Service Recovery
Service Recovery
It refers to the actions taken by an
organization in response to a service failure.
Reasons of failure:
Service may be unavailable when promised
It may be delivered later or too slowly
Outcome may be incorrect or poorly executed
Employees may be rude or uncaring
The Impact of Service Failure and
Recovery
Resolving customer problems effectively has
a strong impact on:
Customer satisfaction
Loyalty
Word of mouth communication
Bottom line performance
How Customers Respond to Service
Failures
Types of Complainers
Passives- Don’t Complain
Voicers- complain but don’t do negative
things
Irates- Angry, Negative WOM, likely to switch
Activists- beyond complaining
Unhappy Customers’ Repurchase
Intentions
Unhappy Customers Who Don’t Complain 9%
Unhappy Customers Who Do Complain
Complaints Not Resolved 19%
Complaints Resolved 54%
Complaints Resolved Quickly 82%
Percent of customers who will buy again
after a major complaint (over $100 in losses)
Source: Adapted from data reported by the Technical Assistance Research Program.
Customers’ Recovery Expectations
Understanding & accountability on the part of
the service provider
Fair treatment
Causes Behind Service Switching
Pricing
• High price
• Price increases Response to Service Failure
• Unfair pricing • Negative response
• Deceptive pricing • No response
• Reluctant response
Inconvenience
• Location/hours Competition
• Wait for appointment
• Wait for service
Service • Found better service
Switching Ethical Problems
Core Service Failure
• Service mistakes Behavior •
•
Cheat
Hard sell
• Billing errors • Unsafe
• Service catastrophe • Conflict of interest
Service Encounter Failures Involuntary Switching
• Uncaring
• Impolite • Customer moved
• Unresponsive • Provider closed
• Unknowledgeable
Source: Sue Keaveney, “Customer Switching Behavior in Service Industries: An Exploratory Study,” Journal of Marketing, April, 1995, pp. 71-82.
Service Recovery Strategies
Do it right the first time- make the service fail
safe
Encourage & track complaints
Act quickly
Provide adequate explanations
Treat customers fairly
Cultivate relationship with customers
Learn from recovery experiences
Learn from lost customers
Service Guarantees
Guarantee: an assurance of the fulfillment of a
condition
in a business context, a guarantee is a pledge or
assurance that a product offered by a firm will
perform as promised and, if not, then some form of
reparation will be undertaken by the firm
for tangible products, a guarantee is often done in the
form of a warranty
services are often not guaranteed
cannot return the service
service experience is intangible
Benefits of service guarantees
It forces the company to focus on its
customers
Sets clear standards for the organization
Generates immediate and relevant feedback
from the customers
Instant opportunity for service recovery
Helps in continuous improvement effort
Enhance employees morale & loyalty
Reduces the sense of risk
Characteristics of an Effective
Service Guarantee
Unconditional
the guarantee should make its promise unconditionally
– no strings attached
Meaningful
the firm should guarantee elements of the service that
are important to the customer
the payout should cover fully the customer’s
dissatisfaction
Easy to Understand and Communicate
customers need to understand what to expect
employees need to understand what to do
Easy to Invoke and Collect
the firm should eliminate hoops or red tape in the way
of accessing or collecting on the guarantee