SERVICE MARKETING

The Gaps Model of Service

Quality
Chapter # 2

Stanley Rodrick
Senior Assistant Professor,
Department of Marketing,
Faculty of Business Administration, AIUB

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Controllable Sources GAPS MODEL OF SERVICE QUALITYUncontrollable Sources
Words of mouth
Pricing, Innate
communication & Past
Advertising, Personal
Competitive Experiences
Sales promises Needs
offerings

Expected Service
Customer Gap
CUSTOMER
Perceived Service

COMPANY
Service Delivery External Communications
(Pre and Post Contacts) to Customers
Provider Gap
Provider 4
Provider Gap 1 Gap 3
Customer-driven
Service Designs and
Standards
Provider Gap
2
2 Management
Perceptions of
Customers
Expectations
 DIFFERENT TYPES OF SERVICE GAPS
The Key points for each gap can be summarized as follows:

The Customer Gap: The difference between customer expectations and

Customer perceptions.

Provider Gap 1:
The difference between what customers expected and what the
management thinks about. Results because of not knowing what
customers expects.

Provider Gap 2:
The difference between management’s perceptions of customer
expectations and the translation of those perceptions into service quality
specifications and designs. Results because of not selecting the right
service designs and standards.
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 DIFFERENT TYPES OF SERVICE GAPS
Provider Gap 3:
The difference between specifications or standards of service quality and the
actual service delivered to the customers. Results because of not
delivering to service design and standards, due to deviation from the
service standards.

Provider Gap 4:
The difference between the service delivered to the customers and the promise
of the firm to the customers about its service quality. Results because of not
matching performance to promises. Resulting from high promise and
poor performance.

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 MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS

☞A service marketer first close the customer gap

(between the customer perceptions and expectations). To
do so the service marketer has to close the provider
gaps.
☞ Customer perceptions are subjective assessments of
actual service experiences. Customer expectations are
the standards or reference points for performance
against which service experiences are compared.

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 THE CUSTOMER GAP
The customer gap is the difference between customer
Expected Service expectations and customer perceptions about the
services.
Customer
Gap
Customer expectations are standards or reference
points that customers bring into the service
Perceived Service experience, whereas customer perceptions are
subjective assessments of the actual service
experiences.

Customer expectations often consist of what a

customer believes should or will happen.
When you visit an expensive restaurant, you expect a high level of service, one
that is considerably superior to the level you would expect in a fast-food
restaurant.
Closing the gap between what customers expect and what they perceive is
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critical to delivering quality service; it forms the basis for the gaps model.
 THE PROVIDER GAPS
To close the all-important customer gap, the gaps model
suggests that four other gaps - the provider gaps –
needs to be closed.

These gaps occur within the organization providing the

service and include:
Gap 1 – The Listening Gap
Gap 2 - The Service Design and Standards Gap
Gap 3 - The Service Performance Gap
Gap 4 – The Communication Gap
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 Provider Gap 1: The Listening Gap
Customer The listening gap, is the difference between customer
Expectations
expectations of service and company understanding of
those expectations.
Company
Perceptions of The primary reason that many firms do not meet customers’
Customer expectations is the firms lack an accurate understanding of
Expectations exactly what those expecatations are.
Many reasons exist for managers not being aware of what customers
expect: they may not interact directly with customers, they may be
unwilling to ask about expectations, or they may be unprepared to
address them.

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 Provider Gap 1: The Listening Gap
[Not Knowing What Customers’
Expectations]
Customer Expectations

Inadequate marketing research orientation

GAP Lack of upward communication
1
Insufficient relationship focus
Inadequate Service Recovery

Company Perceptions of
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Customer Expectations
 Provider Gap 1: The Listening Gap (Contd.)
Inadequate Marketing Research Orientation
Customer Insufficient customer research
Expectations
Research not focused on service quality
Inadequate use of market research
Company
Perceptions of Lack of Upward Communication
Customer
Lack of interaction between management and customers
Expectations
Insufficient communications between contact employees and
managers
Too many layers between contact personnel and top management

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 Provider Gap 1: The Listening Gap (Contd.)
Insufficient Relationship Focus
Customer Lack of market segmentation
Expectations
Focus on transactions rather than relationships
Focus on new customers rather than relationship customers
Company
Perceptions of Inadequate Service Recovery
Customer
Lack of encouragement to listen to customer complains
Expectations
Failure to make amends when things go wrong
No appropriate recovery mechanisms in place for service failures

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Provider Gap 2: The Service Design and Standards Gap
Customer-driven The difference between company understanding of
Service Designs customer expectations and the development of
and Standards customer-driven service designs and standards.

Those people responsible for setting standards,

Company
Perceptions of typically management, sometimes believe that
Customer customer expectations are unreasonable or unrealistic.
Expectations
They may also believe that the degree of variability
inherrent in service defers standardization and
therefore that setting standards will not achieve the
desired goal.

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Provider Gap 2: The Service Design and Standards Gap
[Not Having the Right Service Quality Designs and
Standards]
Customer-driven Service
Designs and Standards

Poor Service Design

GAP
2 Absence of Customer Driven Standards
Inappropriate physical evidence and
Servicescape

Company Perceptions of
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Customer Expectations
Provider Gap 2: The Service Design and Standards Gap
Customer-driven Poor Service Design
Service Designs
Unsystematic new service development process
and Standards
Vague, undefined service designs
Failure to connect service design to service positioning
Company
Perceptions of Absence of Customer Driven Standards
Customer
Lack of customer-driven service standards
Expectations
Absence of process management to focus on customer requirements
Absence of formal process for setting service quality goals

Inappropriate physical evidence and Servicescape

Failure to develop tangibles in line with customer expectations
Servicescape design that does not meet customer and employee
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needs
Inadequate maintenance and updating of the servicescape
 Provider Gap 3: The Service Performance Gap
Is the discrepancy between the development of customer-
Service Delivery
(Pre and Post Contacts)
driven service standards and actual service performance
by company employees.

Customer-driven Even when guidelines exists for performing services well

Service Designs and treating customers correctly, high-quality service
and Standards
performances is not a certainty.
Standards must be backed by appropriate resources (people, systems,
and technology) and must be enforced to be effective – that is,
employees must be measured and compensated on the basis of
performance along those standards.

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 Provider Gap 3: : The Service Performance Gap
[Not Delivering Service According to Designs & Standards]

Service Delivery
(Pre and Post Contacts)

Deficiencies in Human Resource Policies

GAP
3 Failure to Match Supply and Demand
Customers Who Do Not Fulfill Roles
Problems with Service Intermediaries

Customer-driven Service 16
Designs and Standards
 Provider Gap 3: The Service Performance Gap

Service Delivery Deficiencies in Human Resource Policies

(Pre and Post Contacts)
Ineffective Recruitment
Role ambiguity and role conflict
Customer-driven Poor employee-technology job fit
Service Designs
Inappropriate evaluation and compensation systems
and Standards
Lack of empowerment, perceived control, and teamwork

Failure to Match Supply And Demand

Failure to smooth peaks and valleys of demand
Inappropriate customer mix
Overreliance on price to smooth demand

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 Provider Gap 3: The Service Performance Gap

Service Delivery Customers Who Do Not Fulfill Roles

(Pre and Post Contacts)
Customers lack knowledge of their roles and responsibilities
Customers negativity impact each other
Customer-driven Problems with Service Intermediaries
Service Designs
and Standards Channel conflict over objectives and performance
Channel conflict over costs and rewards
Difficulty controlling quality and consistency
Tension between empowerment and control

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 Provider Gap 4: The Communication Gap
Is the difference between service delivery and service
Service Delivery
(Pre and Post Contacts)
provider’s external communications.

Promises made by a service company through its media

External
advertising, sales force, and other communications may
Communications to raise customer expectations, the standards against which
Customers customers assess service quality.
The discrepancy between actual and promised services, therefore, can
widen the customer gap.
Broken promises can occur for many reasons: overpromising in advertising
or personal selling, inadequate coordination between operations and
marketing, and differences in policies and procedures across service
outlets. 19
 Provider Gap 4: : The Communication Gap
[Not Matching Service Performances to Promises]
Service Delivery
(Pre and Post Contacts)

Lack of Integrated Services Marketing Communications

Ineffective Management of Customer Expectations
GAP Overpromising
4
Inadequate Horizontal Communications
Inappropriate Pricing

External Communications 20
to Customers
 Provider Gap 4: The Communication Gap

Service Delivery Lack of Integrated Services Marketing Communications

(Pre and Post Contacts)
Tendency to view each external communication as independent
Not including interactive marketing in communications plan

External Absence of strong internal marketing program

Communications to
Customers Ineffective Management of Customer Expectations
Not managing customer expectation through all forms of
communication
Not adequately educating customers

Overpromising
Overpromising in Advertising
Overpromising in Personal Selling 21

Overpromising through physical evidence cues

 Provider Gap 4: The Communication Gap

Service Delivery Inadequate Horizontal Communications

(Pre and Post Contacts)
Insufficient communication between sales and operations
Insufficient communication between advertising and operations

External Differences in policies and procedures across branches or units

Communications to
Customers Inappropriate Pricing
High prices that raise customer expectations
Prices that are not tied to customer perceptions of value

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 Putting it All Together: Closing the Gaps
The full conceptual model conveys a clear message to managers wishing
to improve their quality of service; the key to closing the customer gap is
to close the provider gaps 1 to 4 and keep them closed.

To the extent that one or more of provider gaps 1 through 4 exist,

customer perceive service quality shortfalls.

The gaps model of service quality serves as a framework for service

organizations attempting to improve quality service and services
marketing.

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END OF THE
CHAPTER

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