HOW TO ACHIEVE SERVICE QUALITY

 INTRODUCTION

Quality is not an event, it is an ongoing process. As far as service organisations are concerned, quality is not the responsibility of the quality control department only, rather it is a matter to be taken care of by the entire business system.

The following are the pre-requisites for achieving service quality:

1. Visionary Leader

   
   

   
   

   Presence of a Visionary leader at the top is a necessary element for achieving quality. The vision of the leader guides the organizational effort into achieving high standard of service quality. A visionary leader through his verbal and symbolic communication shows where the future lies and of course his vision has to be shared by each and every employee of the organisation.

2. Setting High Performance Standards

   
   

   
   

   Champion of high quality always emphasize 100% quality, thereby ruling out possibility of defects and shortfalls. Everything right the first time and always is a typical expression of this psyche. It must be made clear to every employee that one is expected to give one's best during each 'Moment of Truth'. Chalta Hai attitude won't work and won't be accepted in any case.

3. Management's Commitment and Support

   
   
   
   
   The process of quality improvement has to be taken as an integrated management process. Only Top management has the position and clout to design a Value System that has at its core the total customer satisfaction.

4. Preparing the Employees
   
   

   
   
   
   The organisation needs to prepare their employees first so that they are capable of and feel like delivering quality services. Organisation Employee Training Programs to cultivate and have their  technical and inter-personal relations and communication skills need to be undertaken as and when the need arises. It is very important to note that employee satisfaction precedes customer satisfaction. Only satisfied employees can deliver quality services. However, it cannot be taken for granted that high employee satisfaction automatically gets translated into quality, the employees needs to be motivated enough to meet and exceed customers expectations.
    

5. System for Addressing Customer Complaints
   

   
   
   
   The major problem today is that unsatisfied customers hardly complain, they simply stop buying such goods and services without testing the marketer know even a shred as to what went wrong and where. There should be a system of complain and suggestions and appropriate actions should be taken. The customer should be informed about the action taken and thanked.

6. System for Monitoring Service Quality
   

   
   
   
   Commitment to quality also means that services delivered must be continuously monitored to assess as to what extent the customers are satisfied with the service offering of the firm. Internal performance analysis, customer satisfaction analysis and specialist marketing research are the techniques with which the services delivered can be monitored and improvements are inculcated where needed.
   
   

   Conclusion

   
   
   Customers may forget what you said but they'll never forget how you made them feel. There is a Chinese proverb that justify this: "A man without a smiling face must not open a shop." When you help others feel important, you help yourself feel important too. The single most important thing is to make people happy. If you are making people happy, as a side effect, they will be happy to open up their wallets and pay you.