The Gaps Model

of
Service Quality
Case Study on “HydroKleen”
Nowadays whenever we think of an office,
institution or home, an air conditioner is one
of the things we would check first and would
like to have most. You buy an air
conditioner, you feel good that you have an
air conditioner which is taking care of the
temperature of your room whatever the
outside environment is and you are happy.
But is that all? No, in practical experience,
this is not all.
Case Study on “HydroKleen”
Having an air conditioner without regular
servicing will leave you breathing in a room
full of mold, mildew, fungi, and bacteria. As air
conditioner is a machine the units need to be
serviced properly and regularly, otherwise they
can spread variety of organisms that can make
you and your family sick. Now the question is,
what do you do? Here we come, HydroKleen
Bangladesh, the first Air Condition Servicing
and Cleaning franchise in Bangladesh.
 Customer Expectations Customer Perceptions

 Standards or reference  Subjective assessments

points that customers of actual service
bring into the service experiences
experience

Closing the gap between what customers

expect & what they perceive is critical to
delivering quality service.
Customer Gap
 The Difference between Customer
Perceptions & Expectations

Customer
Expectations
Customer GAP

Perceived
Service
 Gaps Model of Service Delivery
Expected
Customer Service
GAP Perceived
CUSTOMER
Service

GAP 4
COMPANY
Service Delivery External
GAP 3 Communications
Customer-Driven to Customers
GAP 1
Service Designs and
Standards
GAP 2
Company Perceptions of
Consumer Expectations
Key Factors Leading to Customer
Gap
Customer Expectations
Customer
GAP

• Provider Gap 1: The listening gap

• Provider Gap 2: The service design and standards gap
• Provider Gap 3: The service performance gap
• Provider Gap 4: The communication gap

Customer Perceptions
Provider Gap 1 – The Listening
Gap
 Not Knowing What Customers Expect

Expected
CUSTOMER Service

GAP 1

Company
Perceptions of
COMPANY Customer
Expectations
Key Factors Leading to Provider Gap
1
Customer Expectations
Provider
GAP 1 • Inadequate Marketing Research Orientation
Insufficient marketing research
Research not focused on service quality
Inadequate use of market research
• Lack of Upward Communication
Lack of interaction between management & customers
Insufficient communication between contact employees & managers
Too many layers between contact personnel & top management

Company Perceptions of
Customer Expectations
Key Factors Leading to Provider Gap
1

Customer Expectations
Provider
GAP 1
• Insufficient Relationship Focus
Lack of market segmentation
Focus on transactions rather than relationships
Focus on new customers rather than existing customers
• Inadequate Service Recovery
Lack of encouragement to listen to customer complaints
Failure to make amends when things go wrong
No appropriate recovery mechanisms in place to service
failures

Company Perceptions of
Customer Expectations
Provider Gap 2 –
Service Design & Standards Gap
 Not Selecting the Right Service Designs
& Standards

CUSTOMER

Customer-Driven
COMPANY Service Designs &
Standards
GAP 2
Company
Perceptions of
Consumer
Expectations
Key Factors Leading to Provider Gap
2
Customer-Driven
Provider Service Designs & Standards
GAP 2
• 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-defined service standards
Absence of process management to focus on customer requirements
Absence of formal process for setting service quality goals

Management Perceptions
of Customer Expectations
Key Factors Leading to Provider Gap
2
Customer-Driven
Provider Service Designs & Standards
GAP 2

• Inappropriate Physical Evidence & 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
Provider Gap 3 –
The Service Performance Gap
 Not Delivering to Service Standards
CUSTOMER

Service Delivery
COMPANY
GAP 3
Customer-Driven
Service Designs &
Standards
Key Factors Leading to Provider Gap
3
Customer driven service
designs and standards
Provider
GAP 3 • Deficiencies In Human Resource Policies
Ineffective recruitment
Role ambiguity and role conflict
Poor employee-technology job fit
Inappropriate evaluation and compensation systems
Lack of empowerment, perceived control and teamwork

• Customers Who Do Not Fulfill Roles

Customers lack knowledge of their roles and responsibilities
Customers negatively affect each other

Service delivery
Key Factors Leading to Provider Gap
3
Customer-Driven
Service Designs & Standards
Provider
GAP 3
•Problems with Service Intermediaries
Channel conflict over objectives and performance
Difficulty controlling quality and consistency
Tension between empowerment and control

•Failure to Match Supply & Demand

Failure to smooth peaks and valleys of demand
Inappropriate customer mix
Over-reliance on price to smooth demand

Service Delivery
Provider Gap 4 –
The Communication Gap
 Not Matching Performance to Promises

CUSTOMER

GAP 4 External
Service Delivery Communications
COMPANY to Customers
Key Factors Leading to Provider Gap
4
Service Delivery
Provider
GAP 4
• Lack of Integrated Services Marketing Communications
Tendency to view each external communication as independent
Absence of interactive marketing in communications plan
Absence of strong internal marketing program

• Ineffective Management of Customer Expectations

Absence of customer expectation management through all forms of communication
Lack of adequately education for customers

External Communications
to Customers
Key Factors Leading to Provider Gap
4

Service Delivery
Provider
GAP 4
• Overpromising
Overpromising in advertising
Overpromising in personal selling
Overpromising through physical evidence cues
• Inadequate Horizontal Communications
Insufficient communication between sales and operations
Insufficient communication between advertising and operations
Differences in policies and procedures across branches or units
• Inappropriate Pricing
High prices that raise customer expectations
Prices that are not tied to customer perceptions of value

External Communications
to Customers
 Gaps Model of Service Delivery
Expected
Customer Service
GAP Perceived
CUSTOMER
Service

GAP 4
COMPANY
Service Delivery External
GAP 3 Communications
Customer-Driven to Customers
GAP 1
Service Designs and
Standards
GAP 2
Company Perceptions of
Consumer Expectations