This document discusses service failures and the importance of fixing them. It notes that while the best strategy is to prevent failures, they will still occur. When they do, how the organization handles the recovery can be more important than the failure itself. Customers who have a problem fixed leave satisfied, while those whose issues aren't resolved spread negative word of mouth. The document stresses training employees to creatively resolve issues and acknowledging customer complaints to build loyalty.
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Fixing Service Failures
This document discusses service failures and the importance of fixing them. It notes that while the best strategy is to prevent failures, they will still occur. When they do, how the organization handles the recovery can be more important than the failure itself. Customers who have a problem fixed leave satisfied, while those whose issues aren't resolved spread negative word of mouth. The document stresses training employees to creatively resolve issues and acknowledging customer complaints to build loyalty.
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Fixing Service Failures
#THC005 Leaning Objectives:
• No Perfect Service Systems
• The Importance of Fixing Service Failures
• Dealing with Service Failures
• Recovering from Service Failure
NO PERFECT SERVICE SYSTEMS • When something goes wrong in the delivery of a service, it is called a service failure.
• The best way to handle a service failure is to prevent it before it
occurs. This involves building proactive or preventive strategies into the design of the service experience and its delivery system.
• To succeed under these circumstances, any service delivery system has
to be as nearly perfect as thoughtful planners can make it. The best systems must also have flexibility, allowing the appropriately trained and motivated employee to solve problems and ensure customer satisfaction. THE IMPORTANCE OF FIXING SERVICE FAILURES • When a guest has a problem, one of three outcomes usually occurs. The problem is fixed and the formerly unhappy guest leaves happy; the problem isn’t fixed and the unhappy guest leaves unhappy; or the organization tries to fix the problem and succeeds only in neutralizing the unhappy guest.
• Positive word of mouth has great value, and
negative word of mouth is extremely costly.
• Unhappy customers can be particularly
dangerous to a business, as they are approximately twice as likely to spread negative word of mouth as happy ones are to spread positive word of mouth. THE IMPORTANCE OF FIXING SERVICE FAILURES
• Research shows that customers who have bad
experiences tell approximately eleven people; customers who have good experiences tell approximately six.
• In this day of worldwide communication, a customer
can praise or complain over the Internet and instantly reach millions of people. The benefits of avoiding negative word of mouth and turning it positive are obvious. DEALING WITH SERVICE FAILURES
• The organization trying to recover from failure can
impress the customer positively or negatively.
• Research shows that for both positive and negative
service recoveries, how the recovery is handled can be more important to the customer than the original failure. DEALING WITH SERVICE FAILURES • After a failure, the organization can either end up much better off or much worse off, depending on the customer’s reaction to the recovery attempt.
• A small problem can become a big
problem if the recovery effort is halfhearted or misguided. And a big problem can be turned into an example of great service when handled quickly and effectively. DEALING WITH SERVICE FAILURES • In one study of restaurants, the researchers discovered that the most important determinant of overall customer satisfaction after a service failure was customers’ satisfaction with those responsible for dealing with failure: the personnel responsible for the service interaction.
• The organization’s ability to recover from failure also had
the largest impact on willingness to return and re- patronize the restaurant. RECOVERING FROM SERVICE FAILURE
• Hospitality organizations should
train their employees to handle and empower them to creatively resolve the problems when they find them.
• Scenarios, game playing, video
recording, and role playing are good ways to train them on how to respond to an angry guest. RECOVERING FROM SERVICE FAILURE
• Obviously, the more an organization depends on
repeat business, the more critical it is for the organization to acknowledge and act on customer complaints.
The Six Principles of Service Excellence: A Proven Strategy for Driving World-Class Employee Performance and Elevating the Customer Experience from Average to Extraordinary