Service gap model .. SERVQUAL ..

The SERVQUAL model was developed by Parasuraman, Zeithami and Berry in 1988. Parasuraman was a speaker in one of the symposiums in Alliance University, Bangalore a couple of years back.

Prof. Parasuraman of Texas A&M univ.

Servqual model (service quality) explains in very clear terms what are the different gaps across customer expectations, management perception, system design, service delivery and customer perceptions.

Parasuram et al  proposed a method of how Gap 5 (the gap between customer perceptions and expectations which is a direct measure of the quality of service as experienced by the customer) can be measured quantitatively by asking a series of 22 questions relating to the 5 factors crucial in service - RATER - Reliability, Assurance, Tangibles, Empathy and Responsiveness .

Click for the original paper here from ResearchGate ..

The different gaps in customer perception, service design and service delivery

The different GAPs in service expectations, design,  delivery and perception are as given below :

Gap 1 - difference between what customer expects and what managements perceives are the customers expectations

Gap 2 - difference between what management perceives and the service design

Gap 3 - difference between service design and what service delivery

Gap 4 - difference between service delivery and what customer perceives as service

Gap 5 - difference between customer expectations and customer perception,

The SERVQUAL model helps to understand GAP 5, ie the gap between customer expectations and customer perceptions of the service. This gap is considered to a direct measure of the quality of the service.

The 22 questions measuring instrument is given here .. 

The basic premise for this quality instrument is the fact that service quality is directly proportional to customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction is dependent on and directly proportional to the 5 factors of Reliability,  Assurance, Tangibles, Empathy and Responsiveness (RATER) ..

The P-E score can be calculated for each of the 5 parameters. If for any of the factor, the P-E score is less, corrective actions can be initiated for those factors.

The P-E score is then taken for all 22 questions across the five factors and the average score for the total service delivery is calculated.

The total P-E score gives what the customer finally feels about the service.

If perceptions - expectations, (P-E), is positive, it is customer delight 

If perceptions = expectations, (P=E), it is good service 

If perceptions - expectations, (P-E), is negative, it is deficient service

Comparison between Net Promoter score and SERVQUAL :

While Net Promoter Score does not differentiate between the different factors and instead just gives only an overall final score of what the customer feels about the service, SERVQUAL instrument gives the gap between customer perception and expectation across the five factors, RATER. 

SERVQUAL thus helps us to understand exactly in which of the above factors is the service deficient and one can then take necessary steps to understand the deficiency in those factor areas and take corrective steps to overcome it.

George Easaw

PS : If you find this note satisfactory or not, pl  drop in a comment ..