I guess I’ll just help myself then (Blog 5)

Well, the inevitable happened this week.  Just when we thought we were in the clear and didn’t have any major purchases or expenses coming up for the next few months, our TV died.  This was especially depressing due to the fact the thing was only three years old.  So, quite reluctantly, we set about finding a new one.  This entry will examine our experience, and analyze it from the perspective of Chapters 12, 13, and 14 of our course textbook.  Concepts covered will include: the importance of employees for services, the effect of employees on service quality dimensions, emotional labour, customers as contributors, electronic channels, and the associated challenges for these channels.

On March 10 at 3:00pm, after a very thorough search and a lot of comparison shopping, we ended up at Best Buy.  While their primary focus is selling products, the nature of these products (i.e., often highly technical, sometimes over-sized consumer electronics) require a set of associated services, such as delivery, set up, and technical support.  We had already spent the previous night and all afternoon looking at our different options, and we eventually settled on a large Samsung 3D plasma TV, with a package that included a 3D Blu-Ray DVD player, and two pairs of 3D glasses (surprisingly, these glasses are usually not included with the majority of 3D TVs, and can create quite the additional cost to the total purchase price).

We spoke with one of the sales associates about the package (well, more like my husband spoke to him.  I don’t really understand too much of the details when it comes to a lot of technology-based items, but my husband definitely know what he’s talking about), and satisfied with both the features and the price, we decided to purchase the package.  The associate went into the back to check and see if they had the TV in stock, and a few minutes later, came back out to tell as that the TV was high up on the rafters, and that the people who would be able to move the stock blocking the TV were currently in a meeting.  He told us to pay for the package now, and that he would give us a call later when the TV was ready to be picked up.  We asked when that would approximately be, and were told it would be about two hours.

Two hours later, with no phone call whatsoever, we went back to the store to pick up the TV.  A different sales associate went into the back to grab the TV.  She brought it out to us, said barely anything, didn’t ask we if needed help getting it out to our car (it was a very, very large box), and promptly left.  We left the store, and the associates at the front door (who check for receipts as customers leave with their purchases), didn’t not offer to help us either.

In terms of our level of satisfaction, I would rate it as a 3.  The associates we dealt with were highly unhelpful, and did not seem to care about us or our purchase.  It is important to note that we were reluctant to make the purchase, annoyed that our not very old TV had died, and tired at the end of a long week, which might not have made us the friendliest customers to deal with.  As for our likelihood of returning, I would rate it as a 6.  While we were not all that satisfied with the service we received, when it comes to expensive purchases like consumer electronics, it quite frankly comes down to price for us.

This experience directly relates to the critical importance of employees for service firms.  They are the service, the organization, the brand, and the marketers; essentially, they personify the firm (Zeithaml et al., 2007, p. 302).   Mascio (2010) reiterates this concept, stating “frontline employees (FLEs) play a pivotal role in face to- face service encounters because they can affect customer perceptions of service quality, satisfaction, and value” (p. 63).  This can be seen in the important role employees played in the evaluation of our service encounter.

Secondly, employees can affect the service quality dimensions of reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and tangibles (Zeithaml et al., 2007, p. 306-307).  For instance, the associates’ lack of empathy for us when we picked up our TV led to a lower level of service quality for our experience.

To improve situations such as these, employees need to be trained in emotional labour, beyond the physical and mental skills they need to perform their job.  Techniques to do so include screening for these abilities, teaching skills and behaviours, allowing employees to vent, putting management on the front line, and giving employees a break (Zeithaml et al. 2007, p. 307-309).  Doing so can also go a long way towards making employees feel more valued, which has also been found to have a strong impact on service quality (Fisher, 2004).

Moreover, customers also play a critical role in the service encounter, contributing to service quality and satisfaction through their inputs (Zeithaml et al., 2007, p. 334-335).  As a service that requires moderate input (Zeithaml et al., 2007, p. 335), the encounter in question here does involve a certain level of customer contribution.  In the case of our service encounter, therefore, our mood and emotions at the time of the purchase may have contributed to our evaluation of the experience.

Finally, the idea of electronic channels for providers of both services and products is becoming increasingly important.  For instance, “retailers still tell customers, You have to come to us.  But online customers are saying, No way – you have to come to us.  My place, my time, is the new mantra of consumers everywhere” (Zeithaml et al., 2007, p. 375).  These channels can also have numerous challenges, such as price competition, lack of consistency due to customer involvement, changes in consumer behaviour, security concerns, and competition from widening geographies (Zeithaml et al., 2007, p. 375)

I think this trend relates to our encounter because it would have been very different had we chosen to order our TV online.  Yes, such a channel would have posed some challenges, but part of me thinks that ordering it online and having it delivered to us directly might have been a more satisfying experience, due to the associates we dealt with and their seeming inability to help us out at all.

Works Cited

Fisher, A. (2004). A happy staff equals happy customers. Fortune.

<http://libsecu re.camosun.bc.ca:2054/ehost/detail?hid=108&sid=3a114a85-99ae-4971-b5dd12f6d1b55 806%40sessionmgr104&vid=3&bdata=JmxvZ2luLmFzcCZzaXRlPWVob3N0LWxpdmU%3d#db=bth&AN=13658445>.

Mascio, R. (2010). The Service Models of Frontline Employees. Journal of Marketing.

<http://libsecure.camosun.bc.ca:2053/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?hid=110&sid=52c9e5f5-d1ea-4b1c-8088-d87549ad0b1e%40sessionmgr113&vid=3&gt;.

Zeithaml, V. A., Bitner, M. J., Gremler, D., Mahaffey, T., & Hiltz, B. (2007). Services Marketing. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson.

 

Death and Taxes (Blog 4)

What’s the saying again?  Something about the only certainties in life?  Well I know one thing for certain, this year I am refusing to do me and my husband’s taxes.  Last year’s attempt ended in frustration and tears, and instead of politely asking my over-worked father to do them (as he thankfully has for many years), we decided to pay someone to do them this year.  This entry will examine my experience visiting an H & R Block kiosk in Hillside Mall on Friday, February 25^th at 7:00pm.  It will do so using concepts from chapters 10, 11 and 12 from our course textbook, and focus on such concepts as customer-defined standards, physical evidence, strategic roles of the servicescape, quality/productivity trade-offs, and the effects of employee behaviour on service quality dimensions. 

The introduction to this entry has already provided a fair bit of background, but the encounter itself included some interesting interactions.  When we first walked by the kiosk, it was empty, and there was a sign on the countering stating that the employee would be back shortly.  We started to head off in the other direction to kill some time while we waited, but the H & R tax representative, Dean, arrived back at that same moment.   We began by discussing prices, and upon learning the approximate figure (which we considered to be reasonable), we decided to go forward and have our taxed done there.  Dean then went through our documents in detail, and collected the necessary personal information from us. 

Throughout the interaction, Dean was personable, friendly, and very conversational.  At times a bit too much so.  It was the end of a long day (and week!), and my husband and I were not really in the mood to build a new friendship with the man we were paying to do our taxes.  I appreciated his light-hearted demeanour, but felt the need to forcibly smile and laugh through the interaction to keep things going and get the service completed. 

On a scale of 1 to 7, I would rate the service encounter as a 6.  I was quite pleased with the initial service I received, the only real drawback being the overly conversational nature of an interaction that I wanted to complete as efficiently as possible.  As a result, I would rate my likelihood of returning as a 5.  I know this is a bit low given my high satisfaction, but seeing as we have not yet seen the completion of this service and the quality of the work provided, I am reserving final judgement for now. 

In terms of the course concepts that are applicable to the experience, the encounter provided a good learning opportunity, as it was in yet another different service sector from my previous entries.  Firstly, the experience was a useful example of hard customer-defined standards, being those standards that can be counted, times and observed through audits (Zeithaml et al., 2007, p. 253 & 257).  This can be seen by the guarantee we were provided with that the final price of our service would be within 10% of the quote given.

Secondly, we can see the importance of physical evidence for the service sector.  Facilities factors like design, equipment, signage and layout, and other cues like business cards, employee dress, and documents like statements and forms influence consumers’ perceptions of the service provider (Zeithaml et al., 2007, p. 272-273).  In the case of this particular encounter, the fact that the service location was a kiosk could have created a certain perception, but it also facilitated a more conversational, less formal atmosphere, creating a different social episode than what might have otherwise occurred (Zeithaml et al., 2007, p. 282)

A related concept is that of the strategic role of the servicescape.  Its role as a facilitator enhances the flow of activities in the service setting (Zeithaml et al., 2007, p. 278-279), as in the lively, free-feeling situation described above, while its role as a differentiator helps the service company set itself apart from the competition (Zeithaml et al., 2007, p. 279), as in the use of colours and design elements in the company’s logo, and the location of the kiosk itself. 

Furthermore, the concept of a quality/productivity trade-off is also applicable to my experience (Zeithaml et al., 2007, p. 311-312).  For instance, Dean’s friendly demeanour and relationship-building tactics created a high level of quality for the service encounter, but this strategy does have an impact on the employee’s productivity.  The time commitment this requires takes resources away from the employee’s other duties, such as serving other customers and completing clients’ tax returns. 

Finally, the effects of employee behaviour on service quality can also be examined in light of my service encounter.  Reliability, responsiveness, and empathy can all be seen in the employee’s actions (Zeithaml et al., 2007, p. 306-307), from his prompt return to his kiosk, to his pricing guarantee (the results of which, I will note, have not yet been confirmed)|, to his strong communication skills.  These actions are also important due to the fact that front-line employees play an absolutely critical role in the production of services, and as a result, customer perceptions of these services (Ekmekci, 2009, p. 12).  As such, actions like Dean’s all lead to a higher evaluation to the encounter in question, creating a more positive experience for the customer, and demonstrating the key role that people play in the services sector. 

On a related side note, perhaps next year we can get our bank to do our taxes.  While researching H & R Block for this entry, I came across an article from about ten years ago, discussing the idea of banks providing tax preparation services in the near future.  On the other side of this trend, tax preparation firms, like H & R Block, were moving into the territory of banks, offering new services such as financial planning (Bielski, 2000, p. 7).  I think it’s interesting to note that this was thought of as a trend a decade ago, but it has yet to really catch on in the financial services industry.  I, for one, would love to have my taxes done where I bank, seeing as they would already have access to a great deal of the information they would need to do so, making things easier and quicker for the consumer. 

Works Cited

Cocheo, S. (2000). H & R Block Latest to Go Trolling for Bank Customers. ABA Bankin Journal.

Ekmekci, O. (2009). The Role of Frontline Employees in Building Sustainable Customer Service. SAM Advanced Management Journal, 11-26.

Zeithaml, V., Bitner, M. J., & Gremler, D. D. (2007). Services Marketing. McGraw-Hill.

Shaw Shma – and why not to call customer service at 6pm on a Friday night (Blog 3)

So here we go, from bad to worse.  You’d think you couldn’t get much worse than a receptionist hanging up on you, and then you come home on a Friday afternoon to an unexpected and unwarranted bill.  This week’s entry focuses on my experience calling Shaw Communication’s customer service centre on February 4^th at 6:00pm.  The call will be examined using chapters 6, 8, and 9 of our course textbook, and will link the encounter to such concepts as complaint solicitation, the effects of service recovery, customer recovery expectations, service recovery strategies, and service blueprinting. 

As a bit of background, my husband and I had renewed our Shaw account in October 2010 with a student discount, which required the account holder to either prepay the cable and internet charges for the period of the discount, or arrange for an automatic withdrawal of the monthly bill.  We chose to prepay the charges, and paid approximately $300 to cover our services up to the end of April 2011.   Or so we thought.

When I stopped in at home after class on Friday afternoon, I picked up our mail on my way in.  Amongst the flyers, there was an envelope from Shaw, which I almost threw into our shredding pile without even opening, as it looked like just another direct mail campaign, attempting badger me in to signing up for their phone services.  Upon second thought, I decided to open it anyways, and boy, was I glad I did.

Inside was an invoice for $90, documenting charges for next month, and even an unpaid portion for last month (which we never received an invoice for, by the way).  Already in a bad mood after a long week and a frustrating afternoon, I was highly irritated.  I only had an hour or so before I had to go pick up my husband from work, so I decided to call Shaw while I waited for him to finish up his day.

Contrary to my usual expectations of an exceptionally long wait to speak with anyone, I actually had my class answered (by a real person!) in a reasonable amount of time.  I was probably not the nicest, most polite person on the phone with the representative, but I managed to keep my frustration in check enough to avoid telling the poor guy off, swearing profusely, or hanging up.  After explaining multiple times that we were under the impression that we had prepaid our account up to April, the representative finally figured out that the wrong discount had been applied to our account all the way back in October, so he would change the discount retroactively and we would be left with a large credit on our account after paying the bill.

At this point I had given up on getting the guy to understand that we were not going to pay a bill for an account we did not owe any money on, so I thanked him and decided to let it go for now.  When my husband got off work, I told him what had happened.  He ended up calling Shaw again the next week to make sure they discount code had been fixed, at which time the representative he spoke to clarified that everything had been sorted out, and we did not have to pay the bill.

In terms of my level of satisfaction, I would rate it as a 1.  I have had numerous similar experiences in the past with Shaw, and have always been left feeling extremely dissatisfied.  They almost never have enough staff working (either at their call centre or at their physical location), leading to long waits that consistently end with dissatisfaction.  Up until recently, there has not been another internet service provider in our area, and we have been forced to return to Shaw’s unsatisfactory services year after year.  As for my likelihood of returning, until the end of our prepayment period, we will obviously be staying with Shaw.  However, once that ends in April, we will seriously be looking into switching providers, for all of the reasons explained above. 

Now that I relived that wonderful experience, let’s relate to a few of our course concepts.  First, the idea of establishing a strong complaint solicitation program (Zeithaml et al., 2007, p. 134-135) is something that I feel Shaw desperately needs to do.  They need to work on closing Provider Gap 1, and start listening to their customers through research.

Next, I found that there were some very interesting facts on the effects of service recovery in chapter 8 of the textbook.  For example, resolving service failures effectively can have a “strong impact on customer satisfaction, loyalty, word of mouth communication, and bottom line performance” (Zeithaml et al., 2007, p. 189).  However, 50% of customers with a problem receive no response from the service provider, creating customer “terrorists” that can be extremely detrimental to the reputation of an organization (Zeithaml et al., 2007, p. 190-191).  I most certainly agree with both of these statements, as I’ve already told multiple people about my experience, and none of what I said was good. 

Thirdly, there is the effect of service failure recovery on employee morale and retention (Zeithaml et al., 2007, p. 191).  This effect was clear in my encounter, as the representative sounded down-trodden from the second he answered my call, and I quite honestly cannot blame him.  Receiving angry calls from irritated customers all day cannot be an enjoyable experience, and I’m sure their turn-over rate is quite high.

This experience is made worse for employees when they are not allowed by their employers to make decisions that would help them solve customers’ problems.  Using such strategies as acting quickly and empowering employees (Zeithaml et al., 2007, p. 202) can aid organizations immensely in meeting customer recovery expectations.  And it’s not always about money.  Customers want to feel that the company understands the problem and is accountable for its actions.  Apologies, explanations, assurances that the problem will not be repeated, and an opportunity to vent are all techniques that cost the company relatively little, but that have a strong impact on customer satisfaction after a service failure (Zeithaml et al. 2007, p. 196).  I feel that this is a very accurate theory, and had the representative I spoke to at least apologized for the mistake and unwarranted bill, I would have been a lot more satisfied with my experience. 

Finally, a note on service blueprinting, which can be a great way to improve existing services through mapping of the service system (Zeithaml et al., 2007, p. 228-229).  Funnily enough, Alastair Dryburgh has created a kind of mock blueprint for how he feels call centres are run, and it’s less than friendly (2010, p. 16).  But it definitely echoes the sentiments of those who have spent hours on hold, only to find that they called the number for the wrong department, and might not even be able to be transferred.

On a more serious note, Shaw really should considering blueprinting its service process, and taking into consideration some of the recent technological advances that have enabled customer service representatives to better handle customers, using complex software that defines specific complaints and even decodes callers’ personalities (Steiner, 2011).  Doing so could improve a variety of aspects of Shaw’s service model, improving relationships with both employees and customers. 

Works Cited

Dryburgh, A. (2010). Don’t You Believe it…Your Call is Important to Us. Management Today.

Steiner, C. (2011). He Feels Your Pain. Forbes.

Zeithaml, V., Bitner, M. J., & Gremler, D. D. (2007). Services Marketing. McGraw-Hill.

Good morning, how can we NOT help you today? (Blog 2)

Well, last week’s service encounter was on the more positive side, and this week’s entry focuses on one that was less positive, to say the least.  The morning of January 26, I called my family doctor’s office in Tsawwassen, BC regarding a referral to a specialist in Victoria.  This entry will examine the service I received with reference to Chapters 3 and 4 of our course textbook, and will include such topics as credence qualities, consumer choice, services as a process, the effect of emotion and mood, the different levels of customer expectations, and sources of desired and predicted service outcomes. 

As part of a medical service, this particular encounter is high in credence qualities, making it more difficult to evaluate even after the encounter (Zeithaml et al. 2007, p. 49-50).  To aid in this process, it is necessary to first describe the service encounter that took place, and the steps that formed the service process, becoming an experience evaluated by the customer (Zeithaml et al., 2007, p. 56).  Back in December, I visited my family doctor in Tsawwassen, and we arranged for a referral to be set up for a specialist in Victoria.  My doctor instructed me to wait until later in January to call his office back, and see what the timeline for an appointment with the specialist would be.

So, on Wednesday, I decided to call the office and check on the status of the referral.  The receptionist I spoke with was friendly and helpful, and told me that they had faxed the request over to the specialist, but had not yet heard back from them.  She gave me their phone number, and told me to give their office a call myself to set up the appointment.

I then called the specialist office, and was informed that they had not received a referral from my doctor’s office, and to ask them to resend the document.  I called my doctor’s office back, and was told that they could not find my file at the moment, and to call them back a bit later.  I waited until later in the afternoon, and call the office once again.

This time, however, a different receptionist answered my call.  She was extremely short with me, told me she had called my mom (who still lives in Tsawwassen) regarding the matter, and promptly hung up on me.  I was more than just a little bit annoyed at this point, and had to call my mom to find out exactly what was going on. 

Now, I had expected to have a bit of difficulty dealing with such matters over the phone.  I have lived in Victoria for the past 6 years, but have maintained my family doctor back in Tsawwassen, as I am frequently on the mainland to visit family.  My doctor himself has always been extremely helpful, and has had no problem doing certain things over the phone to prevent me from having to make the trip over to see him if it is not necessary.  The receptionists in the office, on the other hand, are not always so willing.  As a result, I usually go into such phone calls with the expectation that I will have problems with the service of the receptionists, but have accepted these experience-based norms (Zeithaml et al., 2007, p. 76). 

This situation is also related to the idea that customers have different expectations for specific service encounters, as opposed to overall service expectations (Zeithaml et al., 2007, p. 86).  In my case, for example, I expected a high level of service from my doctor’s office in general, but a lower level of service when dealing with matters over the phone.  Such expectations are influence by past experiences not only at the same firm, but across industries (Zeithaml et al. p. 86-88).  These sources of desired and predicted service outcomes can be influenced by a number of different experiences, such as generally poor customer service encounters over the phone.

As for my level of satisfaction with the service encounter, I would rate it as a 3.  The first receptionist I spoke to was a very helpful, but the fact that they had lost my file, combined with the horrible service provided by the second receptionist, led to a very unsatisfactory experience.  At the same time, my likelihood of returning would be a 7.  Unless I wanted to go through the lengthy process of changing my doctor, I do not really have a choice when it comes to my return patronage.

While most consumers could go through the process of consumer choice the next time they needed to receive a similar service, this series of steps is harder to apply to a medical service (Zeithaml et al. p. 50-51).  Consumers do go through the stage of need recognition; however, unless they can’t go to their usual doctor for some reason or another, there is not really an alternative search or decision involved. 

My emotional state and mood also formed an important part of the service encounter.  A customer’s mood can amplify the experience, leading differing perceptions, and even differing outcomes (Zeithaml et al. 2007, p. 60).  In the case of my experience, I was in a fairly neutral state at the time, relaxing at home and trying to check a few items off my to-do list before heading out for the afternoon.  My emotional state after the service encounter, however, was not very good at all.  I left the encounter feeling frustrated and annoyed, and in a very bad mood. 

The effect of emotions is also an important consideration for the service provider side of the equation.  If person providing the service is in a poor emotional state, the service provided and the encounter experienced by the customer will likely suffer.  For instance, the second receptionist I dealt with may have been having a horrible day, and taken her frustration out on me.  Training in emotional competence, in which people learn how to recognize and manage their own, as well as other, emotions, can aid in the performance of all levels of employees (Kram, Ting, and Bunker, 2002). 

Finally, upon conducting some further research on customer service in the medical field, I came across a really interesting article.  In it, Arthur Lazarus outlines the use of mystery shoppers to evaluate the service provided in the health care field (2010).  I thought this was a really interesting extension of a technique that has been used extensively in the retail environment for years.  Perhaps if doctors knew the type of service their patients were receiving from other employees in their offices, customer service would improve. 

Works Cited

Kram, K., Ting, S., & Bunker, K. (2002). On-the-Job Training for Emotional Competence. Leadership in Action, 3-7.

Lazarus, A. (2010). The Secret to Improving Health Care Services. Physician Executive, 42-45.

Zeithaml, V., Bitner, M. J., & Gremler, D. D. (2007). Services Marketing. McGraw-Hill.

From Speech to Service: A Shift in Focus (Blog 1)

Another semester, another course to serve as the backdrop for this often neglected blog.  In a departure from the fall’s more personal focus on language, the next five entries presented here will centre on the field of services marketing, and follow a more academic approach.  Specifically, I will be discussing my experiences (some good, some not so good) in five different service sectors, relating the encounters to the concepts covered in my coursework. 

This week, I will examine the service I experienced on January 13 at 2:00 pm at Original Joe’s Restaurant and Bar in Langford, BC.  The entry will describe my encounter, followed by an analysis of the experience with reference to Chapters 1 and 2 of our course textbook (“Services Marketing” by Zeithaml et al.).  Course concepts discussed will include tangibility, heterogeneity, the expanded marketing mix for services, and the gaps model of service quality. 

As for the service encounter in question, my husband and I decided to go into Langford last week to run a few errands on our joint day off.  Going out to eat is one of our favourite things to do as a couple, despite its often negative effects on our waistlines and our wallets.  Having previously been to Original Joe’s for late night snacks and drinks (this was combined with late night Superstore shopping during the Christmas season, something I have to say is an extremely interesting service experience in and of itself), we chose to stop in at the restaurant  for lunch.  We were very happy with our previous encounter (surprisingly enough not actually all that common for us picky foodies), and were anticipating the same high level of food and service on this occasion. 

We went into the restaurant, and stood in the entrance for a minute or so before being invited by the bartender to sit wherever we pleased.  Our server quickly came by to drop off menus and take drink orders.  I ordered a cocktail (one that I’ve had before and recognized the appearance of), and saw it sit at the bar for a few minutes without being picked up by our server.  Noticing this incident, the bartender brought over the drink to our table himself, which I was quite impressed by.  We received our food promptly, and were quite pleased by its quality. 

In terms of a rating, I would place our level of satisfaction at a 6 (on a scale of 1 to 7, with 7 being the highest).  The service and food quality met our expectations for the most part, with only very minor complaints.  At the time of the encounter, we were relaxed and happy, enjoying a lazy, mid-week day off as a couple.  This state probably led to a higher evaluation of the service.  For example, if we were tired, stressed out, and grumpy, we may have been annoyed by the time we had to wait before being told to choose our own seating, and the delay in the delivery of my beverage. 

On the same scale, I would rate our likelihood of returning at a 7.  The high level of service we received from the bartender, which was over and above what we received from our actual server, combined with the quality of the food, contributed to our positive evaluation of the experience.  If the bartender had not acted in the way he did, the server’s action could have easily led to a service failure, and consequently a negative experience for my husband and I. 

From a course perspective, there are a number of concepts that apply to my service encounter.  Firstly, the idea of a tangibility spectrum is important when examining the service being received.  Restaurants fall at the centre of the spectrum (Zeithaml et al., 2007, p. 6), having many tangible components that can affect the service experience.  This is quite different from a highly intangible experience, such as teaching, which can in turn lead to different evaluations on the part of the customer. 

Secondly, the heterogeneous characteristic of services (Zeithaml et al. 2007, p. 18-19) was related our experience.  Not only had we been to the Langford location of Original Joe’s before, but we had also been to another location of the same restaurant chain in White Rock.  However, the level of quality of both the food and service at the White Rock restaurant was very disappointing, to the point that we would not patron that location ever again.

Thirdly, the expanded marketing mix for services can be applied to our service encounter.  For instance, the addition of a “people” “P” to the marketing mix aids in the analysis of services (Zeithaml et al., 2007, p. 22).  In the case of our experience, the importance of people was extremely evident in the service provided by the bartender at the restaurant.  This importance even extends to other customers, as exemplified through a study conducted by Meyer, Baker, and Johnson, which found that contextual cues such as other customers magnify instances of service failure (2007). 

Next, the second chapter for Zeithaml’s textbook, on the gaps model of service quality, is related to this service encounter.  With the aim of improving customer service, it is critical to begin with an “understanding of the nature and extent of the customer gap” (p. 39), which involves the difference between the customer’s expected and perceived service.  With our extremely positive experience, it is evident that the managers at Original Joe’s have taken this gap under serious consideration.

In addition to the customer gap, there are four provider gaps (Zeithaml et al., 2007, p. 31-39).  An excellent tool in discovering and evaluating these gaps is the audit provided at the end of Chapter 2 (p. 40-41).  Upon examining the information in this audit, I did not find that there were any gaps in the service we received.  This is supported by my high ratings for both the level of satisfaction with the service, and likelihood of repeat patronage for the service company. 

Finally, it is important to note that the dimension of quality is critical to every business, but can have an even stronger impact on service business, due to their intangibility, heterogeneity, simultaneous production and consumption, and perishability.  Particularly in BC, where the introduction of the HST has already had a negative impact on the service sector of restaurants, such companies cannot afford to provide poor quality service (see this recent article in the Times Colonist for more information.)

Works Cited

Duffy, A. A. (2010, January 14). HST, economy hits Brannigans. Retrieved January 17, 2010, from Times Colonist: http://www.timescolonist.com/economy+hits+Brannigans/4107438/story.html

Meyer, T., Baker, T. L., & Johnson, J. D. (2007). A Contextual Cue that Magnifies Perceptions of Service Failure: Other Customers Do Make a Difference. AMA Winter Educators’ Conference Proceedings. <https://libsecure.camosun.bc.ca:2443/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=32571648&login.asp&site=bsi-live&gt;.

 Zeithaml, V., Bitner, M. J., & Gremler, D. D. (2007). Services Marketing. McGraw-Hill.

In Celebration of Stupidity

“Refudiate” has been named the Oxford University Press (US) 2010 Word of the Year.  Yes, that word that Sarah Palin famously tweeted.  I wouldn’t be so horribly distraught over this development if it was the result of someone’s  creative use of language, blending “refute” and “repudiate” into a new, innovative word. 

But I just don’t think that the woman who said she had international political experience because she could see Russia from her house has that kind of intelligence.  If fact, I doubt she even knows what “repudiate” means.  Alas, this is the state of our world today.  We celebrate ignorance, and make celebrities out of people who can’t probably even spell their own names. 

Before it comes out that I am a complete hypocrite, I will admit that I am a total trash-lover when it comes to TV.  I’ve watched the last two seasons of Jersey Shore.  I love ‘Slice‘, the channel that has branded itself as a guilty pleasure with the slogan “my vice is Slice”.  But I tend to treat these things as a sort of escapism, a break from my often overly cerebral life.  And quite frankly, I expected more from the makers of the OED. 

At the same time, I loved some of the other words that were in the running to be word of the year.  “Nom nom”, for example, was one that I found to be highly enjoyable.  And I know, it’s not the most intellectual usage ever created.  Which just goes to show that someone’s opinion of the source can have a profound effect on their judgement of the resulting product.  Something to keep in mind for the future, me thinks.

A Wordenir?

I figured it was finally time to bring the “wordly” part of this blog’s name into practice, and a recent Globe and Mail article has provided me with the perfect opportunity.  In his piece, Bruce Kirkby recommends bringing home a new word as a souvenir from your next vacation.  He states that “of all the gifts and keepsakes one returns with from abroad, words are often the most lasting, and the most meaningful. Words have the power to return us, in our minds at least, to the voyage on which we first learned them.”

I have to admit, when I read this article a few days ago, the idea intrigued me immediately.  Particularly because it combines two of my main passions – travelling and language.  A worldly wug, that’s me.  But upon further reflection, I realized that, for all the travelling I have done, a word is never something I’ve brought back with me. 

We’re always very careful about brining home souvenirs from our travels that will have a purpose in our life and our home.  We have a fruit pyramid from Paris, a drum from India, artwork from Berlin, and a hammock from Mexico.  Touristy trinket are just that, trinkets, and they inevitably end up in the recycling or the bag of stuff being donated to the Salvation Army a few years down the road.

But I’ve never come back home with a word.  Maybe because I tend to be quite apprehensive of speaking the local language when away, for fear of mispronunciation  and misunderstanding (probably has something to do with those perfectionist tendencies I have too).  So next time we venture away from our home country, perhaps I’ll trade a new fruit pyramid for something a bit more linguistically applicable.

Sarcasm: If you don’t get it, there’s probably a reason why

I’ve always been a rather sarcastic person, and have an enormous appreciation for the true art form that it is.  It’s gotten me into trouble in the past, but as much of a cliché as it may be, time and love have softened me.  I used to be quite the biting and bitter single girl, but that’s a story for another time. 

However, I do still enjoy the occasional sarcastic remark, and Paul and Douglas Sak may have the solution to those pesky misunderstanding that can sometimes result.  The SarcMark, which sort of looks like an upside-down “@” symbol with a period in the middle of it instead of the “a”, is available to download here.  It is marketed as “the official, easy-to-use punctuation mark to emphasize a sarcastic phrase, sentence, or message.”  The website even includes a FAQs section that claims that even someone who doesn’t like sarcasm should use the SarcMark because, as supported by the Merriam Webster Dictionary’s definition of sarcasm, using it makes you intelligent.  And no, there was no SarcMark at the end of that sentence. 

There are so many things wrong with this new form of “punctuation”, the least of these being the fact that the developers themselves seem to lack a true understanding of the purpose of sarcasm.  As Geoffrey Nunberg, a professor of linguistics at University of California at Berkeley states,  “the point of sarcasm is that it speaks with two voices.  To the non-initiate, it’s literal, and the initiate hears it as sarcastic, and the whole point is not to tip that balance.”  (To read the entire article, click here.) 

What it comes down to in the end is knowing your audience.  Some people get sarcasm, some people don’t.  And never will.  But I don’t think a new punctuation mark is the answer.  Most of the time, you know who will get what you’re trying to say, and if you’re not sure, or you don’t know the person very well and it’s an important conversation or e-mail, just don’t do it.  If, on the other hand, the consequences of a potential misunderstanding aren’t employment or friendship-ending, go ahead.  Be sarcastic.  It makes you sound intelligent, don’t you know?

Language Love

An old colleague of mine from the Linguistics program at UVic shared this video on Facebook, and I instantly fell in love with it.  It’s message of a passion for language that is missing in our world today really struck a chord with me, as it is an issue that I myself feel is incredibly important.  The idea that people get more worked up over “incorrect” usage than they do creative, unique, and beautiful “works of words” is so sad. 

I also found Fry’s point that he has to constantly battle against his ingrained thoughts of the right way of writing or saying something to be very poignant.  Even those of us who love language and find its constant changes and variations to be fascinating struggle with this inner voice that tells us that something is either right or wrong, correct or incorrect.   In my last post, for example, I commented on the fact that I felt strange using “google” as a verb, when in fact that usage is a very normal development of a noun into a verb form. 

In the worlds of communications and marketing, this passion can be a true asset.  There are numerous examples of creative usages that many would categorize as ungrammatical capturing their audience’s attention.  We encounter so many messages in a day, the ones that are a bit surprising or different end up being the most meaningful.  The same is true of this video clip, which has a very clear message that is communicated more effectively because of its unique structure and movement.

Exclamation Defamation

People use too many exclamation points.  They just do.  And as discussed in my previous post on using the conventions of current grammar, the overuse of exclamation points is a really quick way to make yourself look stupid.  Or super excited, in an overly medicated, nothing-could-ever-be-wrong-in-the-world kind of way.  Either way, it needs to stop.  Now! 

If we look at the issue from a marketing communications perspective, it becomes even more dire.  This isn’t just a case of an over-zealous e-mail exchange between co-workers.  It is the misuse of a piece of punctuation that is meant to communicate a strong feeling of some sort, and bring attention to the most important part of the message that is being sent.

It is all too easy, especially when one is very knowledgable and passionate about the subject at hand, to think that everything in the message is important.  But it’s not.  Sometimes people need to step back for a minute, and consider the face that if they could only communicate one single idea to their audience, what would it be?  And even then, it better be a pretty damn important and exciting idea if it is to necessitate the use of an exclamation point. 

When I googled this topic (sidenote: I still can’t believe “google” is now a verb.  Now that deserves an exclamation point!), I came across one really interesting website that had a section debunking comic book legends.  And it turns out that at one point, Stan Lee tried to ban all exclamation points from Marvel comics, leading to a number of issues that contained barely any punctuation at all (for the full discussion, click here).   Just another example of the fact that anything, taken to the extreme, causes problems. 

Oh, and on another sidenote, I guess I should explain the turn in subject matter this blog has taken.  The first 6 or so posts were part of a PR class I took last winter, and focused on current events.  As I’m no longer actively involved in linguistics, I thought this would make a great forum to share my thoughts on various-language-related topics.  It gives me the opportunity to write on something I am very passionate about, while at the same time forming a bridge between that world, and my new world of marketing communications management.