List three steps that service firms can take to increase quality control over services and reduce variability

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Three steps that service firms can take to increase quality control and reduce variability in services are:
a. Invest in good hiring and training procedures: Recruiting the right employees and providing them with excellent training is crucial, regardless of whether employees are highly skilled professionals or low-skilled workers. Better-trained personnel exhibit six characteristics: competence, courtesy, credibility, reliability, responsiveness, and communication.
b. Standardize the service-performance process throughout the organization: A service blueprint maps out the service process, the points of customer contact, and the evidence of service from the customer's point of view.
c. Monitor customer satisfaction: Service firms can employ suggestion and complaint systems, customer surveys, and comparison shopping. Customer needs vary in different areas. This allows firms to develop region-specific customer satisfaction programs. Firms can also develop customer information databases and systems for more personalized service, especially online.