SERVQUAL – Their perception is our reality

Do our students at Coastal Carolina University believe the service we provide in and out of the classroom is satisfactory?

As a way of trying to measure service quality, researchers have come up with a methodology known as SERVQUAL, a perceived service quality questionnaire developed by Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry in the mid-1980s. It is based on the view that the customer’s assessment of five key service dimensions is paramount to service quality and excellence.

SERVQUAL measures the difference between what customers expect from the experience and the perception of the actual encounter based on these five dimensions. The researchers identified five SERVQUAL dimensions that all customers apparently use when evaluating service quality.

We have the opportunity to excel at these five dimensions through our everyday service actions and attitudes. As a service-focused institution, CCU has a responsibility to serve our students and any other “customer” with reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and tangibility.

Coastal Carolina University students will continue to assess whether their expectations of this university are met. We must acknowledge that their perception is our reality.

Reliability
We do what we say we’re going to do when we said we were going to do it.
Feel the Teal Application:
- Do we provide service as promised?
- Do we sincerely and effectively solve problems?
- Do we perform service right the first time?

Responsiveness
We respond fast, quickly, promptly, rapidly, immediately, instantly, ASAP!
Feel the Teal Application:
- Does your department provide prompt service?
- Does your department go out of its way to help students?
- Does your department keep the student/customer informed throughout the process?

Assurance
We are the experts in the areas of our work at Coastal Carolina University.
Feel the Teal Application:
- Are employees well informed, competent and trained?
- Are employees courteous and professional during service interactions?
- Are employees in the right positions for student success?

Empathy
We sincerely care about the individual student and his or her success.
Feel the Teal Application:
- Do we give each student individual attention?
- Do we put the customer’s best interest first?
- Do we have office hours convenient for customers?

Tangibles
We believe in the importance of our customers’ perceptions of our University.
Feel the Teal Application:
- Are my tone of voice, facial expression and body language positive with every service interaction?
- Is my work area neat, clean and appealing?
- Is my appearance neat and professional (with a nametag)?

SERVQUAL and the five dimensions are discussed in the second training module of Feel the Teal, Attitude of Service. If you have not signed up for this training, please do so with Employee Services on the Training and Development webpage. I will be at several trainings this semester and look forward to the Feel the Teal activities, discussions and debriefings.

Thank you for your reliability, responsiveness, accuracy and empathy with all of our customers. Five more ways to FEEL THE TEAL!!

Sincerely,

David A. DeCenzo