DELIVERING QUALITY SERVICE

Rating:
Summary: Excellent read, although a little too broad
Review: A great book on SERVQUAL, nice layout of themes, plus a handy SERVQUAL test list to practice on your customers. Not just an academic book, but very down to earth. The only problem is that SERVQUAL is too broad to be applied in any service, you should take it with a grain of salt, but all-in-all, this book serve enough to be used as a basis for benchmarking service quality. Recommended not just for students, but to business practitioners too.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent read, although a little too broad
Review: A great book on SERVQUAL, nice layout of themes, plus a handy SERVQUAL test list to practice on your customers. Not just an academic book, but very down to earth. The only problem is that SERVQUAL is too broad to be applied in any service, you should take it with a grain of salt, but all-in-all, this book serve enough to be used as a basis for benchmarking service quality. Recommended not just for students, but to business practitioners too.

Rating:
Summary: A fundamental on service quality modelling
Review: Although somewhat outdated in 1999, this is still a fundamental work on SERVQUAL, a measurement tool for service quality. Criticized and praised all over the world, this book provides the old model of the SERVQUAL tool. Very useful is the GAP analysis for hurdles on the way to excellent service quality and the chapters on how to get started. The authors draw on extensive research and promise no rose garden but hard work to get among the excellent businesses. The book is useful to understand and interpret the SERVQUAL tool. Limitations or expansions are suggested and allow to customize the tool for personal use.

Rating:
Summary: Timeless!
Review: The authors present the SERVQUAL model as a framework for understanding and measuring service quality and also offer practical advice on how to improve service quality.

Aside from the SERVQUAL model, readers craving practical business information will find Chapters 4 to 7, which communicate a four-part prescriptive model on how to improve service quality, most useful. In plain language and with many illustrative examples, the authors argue that customer service leaders must (1) know exactly what customers expect, (2) set proper service quality standards, (3) support employees in delivering quality service, and (4) never over-promise. Chapter 6 is excellent for drawing the critical link between human resources and customer service.

Delivering Quality Service remains relevant even though it was published before anyone talked about Customer Relationship Management. The language is slightly dated but the concepts are timeless. In addition, by not focussing on customer management technology (a rarity in works published today) the authors put a proper emphasis on strategy.