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DESIGNING AND MANAGING SERVICES | CHAPTER 13 367

lower-profit tiers may get more fees, stripped-down service, and voice messages to process their
inquiries.
When the recent recession hit, Zappos decided to stop offering complimentary overnight shipping
to first-time buyers and offer it to repeat buyers only. The money saved was invested in a new VIP
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service for the company’s most loyal customers. Companies that provide differentiated levels of
service must be careful about claiming superior service, however—customers who receive lesser treat-
ment will bad-mouth the company and injure its reputation. Delivering services that maximize both
customer satisfaction and company profitability can be challenging.
MONITORING SYSTEMS Top firms audit service performance, both their own and
competitors’, on a regular basis. They collect voice of the customer (VOC) measurements to probe
customer satisfiers and dissatisfiers. They use comparison shopping, mystery or ghost shopping,
customer surveys, suggestion and complaint forms, service-audit teams, and customers’ letters to
the president.
We can judge services on customer importance and company performance. Importance-performance
analysis rates the various elements of the service bundle and identifies required actions. Table 13.2
shows how customers rated 14 service elements or attributes of an automobile dealer’s service
department on importance and performance. For example,“Job done right the first time”(attribute 1)
received a mean importance rating of 3.83 and a mean performance rating of 2.63, indicating that
customers felt it was highly important but not performed well. The ratings of the 14 elements are
divided into four sections in Figure 13.5.
• Quadrant A in the figure shows important service elements that are not being performed at
the desired levels; they include elements 1, 2, and 9. The dealer should concentrate on improv-
ing the service department’s performance on these elements.

TABLE 13.2 Customer Importance and Performance Ratings for an
Auto Dealership

Mean Mean
Number Importance Performance
Attribute Attribute Description Rating a Rating b
1 Job done right the first time 3.83 2.63

2 Fast action on complaints 3.63 2.73
3 Prompt warranty work 3.60 3.15
4 Able to do any job needed 3.56 3.00
5 Service available when needed 3.41 3.05
6 Courteous and friendly service 3.41 3.29
7 Car ready when promised 3.38 3.03
8 Perform only necessary work 3.37 3.11
9 Low prices on service 3.29 2.00
10 Clean up after service work 3.27 3.02
11 Convenient to home 2.52 2.25
12 Convenient to work 2.43 2.49
13 Courtesy buses and cars 2.37 2.35
14 Send out maintenance notices 2.05 3.33

a
Ratings obtained from a four-point scale of “extremely important” (4), “important” (3), “slightly important” (2), and “not im-
portant” (1).
b
Ratings obtained from a four-point scale of “excellent” (4), “good” (3), “fair” (2), and “poor” (1). A “no basis for judgment”
category was also provided.