Customer satisfaction is impacted by service and product quality. In turn, the purchase intentions of a customer, customer loyalty and ultimately an organization’s revenue stream are affected by customer satisfaction.
Service Quality
Service is gauged to be of high quality if the service provided is appropriate for the task at hand and if it is technically sound as measured by the degree to which the service provided produces a customer’s desired result. Unlike the sale of a product, the provision of a service requires the direct interaction of the customer and service provider. As a result, it is often assessed using qualitative measures.
Measures
A customer’s perception of service quality tends to be positive if the manner in which a service is provided meets or exceeds customer expectations in very specific ways that tend to establish or reinforce an organization’s relationship with a customer. Eric Miller writes in “A Handbook for Measuring Customer Satisfaction ” that customer expect a consistent, reliable and timely provision of service, a provider who possesses the skills necessary to provide the service and an accessible service provider who is polite and respectful, and who communicates with the customer in a language the customer is able to comprehend. In addition, high quality is achieved by a service provider who does the work necessary to understand the customers’ needs and engenders confidence, through attitude and expertise, that service objectives will be accomplished.
