When Customers Communicate Instances of Service Failure

Explore the following services industry challenge: Not all customers communicate when they are dissatisfied, and not all service managers take steps to resolve customer concerns.

As service managers, in a perfect world, 100% of customers would proactively communicate with service firms when there were instances of failure or dissatisfaction. Once the service manager was aware of the customer’s dissatisfaction, the service manager would take steps to resolve the customer’s concerns, and the customer would be once again satisfied with the service experience. However, this is not what happens in the real world.

• Do customers proactively communicate instances of service failure and dissatisfaction to their service provider?
• When a service failure occurs, what are the key steps a service manager should include in their service recovery?