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 25th 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.