2013 [SIGNIFICANCE OF SERVICE ENCOUNTERS]
INTRODUCTION In any service industry, the experience that the customer has on the brand decides its future. The basis on which the brand would be judged would be the service encounters or the moment of truth of the customer that they would be getting through various interactions with the brand. Thus in case of any service based organizations the company should look at improving the customer touch points which are the key areas where there is an existing interaction with the customer. This is the ideal opportunity for the companies in ensuring that they leave a positive impact with the customers. In this assignment we would be looking at the impact that service encounters makes in the case of hospital industry by taking a real life situation that happens in Apollo hospital and we would look at the way in which these service encounters affects the business and the way in which these may be managed. There are several moments of truth in case of the customer and it is not possible here to analyze all of them. Thus we have considered a part of the service encounters that is there in the hospital industry (Ford, 1994, pg 433). Before going any further let us discusses what service encounters actually means, this is a mix of emotions where the customers judge the quality of service offered to them in economic sense with respect to the various experiences that they have. There are so many factors that if managed properly can lead to a better customer satisfaction and can increase the business considerably. FLOW CHART 2 P a g e
SIGNIFICANCE OF SERVICE ENCOUNTER In the flow chart it shows various processes that a patient goes through after coming to the hospital in simple terms. Some of these encounters would be directly involving the customer like doing various tests on the patient while there may be some where the patient is not directly involved such as allotting the time slot for the patient. The company has to manage both these things effectively to ensure that they have to make the service experience better. They have to design these service experiences in such a way that they are able to convert neutral emotional experiences of the customers while entering the premises to a positive one (Martin, 1999, pg 667). The emotional underpinnings of the service encounters holds utmost importance and has to be managed properly in order to make the service experience good for the customer. For example in this case even though the doctor or the nurse is not available to attend to the patient, they have to be kept engaged with the things that they like so that they don t develop negative feelings 3 P a g e
about the environment. Many hospitals do this by having various entertainment options for their patients like various FAQ pamphlets and having a match running on the television set near the waiting area. This can be done only we are able to understand various touch points that the customer would interact with and the various scenarios likely to occur (Bitner, 1990, pg 70). Duration effects also have to be taken into consideration where the hospital management will have to ensure that the patient is made aware when there is a significant progress in their total operations and at the same time they will have to ensure that there are not many discrete steps in which the same is being divided into (McCarthy, 2000, pg 92). Another major factor that is likely to affect the customer satisfaction is that the perceived control that the customer has on the proceedings. In this case we may say that rather than making the patient wait for a long time we can give him the option of booking the slot based on the availability of the doctor. Thus more the perceived control that the customer has on the system, more likely he is to be satisfied with the same (Gavioli, 1995, pg 372). This may not be possible in all the cases where there are several internal systems which the customer has little control on; in such cases we must ensure that there is fairness in proceedings so that the customers don t feel that they are being taken for granted. Thus managing the perceived control is also one of the major factors that affect the business in a big manner. Each and every service interaction is an opportunity for the company to portray their rand and hence we may say that each positive experience that the customer has to be reinforced with the brand image thus making the same his favorite brand. One should make maximum use of these service encounters in interacting with the customers and understand their needs and wants and design the service offerings accordingly. This is an ideal platform for the company in getting the feedback from the customers and thus can make the necessary improvisations as and when required. MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS As mentioned above the company should make use of these service encounters in getting the customers to their fold. Unlike other disciplines in the service stable, service encounters cannot be judged merely based on any mathematical equations; there are a lot of qualitative factors influencing the same (Beinstein, 1995, pg 87). The managerial implications that these encounters can have may directly affect the ROI and the market share as it directly influences the customer s 4 P a g e
choice of a brand. This holds good especially in the case of a hospital brand where trust matters the most and most of the business that they have is based on the word of mouth in the market. In terms of facilities most of the present day hospitals may be one and the same; it is just the way the service is being offered that matters. There is not enough focus on the service psychology part of the business that can help us improving the service encounters in the organization. One has to identify various service interactions that the customers will have during a transaction and identify what all can affect the customers in a negative manner. Improvements have to be made to make sure that the customers are made aware of the completeness of the process, the duration and various steps before hand to avoid any ambiguity. This factor can help them in reducing the cost and effort as the number of reworks when there is no ambiguity is far less and this would also improve the customer satisfaction. These encounters also may be used by the company to up sell various services that they offer. There has been enough and more systems and checks developed by the organizations in order to manage the demand and the supply needs of the organization, but very little effort has been put to making them effective by adding the psychological dimension to the same. This would in fact increase the brand loyalty and the customers who are satisfied with the service will in turn refer them to more and more customers that can help them in building the base. Even the internal transactions where the customers are not directly involved but forming an essential part of the whole service process has to be taken into consideration so that the overall service experience is pleasant and streamlined. Companies these days have been spending a huge budget of promoting their brand through various mediums; if they manage to get their service piece right can get to the top of the mind of the customers with minimal costs and that too for a long time. REFERENCES Beinstein, J. (1995). Conversations in public places. Journal of Communication, 25, 85-95. Bitner, M. J. (1990). Evaluating service encounters: The effects of physical surroundings and employee responses. Journal of Marketing, 54(2), 69-82. Ford, (1994). Can I help you? A framework for the disciplinary research on customer service encounters. Management Communication Quarterly, 7(4), 413-441. 5 P a g e
Gavioli, L. (1995). Turn-initial versus turn-final laughter: Two techniques for initiating remedy in English/Italian bookshops service encounters. Discourse Processes, 19(3), 369-384. Martin, C.L (1999). Thanking behavior in service provider customer encounters: The effect of age, gender, and race. The Journal of Social Psychology, 139(5), 665-667. McCarthy, M. (2000). Mutually captive audiences: Small talk and the genre of close-contact service encounters. In J. Coupland (Ed.), Small talk (pp. 84-109). Edinburgh: Pearson Education. 6 P a g e