Intangibility: Services are often intangible, they lack precise form which makes testing them for quality in advanceo f sale impossible. " Variability: Services are heterogeneous, which means that performance often varies across time, location and customer. " Inseparability: Production and consumption of the services occur simultaneously, which makes the consumer an integral part of the process. " Perishability: Services cannot be stored for later use, eg. airline seats cannot be reclaimed. More discussion about these characteristics will be given in chapter two (section 2-2).
The unique characteristics of service contribute to the complexities involved in assessing and managing service quality; they complicate both the consumers' assessments of service quality and the providers' ability to control it. Service quality has been increasingly identified as a major factor in differentiating service offerings and building competitive advantage. Most services involve direct contact between the customer and the service provider. This means that in addition to task proficiency; interpersonal skills like courtesy, friendliness, tolerance, and pleasantnessa re important dimensions of quality, particularly in high contact services where front line employees have a major influence on customer satisfaction (Hobson et al. 1984, Hostage 1975, Wehrenbeer 1987). It has been said that for every complaint a business receives, there are twenty-six other customers who feel the same way, but do not air their feelings to the company (Headley and Choi 1992). One satisfied customer usually tells two or three people, while the dissatisfied customer tells ten or more people. Therefore, to improve service quality, one must listen to the customer, since quality is ultimately defined by customer perceptions. Also, companies must listen to the front-line service employees in order to understand what they see as important and how they perceive the customer.