Chapter

The Gaps Model of Service Quality

2
 The Customer Gap
 The Provider Gaps:
 Gap 1 – not knowing what customers expect
 Gap 2 – not having the right service designs & standards
 Gap 3 – not delivering to service standards
 Gap 4 – not matching performance to promises
 Putting It All Together: Closing the Gaps
 Gaps Model of Service Quality
Expected
Service
CUSTOMER
Customer
Gap/
Gap 5 Perceived
Service

External
COMPANY Service Communications
Delivery Gap 4 to Customers
Gap 3
Gap 1 Customer-Driven
Service Designs and
Standards
Gap 2
Company Perceptions
Selecting the right vocabulary

“Perceived” word is inappropriate vocabulary here

Because “expected service” is also perceived
 Gaps Model of Service Quality
Expected
Service
Experience
CUSTOMER
Customer
Gap/
Gap 5 Real/Actual
Service Experience

External
COMPANY Service Communications
Delivery Gap 4 to Customers
Gap 3
Gap 1 Customer-Driven
Service Designs and
Standards
Gap 2 Company Perceptions of
Consumer Expectations
or
 Gaps Model of Service Quality
Expected
Service
CUSTOMER
Customer
Gap/
Gap 5 Experienced
Service

External
COMPANY Service Communications
Delivery Gap 4 to Customers
Gap 3
Gap 1 Customer-Driven
Service Designs and
Standards
Gap 2
Company Perceptions
 Gaps Model of Service Quality
 Customer Gap:
 difference between customer expectations 　 (standard or reference point) and
perceptions (actual service experience)
 Provider Gap 1 (The Knowledge Gap):
 not knowing what customers expect
 Provider Gap 2 (The Service Design & Standards Gap):
 not having the right service designs and standards
 Provider Gap 3 (The Service Performance Gap):
 not delivering to service standards
 Provider Gap 4 (The Communication Gap):
 not matching performance to promises
 The Customer Gap

Sources of Customer Expectations:

Expected
• Pricing, Advertising, Sales Promotion
(Market Controlled Factors)
service
• Innate/natural personal needs, word of
mouth, competitive offerings (Limited Customer Gap
ability to affect)

Perceived
service
Subjective assessment of
actual service experiences
 Key Factors Leading
to the Customer Gap
Customer
Expectations

 Provider Gap 1: Not knowing what customers expect

Customer  Provider Gap 2: Not selecting the right service designs and standards

Gap  Provider Gap 3: Not delivering to service standards

 Provider Gap 4: Not matching performance to promises

Customer
Perceptions
 Gap 1 : The Knowledge Gap/Listening Gap
(Not Knowing What Customer Expect)
Customer Expectations
 Inadequate marketing research orientation Customer interview,
Insufficient marketing research
complaint system, customer
Research not focused on service quality

Gap 
Inadequate use of market research
Lack of upward communication
Lack of interaction between management and customers
panels

1 
Insufficient communication between contact employees and managers
Too many layers between contact personnel and top management
Insufficient relationship focus
Lack of market segmentation
Focus on transactions rather than relationships
Focus on new customers rather than relationship customers
 Inadequate service recovery marketing
Lack of encouragement to listen to customer complaints
IKEA Failure to make amends when things go wrong
No appropriate recovery mechanisms in place for service failures
(Home Furnishing)
Company Perceptions of
Customer Expectations
 Gap 2: Service Design & Standards Gap
(Not Having the Right Service Design & Standards)
Physical evidence:
Business cards, internet
presence, equipment
Servicescape: Physical
setting where the service is
delivered
Customer-Driven Service Designs and
Standards
 Poor service design
Unsystematic new service development process
Vague, undefined service designs
Failure to connect service design to service positioning
 Absence of customer-driven standards
Lack of customer-driven service standards
Absence of process management to focus on customer
requirements
Absence of formal process for setting service quality goals
 Inappropriate physical evidence and servicescape
Failure to develop tangibles in line with customer expectations
Servicescape design that does not meet customer and employee
needs
Inadequate maintenance and updating of the servicescape
Management Perceptions of Customer
Expectations
 Gap 3: Service Performance Gap
(Not Delivering to Service Designs and Standards)
Customer-Driven Service
Designs and Standards
 Deficiencies in human resource policies
Gap Ineffective recruitment
Role ambiguity and role conflict
Poor employee-technology job fit

3 
Appropriate Sources:
• People, Systems and
Technology
Customer could jeopardize the
whole process if they are not being
educated by the organization
Inappropriate evaluation and compensation systems
Lack of empowerment, perceived control, and teamwork
Customers who do not fulfill roles
Customers who lack knowledge of their roles and responsibilities
Customers who negatively impact each other
 Problems with service intermediaries
Channel conflict over objectives and performance
Difficulty controlling quality and consistency
Tension between empowerment and control
 Failure to match supply and demand
Failure to smooth peaks and valleys of demand
Inappropriate customer mix
Overreliance on price to smooth demand
Service Delivery
 Gap 4: Communication Gap
(Not Matching Performance to Promises)
Service Delivery
 Lack of integrated services marketing communications
Gap Tendency to view each external communication as independent
Not including interactive marketing in communications plan

4 Absence of strong internal marketing program

 Ineffective management of customer expectations
Absence of customer expectation management through all forms of
communication
Lack of adequate education for customers
Interactive  Overpromising
Marketing: Overpromising in advertising
Overpromising in personal selling
Marketing between Overpromising through physical evidence cues
contact people and  Inadequate horizontal communications
customers Insufficient communication between sales and operations
Insufficient communication between advertising and operations
Lack of internal
Differences in policies and procedures across branches or units
reference point for price
comparison External Communications to Customers
2018
GAPS MODEL OF SERVICE QUALITY
AUDIT
 For each of the following factors in the gaps, indicate the effectiveness
of the organization on that factor. Using a Likert Scale of 1 to 10 scale
where 1 is “poor” and 10 is “excellent”.

Customer Gap

 How well does the company understand customer expectations of

service quality?

 How well does the company understand customer perception of

service?
 Provider Gap 1, the Listening Gap
Market Research Orientation
 Is the amount and type of market research adequate to understand customer expectations of
service?
 Does the company use this information in decisions about service provision?
 Upward Communication
 Do managers and customers interact enough for management to know what customers expect?
 Do contact people tell management what customers expect?
 Relationship Focus
 To what extent does the company understand the expectations of different customer segments?
 To what extent does the company focus on relationships with customers rather than transactions?
 Service Recovery
 How effective are the service recovery efforts of the organization?
 How well does the organization plan for service failures?
 Provider Gap 2, the Service design
and Standards gap
 Systematic Service Design
 How effective is the company’s service development process?
 How well are new services defined for customers and employees?
 Presence of Customer-Defined Standards
 How effective are the company’s service standards?
 Are they defined to correspond to customer expectations?
 How effective is the process for setting and tracking service quality goals?
 Appropriate Physical Evidence and Servicescape
 Are the company’s physical facilities, equipment and other tangibles appropriate to the
service offering?
 Are the company’s physical facilities, equipment and other tangibles attractive and
effective?
 Provider Gap 3, the Service
Performance Gap
 Effective Human Resource Policies
 How effectively does the company recruit, hire, train, compensate, and empower
employees?
 Is service quality delivery consistent across employees, teams, units and branches?
 Effective Role Fulfillment by Customers
 Do customers understand their roles and responsibilities?
 Does the company manage customers to fulfill their roles, especially customers that are
incompatible?
 Effective Alignment with Service Intermediaries
 How well is service intermediaries aligned with the company?
 Is there conflict over objectives and performance, costs and rewards?
 Is service quality delivery consistent across the outlets?
 Alignment of Demand and Capacity
 How well is the company able to match supply with demand fluctuations?
 Provider Gap 4, the Communication
Gap
 Integrated Services Marketing Communications
 How well do all company communications
 including the interactions between company employees and customers
 express the same message and level of service quality?
 How well does the company communicate to customers about what will be provided for
them?
 Does the company avoid over-promising and overselling?
 How well do different parts of the organization communicate with each other so that
service quality equals what is promised?
 Pricing
 Is the company careful to price so high that customer’s expectations are raised?
 Does the company price in line with customer perceptions of value?