Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning pdf ebook

Communicate with customers: Keeping in touch with customers to understand their 
expectations and to explain the limits of service possibilities can be a powerful way of 
managing expectations. Communication can encourage tolerance, demonstrate concern 
for the customer and may serve to widen the tolerance zone. Phoning ahead to warn a 
customer of being late for an appointment is a simple example of communication being 
used to reduce the probability of customer frustration (though not a guarantee it will be 
eliminated altogether).
13.5.2 Evaluation
Customers evaluate the performance of a service provider against expectations. Again, there 
are a number of factors that customers typically take into account when evaluating the 
service they have received. The most enduring classification is the five-dimensional model 
proposed by Parasuraman et al. (1988) and easily remembered by the acronym RATER: 
reliability, assurance, tangibles, empathy and responsiveness:
● 
Reliability is the ability of the provider to perform the promised service dependably and 
accurately. In other words, it is conformance to specification – doing what you said 
you would do when you said you would do it. In many service situations, reliability 
has been shown to be the single most important aspect to many customers. Besides 
contributing to customer satisfaction, reliable service reduces the costs of redoing the 
service and can contribute to higher employee morale and enthusiasm (Berry and Par-
asuraman, 1991).
● 
Assurance stems from the knowledge and courtesy of employees and their facility to 
convey trust and confidence in their technical abilities. Customers want to be assured 
that the chef in the restaurant can cook without giving them food poisoning, that the 
garage mechanic can fix the car and that their accountant will not have them convicted 
for tax evasion. Assurance stems from professional competence. It is not enough, how-
ever, merely to have a high level of competence. It must also be demonstrated to the 
customers, often through the use of tangible cues.
●