Extended Service Encounter Reflective Journal Essay

Extended Service Encounter Reflective Journal - Essay Example The term ‘service encounter’ refers to ‘the contact situation between service customer and service firm when the service is being created’ (Se? Ler, 2009, p. 4), and as such is ‘one of the most central and controversial concepts in the service marketing literature’ (Grillmair, 2008, p. 4). The service encounter is important because customer perception is created by their most vivid impression of the service that takes place during the service encounter. There are three types of service encounters: episodic, consisting of a single occurrence producing a single revenue stream for the business, and a defined service duration; extended, which consists of an episodic service encounter but allowing for multiple service types; and continuous, which consists of multiple occurrences with multiple revenue streams, with an undefined service duration, multiple episodic or extended service encounters, and a relational exchange focus (Hume & McColl-Kennedy, 1 998). In this discussion, the aim is to create a diary of service encounters in the course of an extended service encounter. ... ement product requiring intimate participation of the customer in the process); (2) the pleasantness or unpleasantness which the customer felt for the duration of the service encounter; and (3) the lasting impression derived by the customer from the encounter. While it is true that all of us react to service encounters, not all of us react in the same way because of differences in cultural backgrounds, psychological make-up, and personal circumstances that make each of us unique (Grillmair, 2008). Therefore for the purpose of this study, there will be no better subject than this writer, to describe the feelings and impressions garnered during the exercise. I shall provide a service encounter journal of an experience I myself had undertaken, describing actions, thoughts and feelings that shaped the service encounter. Thereafter, the journal entries shall be analysed on a per-event basis, to break down the service encounter experience and later integrate them into a holistic account of what it takes for a customer to be satisfied. 2. The Service Provider Days Hotel is a popular chain of hotels that has established a global presence. Noted for its ‘affordable luxury’ and ‘ambience of carefully cultured elegance,’ the hotel is pleasantly appointed, unpretentiously four-star, and makes one feel at home with a modest kind of comfort. This local subsidiary is a take-off from its parent company, Days Inn of America, but it has evolved into an establishment that embodies both the warm hospitality of the locality and the service quality for which the brand is known. The company slogan is: â€Å"We make your day.† This is apparently a witty use of the word ‘day’ which comprises the hotel’s brand, while at the same time conveying in a simple and straightforward manner