What is Customer Service Quality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

What is Customer Service Quality - Essay Example For Lucas (2005, p.4), customer service means the employees’ capacity to provide both their external and internal clients such satisfactory products and services. Once customers are satisfied by the products and services of the company, Lucas (2005, p.4) added that it leads to convincing word – of – mouth which then causes a good business return. In terms of having a customer service of quality, quality of service is defined by Parasuraman et al. (1985) as a satisfaction outcome between the actual service rendered by a certain organization and the expected desired service of the customer from the company. In the event of assessment of the quality of service, Parasuraman et al. (1985) added that this is subjected not only on the final outcomes of actual service but it also depends during various operations of the company’s service. Meanwhile, from the point of view of the customers, the service quality is shaped by five elements namely service delivery, phy sical aspects of service, service delivery system, service product or primary service, and social responsibility (Sureshchandar et al., 2001, p 113). 2.2 Examining the Notion of Service Quality The important outcome of different elements like customer retention, performance as well as cost – effectiveness is what we know as quality of service. According to Parasuraman et al. (1988), the quality of service is one among the different mechanisms applied by a lot of institutions to achieve success. Given the satisfaction of the customer with the company, it is more likely that that particular customer will transact with that specific company once more. In particular, it is the case that companies may possibly apply the parameter of quality of service as a defensive marketing scheme through lowering costs which results to customer retention (Parasuman & Grewal, 2000, p14). Apart from that, service quality can also be used by businesses as an offensive marketing approach through ga ining bigger market share (Parasuman & Grewal, 2000, p14). Service quality is the end product of competition among companies to fulfill customers’ needs successfully. It is suggested that how quality of service is perceived by customers is more often that the not, the major cause for his or her return (Lucas, 2005 p. 342). Given this, companies should create a quality system to attend the needs of customers in order to yield success in the market competition (Berry & Parasuraman, 1997, p.66). Meanwhile, in terms of quality of service, there are three kinds of customers which are internal, external and competitors’ customers (Berry & Parasuraman, 1997). They have engaged in a debate that an integrated information system based on all three customer categories helps in achieving high quality service and facilitates decision - making activities of different organizations. On the one hand, Berry and Parasuraman (1997, p.66) claimed that measuring the expected service, empha sis on the quality of information, describing the words of clients, connecting the performance of services to the business results, and also reaching all staff members of the company are the parameters to meet the prerequisites of quality of service. On the one hand, Parasuraman et al. (1985, p.7) stated that goods are easier to evaluate than the service quality because it is heterogeneous and intangible and same with the fact that product and consumption are two inseparable entities. Berry (1980) agreed with Parasuraman et al. (1985). As Berry (1980) pointed out, the difficulty of measuring services is due to work environment that renders service like building and office decor. Meanwhile, the most significant key determining factors of quality of service are identified by Parasuraman et al