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Teaching Services Marketing An Opportunity to Practice What We Preach

Teaching Services Marketing An Opportunity to Practice What We Preach. Dwayne D. Gremler Bowling Green State University gremler@bgsu.edu www.gremler.net 2007 SERVSIG Doctoral Consortium San Francisco, CA. Setting the Stage. Who in the audience has taught? At what level? What classes?

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Teaching Services Marketing An Opportunity to Practice What We Preach

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  1. Teaching Services MarketingAn Opportunity to Practice What We Preach Dwayne D. Gremler Bowling Green State University gremler@bgsu.edu www.gremler.net 2007 SERVSIG Doctoral Consortium San Francisco, CA ã 2007 - Dwayne D. Gremler

  2. 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? ã 2007 - Dwayne D. Gremler

  3. What Do We Preach? • Customer Expectations • Service Quality • Customizing Services • Co-Production • Service Guarantees • Service Excellence ã 2007 - Dwayne D. Gremler

  4. 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 ã 2007 - Dwayne D. Gremler

  5. 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 ã 2007 - Dwayne D. Gremler

  6. 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 ã 2007 - Dwayne D. Gremler

  7. 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 ã 2007 - Dwayne D. Gremler

  8. 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! ã 2007 - Dwayne D. Gremler

  9. 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 ã 2007 - Dwayne D. Gremler

  10. 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!!! ã 2007 - Dwayne D. Gremler

  11. Co-Production Role Reversal • Instructor as student: ã 2007 - Dwayne D. Gremler

  12. 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) ã 2007 - Dwayne D. Gremler

  13. 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 ã 2007 - Dwayne D. Gremler

  14. 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! ã 2007 - Dwayne D. Gremler

  15. 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 ã 2007 - Dwayne D. Gremler

  16. It’s lunch time…time for food and drink! ã 2007 - Dwayne D. Gremler

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