THE EVIDENCE OF SERVICE
As services are intangible, the customers are searching for evidence of service in every interaction they have with an organization. The figure depicts the three major categories of evidence as experienced by the customer: people, process, and physical evidence. These categories together represent the service and provide the evidence that tangibilizes the offering. The new mix elements essentially are evidence of service in each moment of truth.
All of these evidence elements, or a subset of them are present in every service encounter a customer has with a service firm and are critically important in managing service encounter quality and creating customer satisfaction.
When a guest enters the hotel for a stay the first encounter of the guest is the door attendant and frequently with receptionists at the reception. The quality of that encounter will be judged by how the registration process works (How long is to wait? Is the registration system computerized and accurate?) The actions and attitudes of the people (Is the receptionist courteous, helpful, knowledgeable? Does she handle the enquiries fairly and efficiently?) and the physical evidence of the service (is the awaiting area clean and comfortable). The three types of evidence may be differentially important depending on the type of service encounter (remote, phone, face – to – face). All these types will operate in face – to- face service encounters as in the one just described.
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