The first rule of service quality is to do it right the first time. In this way recovery is unnecessary, customer get what they expect, and the costs of redoing the service and compensating for errors can be avoided. Even more fundamentally, it is important to create a culture of zero defections to ensure doing it right the first time. Within a zero defections culture, everyone understands the importance of reliability. Employee’s and managers aim to satisfy every customer and look for ways to improve service. Employees in a zero defection culture fully understand and appreciate the “lifetime value of a customer” concept. Thus they are motivated to provide quality service every time and to every customer.
Dick Chase, noted service operation expert, suggests that services adopt the TQM notion of Poka Yokes to improve service reliability. Poka Yokes are automatic warnings or controls in place to ensure mistakes are not made; essentially they are quality control mechanisms, typically used on assembly lines.
In a hospital setting numerous Poka Yokes ensure that procedures are followed to avoid potentially life-threatening mistakes. For example, trays for surgical instruments have indentations for specific instruments, and each instrument is nested in its appropriate spot. In this way surgeons and their staff know that all instruments are in their places prior to closing the patients’ incision. FAIL- SAFE YOUR SERVICE- DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME
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