Amity Business School

Amity Business School

MBA Class of 2010, Semester III
Service Encounter
Prof. P K Bansal
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WHAT IS THE SERVICE ENCOUNTER?

 “A period of time during which a

consumer directly interacts with a
service” (Shostack 1985)

“Moments of truth” - typically many

occur during a multi-stage service
process
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 Is the “moment of truth”

 Occurs any time the customer interacts
with the firm
 Can potentially be critical in determining
customer satisfaction and loyalty

Types of encounters:
– remote encounters, phone encounters, face-to-
face encounters
Is an opportunity to:
– build trust
– reinforce quality
– build brand identity
– increase loyalty
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A Service Encounter
Cascade for an Industrial Purchase

Sales
Sales Call
Call
Delivery
Deliveryand
and Installation
Installation

Servicing
Servicing

Ordering
OrderingSupplies
Supplies
Billing
Billing
 CRITICAL INCIDENTS
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• “...Specific interactions between

customers and service firm employees
that are especially satisfying or
especially dissatisfying” (Booms and
Tetreault)

Can only be defined by

consumers
Go to the heart of the service
benefit
 Critical Incidents in
Airlines Flight Amity Business School

Pre-sales • Initial telephone enquiry

• Making reservation
• Issue of ticket
Post-sales, pre- • Check-in of baggage
consumption • Issue of boarding pass
• Advice of departure gate
• Quality of airport
Consumption announcements
• Quality of waiting conditions
• Welcome on board aircraft
• Assistance in finding seat
Post-consumption • Reliability of departure time
• Quality of catering
• Baggage reclaim
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Common Themes in Critical

Service Encounters Research

Recovery: Adaptability:
Employee Response Employee Response
to Service Delivery to Customer Needs
System Failure and Requests

Coping: Spontaneity:
Employee Response Unprompted and
to Problem Customers Unsolicited Employee
Actions and Attitudes