Minding the GAP and Customer SAT: USM, SERVQUAL, and Completely Satisfied

I’m overdue to comment on Hank Marquis’s Completely Satisfied. It’s worth a read for any service provider (which translates to everyone!).

It also prompted me to think about how USM and SERVQUAL contribute to managing the customer experience and when used with Completely Satisfied can help build actionable strategies for consistently managing customer expectations.

USM method

The Unified Service Management (USM) method is a universal management system designed to standardize and simplify service management across any type of service or organization. It provides a structured, process-driven method built on five key processes:

• Contract Management (AGREE) – managing expectations and agreements between stakeholders.
• Change Management (CHANGE) – ensuring that changes in services are controlled and understood.
• Incident Management (RESTORE) – restoring services as quickly as possible when disruptions occur.
• Operations Management (OPERATE) – overseeing day-to-day activities to ensure consistent service delivery.
• Risk Management (IMPROVE) – continuously assessing and reducing risks in service management.

These processes are supported by eight standard workflows, which streamline service management and provide a structure for scalability and adaptability. USM’s process-centric design ensures that services are managed efficiently while keeping customer needs at the forefront.

SERVQUAL

SERVQUAL is commonly used to measure customer satisfaction, allowing organizations to identify areas where service quality may fall short of expectations and take corrective action.

SERVQUAL assesses the gap between customer expectations and their perceived experiences across five dimensions as illustrated below.

Completely Satisfied

Hank Marquis’ book, Completely Satisfied, emphasizes the importance of customer satisfaction and loyalty, particularly through consistent and excellent service delivery. The strategies outlined in his book can be seamlessly integrated with the USM and SERVQUAL methods to elevate service quality and customer satisfaction even further.

RATER, a simplified version of the SERVQUAL dimensions/gaps, directly measures customer perceptions, making it more accessible for organizations looking to focus on immediate service quality improvements. Completely Satisfied also performs a form of gap analysis, but it approaches it in a more practical and action-oriented way compared to the SERVQUAL model.?

By combining the process-driven approach of USM with the customer-centric assessment provided by SERVQUAL, organizations can build a comprehensive service management system that prioritizes both operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. The insights from Completely Satisfied by Hank Marquis further enhance USM and SERVQUAL, providing actionable strategies to consistently exceed customer expectations.

Together, USM, SERVQUAL, and Completely Satisfied create a powerful toolset for managing customer experience in any service-driven organization, ensuring that customers remain at the heart of service delivery and continuous improvement efforts.

By adopting these methods, organizations can transform service quality from a reactive process into a proactive journey toward excellence.