Question

Prepare your notes for completing the first post.

Consider the services and products that you have used in the last few days or weeks.

Services might include movies you attended, a car service that you had done, a personal care experience such as a haircut or manicure, a lecture that you attended, a bar you visited, etcProducts might include health and beauty, clothing, sport equipment, etc.

Choose two of the services and two of the products on your list.

One should be an example of a service and of a product that you received that you were happy with and had a positive experience.The other should be an example of a service and of a product that you received that you were unhappy with and had negative experience.Note that you should now have narrowed your list down to four total purchasing experiences: one good product experience, one bad, one good service experience, and one bad.

For each of the selected services and product that you chose, analyze why it was a positive experience or why it was a negative experience.

Compare and contrast the positive product experience with the positive service experience.Compare and contrast the negative product experience with the negative service experience.What kinds of conclusions can you draw?

Step 2

Write your post.Based on your analysis above, write your first post.In addition to answering the questions in Step 1, explain the key characteristics of services in the market.Explain the process of quality problem identification for the bad experiences.

Answer 1

A good Product experience

When I was eighteen years old, my uncle gifted me a pen, a Mont Blanc variant. I have been using it for last five years and event today it is my favorite writing instrument. The nib of the pen has shaped itself to align with my writing slant. The flow of the ink is fitting appropriately to complement my style. The process of filling the ink is easy, and different types of inks can be filled in the pen, though I prefer to use only two colors of ink. When I close the pen with its cap, the click sound that emanates from the perfect close is a pleasing experience. The grip of the pen also gives a comfortable feel and my hand doesn’t feel fatigued after writing for long periods. The product is designed to enhance the writing experience of a user and the designer has applied sound ergonomic principles to make the product fit for easy use.

A bad product

Recently, I bought a sports water bottle to be used while exercising and in trekking tracks. The product from the very first day has given me trouble. On the first day, the tread of the opener got stuck and with great difficulty I released the jammed lid from the tread. While drinking water or juice from the bottle, often it spills over my face and body due to poor design of the neck. Even while drinking is a still posture, the contents spill, and drinking from the bottle while walking is sure to have disastrous experience. Because of the larger diameter of the bottle, it is difficult to fit into the small pouches. The product is difficult to use, though its price is much higher than the conventional water bottles.    

A good service

Once I was returning from a city after completing a project, just before boarding the flight. I tweeted   to my social network saying that, I will be starving by the time land in my home town and prefer to have known food rather than try something on the flight. The tweet was a playful message and also meant indirectly denounce the inflight food. After landing in the home town, I received a message in my smart phone that some of my favorite food is awaiting and all I need to do is stop at an indicated place and pick up the food. The message was sent from a local restaurant that I often visited and enjoyed some evening dinners. The restaurant was quick enough to sense the need of its customers and provided food on time. The food service organization was able to sense the need because of the technological set up in the restaurant and the customer relationship it is maintaining. Such agile services of an organization are certain to delight a customer and build loyalty to the service.

A bad service

Recently we went to a newly opened apparels store in the city. Though the store gave a fabulous look with superior design and attractive merchandise, the service e staff did not match the ambience of the store. The floor sales person failed to greet and welcome us, and did not give eye contact to us for a long time. He has been listening to our queries and statements, but did not bother to reply or provide us with right information. The sales person gave answers in one word and did not show interest to know what we need. In less than ten minutes we decided to walk out of the store. Apart from having good interior design and superior product merchanise, the retailers need to recruit people wih positive attitudes and train them to care for the customers.