Improving service quality in America: Lessons learned

Delivering excellent service is a winning strategy. Quality service sustains customers' confidence and is essential for a competitive advantage. Yet many companies are struggling to improve service, wasting money on ill-conceived service programs and undermining credibility with management rhetoric not backed up with action. Are there guidelines to help managers chart a service-improvement strategy for their organizations? We think so. In this article ten lessons from an extensive ten-year study of service quality in America are presented—lessons that we believe apply across industries and are essential to the service-improvement journey.