How the Customer Service Experience Is Influenced by the Service Encounter?

Introduction

The business operations often involve building close relationships between the firm and the clients. Therefore, in many cases, relationships are built based on a series of encounters with an organization. With the increasing needs of good customer experience, companies, today, are expanding their strategies to manage and design the entire process that customers go through to ensure good purchasing experience. Amidst this full series of encounters, customers often make a judgment on the quality of the firm and as a result, each encounter usually contributes towards the overall satisfaction of the customers as well as the willingness to continue with the relationship. Therefore, different organizations are usually on the verge of measuring, understanding as well as optimizing the core service delivery by ensuring that the time when the customer is in the factory is termed as being excellent. The Service Encounter is one element that frequently influences the overall customer service experience (Felix-Brasdefer, 2015). Service encounter refers to the movement when the customers interact with the product or service for the first time. It has three major different phases which include the people, the processes as well as the physical environment or encounters. Evidence service encounters are transactional interactions where one individual such as the office clerk or the vendor provide a good or service such as the appointment or a product to another person (Akaka & Vargo, 2015). The service encounter is the time during which the customer interacts directly with the service being delivered, in some other cases, it is referred to as the "Moment of Truth." The paper shows how the customer service experience is influenced by The Service Encounter in an organization.

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The Service Encounter

A good service encounter significantly affect both the service value and satisfaction in an organization or any industry. The above scenario means that the service encounter between the customers and the service provider needs to be of high value and satisfaction. The physical facilities too, influence the perception of customers towards an organization (Chen et. al., 2015). This, therefore, means that effective service delivery leads to the attraction of valuable customers and able stakeholders. The service value positively and significantly affect satisfaction, indicating that a high service value often leads to high customer satisfaction. In many cases, service encounter requires the delivery of pleasant services. The above scenario is because to a wider extent, there is an agreement that positive emotional displays are linked to the matching needs of the consumers (Sharma et. al., 2016). As a result, it is common to hear the management or the customer care service chanting with a smile so as to ensure a positive relationship. In many organizations, the management usually stresses on the emotional labour, the emotional labour refers to the concept where the service providers manage their own emotional state, usually suppressing the commonly felt emotions while engaging in acting out of other or "not felt" emotions.

The service encounter act as the basis for the customer's evaluation of the service provider. When organizations give service encounter that suits consumers, they create a positive experiential value as well as the lasting customer relationship, a scenario which leads to the satisfaction of the customers (Forseth, 2005). The service encounter directly influences and shape longer-term factors such as the intention to return, customer loyalty as well as the likelihood of positive communication about more services offered. The positive or the quality interaction between the service providers and the customers during the service encounters is essential since it is at this level where the customers usually judge the kind of services being given to them. Therefore managing all the encounters between the customers and an organization is important when it comes to the development of quality services. Quality service encounter often allows the customer to develop a positive attitude towards an organization, in most cases, when customers develop a positive attitude towards a company, they are most likely to retain their loyalty with the organization.

Positive service encounter may lead to the recovery of the failed service delivery which can take several forms. It can enhance the rectification of the original service breakdown which is a desirable option. Amidst the service encounter, the service providers can communicate clear processes of compensation or refunds, a process that can enable customers in maintaining loyalty. Additionally, the service encounters may enable an organization to aids the recovery processes. The service encounters enable an organization or a company to correct the previous mistakes that may have been committed in the transactional services. The service provider's incapability to recover from the service failure are usually likely to result in the dissatisfaction among the customers and as a result, they may experience "double deviation" as a result of the initial poor services. Therefore, through service encounters, the service providers, through their qualified personnel, are able to convince the clients are customers back to the transactional services. Conversely, effective service encounters may lead to the customer's trust. The positive service encounters advocated by many organizations are linked to the increased satisfaction and trust among the clients. The above scenario, on the other hand, requires greater efforts by the service providers to restore excellent behaviour as well as absolute purchasing power. Recognizing the fact that the staff in an organization may become unable to respond to a situation in a timely manner during the service failure, the engagement of the customers in the service recovery may be achieved through the service encounters. Through the service, one is able to express an apology and as a result, the discount offer might lead to satisfaction.

Through service encounters, there is always the establishment of quality interaction between the service providers and the customers; it is at this level where customers make a judgment of the services given to them (Sirianni et al., 2013). The management of all the encounters between the customers and the organizations is therefore critical when it comes to the development of quality services. Understanding the expectation of the customers is the initial and the most important process in ensuring the delivery of quality services. The clients usually have expectations on what they are supposed to receive from the service delivery and through service encounters, they are capable of comparing the perceived actual service delivered and the satisfaction and assessments of the general quality of the services (Van et. al., 2001).

Service Contexts

In the world of business, service encounters vary significantly in different contexts. When it comes to customer service or the services within the reception, the service provider needs to apply diverse techniques while engaging the clients. In the above case, the application of polite engagement is essential. In most cases, the customer care is an essential figure when it comes to customer engagement (Bitner & Wang, 2014). They need to apply the language that is suitable for everyone. Additionally, they need to create a friendly and interactive environment so as to enhance the service encounters. Unlike the management team that may sometimes apply different techniques that may not appear appealing to the clients, the receptionists need to adhere to the terms of service, in other words, they need to communicate a positive image of an organization during the service encounters so as to sell the positive image of an organization. The communication from the management team may involve the concepts that attempt to convince the customers or the stakeholders of an organization, they only involve the true aspect of an organization. In other words, they strictly involve the real information or facts that affect the business (Miao, 2014). On the other hand, when it comes to the customer care services, the negative aspect of the organization may be hidden so as to enable the clients to have a good experience during the service encounters. In the customer care desk, there is always the need to protect the company's image by only showcasing the positive aspects of the organization.

Within the business component groups, there are always sets of related services, as a result, the service providers often engage in specialized functions. Therefore, aside of the organizational management and communication from the administrative team, the service providers are trained to protect the organization's name through service encounters. The positive communication and the provision of a friendly environment usually lead to positive or excellent customer experiences (Barker & Hartel, 2004). Unlike the administrative personnel that do not engage much with the clients, the service providers should understand diverse concepts required to convince the customers during sales and in the general communication (Meuter et.al. 2000). For a long period of time, there has been inconsistency in elaborating different aspects of service encounters. However, the concept involves communication that majorly exists between the customers and the service providers. The service provider's communication systems often relate to customer satisfaction. Unlike the administrative communication styles which usually appear authoritative, the communication within the service encounters needs to be persuasive; during the communication, the relationship is usually moderated by the service criticality as well as the nature of the service.

To promote the satisfaction of the clients, the service encounters needs to entail communication that is characterized by high affiliation especially in highly critical situations. During the service encounters, the service providers usually apply the low level of dominance especially in critical situations to achieve the persuasive nature of the conversation. When it comes to the administrative services where there is credence services, the high level of affiliation is important and high dominance in communication is usually applied. In the service encounters, the perceived value is usually shown as the stronger predictor of loyalty. In many cases, it is argued that the high value is the major primary motivation for the customer patronage. During the service provision, consumers often show behavioural intentions towards service providers when the relational exchanges lead to superior value. The customer values often regulate behavioural intentions of the loyalty towards the service providers as long as there is value in the process of communication. In the world of business, the success of a brand on a long-term basis is dependent on the kind of service encounter between the consumers and the service providers (Wu & Liang, 2009). The number of consumers who eventually become regular buyers are often influenced by the service providers or customer care service during the service encounters. The service encounters often lead to the retention of customers; in most cases, it is a belief that it is more expensive to acquire new customers than to retain the existing ones. The longer the customers stay, the more profitable they become to an organization and this can only be achieved through service encounters. Additionally, loyal customers are most likely to create new business ideologies by providing positive references to colleagues or friends.

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