12.2 Developing a working relationship with clients
One of the steps in developing a working relationship with customers is to understand their expectations and how they relate to satisfaction (see the diagram below). Expectations are not always the same for all types of organisations: customers sometimes can be satisfied with low levels of service and dissatisfied with high levels. For example, low service expectations are often associated with discount stores and supermarkets (Levy & Weitz 1992) and high expectations with professionals such as doctors or lawyers.
Figure 12.1 Role of expectations in evaluating retail service
Adapted from Levy, M. & Weitz, B. 1992, Retailing Management, Irwin, Homewood , p.605.
As suggested by Dwyer (2005), when developing a working relationship with customers all levels of the organisation including management must support the rest of the staff in their efforts to provide quality service.
Activity 12a
- Read the section on 'The customer Experience' on pages 185-189 of the textbook.
- Identify an organisation that excels in quality customer service and list the features of that service.
- Select an organisation with which you are familiar and which you do not believe provides high quality customer service. You may need to investigate to find the answers to the following questions.
- What specifically could management do to demonstrate their commitment to the concept and principles of total quality service?
- What specifically do staff in any organisation need to do to deliver high level quality customer service?
- How can management gain the commitment of staff to the concept and principles of total quality service?
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