Think about your last great holiday. I sure hope you've had one recently. What made it great? The location, the facilities, the food, the staff, the activities, or was it the value for money? Chances are that wherever you went and whatever you did, the quality of the service you received had a lot to do with your enjoyment. So what do we mean by service quality? Quality is usually defined as a degree of excellence of something. Quality in a service context has two unique features. First, the only perception of quality that counts is the customer's perception. Second, customer expectations nearly always play a vital role. Why? Because service quality perceptions are usually based on a comparison between the service we expect and the service we actually receive. There are some rare situations where a customer may not have any clear expectations. In these cases, they can only evaluate service quality after the experience or service has been received. But this is a fairly rare circumstance. Generally, we have some idea or expectation of what a holiday or travel experience will involve. Defining service quality is not easy and comes with a number of challenges. First, service quality can mean different things to different people. For example, a young couple might define great service as beautiful cocktails at the bar. A family might define it as a free kids club. But for a business traveler, great service might be only about the attributes of speed and efficiency. Second, perceptions of service vary with circumstance. For example, you might be the sort of person who appreciates a friendly, chatty person at a hotel check-in. But if you're running late or have had a long flight, a chatty receptionist might be the last thing you want. Third, guest expectations may vary depending on the type of experience they have. A family booked a room in a budget hotel for their summer holiday. They probably expect a clean room, basic furnishings, friendly staff, and maybe a small dining room where they can get a basic breakfast such as cereal, toast, and coffee. The next year, they splurge out and book a room in a five-star resort. Would they be expecting more? Absolutely. In fact, their expectations are likely to be radically different. When the family checks in to that budget accommodation, and the staff seem particularly sharp, attentive, and professional, they are likely to have had their expectations exceeded. They will probably think the service is great. Conversely, the same service at the luxury hotel might lead to their expectations only being met, but not exceeded. And exceeding expectations is highly aspirational. It's what makes people very satisfied and more likely to come back and talk about you positively. Another critical challenge with creating and managing quality service and experiences is that the manufacturing of the service happens during its delivery. We call that co-production or co-creation. The fact that service is produced and consumed and value created at about the same time, the only-way quality can be determined when you check into a hotel is actually at the moment that the check-in occurs. Even a perfect plan may not be executed at that moment, and it's that moment that counts the most. If service quality is what you desire in your business, and who doesn't, it's vital to find a way to comprehensively measure it. The old management mantra, what gets measured gets done, definitely applies here. This might sound simple, but when it comes to measuring service quality, it's not. One reason is that the principles of quality were developed in a manufacturing or a goods context. Like this shirt, for example, how might quality be assessed? Perhaps based on the fabric, the seams, the lining, the tailoring, even smaller details like the buttons and the pockets. The actual quality can usually be determined long before it gets to the customer. The manufacturer determines the level of quality. This is very different to something as intangible as service and experiences. In fact, intangibility is one of the most commonly cited special or unique characteristics and challenges of service. And remember, with service and experiences, it's the customer who decides the quality. So what are the specific parts or components of service that we can use to measure service quality? In the 1980s, a group of researchers started a long-term project to develop a way to capture and measure service quality. They developed a scale called serve-qual, which uses five helpful words or dimensions to describe service quality. Reliability, assurance, tangibles, empathy, responsiveness. A good way to remember these dimensions is by the acronym RATER. We'll go through each of these five dimensions briefly. Each one should always be used by first reflecting on expectations and then comparing to performance or what you actually received. While we review these, think to yourself, why might a particular dimension be important? When might it be more important depending on the context? When might too much of one dimension be a problem? Finally, what might be the perfect formula for my business, my customers? Let's first look at reliability. Reliability refers to delivering what you promise and doing so consistently. If you're not reliable, you are nothing. This is the most important dimension to meet customer expectations. If you do not consistently deliver what you promise and what a customer expects, there is little chance that you will ever be able to meet customer expectations. For example, you head to the bar and the bartender recognizes you and immediately makes you your usual drink. Assurance is when the service provider just makes you feel at ease that everything is under control. Think about how amazing it feels to walk into a hotel and be met by someone who confidently answers all your questions. Or when the bellman or concierge approaches your car as you pull up, opens your door, smiles, and gives you a hand with your bags. Tangibles refer to the physical part of service. What we call the service-scape or the surroundings. Tangibles give many clues about the service. For example, service-quality perceptions include aspects such as how clean the floors at the hotel entrance or how clean, neat, and well-presented the service staff look. Empathy is the way the employees show care, concern, and connection to the customer. Think about how nice it would be if you tell your waiter you have a food allergy and they seem to completely understand and seem to take interest and care about your particular concerns. Or the understanding look on the face of the check-in staff when you arrive to the hotel after a long and tiring trip. Responsiveness refers to the need for speed. Service should be timely, efficient, and appropriate for the type of service. For example, the importance of food being delivered to your table quickly. How fast or slow the ticket line moves getting into that theme park. Or the way you are greeted as you approach the bar for a drink. These five concepts or dimensions, rater, will be invaluable to you to know and understand in nearly any service situation. Not all of these dimensions will always have the same weighting in different circumstances, but managing service-quality is made dramatically easier when we understand rater. A short story might help to fully understand service-quality. One of my students recently said something funny to me after we reviewed each of the serve-quality dimensions. She said, you know, David, those things sound like the same words I'd use to evaluate the quality of my relationship with my boyfriend. I want him to be reliable, to be assuring, to have great tangibles, to be empathetic and also to be responsive. Think about that. We hope you now understand that service-quality is a critically important concept that requires an extra level of knowledge beyond just common sense to do well. Remember, customer expectations and circumstances matter, and most importantly, never forget rater, and you'll be on your way to service-quality and an endless supply of customer loyalty. Are you up to the challenge?