Contrasting services with manufacturing - Characteristics of services - Service characteristics and innovation

6 important questions on Contrasting services with manufacturing - Characteristics of services - Service characteristics and innovation

What are the five characteristics of services that have the greatest influence over how they can be managed?

  1. Intangibility
  2. Customer contact
  3. Inhomogenity
  4. Services are perishable
  5. Service quality is multifaceted

What is meant by "Customer contact"?

Contacts with the customer are critical as they have a strong influence on the customer's perception of the service provided. To stress the importance of points of contact the terms moment of truth or touch points are sometimes used.

What are the three categories in which the level over customer contact can be divided in?

  1. Interpersonal service
  2. Remote service
  3. Self-service
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Recent research has shown that the customer contact can be understood of three different dimensions. Which dimensions?

  1. The contact time
  2. The intimacy of the contact
  3. The information exchanged

What is meant by "Services are perishable"?

Since services cannot be stored, the location and timing of the delivery are crucial. This means that the delivery mechanism must provide geographical availability to match the distribution of consumers. The production, delivery and consumption of a service are essentially simultaneous.

What is meant by "Service quality is multifaceted"?

Quality for manufactured products is a simpler concept, largely because customers are able to base their opinions on a tangible product. The intangibility has a direct impact in that the customer will indirectly form a view of a service based on the tangible aspects. The delivery mechanism and in particular the employee working with the customer influences the overall quality.

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