RST 325 Final Exam Study Guide Fall 2024 PDF

**RST 325 Final Exam Study Guide** **Format:** The exam will be worth 200 points total, with 30 multiple choice questions (3pts each; Day 1) and 11 short answer questions (110pts; Day 2). You will have the entire class time on both days to complete the exam (50 minutes). The exam is closed-book (no...

**RST 325 Final Exam Study Guide** **Format:** The exam will be worth 200 points total, with 30 multiple choice questions (3pts each; Day 1) and 11 short answer questions (110pts; Day 2). You will have the entire class time on both days to complete the exam (50 minutes). The exam is closed-book (no notes, books, technology, etc). **Study Materials:** In preparing for this exam, you should review the PowerPoint slides, our co-constructed study guides, and the course textbook. All content covered [after] the mid-term (weeks 9 -- 15) is relevant for the final exam. Specific concepts to know heading into the exam are listed below. **Distribution and Place** - Thoroughly understand the three flows that are being distributed in a service business context - Information and promotion flow: Distribution of information and promotion materials - Negotiation flow: Reaching an agreement on service features and configuration - Product flow: Physical facilities for delivery and development - Thoroughly understand the three main ways of service distribution - Customer goes to service organization (e.g., sporting event, gym) - Service Organization comes to customer (e.g., food delivery) - Customer and service organization transact remotely (e.g., broadcast network, - Know the two types of location considerations when making the facility location decisions - Strategic Location Considerations (A general type and/or list of potential locations) - Tactical Location Considerations (Specific location and details) - Be able to describe what intermediaries are and be able to provide an example of intermediaries in RST - Outsourcing certain aspects of distribution - Analysis of benefits and cost of alternative distribution channels - Understand the concept of disintermediation - Service firms migrating customers and sales to lower cost channels - Know what is franchising and be able to provide an RST example of a franchised organization - Agreement or license between two legally independent parties - Right to market a product or service using the trademark of another business - Right to market a product or service using operating methods of the franchisor - [Be able to explain the pros and cons of franchising ] - [Pros: Fast growth with limited resources, long-term commitment of franchisees, lockal knowledge from franchisees] - [Cons: Less control over delivery system and customer experience, difficult to ensure franchisees adopt same priotities and procedures ] **Service Environment** - Know the definition of service environment (i.e. servicescape) - Style and appearance of physical surroundings and other experiential elements encountered by customers (e.g., signs, color, music, lighting) - Thoroughly understand the four purposes of service environments - Shape Experiences and Behaviors (e.g., physical surroundings influence how customers think, feel, and react to service experiences) - Signal Quality (e.g., the service environment acts as a proxy for quality of service) - Core Component of Value Proposition (e.g., customers may go somewhere because of the place itself, Disneyworld) - Enhance Productivity (e.g., properly designed spaces increase efficiency) - Be familiar with integrative servicescape model - Employee and customer responses interact with the service environment to produce/influence cognitive, emotional, physiological, and behavioral responses - [Know the three main dimensions of the service environment ] - [Ambient Conditions (e.g., Temp, noise, odor)] - [Space/functionality (e.g., layout, furnishing)] - [Signs, symbols, and artifacts (e.g., style of décor, personal artifacts)] - Be able to distinguish the concept of spatial layout from functionality - Spatial layout: Floor plan, size, shape of furnishings - Functionality: Ability of items to facilitate service transaction - Understand the roles of signs, symbols, and artifacts - Teach behavioral rules in service settings - Labels, directions, communications service script - Know how service employees and other customers can be part of the servicescape. - Appearance and behavior of service personnel and customers can strengthen or weaken impression created by service environment. **Customer Relationship and Loyalty** - Thoroughly understand the importance of customer loyalty - Easier and cheaper to keep existing clients than find new ones - Loyal customers contribute to overall business outcomes - A loyal customer base can discourage competition - Thoroughly know the three types of benefits that customers get from a loyal relationship with a service firm - Confidence benefits: more familiarity = lower anxiety - Social benefits: Having a friendship with the service providers - Special treatment benefits: Better prices, extra services, higher priority, faster services - [Know the three components of the Wheel of Loyalty and strategies related to each] - [Build a foundation for loyalty ] - [Target the right customers, target value, manage and identify your customer base] - [Create loyalty bonds] - [Deepen the relationship, create loyalty rewards (Financial (hard)/ Nonfinancial(soft) rewards) E.g., stamp card, build higher-level bonds (social, customized, structural)] - [Reduce churn drivers] - [When a formerly loyal customer begins to use other business services ] - [Reasons for customers switch:] - [Core service failture] - [Inconvenience ] - [Dissatisfactory] - [Understand the differences between financial and non-financial awards and how they relate to loyalty programs] - [Financial rewards: Discounts, loyalty program rewards] - [Non-financial rewards: Priority treatment, personalized service] - Thoroughly know the three types of higher-level bonds in enhancing customer loyalty - Social Bonds: Personal relationships between providers and customers - Customization Bonds: Offering customized service - Structural Bonds: Aligning customers' way of doing things with the sipplier's process - Know the common reasons for using CRM systems - Data collection, data analysis, lead generation, marketing automation, call center automation **Service Recovery** - Know the three common types of actions that customers may take in response to service failures - Take public action (e.g., complain to service firm, review website) - Take private action (e.g., negative word of mouth) - No action at all - Understand why customers complain - Obtain restitution or compensation - Vent anger - Help to improve the service - Cherish customer complaints - Know the definition of service recovery - Systematic efforts by a firm to correct a problem following a service failure and retain customers goodwill. - Understand service recovery paradox - Higher satisfaction/ loyalty after satisfactory recovery - [Thoroughly understand what customers expect from firms when they complain (i.e., the three types of justice)] - [Procedural justice: fairness in policies and rules] - [Interactional justice: Behavior of employees providing service recovery ] - [Outcome justice: restitution or compensation received ] - Know the five types of unfair customers - Verbal abusers- Lash out in employees; most difficult to deal with - Blamers- most common when customer doesn't follow policy/makes mistake - Rule breakers- Ignore policies and procedures - Opportunists- look for ways to "game the system", attempts to avoid payment - Returnaholics- Buys items with intent to use in short term and then return - [Understand the principles of effective service recovery and how to apply them in an RST setting] - [Make it easy for the customers to give feedback (e.g., customer forms, post-service survey)] - [Enable effective service recovery (procedures Planned, skills taught, employees deel empowered)] - [Establish and communicate appropriate compensation levels ] - [Consider market position -- premium service= premium response] - [Consider severity of service failure] - [Consider the status of the customer ] - [Deal with complaining customers ] - Know how to establish appropriate compensation levels for service recovery - Position of the firm - Severity of the service failure - Type of affected customer - Be familiar with the guidelines for the Frontline to deal with complaining customers - Act fast, acknowledge customer's feelings, do not argue with customers, show understanding, sort out facts, give customer benefit of the doubt, propose stepts to solve, keep customers informed, compensation, self-check the service delivery system and improve it. **Managing People/Internal Marketing** - [Be able to define internal marketing in your own words] - [Activities to attract, develop, motivate, and retain qualified employees] - Be able to explain why service employees are important - Core part of the product, represent the firm, affect sales, key driver of customer loyalty, determines productivity. - Thoroughly understand and be able to explain the three sources of role conflict in your own words - Organization/client conflict- conflicts between organizational goal/ policies and client satisfaction - Person/Role conflict- Conflicts between employees beliefs/personalities/ and the requirements of their role. - Inter-client conflict- conflicts between customers - Understand what emotional labor is - The discrepancy between how frontline staff fell inside and the emotions that management requires them to show in front of customers - Know the various tools to select job candidates - Structured Interviews - Observe candidate behavior - Conduct personality test - References - Realistic preview of the job - Explain the three key areas in which service employees need training. - Organizational culture, purpose, and strategy (e.g., commitment to service excellence, team spirit, mutual respect, honest and integrity) - Interpersonal and Technical Skills - Interpersonal: communication skills, eye contact, attentive listening, body language and reading customer needs. - Technical: All required knowledge related to the processes, machines, and rules and regulations related to customer service processes - Product/service knowledge- product features, usage, and other aspects of service like maintenance - Be able to differentiate Theory X and Theory Y - Theory X: people who hate to work, need to be forced, prefer to be told what to do. - Theory Y: People who like to work, drive themselves, take initiative - Thoroughly know how to motivate and energize service employees (i.e., monetary vs. non-monetary rewards) - Monetary: Salary, bonus - Non-monetary: vacay days, benefits