PRESCRIPTIONS FOR A SERVICE QUALITY REVOLUTION IN AMERICA

Responding to the dismal state of service quality in America, the authors issue an urgent call for revolution. The manifesto encourages service industries to confront entrenched mediocrity at two levels. First, there must be a raising of aspirations for quality and a series of basic attitude shifts. The notion ''errors are inevitable,'' for example, must change to ''we do it right the first time.'' Also, a focus on ''quality of goods'' must give way to a focus on ''quality in everything''-advertising, post-sale service, internal support operations, and the like. Being ''good,'' say the authors, 'simply isn't good enough.'' To differentiate itself in a service economy, a company must do more-it must strive to surprise its customers by exceeding their expectations. At the second level, organizations need action plans that will make ongoing improvement habitual. Here, the authors offer five prescriptions for continuous quality improvement: developing a comprehensive service-quality information system, issuing regular reports on service-quality performance, measuring the cost of quality failures, emphasizing individual responsibility, and showcasing excellence.