Free Essay

Characteristics of a Good Service Guarantee

In:

Submitted By fring001
Words 255
Pages 2
A service guarantee is a marketing tool that service firms have increasingly been using to reduce consumer risk perceptions, signal quality, differentiate a service offering, as well as to institutionalize and professionalize their internal management of customer complaint and service recovery [Gremler, 2009]. For products, a service guarantee usually comes in the form of a warranty that allows customers to reclaim money or compensate their product during a specific time period as stated in the warranty if the product proves to be defective during this time period.

However, unlike products, services are often not guaranteed because the same service cannot be returned to the customer as compensation as well as the experience of the service is intangible. Therefore, the main problem that most service firms face is how they can provide a service guarantee for their services to entitle customers a form of compensation under the circumstances of a service delivery failure.

According to Bateson & Hoffman, there are three types of service guarantees. The first is an unconditional guarantee that promises complete customer satisfaction either at a minimum, a full refund or a complete-no-cost problem resolution for customers. The second type of guarantee is the specific result guarantee that applies only to specific steps or outputs in the service delivery process and is considered milder than an explicit unconditional guarantee because the conditions for triggering the guarantee are narrower and well defined and the payouts are less traumatic. The third type of guarantee is the implicit guarantee which is an unwritten, unspoken.

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Characteristics of a Good Service Guarantee and Its Benefits

...Question 2 Most organizations today are offering service guarantee in their service offer. Discuss the characteristics of a good service guarantee and its benefits. Evaluate the following service guarantee offered by a restaurant for its home delivery services: “30 minutes guarantee. 10% discount on delayed delivery orders”. Answer: A service guarantee is a marketing tool that service firms have increasingly been using to reduce consumer risk perceptions, signal quality, differentiate a service offering, as well as to institutionalize and professionalize their internal management of customer complaint and service recovery [Gremler, 2009]. For products, a service guarantee usually comes in the form of a warranty that allows customers to reclaim money or compensate their product during a specific time period as stated in the warranty if the product proves to be defective during this time period. However, unlike products, services are often not guaranteed because the same service cannot be returned to the customer as compensation as well as the experience of the service is intangible. Therefore, the main problem that most service firms face is how they can provide a service guarantee for their services to entitle customers a form of compensation under the circumstances of a service delivery failure. According to Bateson & Hoffman, there are three types of service guarantees. The first is an unconditional guarantee that promises complete customer satisfaction either at...

Words: 2326 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

Credit Crunch

... * 1. Definition of credit crunch * A credit crunch is a sudden reduction in the general availability of loans (or credit ) or a sudden tightening of the conditions required to obtain a loan from the banks . * A credit crunch generally involves a reduction in the availability of credit independent of a rise in official interest rates . * 2. Background of Credit crunch. ------------------------------------------------- 2008 the financial crisis took place in USA.In order to stimulate China's economic development, the government issued a series of economic policy including a 4 trillion investment plans, reducing deposit and lending rates to response to the crisis.In the good development of domestic economic, the international capital markets has an good expectation on China's economy,so they invest a large number of international capital to China,...

Words: 2181 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Management Systems and Quality Management Systems L'Oreal

...The concept of quality can be illustrated by a lot of material characteristics in a product: design, material components, easy to use, technological … But, others elements must be noticed, generally, immaterial things such as durability, price (value for money), after-sales services, and image … Quality is something subjective and objective in the same time. Some elements are objective and can be appreciated in the same way by everybody (material components, high technology for example). In the other hand, some elements can be appreciated in a personal way (peculiar to personal values, to personal point of view …). The Quality Management System (QMS) is based on the quality concept. It’s a system organized by companies to reach quality objectives. The QMS aims to improve results and performance of a company. This system is made by values and standards specific to the company or not. For example, ISO 9000 standards must be included in the QMS of companies. The QMS concerns all company’s departments but each department has generally the control of its QMS. This system belongs to the global company strategy. The two main goals of the QMS are: guarantee quality product and satisfy the customers. The execution of a good QMS corresponds to five simple actions: planning, doing, checking and adjusting. The interest of a good QMS is : to ameliorate the turnover and to create value. The QMS of L’Oréal aim to guarantee a perfect quality from products conception until products distribution...

Words: 342 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Customer Service

...A service guarantee is a promise that a service or product will meet certain consumer expectations or standards. Many times it is provided to the consumer in writing. If the product fails to perform as promised, the vendor may offer replacement of the item, refund the purchase price, or offer other forms of reimbursement, like a store credit. The purpose of it is to instill consumer confidence. The type of promise that a merchant makes may differ, depending on the product or service. It is not uncommon for a service guarantee to be predicated on the consumer meeting specific terms and conditions. This places some of the responsibility on the customer. Stipulations to a service guarantee may prohibit tampering with a product or require that certain maintenance schedules are followed. It may also outline what the consumer is required to do in order to prevent the malfunction of a product. If the specified conditions are not met, the service guarantee may be voided. Conditional agreements often apply to automobile warranties. For example, a serviceguarantee for an engine may require scheduled maintenance at regular intervals, such as changing the oil change every three months. If the engine were to malfunction as a result of the oil not being changed on schedule, the service guarantee could be canceled. It is important for a customer to follow the provisions provided. | ...

Words: 1841 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Grub N' Go

...Grub n’ Go Part III MKT/421 September 19, 2011 Amber Topping As a unique food delivery service organization, Grub N’ Go sets itself apart from the rest of the competition through its highlighted attributes of restaurant-quality food delivery and customer priority service. Just as any other organization, Grub N’ Go starts life in the product life cycle as an idea and flows into the business it is now. In order for the company to continue growing, certain positioning and differentiating strategies must be implemented for the service and how to apply the pricing for deliveries and marketing. Grub n’ Go’s service is simple; food delivery. The attributes or characteristics of Grub n’ Go’s service are variety, value, timely, and friendly. Grub n’ Go will offer a variety of food from numerous restaurants delivered for a reasonable service fee in a timely manner by a friendly staff. In the market of food delivery service customers have many choices from restaurants that offer delivery; however, the delivery is only for one particular restaurant’s food. In traditional food delivery customers are limited to the restaurant’s menu and if a restaurant does not offer delivery service dine-in, carry-out, or choose another restaurant is the choices for the customer. One of the main attributes of Grub n’ Go is the ability to order from multiple restaurants and receive delivery to one location. Grub n’ Go can partner with numerous restaurants to bring a variety of choices to consumers...

Words: 1898 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Service Recovery

...Introduction Service recovery is now recognized as a significant determinant of customer satisfaction and loyalty. As a result, stabilizing the endangered relationship with dissatisfied customers by using the effective service recovery strategies and procedures became the main focus of much customer retention to improve the competitive advantage of the hospitality organizations. In this research paper, we firstly indicate the unambiguous interpretation and crucial role of service recovery in hospitality industry. Therewith the paper point out the predict variables of service recovery which means the possible factors having great impact on the effectiveness of employee’s service recovery performance. Furthermore, the paper indicates the road to the effective service recovery which shows the viewpoints such as the customer-oriented commitment, empower the front-line employee and how to make brilliant recoveries. All of these statements are based on the numerous authority investigations with the real cases existing in today’s hospitality industry. The paper also discuss the failure prevention and service guarantees which are closely related to service recovery and introduce the dominant point “prevention is better than cure” . The goal of this article is able to help the hospitality firms develop better complaint handling policies, improve recovery procedures and recovery training, increase customer loyalty and ultimately improve their competitive advantage. ...

Words: 4124 - Pages: 17

Premium Essay

Service Marketing

...Management) 2nd Year Services Marketing Maximum Marks: 70 Duration: 03 Hours Instructions: 1. This paper is divided into 3 sections – A, B and C. 2. Section A consists of 10 questions of 1 mark each. All questions in Section A are compulsory. 3. Section B consists of 7 questions of 3 marks each. You must attempt ANY FIVE questions. 4. Section C consists of 5 questions of 15 marks each. You must attempt ANY THREE questions. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SECTION – A (All questions are compulsory) Write short notes on the following: 1. Word of Mouth 2. Service marketing triangle 3. Service channel 4. Supplementary services 5. Service Quality 6. Service Encounter 7. 7 P’s 8. New product Development 9. Packaging of Services 10. Service Perishability SECTION – B (Attempt any five questions) 11. Explain in detail the impact of technology in services. 12. Discuss the characteristics of service marketing. 13. Explain, how can the various gaps of service quality be closed? 14. Write a note on the marketing management of financial services. 15. Discuss the difference between perception of service quality and customer satisfaction. 16. What are the steps involved in preparing Blue Print? 17. Explain the factor affecting pricing of services. SECTION – C (Attempt any three questions) 18. Explain the characteristics of services. 19. Write in detail the...

Words: 4473 - Pages: 18

Premium Essay

Management Systems and Quality Management Systems L'Oreal

...The concept of quality can be illustrated by a lot of material characteristics in a product: design, material components, easy to use, technological … But, others elements must be noticed, generally, immaterial things such as durability, price (value for money), after-sales services, and image … Quality is something subjective and objective in the same time. Some elements are objective and can be appreciated in the same way by everybody (material components, high technology for example). In the other hand, some elements can be appreciated in a personal way (peculiar to personal values, to personal point of view …). The Quality Management System (QMS) is based on the quality concept. It’s a system organized by companies to reach quality objectives. The QMS aims to improve results and performance of a company. This system is made by values and standards specific to the company or not. For example, ISO 9000 standards must be included in the QMS of companies. The QMS concerns all company’s departments but each department has generally the control of its QMS. This system belongs to the global company strategy. The two main goals of the QMS are: guarantee quality product and satisfy the customers. The execution of a good QMS corresponds to five simple actions: planning, doing, checking and adjusting. The interest of a good QMS is : to ameliorate the turnover and to create value. The QMS of L’Oréal aim to guarantee a perfect quality from products conception until products distribution...

Words: 327 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Lens Crafters Analysis

...– BUS 430 January 29, 2012 Lens Crafters Analysis Identifies three key characteristics of LensCrafters at each of the following three levels (for a total of nine). a. CBP, strategy and competitive priorities b. Service delivery system design, and c. Service encounter design LensCrafters’ mission statement is focused on being the best by creating customers for life by delivering legendary customer service, developing and energizing associates and leaders in the world’s best work place, crafting perfect-quality eyewear in about an hour, and delivering superior overall value to meet each customer’s individual needs. (Evans, 2011 second ed) LensCrafters is committed to loving eyes by being: * Passionate-Truly love taking care of people’s eyes * Progressive-Strive to constantly improve every aspect of the vision care experience * Personal-Put the customer first, and seek to connect with them on a long-term relationship basis * Straightforward-Being honest, transparent and upfront with you. Their Customer Benefit Package Design Configuration is the integrated set of goods (eyewear) and services (accurate eye exam and one-hour service) are of equal importance. LensCrafters is a trusted household name across North America, known for providing convenient access to eye exams, a wide choice of frames and lenses, one-hour service, attractive prices, an unconditional 30-day guarantee, fashion and luxury eyewear, and more. With the original store opening in 1983...

Words: 931 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Bus430 Assignment 1

...LensCrafters is the largest optical chain in the United States, and has expanded to over 850 stores in Canada, the United States, and Puerto Rico. Operation Strategy and Competitive Priorities Being focused as the leader in the industry LensCrafters mission statement has been driven to create customers for life. They continue to lead with exceptional customer service with energizing associates, training exceptional customer service personnel and being the world’s leader for the best place to work. The technicians are skillful in perfect-quality eyewear in about an hour and drive to deliver outstanding overall value to meet each individual customer’s needs. LensCrafters is embodied in a list of core values that include nurturing individuals; building on people’s strengths; accepting and learning from mistakes; focusing on winning, not individual scoring; pushing breakthrough ideas; thinking and acting like a long-term owner; demanding highest possible quality; constantly, measurable improving; and acting with uncompromising integrity. (Bolton, 1990). The customer benefit package is the integrated set of goods and services. This is a wide range of...

Words: 1356 - Pages: 6

Free Essay

Marketing - Stub Hub Ticket Scalping - an Acceptable Behaviour

...MKTG 396 Alana S. Manning Student ID: 3144948 Assignment 3 “StubHub: Ticket Scalping, a Respectable Endeavour?” Question 1 (20 marks) Identify the strengths and weaknesses of StubHub as well as the threats and opportunities this organization is facing. Note: Use point form with very explicit statements. (There are 2 marks available for each good point. Limit your answer to 10 points). Strengths: 1. Stubhub offers a risk free experience the ‘FanProtect Guarantee’ for ticket purchasers whereby they will not be charged for any purchases until Stubhub receives confirmation of delivery of those tickets. 2. Stubhub has a competitive advantage over other ticket reselling companies because they list the tickets for the seller for free, and split the fee upon a successful purchase between the seller and buyer. Also, Stubhub assumes very little risk with their business because they don’t actually carry their own ticket inventory. 3. Stubhub doesn’t disclose the names of the sellers, they have a purely level playing field among the sellers and that provides a more transparent purchasing experience for the buyers. They tickets are all comparable for their venue, price, seat number etc. regardless of the vendor selling the ticket. Additionally Stubhub will prohibit any sellers found to be illegitimate vendors from using their site. 4. Stubhub has capitalized on the professional sports team market by signing...

Words: 2515 - Pages: 11

Free Essay

Law Related to Unfair Trade Practices

...promoting any sale, use or supply of any goods or services, adopts unfair method, or unfair or deceptive practice. Unfair practices may be categorised as under: 1. FALSE REPRESENTATION The practice of making any oral or written statement or representation which: * Falsely suggests that the goods are of a particular standard quality, quantity, grade, composition, style or model; * Falsely suggests that the services are of a particular standard, quantity or grade; * Falsely suggests any re-built, second-hand renovated, reconditioned or old goods as new goods; * Represents that the goods or services have sponsorship, approval, performance, characteristics, accessories, uses or benefits which they do not have; * Represents that the seller or the supplier has a sponsorship or approval or affiliation which he does not have; * Makes a false or misleading representation concerning the need for, or the usefulness of, any goods or services; * Gives any warranty or guarantee of the performance, efficacy or length of life of the goods, that is not based on an adequate or proper test; * Makes to the public a representation in the form that purports to be- * *# a warranty or guarantee of the goods or services, a promise to replace, maintain or repair the goods until it has achieved a specified result, if such representation is materially misleading or there is no reasonable prospect that such warranty, guarantee or promise will be fulfilled ...

Words: 2284 - Pages: 10

Free Essay

Help with Hnd Assignments

...help to write your assignment. To get the job done in time, please, do not hesitate to apply to our help services, which is ready to prepare all kinds of HNC or HND assignments for you. Working with us, you may rest assured that you will get an absolutely customized paper written on high academic level, which will secure your successful degree completion with no hustle. * As for the Higher National Diploma in realm of business administration, this program is focused on developing student’s professional skills in the domain of urgent management and business. In their diploma work, students of the program are expected to prove their knowledge and practical skills in this particular discipline. However, excellent knowledge itself does not guarantee high scores, to achieve them you need to have a good command of expressing your thoughts in a written form. Business administration study requires students to be able to consider objectives of an organization and available resources to elaborate a balanced plan in compliance with changing market conditions. Students have to present their concept of the solution in the writing paper, which is namely their HND Assignment. If you are not sure you can cope with the task, you may apply to our HND Assignment Help. It consists of professional academic writers and researchers with strong management and business background. So, we can guarantee that you will be satisfied with the resulting paper you get from us, in regard to both contents and a...

Words: 533 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Essay

...person who, (i) Buys any goods for a consideration which has been paid or promised or partly paid and partly promised, or under any system or deferred payment and includes any user of such goods, other than the person who buys such goods for consideration paid or promised or partly paid or partly promised, or under any system of deferred payment when such use is made with the approval of such person, but does not include a person who obtains such goods for resale or for any commercial purpose; or (ii)  Hires or avails of any services for a consideration which has been paid or promised or partly paid and partly promised, or under any system of deferred payment and includes any beneficiary of such services other than the person who hires or avails of the services for consideration paid or promised, or partly paid and partly promised, or under any system of deferred payment, when such services are availed of with the approval of the first mentioned person. As per the Definition of Service as defined under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, "Service" means service of any description, which is made available to potential users and includes the provision of facilities in connection with banking, financing, insurance, transport, processing, supply of electrical or other energy, boarding or lodging or both, housing construction, entertainment, amusement or the purveying of news or other information, but does not include the rendering of any service free of charge or under a contract...

Words: 2957 - Pages: 12

Premium Essay

Akron

...about Village Volvo • Village Volvo’s Service Package • Distinctive characteristic of Service firm • Characterize Nature of Service act • Characterize Relationship customers • Characterize Customization and judgment • Characterize Nature of demand and supply • Characterize Method of service delivery • Village Volvo back-office management • Village Volvo Versa Volvo Dealers • Conclusion Introduction about Village Volvo and their mission statement The mission of the Village Volvo is to profit from the sale of automobiles, parts and services. They are seeking to achieve this by creating an environment for their customers of comfort, reliance and respect.  This environment will be formed by the continued emphasis on employee satisfaction, which leads to greater efficiency and productivity through employee retention. They aim their employees to establish a daily goal of anticipating and satisfying the customers’ needs in order to build a relationship-based business, which develops an ever-growing customer base. 1. Describe Village Volvo service package. Village Volvo provides quality repair at a reasonable cost for out of warranty Volvos. Car owners can visit for Routine Services such as tune-ups and oil change or for diagnosis and repairing specific problems in an estimated time. They have CCVD which is Custom Care Vehicle Dossier to keep records of the car history services (Historical trend) that assists in solving...

Words: 1528 - Pages: 7