Introduction
According to lovelock 2004, service marketing involves the actions that one can show to another party that brings about interaction without the involvement of any physical product as the point of contact. Some of the services might incorporate elements that are either tangible or intangible. The combination of the marketing mix is very vital for the success of the service industry. The service sector is considered very important when it comes to evaluation of government economies since it comes out as the highest contributor to the economy (Lovelock et al, 2007; Kasper et al, 1999).
Mobil Petrol station Service Experience
My experience in one of the petrol stations within the outskirts of the capital city was very disappointing. I was driving back to the city from the upcountry when I made a stop-over to refuel my car, as well as add my tire pressure. As I branched to the petrol station, first I was astonished to find a very long motorcade waiting to be served. I got interested to know what actually the cause of all the mayhem was; I found out that the problem was brought by the attendants’ poor services. First of all it seemed they clashed with almost every motorist concerning the rate at which they offered their services, they were extremely slow.
Secondly was the disagreement on the manner in which they pumped the petrol into the car’s tank. I considered being served by a certain young man who indeed after being payed for the service got confused since he never had enough change to give to customers who might have payed excess. The young man kept on shouting at the other attendants to assist him. When I asked him why he was behaving in that manner the answer was “I’ve always been overwhelmed because I’m always left alone all day long, so you have just to cope with the situation sir”. This I considered unwelcoming type of an answer, he never minded his language towards customers, was cruel and at the sometime careless. I noticed that as he was feeling my tank some petrol spilled down after which I was the one to cater for the cost. This pissed me up, when I questioned I certainly got the unexpected, no reply. The attendant waved me off expecting me to move before even receipting the transaction. Then there was a different case at the pressure pump where there was no attendant I had to get out of my car fill the pressure then follow the attendant for payment (Grönroos, 2000).
In this case what was clearly portrayed was the gap between the quality of services offered and the way in which the customers were treated. The expectations were totally different from the performance at a glance. I could relate Gaps Model part 1; the service provider never understood that I expected good relations and service from him. Gaps part 4, where the attendant used unfriendly language when trying to explain reasons for his poor service delivery and at one instance never replied to my questions at all. The case where one attendee does the work for the whole day without time to rest can be attributed to less workers. The employees are also having less skill in pump operation since they allow a lot of fuel to spill down. The management should be concerned about recruiting knowledgeable staff or give the current employees further training on how to offer quality services.
This can also be explained using the Nordic model; it addresses the issues on technical and functional quality. In the technical sense I received the service for my car which included refuelling. But on the functional quality the service offered by the attendant was not professional contrary to what the company advocates, that they offer quality and professional services.
Kentucky Fried Chicken Service Experience
Another negative experience was when I visited KFC restaurant; I had to wait for fairly long time to be served since the service queue was too long. The customers were streaming at a rate that the waiters available could not contain. The experience of seeing the staff overwhelmed was something I never expected especially in such a big corporation as KFC. When my chance came I decided to order “Classic Krushers” of which she denied they don’t prepare. I told her that I had once been served with “Classic krushers” within the same restaurant. The waiter argued that may be I was just confused and never knew exactly where I had been served previously with the dish. “Sir I’m sorry I need to attend to other customers since you are not sure of what you want”. This to me sounded a bit uncouth, I never expected that an employee at KFC was never quite aware of the kinds of drinks they offered. The waiter finally went to advice his fellow employee to bring to me instead, the Fruit krusher that was available which was never my taste; this was just because I had insisted. I decided to walk out very disappointed customer, leaving the drink on the table without even a sip (Gabbott and Hogg, 1997).
This experience can well be related to the three-component model. The physical product that I really wanted was the “classic krusher” drink. The related service product was the time consumed waiting to be served. I had waited for almost thirty minutes before I could be attended to, I’ve never waited for such a long time in any restaurant in the recent past. Then there was the interaction quality which gave me very difficult time. I clearly indicated and specified what I wanted because I knew I had taken such a drink some time before at the same restaurant. The response I got was rather inhuman since there was not even an iota of concern within it, this was a clash of service culture since the waiter decided to personalise the issue instead of consulting with his other fellow workers on what he never understood. He could have offered me a polite conversation instead of handling me beastly. The state of argument that almost arose between me and the waiter attracted attention of those who were queuing; this distracted the environment from its normal flow. All eyes were on me as if I was the cause of the troubles within the restaurant, this was a displeasing and disheartening experience I have never had in the recent past (Bruhn and Georgi, 2006; Mudie and Cottam, 1999).
Hungry Jacks Service Experience
A positive service marketing experience that I encountered was when I went to purchase snacks and some food for family dinner at Hungry Jacks restaurant. As I approached the restaurant door, I got a cool welcome from one of the waiters who offered to give me a sit as I waited to be served. Before I got to the counter to be served, the waiter made sure that I understood the meal combination of whatever I wanted. I explained to him the nature of the food I wanted to purchase, both for children and adults. Then he explained to me the nutritional guidelines they offer towards food meant for children below age fourteen. After all the explanation I found myself more informed about food diet than before, I really appreciated him for giving me an opportunity to know much. He further advised me to always avoid consuming food with high level of sugar content, “this might be harmful to your health and the family too” he said. After that he allowed me to make my own choice regarding the kind of food I wanted to purchase that particular moment (McColl-Kennedy and Kiel, 2000).
This I can as well relate to the three-component model. In this case the physical product that I was to purchase was sandwiches and some Sweet potato snacks. This is what I focused on in my mind by the time. The physical product was accompanied with the service product that involved the waiter welcoming me and helping me to understand better the nutritional guidelines leading to better food choice. The final part of the three-component model, the service environment, was portrayed through the friendly welcoming environment, the waiter’s smile and the hospitality offered which made me feel relaxed and patient. Generally the experience was superb, unique and excellent it makes one to want more of it hence making several trips to the restaurant.
JB Hi Fi Service Experience
A neutral experience I encountered when I visited JB Hi Fi Chain store. I recall it was a very smooth and honest experience of my lifetime. The store was cool, quiet and had enough employees to attend to every customer without delay; their technicians were always ready to assist on matters of electronic complications. They had I big screen that indicated all the available and unavailable goods, so I needed not to ask anybody about what I wanted it was already displayed. The store even offered online connection and search that helped the consumers to find out what they wanted.
This experience quite relate to SERVQUAL dimensions model which normally caters for five main steps. First the reliability on the screens wasn’t quite accurate since sometimes it was not updated. Therefore the dependability and accuracy of knowing what had run out of stock and what was available was not quite catered for. The assurance factor was always given through their web site by good and promising displays. The attendants showed a lot of credibility by always attending to customers’ needs promptly and showed empathy by assuring customers of good services through the technicians. The tangibility factors were that the store was air conditioned and clean hence giving the customers the freshness required. Finally though never got what I wanted, which was a pack of CDs, the responsiveness of the employees was quite promising and encouraging since they assured me of positive response a day after (Lovelock et al, 2007). Generally the experience was just neutral due to the excellent and better services.
Mc Donald Service Experience
Another positive service marketing that I encountered was at Mc Donald’s Corporation restaurant. The restaurant is located in Tasmania. I had decided to pass by the restaurant to have some milk shake and dessert. The restaurant was cool and orderly, I was welcomed by three attendants and virtually offered that ease and freedom to feel as comfortable as I wished to. The waiter then quickly moved closer, sat next to me and requested to serve me with what I wanted. I looked at the menu then ordered what I wanted. I was served and handled with such a high esteem and this made me feel like a real gentleman (McColl-Kennedy, 2003). The restaurant had some big screens on the walls that kept the customers entertained making the experience more entertaining. I was also served with some side dishes and what amazed me is that the waiter was always around to ensure that I got what I needed promptly; he kept on asking me politely whether I was satisfied with the service. This was indeed positive since there was need even to walk all the way to the counter to pay the bill, the waiter was there to do that on my behalf (Baron and Harris, 2003).
This experience can be related to the disconfirmation of expectations model. The model comprises expectations of the customers, the employee performance, disconfirmation as well as satisfaction from the service being provided. The perceived performance was not that high including what I expected, this was because of the location of the restaurant. The comparison was triggered the moment I entered inside and saw the orderliness, the way the restaurant was neatly arranged, and the hospitality offered by the waiters. The standard procedure was that I was offered the menu and full attention. There was variety of food to choose from, the food was indeed extremely delicious. What amazes me within this restaurant was the way the staff attended to their customers without any sense of complains what a fantastic experience (Fisk et al, 2000). All these proved to be a positive disconfirmation which added more value to the level of satisfaction (Lovelock et al, 2007). The experience was generally fantastic and recommendable.
Conclusion
From all the experiences it is clearly revealed that for service marketing to succeed, the kind of service delivery and the level of customer satisfaction are mutually dependent on the employee and how he/she interacts with customers. There are several factors that govern the quality of the services delivered, these factors cannot be controlled since some services are not easy to evaluate.
References
Baron, S., and Harris, K. (2003). Services marketing: Texts and cases. Basingstoke UK: Palgrave.
Bruhn, M. and Georgi, D. (2006). Services marketing: managing the service value chain. Harlow, UK: Prentice Hall Financial Times.
Fisk, R. P., Grove, S. J., and Joby, J. (2000). Interactive services marketing. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Gabbott, M. and Hogg, G. (1997). Contemporary services marketing management A reader. London: Dryden.
Grönroos, C. (2000). Service management and marketing: A customer relationship management approach (2nd ed.). Chichester: Wiley.
Kasper, H., van Helsdingen, P., and De Vries, W. (1999). Services marketing management: An international perspective. Chichester: Wiley.
Lovelock, C.H., Patterson, P.G. and Walker, R., (2007) Services marketing. An Asia Pacific perspective (4th Ed.) NSW: Pearson Prentice-Hall.
McColl-Kennedy, J. R. (2003). Services marketing: A managerial approach. Milton, Qld: John Wiley &Sons.
McColl-Kennedy, J. R. and Kiel, G. C. (2000). Marketing: A strategic approach. South Melbourne: Nelson Thomson Learning.
Mudie, P. and Cottam, A. (1999). The management and marketing of services. Oxford: Butterworth- Heinemann.