Sales and Service Management Acknowledge and Approach

Question: Discuss about the Sales and Service Management for Acknowledge and Approach. Answer: Introduction This study discusses on the subject of Sales and Service Management. This assignment includes mainly two models of sales and service management. During this assignment, the sales and service management at Harvey Norman are analyzed with the help of ABCs (Acknowledge and Approach; Body language; Communication) and the Servqual Gap Model. At the end of the assignment, the conclusion is obtained by considering the overall findings of the study. The ABCs of service provision Harvey Norman is one of the leading retailers in Australia. The business of the company is not only limited in Australia, but also it has expanded its business in New Zealand and Ireland. This huge success in the business world clearly indicates that the employees of the organization are quite efficient in handling their customers. If the sales and service management of Harvey Norman are analyzed as per their ABC (Acknowledge and Approach; Body language; Communication), then it can be stated that the sales people of the company treat every customers with equal priority. Each customer is valuable to the employees at Harvey Norman and they believe that all the people, who come to the store, are customers (Harveynorman.com.au, 2016). The management at Harvey Norman claims that they provide the products of leading brands at best the best price. The sales people of the company always try to interact with the customers with a positive body language. It helps the employees to motivate the customers towards purchase (Clarke Eales-Reynolds, 2015). The employees at sales department try to provide each service properly. In order to provide more comfort and satisfaction to the customers, the company has arranged for the sitting places in and outside store. However, currently, the company is facing the employee shortage problem while handling the customers. As the company provides home services, it requires more employees, so that customers always get service on time (Harveynorman.com.au, 2016). In order to communicate with the customers in better way, the company mainly focused on the online communication system. The company uses the social media like Gmail and Facebook to communicate with its employees. For example, the company sends email to its customers if they launch any new service, offer or discounts. Sometimes, the company arranges for survey in order to know the customers perceptions about the products and services. At the same time, Harvey Norman also provides the SMS service to the customers. The company always believes in communicating with the customers in short and simple language. Therefore, as per the overall analysis, it can be said that the company that is Harvey Norman follows a better way to enhance its business by proper handling of customers. SERVQUAL Gap Model The quality of services provided by Harvey and Norman can also be analyzed with the help of SERVQUAL model. As per this particular model, the customers at any company always have the expectation, which is higher than the perception that they have regarding the service that they receive (Al-Momani, 2015). This model of service quality analysis, talks about five different gaps that are existing between the customers expectations and the actual service quality. Below, the service quality at Harvey Norman is analyzed by analyzing the five gaps as per the SERVQUAL model: GAP 1 - Customers expectations vs. companys belief regarding the expectations of the customers Harvey Norman believes that the customers always expect best quality of products at best possible price. Due to this, the company includes the top branded products in its product ranges. However, there are some customers, who look for the products at lower price level. This type of customers does not want top branded products but price is the main factor for them. Therefore, for these customers, the value of the products at Harvey Norman sometimes does not fulfill their expectations (Harveynorman.com.au, 2016). Gap 2 Companys belief regarding customers expectations vs. service resources Harvey Norman provides not only the in-store service, but it also provides the home service. The company believes that the customers always expect comfort at the time of purchase and after the purchase. At the same time, the company also believes that the service like installation helps to satisfy the customers largely. However, sometimes customers do not get satisfied with the service provided by Harvey Norman. Expectation of each customer is not same and due to this company cannot satisfy each customer at each time, which create inadequate perceptions. Gap 3 Performance and service delivery vs. service resource Harvey Norman has few employees, who are not that much technologically efficient and few employees are also there, who cannot handle the customers in better way. Due to these employees, conflicts arise and the control system of the company is affected. The team performance of the company also affected due to this employee inefficiency (Harveynorman.com.au, 2016). Gap 4 External communication vs. delivery of service The management at Harvey Norman always tries to communicate with the customers in a better manner. However, sometimes, the communication strategy of the company does not perform as per the expectations of the company. Due to the improper communication, customers sometimes have wrong perception. For example, the company highlights that it provides the home services; however, it does not communicate the conditions for home delivery service. This creates gap between the external communication and delivery of service (Harveynorman.com.au, 2016). Gap 5 Gap between the customers perceptions and expectations of delivered service This gap is mainly created by the advertisements of the company. In the advertisements, the company does not disclose all terms and conditions of their offers. At the same time, in advertisement, the company always tries to prove itself best. However, when the customers come in the stores, many of them do not find the actual quality of products and service that they have expected. This creates the gap between expectations and perceptions of customers Conclusion In this study, it has been identified that at Harvey Norman the employees consider each customer with similar priority. They provide each necessary service to make the customers happy. They always have positive body language while handling the customers. However, as per the SERVQRAL model, there are some gaps between the service provided by the company and expectations of the customers. Reference list: Al-Momani, M. M. (2015). Gap Analysis between Perceptions and Expectations of Medical-Surgical Patients in a Public Hospital in Saudi Arabia.Medical Principles and Practice,25(1), 79-84. Clarke, C., Eales-Reynolds, L. J. (2015). Human factors paradigm and customer care perceptions.International journal of health care quality assurance,28(3), 288-299. Harveynorman.com.au. (2016). Harveynorman.com.au. Retrieved 1 August 2016, from https://www.harveynorman.com.au/