Zone of Tolerance: the extent to which customers recognize and are willing to accept variations in service quality,

Factors Influencing Customer Expectation

Sources of Desired Service Expectation: Personal Needs: those states or conditions essential to the physical or psychological well-being of the consumer.
They may be physical, social, psychological, and functional needs.

Lasting Service Intensifiers: are individual, stable factors that lead the customer to a heightened sensitivity to service.

Factors Influencing Customer Expectation

Sources of Adequate Service Expectations Temporary service intensifiers Perceived service alternatives Customer self-perceived service role Predicted service

 Temporary service intensifiers Short term, individual factors that make a customer more aware of the need for service.

Perceived service alternatives

Presence of other providers from whom the customer can obtain service increases the adequate service level.

 Customers self-perceived service role Customers belief about how well they are performing their role in service delivery.
Informing desired level of service Performing their own roles in service delivery Complaining when the service is poor

Predicted Service The level of service that the customers believe they are going to get.

Love every second

 Virgin Trains was formed to take advantage of the privatisation of British Rail in the mid-1990s. It was initially successful in winning two rail franchises: InterCity West Coast (Virgin West Coast), operating long-distance services on the WCML, and InterCity Cross-country (Virgin Cross-country), operating a group of long-distance non-London routes centred on Birmingham. The two franchises, though legally and operationally separate, were marketed as a single brand.

CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS OF VIRGIN TRAINS

Virgin Trains is a brand that has had the major challenge of bringing the UK rail industry into the twentieth century. The company is responsible for linking towns and cities across the length and breadth of the country with over 35 million passenger journeys each year. It has therefore undertaken a significant level of marketing research to identify what people expect from train travel. Many passengers have now had the experience of travelling on airlines or on overseas railways and as a result their expectations from long-distance train travel have increased. The research has highlighted the significant and highly diverse expectations that customers have of train travel

CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS OF VIRGIN TRAINS

No longer is a seat and access to toilets and basic refreshments acceptable; passengers now expect demand even a choice of on-board meals, health-conscious snacks, reading material and entertainment. Business, and increasingly leisure, travellers also want access to the Internet and emails through on-board wireless Internet and the opportunity to use and charge their laptop and mobile. This clearly demonstrates that customer expectations of service performance do not remain constant and thus companies continuously keep on trying to exceed the customer expectation by delivering them new and improved service. Thus Virgin trains have turned these expectations into an opportunity and transformed their service offering accordingly.