SERVQUAL Model

How To Compare An
Organization’s Service Quality?
• SERVQUAL, also known as The Service Gap
Model, was created by a group of authors in the
mid-1980s as a way to compare an
organization’s service quality performance to
customer service quality needs. Customers’
expectations and perceptions are used by
SERVQUAL to assist businesses in identifying
strategies to improve the most important
concerns.
Objective

SERVQUAL (service quality gap model) is a gap

approach for measuring service quality that may
be utilized by managers in a variety of sectors.
This model’s major goal is to:
 At various phases of service delivery, identify the
gaps between consumer expectations and the
actual services offered.
 Developing a solution for the observed flaws
 Closing these gaps and improving the quality of
client service
SERVQUAL Model: 5 gaps
1. Knowledge gap: A gap arises when an organization's knowledge of customer
expectations is lacking, preventing them from approaching consumers in the right
way.
2. Standards gap: The organization has already formed its own idea about what
the customer expects from their service. If this idea is wrong from the start and
does not correspond to what customers actually expect, there is a significant risk
that the organization will translate it wrongly into a quality policy and
corresponding rules.
3. Delivery gap: A gap can also occur when the organization offers service that is
different from what the consumer had expected. This also involves an incorrect
implementation. For instance, in the way employees carry out policy.
4. Communications gap: Sometimes, the external (marketing) communication
that the organization sends out, can create the wrong expectations among
customers. It also happens that the organization communicates and promises
things that are not in line with what they can actually deliver.
5. Satisfaction gap: Dissatisfaction results from a (significant) difference
between the service a customer expects and the service they actually experience.
Eventually, this will lead to the biggest gap in the experience of quality.
Gap between Customer Expectations and
Customer Perceptions

This gap occurs when management or a service provider fails to

understand what the customers want or needs. This can happen due
to:
 Inadequate marketing research
 Lack of communication between employees and managers
 Lack of proper market segmentation
 Lack of encouragement for employees to listen to the
customers
For example, hospital administrators may think patients want better
food, but patients may be more concerned with nurse
responsiveness.
Gap between management perception and service-
quality specification

This gap occurs when management or a service

provider accurately perceives the customer’s
needs but fails to set a performance standard.
This can happen due to:
 Poor service design
 Absence of standards
 Inappropriate physical evidence
For example, hospital administrators may tell
the nurses to give “fast” service without
specifying speed in minutes.
Gap between service-quality specifications and service delivery

This gap occurs when the employees may be

undertrained, unable to fulfill the standards, or
unwilling to perform the job with the required
standards. This can also happen due to:
 Conflicting standards
 Poor human resource policies
 Failure to match demand and supply
For example, hospital having a set standard of
hygiene hired a poorly trained janitor
Gap between service delivery and external
communications

Statements made by company officials and

advertisements have a significant impact on consumer
expectations. The gap occurs when these projected
expectations are not fulfilled when the service is
delivered. This can happen due to:
 Lack of integrated services marketing communications
 Ineffective management of customer expectations
 Overpromising
For example, a hospital advertisement shows a nice,
clean room, but the patient finds it to be cheap and
dirty.
Gap between perceived and expected service

This gap occurs when the customer fails to understand the

quality of service being provided or misperceives it. The
consumer feels that the expectations created by the service
provider were not fulfilled. This can happen due to:
 Wrong customer selection
 Wrong service evaluation parameters
For example, a restaurant manager may visit their
customer repeatedly to ensure quality control and
satisfaction, but the customer may interpret this as a sign
that something is wrong with the service provided by the
restaurant staff.
 Based on this service-quality model, researchers have
identified five determinants of service quality. These are
described below as per the descending order of importance:
1. Reliability—Ability to perform the promised service
dependably and accurately
2. Responsiveness—Willingness to help customers and
provide prompt service
3. Assurance— Knowledge and courtesy of employees and
their ability to convey trust and confidence.
4. Empathy– Provision of caring, individualized attention
to customers
5. Tangibles – Appearance of physical facilities, equipment,
staff, and communication materials
Advantages
The Gap Model is extremely helpful in determining where a product’s service
quality is lacking. Here are some of the most compelling reasons to utilize the
SERVQUAL approach to assess an organization’s level of customer satisfaction.
1. The Universality of the model – The SERVQUAL model may be utilized in a
variety of service settings/sectors and provides a basic skeleton that can be
customized to meet the individual characteristics of a company. It can be used in a
variety of empirical settings, as well as in different countries and cultures
2. Ease of using the model – The model is simple to use and may be used regularly
to track consumer impressions of a company’s service quality in comparison to its
competitors. After the data has been examined, it can be visually presented so that
strengths and shortcomings in comparison to the competition can be easily
identified
3. Analysis based on numerous dimensions – It allows a company to assess its
service quality performance on each dimension as well as the overall dimensions. It
enables the company to divide its consumers into various segments depending on
their SERVQUAL scores
4. Proven track record of success- It is a tried-and-true instrument that may be
compared for benchmarking reasons. Because of considerable field testing and
refining, it is a statistically valid instrument
Disadvantages
Even though this model has several advantages and is extensively
utilized, it has several flaws and criticisms:

• The model’s validity – The SERVQUAL model’s validity as a

generic instrument for measuring service quality across various
service sectors has been questioned. And that simply revising the
SERVQUAL items is insufficient for assessing service quality in
various service environments
• Assumptions made during the model – The term expectation is
polysemic; consumers evaluate service quality using standards other
than expectations
• The model that is Process-Oriented – The model’s gaps are all
focused on the process. Regarding the way, the goods or services is
supplied. The outcome and how the customer perceives the product
would be the focus of outcome orientation
Summary
The Gap Model, also known as the SERVQUAL (Service Quality)
model, is used to evaluate an organization's service quality
performance to the needs of its customers. The GAP Model was
proposed in 1985 by A. Parasuraman, Valarie Zeithaml, and Leonard
L. Berry. It enhances the organization's understanding of consumer
satisfaction. In the service business, the GAP Model is often used to
understand the numerous variances that occur during the process of
providing service to potential clients. It considers five key gaps that
can jeopardizes service quality. These 5 gaps are Gap between
Customer Expectations and Customer Perceptions, management
perception and service-quality specification, service quality
specifications and service delivery, service delivery and external
communications and perceived and expected service. Since its origin,
the model has proven its worth, and it is now extensively utilized in a
variety of industries, including manufacturing, information
technology, and even construction.
Thank You