Teaching Services Marketing
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Transcript Teaching Services Marketing
1
Teaching Services Marketing
An Opportunity to Practice What We Preach
Dwayne D. Gremler
Bowling Green State University
[email protected]
www.gremler.net
2007 SERVSIG Doctoral Consortium
San Francisco, CA
- Dwayne D. Gremler
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Setting the Stage
Who in the audience has taught?
At what level?
What classes?
What was your experience like?
What was the most surprising event that occurred?
What will you do differently the next time you teach?
What would you like to take away from today’s
teaching session?
- Dwayne D. Gremler
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What Do We Preach?
Customer Expectations
Service Quality
Customizing Services
Co-Production
Service Guarantees
Service Excellence
- Dwayne D. Gremler
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Understanding Customer Expectations
When you teach students, who are the customers?
Are students customers? clients? products?
Good service providers do not assume they know what their
customers’ expectations are
Conduct service research to determine:
Who are my customers?
What are their interests?
What are their backgrounds?
What experiences do they have in this field?
What are their career goals?
First week of class:
students are asked to provide:
specific characteristics of what would be considered good service
performance by the instructor
and, of what would be good customer performance in this context
responses are presented on course web site
- Dwayne D. Gremler
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Customer Expectations
Set Expectations
communicate customer’s (client’s) roles
discuss students’ roles and behaviors
provide a realistic service preview
first day – detailed overview of syllabus
some students may self-select out of the class
reduce customer anxiety and uncertainty
essay exam study questions provided one week in advance
a subset of questions selected
Exceed Customer Expectations (customer delight!)
provide a unique first day experience – punch & cookies
play music before class (if technology is available)
develop a course-specific web site
make PowerPoint overheads available
- Dwayne D. Gremler
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Service Quality Dimensions
reliability
ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately
responsiveness
willingness to help customers and provide prompt service
assurance
employee’s knowledge/courtesy and ability to inspire the
customer’s trust and confidence in the service provider
empathy
caring, individualized attention given by the firm and its employees
to customers
tangibles
appearance of physical facilities, equipment, personnel, or printed
materials
- Dwayne D. Gremler
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Demonstrating Service Quality
Reliability
do what you promise!
come early to class
keep your office hours
always be prepared
hold to dates in syllabus as much as possible
be consistent
use rubrics when grading papers, essay exams, or any
assignment with “subjective” assessment
Responsiveness
provide next day turnaround on evaluation of assignments,
exams, quizzes, etc.
respond quickly to students’ e-mails, telephone calls
be available to help outside of office hours
- Dwayne D. Gremler
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Demonstrating Service Quality
Assurance
know what you are taking about…be prepared, be confident
communicate your background and expertise
use current examples to demonstrate knowledge
bring in guest speakers
Empathy
learn students’ names
via 3" x 5" cards, pictures
demonstrate care outside of the classroom
attend a cross-country meet!
offer to serve as a reference or to write recommendation letters
Tangibles
pay attention to classroom, lighting/temperature, syllabi
keep the classroom clean
make handouts attractive and clear
model professional dress
use stamps!
- Dwayne D. Gremler
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Customizing Service Delivery
Allow students to select teams (for in-class assignments)
Allow students to select from a choice of assignments
service encounter journal
international service watch
company complaint letter & analysis
service blueprint
new service development
case analysis
Allow students to select from among essay questions on the exam
select four questions to answer from among six
Allow students to select service topic for final (take-home) exam
legacy assignment…contribution could be a video clip, comic strip,
business press article, digital images for use in class, or other
possibilities
Allow students to evaluate themselves on their class participation
each student assigns his/her own class participation score and justifies it
with a one-page paper
- Dwayne D. Gremler
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Co-Production
Have Student Make Presentations
students identify business press articles and new
services of relevance to the course
Provide Discussion Questions (on course web)
students can anticipate (and prepare for) what will be
discussed in class
questions provided for:
textbook chapters
cases
assigned articles
Illustrate Customer Roles in Service Delivery
Instructor as student!!!
- Dwayne D. Gremler
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Co-Production Role Reversal
Instructor as student:
- Dwayne D. Gremler
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Service Guarantees
Service Guarantee = a pledge or assurance that a service
offered by a firm will perform as promised
(Zeithaml, Bitner, and Gremler 2006)
Why provide a service guarantee in the classroom?
(the ultimate way to) practice what we preach
learning exercise
accountability
WOW! factor
reach disillusioned students
competitive advantage/differentiation
(Gremler and McCollough 1997; McCollough and Gremler 1999)
- Dwayne D. Gremler
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Maintaining Service Excellence
Find your own style
There are many approaches to leading a class:
The Comic
The CEO
The Obsessive
The Techie
The Performer
Experiment…determine what works for YOU
Whatever your style, be passionate!
Seek continuous improvement
Observe great teachers
consider both WHAT they teach and HOW they teach
Examine others’ syllabi
emulate/borrow what works for you, ignore what does not
share materials with others
Ask for advice; obtain peer evaluations
- Dwayne D. Gremler
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Maintaining Service Excellence
Managing challenges
Balance challenges:
private vs. professional life
research vs. teaching prep time
lecture vs. active discussion in class
breadth of material vs. depth of material
Time management
time flies…whether you’re having fun or not!
- Dwayne D. Gremler
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Practicing What We Preach
Provide an example of excellent service delivery by:
meeting (exceeding?) customer expectations
customizing service delivery
encouraging and facilitating student co-production
demonstrating/providing service quality in the classroom
offering a service guarantee in the classroom
continually striving for service excellence
- Dwayne D. Gremler
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It’s lunch time…time for food and drink!
- Dwayne D. Gremler