1. Concept of service
Jacques Horovitz.
“It is the set of benefits that the client expects; in addition to the basic product or service, as a consequence of its price, image and reputation ”.
Carlos Colunga Dávila.
"It is the work done for other people."
Laura Fisher de la Vega.
"It is the set of activities, benefits or satisfiers that are offered for sale or that are provided in connection with sales."
Philip Kotler.
“It is any activity or benefit that one party offers to another; they are essentially intangible and do not give rise to the ownership of anything. Its production may or may not be linked to a physical product ”.
According to the concepts made by the authors, we can define it as follows:
Service is an activity performed to provide a benefit or satisfy a need.
2. Service features
According to Idelfonso Grande Esteban, he considers that the services have the following characteristics:
1. Intangibility.
It means that the services cannot be seen, tasted, felt or smelled before purchasing. For example, people undergoing plastic surgery cannot see the result before purchase, or airline passengers only have one ticket and the promise that they will be safely taken to their destination.
2. Inseparability.
It means that the creation of a service can take place while consuming, eye exam, a trip, a massage, a haircut, among others.
3. Variability.
It means that the quality of services depends on who provides them, as well as when, where and how they are provided. For example, some department stores have a reputation for providing better service than others. Despite this, within a certain store, a counter employee can be jovial and efficient while another who is within walking distance can be unpleasant and slow, this results in the quality of service of a single employee of the store. store, vary according to your energy and your mood at the time you serve the customer.
4. Perishable character.
It means that the services cannot be stored for sale or subsequent use. For example, in a concert you cannot save places for the concert of another date, since these seats would be lost and the service not provided is lost.
5. Absence of property.
The buyers of a service acquire a right, but not the property of the tangible support of the service, that is, the consumer pays for a service but not for the property.
3. Types of service
According to Idelfonso Grande Esteban there are five different types of service, which we will present below:
1. Generic service.
They are what most consumers need, such as: food, clothing and housing, there are also generic services, such as rest, cleaning, transportation, training or advice.
2. Basic service.
Minimum services that consumers seek, an example of this type can be when a person requests the service of a doctor and he is happy to adequately review his patient.
3. Increased service.
It is an additional service that is given to the consumer. For example, when you buy some shoes and the person who sold you the product gives you shoes or paint to care for them.
4. Global Service.
The joint offer of services is called.
5. Potential Service.
They are the ones that consumers imagine they will be able to find, as the services are developed, and the client expects them to exceed their expectations, since they may have incorporated new technologies into it.
4. The classification of services
From Carlos Colunga Dávila's point of view, there is a wide variety of services, the most important of which can be classified as follows:
Commerce.
Supply warehouses, supermarkets, markets, warehouses, groceries, greengrocers, hardware stores, stationeries, haberdasheries, pharmacies, bookstores, jewelers, shoe stores, butchers, automobile agencies, etc.
Health.
Hospitals, clinics, sanatoriums, laboratories, doctors, nurses, etc.
Education.
Kindergartens, kindergartens, primary, secondary, preparatory schools, universities, institutes, etc.
Communications.
Internet, telephones, faxes, copy center, telegraph, mail, television, radio, newspaper, magazines, printers, etc.
Transportation.
Airlines, buses, minibuses, subways, taxis, railroads, removals, etc.
Finance.
Banks, insurance, credits, financing, investments, etc.
Professionals.
Legal, accounting, administrative, advertising, computing, engineering, training, etc.
Building.
Homes, industries, roads, maintenance, etc.
Living place.
Rental of houses, apartments, hotels, motels, cabins, etc.
Infrastructure.
Water, electric power, telephone, drainage, gas, roads, garbage, etc.
Public.
Protection, defense, justice, feasibility, civil registry, cleaning of the city, etc.
Real estate.
Buy, sell, rent, etc.
Personal.
Dry cleaners, laundries, aesthetics, shoe cleaning, etc.
Repair.
Auto, electronics, electrical appliances, footwear, furniture, painting, etc. workshops
Restaurants.
Fondas, fast food, supermarkets, etc.
Recreational.
Clubs, cinemas, sports, etc.
Cultural.
Museums, zoos, theater, opera groups, etc.
Religious.
Churches, convents, monasteries, etc.
5. Customer concept
James G. Shaw.
"A customer is the recipient of one or more of the specified results of a process."
Carlos Dávila Colunga.
"Who receives a service or product."
Bob E. Hayes.
"It is a generic term that refers to any person who receives a service or product from some other person or group of people."
Karl Albrecht.
"He is a person with needs and concerns, who surely is not always right, but who always has to be first if a business wants to distinguish itself by the quality of its service."
From the above definitions we can conclude that:
The customer is a person or an organization that requires satisfying a need by purchasing a product or service.
6. The importance of the client
The client is an individual with needs and concerns, taking into account that he is not always right, but that he always has to be first if a company wants to distinguish itself by the quality of the service.
To understand the importance of the client within the institution, we can observe the following principles that Karl Albert presents to us below:
- A customer is the most important person in any business. A customer does not depend on us. We depend on him. A client is not an interruption of our work. It's a goal. A customer does us a favor when he arrives. We are not doing you a favor by serving you. A customer is an essential part of our business; It's no stranger. A customer is not just money at the register. She is a human being with feelings and deserves respectful treatment. A client deserves the most measured attention we can give her. It is the soul of all business.
We can conclude that the client is a key piece for any organization, because thanks to him, the existence of the business depends and also on all those people who work in the company.
For this reason, the entire company must be made aware that thanks to the payment made by the client for our service or product, we have work, wages, education, home, recreation, etc.
7. Types of clients
Within the company or organization Robert L. Desatnick tells us about two types of clients, internal and external.
1. The internal customer.
It is one that belongs to the organization, and that not being in it, ceases to require the provision of service by other employees.
2. The external client.
It is that person who does not belong to the company, but nevertheless they are to whom the attention is directed, offering them a product and / or service.
As we can see, having two types of clients, we must be aware that we have to satisfy the needs that each one has, without neglecting one or the other.
8. Customer needs
William B. Martín tells us that in order to serve our client, we must know their needs, such as the need to be understood, the need to be well received, the need to feel important and the need for comfort
Need to be understood.
Those who choose a service need to feel that they are communicating effectively. This tells us that you are correctly interpreting the messages sent by the emotions and trying to prevent an inadequate understanding of the benefit that our client can obtain.
Need to be well received.
No person who is dealing with you and feels like a stranger will return. The customer also needs to feel that you are happy to see him and that he is important to you.
Need to feel important.
Ego and self-esteem are powerful human needs. We all like to feel important, whatever we do to make the guest feel special will be a step in the right direction.
Need for comfort.
Clients need physical comfort: a place to wait, rest, talk or do business; They also need the assurance that they will be adequately cared for and the confidence that we can meet their needs.
Knowing the needs of the client is a fundamental part of our company, we must carry out all the above points in order to improve the real needs that the client requires, all this with the sole purpose of providing good service and satisfying the client.
9. Concept of quality in service
Enrique Muller de la Lama.
"It is about meeting customer expectations."
Rubén Helouani.
"They are the requirements that satisfy the needs and wishes of the client in contracting and use"
Pedro Larrea Angulo.
"It is the perception that a client has about the correspondence between performance and expectations, related to the set of elements, quantitative and qualitative, of service."
Malcolm Peel.
"The secondary activities that a company carries out to optimize the satisfaction that the client receives in its primary (or main) activities."
According to the concepts granted by the authors, we can conclude that:
The quality of the service is to meet the expectations that the customer has about how well a service meets their needs.
10. Components of service quality
According to Idelfonso Grande Esteban, customers rate the quality of service through the following components:
Reliability.
The ability to offer the service safely, accurately and consistently. Reliability means performing the service well the first time. Consumers may wonder if their suppliers are reliable, for example; if the telephone, gas or electricity bill faithfully reflects the consumption made.
Accessibility.
Service companies especially must make it easier for customers to contact them and to receive prompt service. A business that responds to customer phone calls, for example, meets this expectation.
Reply.
Such is understood as the willingness to attend and provide a quick service. Consumers are increasingly demanding in this regard. We want to be served without waiting. Examples of responses include quickly returning calls to the customer or serving a quick lunch to those in a hurry.
Security.
Consumers must perceive that the services provided are without risks, that there are no dangers or doubts about the goodness of the benefits; For example, a customer should not doubt the wisdom of repairing their car.
Empathy.
It means putting yourself in the client's situation, in his place to know how he feels. It is taking the place of the client in terms of time which is valuable to him, in terms of knowing his personal needs in depth.
Tangible.
The physical facilities and equipment of the organization must be the best possible and clean, as well as the employees, be well presented, according to the possibilities of each organization and its people.
11. Importance of quality in service
One of the main ways for the company to distinguish itself, is to offer quality service, in a consistent way, which will give a strong competitive advantage, leading to better performance in the productivity and profits of the organization.
Many service companies have tried to ensure that customers consistently receive high-quality services in all their encounters with services.
Therefore, the service provider has to identify the expectations of the clients that he has in mind regarding the quality of services. Unfortunately, the quality of services is more difficult to define and judge compared to the quality of products.
For this reason, it is important that the service provider clearly define and communicate the needs of the clients, since that person is in direct contact with the people who purchase our service.
It should be noted that the quality of the services will always vary, depending on the circumstances of the problem and above all, that the interaction between the employee and the client is good.
However, errors cannot be avoided, because we are working with people, who think, speak and act, and with external factors that are not in our possibilities to improve them, for example, demonstrations, accidents, the provider did not arrive on time with the material, etc; Most of these accidents occur in the presence of customers, resulting in their service taking longer than expected.
As we can see, the quality of the service plays a very important role within the company, because not only do we risk the sale made, but also the image and the trust that that client places in our product and / or service; therefore, an unsatisfied customer represents a loss for the company both in utility and image, and if the opposite happens, we obtain a satisfied and loyal customer of our service and / or product, in addition to free advertising for their recommendations and higher income in the company.
12. Bibliography
- Albrecht, Karl; "Excellence in service"; Editorial Legis; Colombia, 1991. Colunga, Dávila Carlos; "Quality in service"; Editorial panorama; Mexico, 1995. Desatnick, Robert L.; "How to keep your clientele"; Editorial Legis, SA; Colombia, 1989. Larrea Angulo, Pedro; "Quality of service: from marketing to strategy"; Díaz de Santos Publishing House; Madrid, 1991.Martín, William B.; "Quality customer services: courtesy at work"; Trillas Publishing House; Mexico, 1991. Müller de la Lama, Enrique; "Culture of quality of service"; Trillas Publishing House; Mexico, 1999. Parra Paz, Erick de la; "The virtue of service"; ISEF tax issues; Mexico, 1996. Peel, Malcom; "Customer service: guide to improve care and assistance"; Deusto editions; Spain, 1991.Shaw, James G.; "The customer wants… Quality";Editorial Prentice-Hall Hispanoamericana, SA; Mexico, 1997.
