ServiceRecovery refers to the immediate remedial response of service enterprises to customers' dissatisfaction and complaints when they fail or make mistakes in providing services to customers. Its purpose is to re-establish customer satisfaction and loyalty through this reaction. Customer satisfaction refers to the feeling state formed by comparing the performance and expectation of products to meet their needs.
With regard to the research on the relationship between service recovery and customer satisfaction, many scholars believe that service recovery can obtain customer satisfaction.
However, enterprises should grasp the way and degree of service recovery. Effective remedy after service failure will make customers more satisfied (Spreng,1995; EtzelandSilverman, 1998), and poor service remedies will increase the probability of customer dissatisfaction (Hart, Hackett, Sasser, 1990). Scholars such as Spreng and Harrel (1995) found that if enterprises admit their mistakes in time and make effective service remedies after service failure,
Customers will not only greatly reduce the negative impression of service failure, but also shift the direction of service failure. Andreassen(2000) thinks that the overall customer satisfaction with service after service failure and service recovery is decisive, which exceeds the negative impact caused by initial service failure.
That is, the customer satisfaction after service recovery exceeds that without service failure.
Retail enterprises can maintain and improve customer satisfaction by adopting effective service recovery strategies. If they don't respond to customers' complaints,
It is very easy to lose customers and form a bad reputation of the company, thus affecting the corporate image. After the service fails, the enterprise can win by taking active remedial measures.
"Second success".
1. Service recovery should be based on customer satisfaction.
The "20/80 Rule" put forward by Italian economist Pareto has become a popular rule in business circles. The main profits of enterprises are only in the hands of some consumers. If we firmly grasp these consumers, it will be of extraordinary significance to the profit growth and marketing strategy of enterprises. However, customer loyalty is not innate, and loyalty must be earned. Therefore, systematic and planned customer loyalty has become a strategic marketing plan for enterprises. In the process of communicating with existing customers, pragmatic attitude and perfect service remedy measures are effective means to improve customer loyalty.
Service recovery is a management process. First, we need to find the service failure and analyze its reasons. Then, on the basis of qualitative analysis, it is necessary to evaluate the service failure and take corresponding management measures to solve it. When retail enterprises make mistakes or mistakes in providing services to customers,
Customers will feel dissatisfied, regretful, complaining and angry, but most customers will choose not to patronize in the future, or tell more relatives and friends about their unpleasant consumption experience.
This kind of bad word of mouth will be amplified and spread, thus damaging the corporate image, and even greatly discounting in the hearts of some potential customers, and the enterprise will lose this part of customers forever. Therefore, enterprises should regard customer satisfaction as the core and benchmark of service recovery.
Find service failures in time, analyze the causes of service failures, evaluate service failures, and pay attention to any problems.
Customers are not satisfied with the service,
Remedy in time. Retain dissatisfied customers through remedial measures,
Enhance customers' understanding of the enterprise, constantly meet customers' current and future needs and expectations, maintain customers' loyalty and establish a good image of the enterprise.
2. The effect of service recovery affects the improvement of customer satisfaction.
Service mistakes will lead to customer dissatisfaction and customer loss, and the immediate remedial response of service enterprises will leave a deeper impression on customers. Enterprises take effective measures to customers who have lost or are losing, and remedy them through immediate and active service.
Can minimize the negative impact of service failure, maximize customers from dissatisfaction to satisfaction, from distrust to trust,
Finally, retain customers and win them back. Mainly manifested in two aspects: First, customers become "repeat customers" after receiving timely service remedies.
, realize a large number of repeated purchases and form loyalty to the enterprise. Second, customers regard brand loyalty as a means to save purchase costs and reduce purchase risks.
This makes it more difficult for competitors to attract new customers.
Improve the competitiveness of enterprises. If the enterprise provides effective service remedy after service failure, it can not only make up for previous mistakes, but also greatly improve customer satisfaction. In other words, customers who have experienced service failure will be more satisfied if they are finally satisfied through the efforts of enterprises than those customers whose problems have not been solved or those who have obtained satisfactory service for the first time.
Second, the reasons for the failure of retail enterprise services
Service failure refers to the experience of negative service contact or consumer dissatisfaction (Bitner, Bernard, Tetreault,1990; Moore, Bernard, Bitner, 1994). Many scholars at home and abroad have done some research: Ichiro Nakamura (1992) divides the reasons why customers complain about department stores into four categories:
Complaints caused by inferior goods;
Complaints caused by service methods;
Complaints caused by using unaccustomed new products and materials;
Complaints caused by customer misunderstanding or mistakes. Kelly, Hoffman and Davis (1993) take the retail industry as the research object.
According to the classification proposed by bitneretal( 1990), further analysis is made to increase the employee's reaction after product errors occur. Therefore, complaints from retail customers fall into three categories:
1. Employee's reaction to service delivery system or product error;
2. Customer demand and employee's response after the request;
3. Errors caused by employees' own behaviors.
Service failure is a problem that every enterprise will encounter, and the reasons for service failure are also very complicated, which can be analyzed from the following aspects:
1. From the perspective of retail enterprises
1985, American scholars Pamsuraman, ValarieZeithareal and LeonardBerry conducted extensive exploratory quality surveys on four service companies.
In the article "Conceptual model of service quality and its significance for future research", an analysis model of service quality gap is put forward.
According to this model, there are five kinds of gaps related to service quality between customers and merchants:
Gap 1 (cognitive gap),
Gap 2 (normative gap),
Gap 3 (delivery gap),
Gap 4 (publicity gap).
These four gaps are caused by the problems of service organizations themselves.
Gap five refers to the gap between the service actually felt by consumers and the service expected by consumers, which is the direct factor causing consumers' dissatisfaction. This gap is determined by the gap in the other four aspects.
2. Consumer's perspective
Analysis model of service quality gap
In addition to service providers, in many cases, consumers also have unshirkable responsibility for service failures. Consumer's service expectation includes explicit service demand, implicit service demand and fuzzy service expectation. If they can't correctly express their service expectations, it will be difficult to avoid service mistakes and failures. Some customers' behavior will cause trouble to others, or some customers may not know how to participate in the service process. Due to the above reasons, the carefully planned service process ended in failure.
3. The influence of other factors
External factors can also cause service failures. For example, the terminal system at the point of sale of retail enterprises fails due to accidental factors, which often causes customers to wait in line.
Thereby causing customer dissatisfaction. For the service failure caused by this, the focus of enterprise remedy should be how to timely and accurately convey information such as the reasons for service failure to customers, and actively and effectively communicate with customers to gain their understanding.
On the one hand, the consequences of service failure will lead to the loss of customers, on the other hand, customers are easy to complain and form a bad reputation. Customers damage the image and reputation of enterprises through word of mouth, which in turn will easily lead to the loss of customers, resulting in a decline in the competitiveness of enterprises and a vicious circle. Therefore, it is very important for retail enterprises to make timely and effective remedies for customers after service errors occur.
Three, retail enterprises to improve customer satisfaction service remedial measures
1. Establish a customer-oriented corporate culture and early warning system.
Enterprises should emphasize the status and importance of customers, vigorously publicize the concepts of "customer is God" and "customer is always right" within enterprises, improve employees' awareness of apologizing in time and taking remedial measures immediately after service failure, and try their best to meet customers' needs. In addition, enterprises should also establish a "fire prevention" mechanism. First, enterprises should find and analyze the causes of potential service failures. Enterprises should take the initiative to collect customer criticisms, monitor customer complaints, and open a complaint hotline.
By tracking media reports, we can find some potential problems, analyze and summarize the conditions, environment and possible consequences of service failure, and do a good job in preventing and remedying service failure. Secondly, enterprises should design remedial measures. Once the corresponding service failure occurs, the enterprise can make effective service remedy in time.
Reduce the cost of service recovery.
2. Respond decisively and solve problems quickly.
Quick response and timely service recovery are the keys to recover customer losses and regain consumer trust. The cost of winning a new customer is higher than the cost of maintaining an old customer.
According to the calculation of FredReichheld, the founder of loyalty marketing, retaining 5% customers may increase customer value by 75%. So once the service fails, no matter the reason comes from the customer himself,
Or due to some unpredictable and uncontrollable natural factors,
Retail enterprises should make a clear response to the service failure, confirm it quickly, find out the real cause of the accident quickly, and tell customers to stabilize their emotions first.
Allow customers to express their inner complaints, and employees should listen patiently. Apologizing is not only useful but also necessary, but not all. After the consumer's mood eases, negotiate a solution with them. The real way to calm customers' dissatisfaction and anxiety is to solve the problem immediately, take timely actions, properly remedy the mistakes, and let customers get remedial services at the first time and return satisfied.
3. Strengthen the training of employees.
Because the front-line employees of retail enterprises directly face consumers, after the service fails,
Their reaction and remedial measures will leave a deep impression on consumers. Therefore, in order to better retain customers and improve customer satisfaction,
It is very important for retail enterprises to train their employees. Through training, employees' service recovery skills and ability to improvise can be improved. At the same time, enterprises should appropriately decentralize and affirm their work achievements in a timely manner.
Stimulate employees' sense of ownership and responsibility, fundamentally mobilize employees' enthusiasm and initiative, and better solve various emergencies. Frontline employees should not be punished for taking remedial measures. On the contrary, enterprises should encourage employees to boldly use the power of service recovery.
4. Implement regular tracking and feedback on remediation results.
After the retail enterprises implement the service recovery measures and treatment methods, tracking, continuous recording and evaluation are the tests of the achievements of the enterprise's service recovery efforts, and the purpose of further improving the service system can be achieved through tracking. Tracking takes many forms,
For example: e-mail, telephone call back, face-to-face communication with customers, etc. In this way, we can know the degree of relief of customer dissatisfaction,
Determine whether the service remedial measures are recognized, whether the customer's dissatisfaction is eliminated, and whether there are other adverse effects. Feedback the tracked information to the employees of the organization in time,
Let them know what effect their remedies have had,
While being encouraged and affirmed, it also provides reference opinions for the next service recovery, thus improving the service quality of retail enterprises.