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Service Quality & The Congruence Of Employee Perceptions & Customer Expectations: The Case Of An Electric Utility, Todd A. Finkle, Allen Klose

Todd A Finkle

Understanding how the quality of customer service is impacted by employees is essential to managing and improving customer service quality. This article develops a model that looks at the relationship between a series of two important customer service gaps. The first series of gaps (service provider gaps) is a result of the difference between consumers' and employees' expectations based on various dimensions of the customer service encounter. The second series of gaps (service quality gaps) occur when a difference exists between consumer expectations and the service they actually receive based on specific aspects of the customer service encounter. This study …