International Journal of Service Industry Management

Quality in Retail Banking

R.F. Blanchard R.L. Galloway

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R.F. Blanchard R.L. Galloway, (1994),"Quality in Retail Banking", International Journal of Service Industry Management, Vol.
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Quality in Retail Banking

R.F. Blanchard

Quality in
Retail
Banking

TSB Bank plc, and

R.L. Galloway

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Leicester Business School, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK

Introduction
The UK financial services sector has seen a growing intensity of competition
within the marketplace, particularly over the last decade.
This competition emerged in the 1970s (de Moubray, 1989) when banks and
building societies based their major competitive strategy on the traditional
marketing mix elements of product, price, promotion and place. However this
led, in the eyes of the customer, to homogeneity rather than distinction, with an
apparently common market concept and perceived competitive strategy based
on full product lines (Howcroft, 1991).
In a developing environment of consumer awareness (Lewis and Entwistle,
1990) leading to a greater degree of consumer sovereignty, no organization
can afford to neglect customer needs (Goodstadt and Marti, 1990). Coupled with
a widely reported over-capacity within the Financial Services marketplace, a
key differentiator leading to competitive advantage is obviously necessary.
There is considerable support for the argument that this should be quality of
service (Berry et al., 1989; Edwards and Smith, 1989; Ross and Shetty, 1985).
That the banks are failing in this is evidenced by The Association of British
Chambers of Commerce, which, in a 1992 survey of its members, found banks to
be sterile and uncommunicative in their customer relationships, while in 1992 a
Consumers Association survey found 10 per cent of customers unhappy with
the service of their accounts, twice the number reported in 1990. The UK banks
are not unique in this. Raddon (1987) reported that 40 per cent of those
customers switching financial institutions in the USA did so because of service
problems, while Grubbs and Reidenbach (1991) reported a figure of 25 per cent
closing accounts for the same reason.
The banks are not unaware of this and most are addressing the issue of
quality of service in one way or another, though the evidence cited above
suggests that these attempts have had little impact on customer perception.
This article describes work carried out during 1991 and 1992 within the TSB
to determine the perceptions of both customers and staff of the requirements of
a quality service in retail banking. TSB Bank plc is the sixth largest bank in the
UK with a network of 1,400 branches and 7 million customers.
The authors wish to thank TSB Bank plc for assistance in carrying out the research described
and for permission to publish.

5
Received August 1993
Revised May 1994

International Journal of Service

Industry Management, Vol. 5 No. 4,
1994, pp. 5-23. MCB University
Press, 0956-4233

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Frameworks
While a universally accepted definition of quality is still not available the
majority of writers on service quality support a customer centred definition (e.g.
Eiglier and Langeard quoted in Le Blanc and Nguyen, 1988; Garvin, 1983;
Gummesson, 1988; Kathawala and Elmuti, 1991; Lewis, 1989; Oakland, 1986)
with the reservation that customer expectations are not necessarily consistent or
predictable (Haywood-Farmer, 1987; Peters, 1985). The definition produced by
Howcroft (1991) that service quality in banking implies consistently anticipating
and satisfying the needs and expectations of customers covers most of the issues
raised. In particular, it is customer centred, but in requiring the definition of
needs it does not presume upon the customers prior knowledge or technical
competence, while in allowing for expectations it implies that the service should
take account of this prior knowledge and experience. It also implies an
awareness of the dynamic nature of customer expectations in requiring that
these be anticipated. In view of its comprehensive coverage it is the one favoured
by the authors. This, of course, implies that banks, in seeking to provide a high
quality service, should identify these needs and expectations and establish the
way in which customers prioritize them.
Most authors agree that service consists of an outcome and a process
element, where outcome is the achievement (or not) of some end by the
customer (for example, cash from a cash dispenser, an appropriate insurance
policy or loan) and process is the interaction between the customer and the
service unit. The variation in tangibility of the service, and the presence of the
customer in the process, frequently make it difficult to define the boundary
between the two. The situation is further complicated by the fact that
perception of quality is heavily influenced by expectation (Lyth and Johnston,
1988). Despite this the process or functional element is perhaps the most
important in creating immediate impressions of quality. This division alone is
too imprecise to be of much value in the design of services and further
classification of service quality has been addressed by a number of authors.
Lehtinen and Lehtinen (in Le Blanc and Nguyen, 1988) identify the three
dimensions of:
(1) physical quality equipment, premises, tangibles;
(2) corporate quality image and profile of the organization;
(3) interactive quality customer contact with service personnel and other
customers.
Grnroos (1988) identifies the five key determinants of service quality as:
(1) professionalism and skills (technical (outcome related));
(2) reputation and credibility (image related);
(3) behaviour and attitudes;
(4) accessibility and flexibility; and
(5) reliability and trustworthiness.

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The first of these being technical (outcome related) and the last four are
functional (process related).
The most widely reported framework is that proposed by Parasuraman et
al. (1988) as the basis of SERVQUAL, consisting of the five dimensions of
service quality tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy.
These in turn are a consolidation of ten dimensions as shown in Table I.
The models proposed by Grnroos and by Parasuraman et al. have a
substantial superficial attraction. They appear to address a complex issue and
break it down into a reasonable but not excessive number of components.
Difficulties arise on closer examination. The elements are far too closely
interlinked to form the basis of a rigorous analysis of the service situation, and
they do not map unambiguously onto the basic classification of outcome,
process and expectation.
Figure 1 shows this mapping. The model of Lehtinen and Lehtinen shows
the most unambiguous linkage, but even this can be questioned. In service
encounters with very low tangible content (e.g. entertainment) the interaction
is the outcome, and there are no doubt occasions when corporate image is what
is being bought. Professionalism and skill and accessibility and flexibility
(Grnroos) and tangibles and reliability (SERVQUAL) all have obvious
elements of both process and outcome. Even empathy which, at least in
Financial Services, is a process issue, may well be a primary outcome when the
service is mainly personal (e.g. counselling or less formally, hairdresser or
bartender).
If service quality is to be measured, less ambiguous parameters are
necessary, and it appears that the fundamental ambiguity lies in the overlap of
process and outcome. These are not separate dimensions since dimensions are
by definition orthogonal and, at least in principle, measurable. Likewise the
SERVQUAL dimensions are not true dimensions. These issues are addressed
again later in the context of the data collected.

SERVQUAL

Components

Tangibles

Tangibles

Reliability

Reliability

Responsiveness

Responsiveness

Assurance

Competence
Courtesy
Credibility
Security

Empathy

Access
Communication
Understanding

Quality in
Retail
Banking
7

Table I.
SERVQUAL
Dimensions

IJSIM
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Outcome

Expectation

Tangibles

Corporate image
Reputation and credibility

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Premises
Professionalism and skill
Accessibility and
flexibility
Reliability and
trustworthiness

Assurance

Tangibles
reliability

Interactive
Behaviour
and attitudes

Responsiveness
Empathy
Process

Figure 1.
Classification of Some
Service Dimensions

Source: Lehtinen and Lehtinen, Grnroos, SERVQUAL

Parasuraman et al. also propose a model of the determinants of service quality

which identifies five opportunities for quality failure to arise (service gaps).
This model is shown in Figure 2.
The model can be perceived as a process for the design of a service:
management develop an understanding of customer expectations, use this to set
up relevant quality specifications, ensure that the service is designed and
operated to those specifications, and ensure that customers are correctly
informed of the service standards. It also provides a framework for analysing
quality failures by identifying the gaps in this process which cause a mismatch
between customer expectation and customer experience (perceived service).
Since this is a general model of the service process it does not suffer from the
problems of defining and measuring service quality and does not require a
rigorous definition of service quality to enable it to be used.
Methodology
The article describes two linked sets of data. The first, collected in March/April
1991 by the consultancy Research International Specialist Units Ltd, consisted

Expected service
Gap 1
Management perception
of expected service

Quality in
Retail
Banking
9

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Gap 2
Service quality
specification

Gap 5

Gap 3

Service delivery

Gap 4

Communication
to customer

Perceived
service

of a questionnaire completed during interview with 439 current/deposit account

customers of the bank. Respondents were recruited outside a quota sample
(reflecting size and location) of 71 bank branches and interviewed at home. The
sample itself was a quota sample reflecting lifestage (the categories,
representing age/status, being youth, independent, family, emptynester/retired), sex and socioeconomic class of the banks customers. Fourhundred-and-one valid replies were analysed. The questionnaire covered a very
wide range of issues and only the relevant part of the questionnaire is shown in
Appendix 1. The 31 aspects covered were generated during panel discussions
with 50 customers.
This was followed in late 1992 by a survey of staff. This took the form of five
structured interviews with management and four focused discussion groups,
each with eight members of staff. The managers were selected randomly, while
the discussion groups were selected to reflect the balance of back and front
office functions. In order to maximize the likelihood of uninhibited discussion,
management were not present during the discussion groups nor were records of
the discussions made available to them. The views of a total of 39 staff were
thus obtained. This research was carried out by Front Line Market Research
under the direction of the authors. The discussion guide used is shown in
Appendix 2. The models proposed by Parasuraman et al., as described above,

Figure 2.
Service Gap Model of
the Service Process

were considered the most widely verified and applicable models and were
therefore initially used as a framework for developing and analysing the data.

10

Findings
Customer Perceptions
Relative importance weights were calculated for each of the 31 attributes and
are shown in Table II.
These attributes were then related to the SERVQUAL dimensions and to
whether they represented process or outcome issues as shown in Table III. This

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Table II.
Customer Ranking of
Service Attributes

Rank

Attribute

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.

Privacy of discussions
Politeness of counter staff
Willingness to help
Way staff treat customers
Cash in machines
Speed and efficiency of transactions
Staff listen
Tills open at busy times
Staff available to help
Informing of account changes
Way mistakes are handled
Clarity of staff answers
Charges clear and explained
Attitude of bank when lending
Person for questions
Availability of enquiries desk
Return/replace cash card
Queue at branch
Opening hours
Appearance of branch
Taking time to match product/need
Staffs product knowledge
Overdraft charges
Ease of getting to branch
Queues at cash machines
Ease of understanding letters
Informed of progress of applications
Relevant direct mail
Telephones answered quickly
Getting right person on phone
Speed of mortgage confirmation

Relative
importance
100
92
90
86
77
72
71
64
57
54
50
49
46
41
38
35
32
32
29
29
28
27
27
26
19
18
14
11
10
8
5

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Attribute

SERVQUAL
dimension

Process/
outcome

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.

Tan/ass
Ass
Res
Res/ass
ATan/rel
Tan/red
Res/emp
Rel/res
Rel/res/emp
Rel/emp
Res/ass
Emp
Emp
Res/ass/emp
Tan/rel/res
Tan/rel/res
Tan/rel/res
Tan/rel//res
Tan/res
Tan/ass
Res/ass
Res/ass
Tan
Tan/emp
Tan/emp
Rel/res/ass
Rel/res/ass
Tan/res
Tan/rel/res
Tan/rel
Tan/rel/res

Process
Process
Process
Process
Outcome
Process/outcome
Process
Process
Process
Process/outcome
Process/outcome
Process/outcome
Process/outcome
Process
Process
Process
Outcome
Process
Process
Process
Process
Process
Outcome
Process
Process
Process
Process/outcome
Outcome
Process
Process
Process

Privacy of discussions
Politeness of counter staff
Willingness to help
Way staff treat customers
Cash in machines
Speed and efficiency of transactions
Staff listen
Tills open at busy times
Staff available to help
Informing of account changes
Way mistakes are handled
Clarity of staff answers
Charges clear and explained
Attitude of bank when lending
Person for questions
Availability of enquiries desk
Return/replace cash card
Queue at branch
Opening hours
Appearance of branch
Taking time to match product/need
Staffs product knowledge
Overdraft charges
Ease of getting to branch
Queues at cash machines
Ease of understanding letters
Informed of progress of applications
Relevant direct mail
Telephones answered quickly
Getting right person on phone
Speed of mortgage confirmation

ass = assurance; res = responsiveness; emp = empathy; tan = tangibles; rel = reliability

relationship was established subjectively by the authors in discussion, but it is

suggested that in most cases the association is self-evident.
The data show quite clearly that the SERVQUAL dimensions are not
exclusive, at least from the viewpoint of customers expression of needs, and
there is certainly room for discussion of the relative balance of the elements (for
example on item 10, to what extent should the provision of information be
considered a tangible?), but in general the attributes identified as important by

Quality in
Retail
Banking
11

Table III.
Relationship of
Attributes to
SERVQUAL
Dimensions

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12

customers fit conveniently into the SERVQUAL dimensions without undue

strain.
By weighting the SERVQUAL dimensions by the relative weights given to
the attributes by customers, it is possible to develop a crude ranking. This is
shown in Table IV.
This clearly shows the expected pattern that service customers attach
considerably more significance to the process elements of the service, rather
than the outcomes, when judging quality. Indeed, when the two alternatives of
process and outcome are weighted in this way, the ratio is 82 per cent process to
18 per cent outcome. This has obvious implications for service design.
What is less clear is the utility of the more detailed breakdown into
SERVQUAL dimensions. Responsiveness is seen as the most important of
these, but in referring back to the original customer-determined issues, this is
seen to contain elements of interpersonal behaviour (willingness to help; staff
listen; way staff treat customers) and much harder issues such as tills open at
busy times. The dimension is not focused on specific issues which either the
customer or the service designer are likely to address. This might not matter if
the SERVQUAL dimensions represented some underlying structure, but their
ambiguity and overlap suggests that this is not the case.
A rigorous basis for analysis would require a classification of service quality
which avoids ambiguity, by being based on genuinely orthogonal dimensions,
and allows for variation between different types of service to be represented by
measurement of the magnitude of a particular dimension. The authors suggest
that the basis for one such dimension, the process/outcome distinction, has
already been described and has been widely recognized as a key issue in service
design. However it seems more reasonable to regard this as a dimension rather
than a dichotomy, with a particular aspect of any service being located at some
intermediate point between the two extremes. This is consistent with Figure 1
and explains the substantial overlap between process and outcome necessary to
accommodate most attempts to classify service quality. Two other potential
candidates are:
(1) Subjective/objective, which provides a measure of the degree to which the
quality of that aspect of the service under consideration can be
objectively specified. For example, the availability of cash in cash
SERVQUAL dimension
Responsiveness

Table IV.
Ranking of SERVQUAL
Dimensions by
Customers

Relative weight
100

Assurance

70

Empathy

52

Tangibles

47

Reliability

44

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machines is entirely objective since it is either there or not, whereas such

issues as staff listen to me or politeness of staff are far more
subjective. One customers politeness might be anothers obsequiousness. The issue here is not so much whether the aspect can be
measured but the degree to which customers perceptions are consistent.
Speed/efficiency of transactions can be measured but customers ideas of
what constitutes fast are variable. For example a study of customer
perceptions of service in a supermarket (Harridence, 1992) found that the
elderly tended to prefer a slower checkout service since it increased the
opportunity for social interaction. The establishment of a value for this
dimension would assist the service designer by indicating the nature and
appropriateness of control measures and the need for allowing discretion
to service personnel, as well as indicating opportunity/need for customer
selection and training. This dimension in particular links to the issue of
prior expectations, and the greater the subjective content of the service
encounter, the greater contribution expectations would be expected to
make to perceived service quality.
(2) Soft/hard. This terminology is derived from the systems field and widely
used in discussion of service issues. It is used here in the sense that hard
represents physical aspects of the service while soft represents
interpersonal interaction. The authors suggest that this dimension is
orthogonal to both the process/outcome dimension and the
subjective/objective dimension, although there is perhaps more
correlation with the latter in that objective aspects are more likely to be
hard. Thus premises, equipment, and tangibles involved in the
transaction are hard, whereas staff attitude is soft. It is widely recognized
that soft issues are more difficult to deal with The soft side is harder
(Vandermerwe, 1993) thus a measure of the relative importance of soft
issues will give an indication of the likely difficulty of managing and
improving service quality.
An element which has been considered and rejected is the tangible/intangible
dimension as this is well covered by subjective/objective and soft/hard.
Seeking to apply these three dimensions to the attributes identified as
important begs the question of measurement, another property of a true
dimension. At this stage no more than a three-position scale has been attempted
with each attribute being assigned to either the mid point, or one extreme, of
each dimension, the values being assigned subjectively by the authors. The
rationale behind the assignment is in most cases self-evident (i.e. privacy of
discussions is a process issue, but criteria for judging privacy are reasonably
objective and the issue is hard in that privacy depends on fixed facilities; way
staff treat customers is again process, and while some forms of staff behaviour
might be universally considered unacceptable, the influence of the customers
perceptions and attitudes makes this highly subjective. Concerned with
interpersonal interaction, it is self-evidently soft). Where a mixed

Quality in
Retail
Banking
13

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14

subjective/objective value has been assigned this is because the resolution

depends heavily on customer perception, but there are reasonably well
established norms, i.e. certain types of behaviour would generally be recognized
as polite. Given the subjective nature of this assignment, it was considered
inappropriate to attempt a more precise measurement than the 50:50 point
chosen. The results are shown in Table V.
Weighting these by the relative weights given to the attributes by customers
yields the breakdown shown in Table VI. This effectively plots the location of
this particular service within a three-dimensional matrix. This yields the

Attribute

Table V.
Service Attributes and
Dimension

Privacy of discussions
Politeness of counter staff
Willingness to help
Way staff treat customers
Cash in machines
Speed and efficiency of transactions
Staff listen
Tills open at busy times
Staff available to help
Informing of account changes
Way mistakes are handled
Clarity of staff answers
Charges clear and explained
Attitude of bank when lending
Person for questions
Availability of enquiries desk
Return/replace cash card
Queue at branch
Opening hours
Appearance of branch
Taking time to match product/need
Staffs product knowledge
Overdraft charges
Ease of getting to branch
Queues at cash machines
Ease of understanding letters
Informed of progress of applications
Relevant direct mail
Telephones answered quickly
Getting right person on phone
Speed of mortgage confirmation

Process/
outcome

Subjective/
objective

Soft/
hard

P
P
P
P
O
P/O
P
P
P
P/O
P/O
P/O
O
P
P
P
O
P
P
P
P
P
O
P
P
P
P/O
O
P
P
P

O
S/O
S/O
S
O
S/O
S
O
S/O
O
S
S
S/O
S
O
O
O
S/O
O
S/O
S/O
O
O
S/O
S/O
S/O
S/O
S/O
O
O
S/O

H
S
S
S
H
S/H
S
H
H
H
S
S
S/H
S
H
H
H
H
H
H
S/H
S/H
H
H
H
S/H
H
H
H
S/H
H

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interesting result that although process issues dominate perception of service

quality, as has been widely reported, this does not carry with it the frequentlymade assumption that quality issues are therefore soft and difficult to define. In
fact issues which can be classed as objective seem marginally more important
than those classed as subjective, while hard issues are almost as important as
soft issues in this case.

Quality in
Retail
Banking
15

Staff Perceptions
The structured discussions and interviews were designed to establish the staffs
perception of customer expectations and their perception of how well these
were met. Discussion leaders reported a strong sense of participation and
consensus in all groups. Analysis was carried out by classifying relevant
quotations. Staff perception of customer expectations is shown in Table VII.
While it is not possible to rank these, responsiveness and assurance among
the SERVQUAL dimensions are clearly more prominent than the others
showing a very close agreement between staff perception and customer
expectation.
When these are linked to the three dimensions of process/outcome,
subjective/objective and soft/hard the results shown in Table VIII are obtained.
Again, although weighting is not possible, a very close agreement with
customer expectations is apparent.
Staff perceptions of possible causes of service failure were classified using
the Gap model shown in Figure 2. It was found that all comments could be
unambiguously assigned to particular gaps and the outcome is shown in Table
IX.

%
Process
Subjective
Soft

83
47
53

%
Outcome
Objective
Hard

17
53
47

Expectation

SERVQUAL dimension

Not to have to wait to be served

Polite friendly staff
Cash in ATMs
Not to be dealt with by staff distracted by other business
Not to be dealt with by staff who lack confidence/knowledge
Not to be kept waiting for an appointment
Privacy
Welcoming environment

Responsiveness
Assurance
Reliability/tangible
Responsiveness/assurance
Assurance
Reliability/responsiveness
Assurance/tangible
Assurance/empathy

Table VI.
Location of Service
within Dimensions

Table VII.
Staff Perception of
Customer Expectations

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16

Table VIII.
Staff Perception of
Customer Expectations

Expectation

Process/
outcome

Subjective/
objective

Soft/
hard

P
P
O
P

S/O
S/O
O
O

H
S
H
S/H

S/O

P/O
P
P

S/O
O
S/O

H
H
H

Not to have to wait to be served

Polite friendly staff
Cash in ATMs
Not to be dealt with by staff distracted
by other business
Not to be dealt with by staff who lack
confidence/knowledge
Not to be kept waiting for an appointment
Privacy
Welcoming environment

The low incidence of gap 1 issues is not surprising given the very close
agreement between customer expectations and the banks perceptions of
customer expectations (while it might be argued that gap 1 is really a senior
management concern, a much wider awareness would be expected in an
organization seeking to promote quality). Gap 5 identifies the importance of
management acquiring accurate information about customer expectations and
using this information as a first step in developing service quality. As described
above, extensive research had been undertaken by the bank and it is apparent
that a clear understanding of customer expectations was emerging.
Gap 2 arose largely from the perception that there was no published set of
service standards: we dont have any set down, we just try and offer the
customer the best service we can. The fact that it was not particularly
dominant may be explained by the profusion of local standards that were
discovered and the very clear perception of customer expectations expressed by
staff. This may suggest that a high level of awareness of customer needs among
service personnel could reduce the need for formal standards, but in the
authors opinion a lack of standard service guidelines across the branch

Number

Table IX.
Classification of Staff
Perceptions

Percentage

Gap 1

Customer expectation/management perception

10

7.6

Gap 2

Management perception/quality specification

34

26.0

Gap 3

Quality specification/service delivery

53

40.5

Gap 4

Service delivery/external communications

24

18.3

Gap 5

Expected service/perceived service

10

7.6

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network does have strategic implications regarding the closing of gap 2. While
informal standards are encouraging, such initiatives need to be replaced by
integrated standards consistent with the organizations strategic objectives,
particularly in a multi-location organization where inconsistency can give rise
to problems. That causes problems when our customers go elsewhere and you
say it will be all right but the other branch dont do it. The preponderance of
indications of gap 3 problems reinforces the susceptibility of this gap to service
failure and occurs when there is a difference between service specification and
delivery. Inconsistencies of service delivery are influenced by inexperience, the
perceived lack of importance placed on the role of front-line personnel and the
need to develop further awareness of the internal customer-supplier chain.
While staff clearly understood its importance, the potential vulnerability of
service delivery could be reduced by building teamwork and shared values in
order to enable the component parts of the customer-supplier chain to become
more congruent. Customer contact is not seen as valued: everyone sees it
(counter service) as like a lower down job and conflict between front and
back office staff was frequently felt: staff need educating as to what the
service centres (back office) do and service centres need educating as to what
branches do.
Gap 4 was primarily concerned with the organizations failure to communicate effectively with customers: our adverts dont tell people anything
about what we do, do they?. This is a criticism which could be applied to
almost all corporate advertising. As Zeithaml et al. (1990) mention, by
neglecting to inform customers of those areas where the organization is
undertaking to enhance service quality, it may be forgoing opportunities to
influence customer service perceptions and thus reduce gap 5. This failure
applied both to services and to processes: they [the customers] dont want any
problems [but] they dont realize the bank procedures we have to go through.
Consequently service perception could be enhanced by educating customers
and thus influencing expectations.
Discussion
The authors acquired this work part way through, after the original customer
survey had been carried out, and therefore had no influence on the structure of
this phase. The original intention had been to analyse the data using the
SERVQUAL classification and link this to staff perceptions using the Gap
model. The failure of the SERVQUAL model to provide any particularly useful
insights into how service might be improved led to the attempt to develop an
alternative model of greater utility. It may well be that had the original survey
been conceived within the SERVQUAL model this model might have proved
more useful, but this does not affect the validity of the analysis produced, based
as it was on clearly articulated customer concerns. The quality of the data must
be considered good since the data collection was designed and administered by
professionals in the field of opinion research.

Quality in
Retail
Banking
17

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18

The implications of the findings for retail banking are clear. Customers
overwhelmingly consider the process elements of the service when evaluating
quality. They are seeking a responsive service with a high level of assurance.
One that gives an impression of competence and credibility, one that can be
trusted. What is of interest is that the staff, at least in this bank, demonstrated
a clear and accurate perception of customer expectations and recognized the
need to meet these.
The staffs perception of the reasons for service quality failure corresponded
well with this situation, in that relatively little importance was attached to gap
1 (perception of customer requirements). It is perhaps surprising that gap 2
(service standards) was not considered more important given the apparent
absence of established service standards, but if, as was the case here, staff feel
that they have a clear perception of customer expectations, it is probable that
the need for standards is seen as less important. However the need for
consistency, particularly in a multi-location organization, would seem to
overrule an ad hoc approach. The most significant cause of service quality
failure was the perceived failure of the organization to value the primary
customer contact role sufficiently (gap 3). Whether by accident or design, a
culture appears to have developed in which this role is seen as the lowest status
and lowest paid in the organization. Gap 4 (external communications) reflects
the staffs perception that customers are not well informed about services or
procedures. This was both positive (advertising does not make clear the service
which is available) and negative (customers are unsure of banking procedures,
tariffs etc.) and suggests scope for customer education as a simple means of
improving quality by narrowing this gap.
Of the models considered, the gap model of Parasuraman et al. proved to fit
the data perfectly and provided an excellent framework for analysis. It provided
a clear and unambiguous basis for the classification of staff perceptions of the
causes of service failure and indicated clearly the means and responsibilities for
reducing or eliminating those causes. In the opinion of the authors, this model is
general enough to be very widely applicable, and specific enough to give
actionable diagnostic information.
The SERVQUAL dimensions were less convincing. While superficially
attractive they did not readily align with customer statements of expectations
and in many cases customer statements involved at least two of the SERVQUAL
dimensions. This interdependence is, of course, widely recognized, but as a
result the use of the term dimension is invalid, and the lack of clarity it
introduces does substantially reduce the value of the model. There are
particular problems with reliability which appears to qualify the other four
attributes as well as being an independent issue, i.e. the requirement for cash to
be available in ATMs at all times is quite clearly a reliability issue, while the
politeness of staff is an assurance issue, but how reliably should staff be polite?
Perhaps reliability is a prerequisite for quality service in all cases and therefore
in a different category to the other dimensions which may or may not be
significant in a particular service.

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As a result of these shortcomings the authors propose a model based on the

three dimensions of process/outcome, subjective/objective, and soft/hard. These
are, at least in principle, measurable, and are in the authors opinion probably
orthogonal. This model has the advantage of allowing service attributes to be
allocated a value within each dimension, and provides a classification which
avoids overlap and ambiguity. A more important question is: does it assist in
understanding service quality? In the authors opinion, its application to the
customer data presented in this case demonstrates a potential utility which at
least warrants further investigation. The model clearly demonstrated that
process is far more important than outcome in determining customer
perceptions of service quality, but it also demonstrated that, in the case of this
particular service, subjective and objective, and hard and soft, issues were
about equally balanced. This suggests that although interpersonal and
subjective issues are important, and a proper balance of attention in design and
monitoring is necessary, addressing the hard and objective issues could more
readily provide, and monitor, a high quality service in a fairly prescriptive and
reproducible manner. In other words, objective and hard aspects of this service
are as important as the subjective and soft aspects but can be much more
readily identified and specified. It is suggested that the use of these three
dimensions to analyse customer perceptions/requirements can direct the service
designers attention to those areas which are important for a good quality
service and identify their relative importance and ease of attainment. It is
further suggested that these three dimensions may well form the basis for a
useful and rigorous classification of services.
Further work is obviously required on the model proposed. This one
example, while significant in size and scope, was not set up to test such a model,
and the results are at best indicative of potential. Future work should include
investigation of other service activities, but more importantly, should include
development of a methodology which can assign values to the three dimensions
proposed during the data collection phase. This would enable both the
theoretical basis behind the model (are the dimensions really orthogonal?) and
its generality to be tested.
References
Berry, L.L., Bennett, D.R. and Brown, C.W. (1989), Service Quality. A Profit Strategy for Financial
Institutions, Dow Jones-Irwin, Homewood, IL.
Consumers Association (1992), Current Accounts Which?, November, pp. 6-13.
de Moubray, G. (1989), Quality of Service The Key to Competitive Advantage, Journal of
Chartered Building Societies Institute, Vol. 43 No. 194, pp. 19-22.
Edwards, S. and Smith, S. (1989), Banking on Total Quality, Total Quality Management,
February, pp. 97-100.
Garvin, D.A. (1983), Quality on the Line, Harvard Business Review, September-October, p. 68.
Goodstadt, P. and Marti, R. (1990), Quality Service at National Westminster Bank The
Continual Striving for Excellence, International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management,
Vol. 7 No. 4, pp. 19-28.

Quality in
Retail
Banking
19

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20

Grnroos, C. (1988), Service Quality: The Six Criteria of Good Perceived Service Quality, Review
of Business, Vol. 9 No. 3, pp. 10-13.
Grubbs, R.M. and Reidenbach, E.R. (1991), Customer Service Renaissance: Lessons from the
Banking Wars, Probus, Chicago, IL, p. 8.
Gummesson, E. (1988), Service Quality and Product Quality Combined, Review of Business,
Vol. 9 No. 3, pp. 14-19.
Harridence, M.N. (1992), The Role of Customer Care within a Cooperative Societys Retail
Division, unpublished.
Haywood-Farmer, J. (1987), A Conceptual Model of Service Quality, International Journal of
Operations & Production Management, Vol. 8 No. 6, November, pp. 19-29.
Howcroft, J.B. (1991), Customer Satisfaction in Retail Banking, Service Industries Journal,
January, pp. 11-17.
Kathawala, Y. and Elmuti, D. (1991), Quality in the Service Industry, Management Research
News, Vol. 14 No. 3, pp. 13-6.
Le Blanc, G. and Nguyen, N. (1988), Customers Perceptions of Service Quality in Financial
Institutions, International Journal of Bank Marketing, Vol. 6 No. 4, pp. 7-18.
Lewis, B.R. (1989), Quality in the Service Sector: A Review, International Journal of Bank
Marketing, Vol. 7 No. 5, pp. 4-12.
Lewis, B.R. and Entwistle T.W. (1990), Managing the Service Encounter: A Focus on the
Employee, International Journal of Service Industry Management, Vol. 1 No. 3, pp. 41-52.
Lyth, D.M. and Johnston, R. (1988), A Framework for Designing Quality into Service Operations,
Management of Service Operations, Proceedings from Operations Management Association
UK Annual International Conference, pp. 221-9.
Oakland, J.S. (1986), Systematic Quality Management in Banking, Service Industries Journal,
July, pp. 193-204.
Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V.A. and Berry, L.L. (1988), SERVQUAL: A Multiple-item Scale for
Measuring Consumer Perceptions of Service Quality, Journal of Retailing, Vol. 64 No. 1,
Spring.
Peters. T.J. (1985), Service: Where Battles Are Won or Lost, Managers Magazine, March, pp. 28-33.
Raddon, G.H. (1987), Quality Service A Low-cost Profit Strategy, Bank Marketing, September,
pp. 10-2.
Ross, J.E. and Shetty, Y.K. (1985), Making Quality a Fundamental Part of Strategy, Long Range
Planning, Vol. 18 No. 1, pp. 53-8.
Vandermerwe, S. (1993), From Tin Soldiers to Russian Dolls, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford,
p. 106.
Zeithaml, V.A., Parasuraman, A. and Berry, L.L. (1990), Delivering Quality Service. Balancing
Customer Perceptions and Expectations, The Free Press, New York, NY, pp. 43-5.
Appendix 1
Part B Strength of Feeling Rating
S2. I now want to show you the list of statements again.
Thinking about your dealings with TSB, I would like you to read each statement and write in
a score of between one and ten to describe how strongly you would feel about each aspect of bank
service if it were to change for the better or worse.
You will see from the questionnaire that a score of ten would mean you feel very strongly about
this aspect of service if it were to change. A score of one indicates you do not feel at all strongly
about the aspect of service.
Please write in the box on the right of each statement the number that relates to how strongly
you feel about each statement if the quality of service from TSB changed.

The scores in between show varying degrees of strength of feeling. You may choose any
number from 1-10, but please give 10 only to those you feel really strongly about.
HAND QUESTIONNAIRE TO RESPONDENT

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1
2
3
4
5
I feel not at all strongly about

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.

7
8
9
10
I feel very strongly about
WRITE IN
(1-10)
HERE
Willingness to be helpful
n (62)
Speed of dealing with transactions at counters effectively
n (64)
Number of people usually in front of me in a queue in branch
n (65)
Tills available at busy times
n (66)
The way staff treat customers
n (67)
Staff listening to me
Availability of appropriate person in branch with time to deal
n (68)
with my questions
n (69)
Cash in cash machines
n (70)
Length of queues at cash machines
n (71)
Opening hours
n (72)
Ease of getting to branches
n (73)
Staffs product knowledge
n (74)
Taking time to find the right service/account for my needs
n (75)
Privacy to discuss personal financial matters
n (76)
Attitude of bank when lending me money
n (07)
Overdraft charges
n (08)
Getting the right person on the phone
n (09)
The way mistakes are handled
n (10)
Bank charges clearly defined and explained
n (11)
Return or replacement of cash machine card
n (12)
Speed of written confirmation of mortgage offer
n (13)
Being kept informed on progress of any application for a service
n (14)
General appearance of branch
n (15)
Receipt of informative leaflets and brochures
n (16)
Keeping you up to date on your accounts
n (17)
Politeness of counter staff
n (18)
Ease of understanding letters
n (19)
Availability of enquiries desk
n (20)
Staff available to help
n (21)
Ability of staff to answer queries in plain English
n (22)
Telephones answered quickly

Quality in
Retail
Banking
21

Figure A1.
Strength of Feeling
Rating Sheet

IJSIM
5,4

Appendix 2
Discussion Guide: Staff Research
(1)

What is the current understanding of customer service levels

22

by customer

by staff

(discuss any differences which emerge)

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how is good/bad/indifferent service gauged

(2)

(3)

what standards of customer service have been laid down by TSB and why (discuss
in detail)

to what extent do staff feel they have been provided with official guidelines on
TSBs expectations of them in this area

how effectively have these guidelines been communicated to staff

are the guidelines which have been provided adequate or do they require
further clarification

on what basis do staff feel the guidelines have been determined

to what extent are they based on customer standards/expectations

are customers aware that TSB rates customer service very highly and has
specific expectations of staff how would customers be aware of this

how satisfactory do staff consider the general level of customer service to be within
TSB

How important is service perceived to be from staff and customer positions

what priority do staff feel TSB places on customer service/meeting customers

expectations

what effort does TSB make to find out what customers want

what priority do staff feel they place on customer service relative to their other
responsibilities as employees of TSB, what aspects do they feel are most important

what effort do they make to find out what customers want

what priority do customers place on customer service, what aspects are most
important to them

is it a reasonable expectation that staff and customers should place similar emphasis
on customer service or are the perspectives of the two sides bound to differ

Are there any specific areas of concern for staff about gaps which exist between
customers expectations of service and the actual service they receive

list and discuss all areas of which staff are aware

why do these gaps exist

are customers expectations realistic if not, how can TSB staff overcome customer
disappointment and attempt to persuade them to change their expectation

are the Banks expectations of staff realistic in context of Service Quality

are standards of performance clear and attainable

do staff feel empowered to undertake their role

how is TSBs record in providing customer service felt to compare with that of
competitors (if anything is known about this)

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(4)

(5)

is it felt that other measures of success suffer to any extent (or do they improve)
if a high priority is placed on customer service can customer service, in fact,
be pursued too energetically with negative consequences

to what extent does the Bank respond to changes in customers expectations

what specific customer service issues, if any, do staff consider should have been more
effectively addressed by TSB and what are perceived to be the problems hindering
delivery here

what are these

how important is it that these problem areas should be addressed immediately and
why is this felt to be the case

To what extent has Service Quality been implemented for internal customers
how successful has this proved

How do staff feel the Bank treats them

do staff feel they share common objectives with the Bank in terms of Service Quality
(and any other areas)

is there a culture of teamwork achievement and shared values amongst peers/a sense
of staff and management working together

to what extent do staff feel that Senior Management are fully committed to Service
Quality

(7)

who, if anyone, is achieving a better level of customer service and how are they
managing to achieve this

Are there any problem areas known to have been overlooked/not addressed through
TQM/Service Quality

(6)

how clearly have they demonstrated this

is this perceived to be a long-term commitment

how many opportunities do staff have to discuss views with Senior Management

does Senior Management encourage this

are staff views on Service Quality considered

Do staff have any solutions which they feel would help them deliver service to a standard
which is closer to customer requirements

what changes would they propose

how would these be effected

how would staff feel about an appraisal/reward scheme in the context of Service
Quality (would this be congruent).

Quality in
Retail
Banking
23

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347-358. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
44. Jillian DawesUniversity College, Northampton, UK.Reva Berman BrownReva Berman Brown is Professor of Management at
Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK.. 2000. Postmodern marketing: research issues for retail financial services. Qualitative
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45. P.E.D. LOVESchool of Architecture and Building, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria 3217, Australia J. SMITHFaculty of
Architecture, Building and Planning, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia G.J. TRELOARSchool
of Architecture and Building, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria 3217, Australia H. LIDepartment of Building and Real
Estate, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hun Horn, Kowloon, Hong Kong. 2000. Some empirical observations of service
quality in construction. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management 7:2, 191-201. [Abstract] [PDF]
46. Jrn Flohr Nielsen, Viggo HST. 2000. The Path to Service Encounter Performance in Public and Private Bureaucracies.
The Service Industries Journal 20, 40-60. [CrossRef]
47. Stanislav KarapetrovicStanislav Karapetrovic is at the Department of Industrial Engineering, Daltech/Dalhousie University,
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.Walter WillbornWalter Willborn is at the Faculty of Management, University of Manitoba,
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. 1999. Quality assurance in investment services. Managing Service Quality: An International
Journal 9:4, 222-230. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
48. Brooks Ian, DAWES JILLIAN. 1999. Merger as a Trigger for Cultural Change in the Retail Financial Services Sector. The
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49. Karin NewmanMiddlesex University Business School, London, UK Alan CowlingMiddlesex University Business School,
London, UK Susan LeighMiddlesex University Business School, London, UK. 1998. Case study: service quality, business
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[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
50. Heather Stewart, Chris Hope, Alan Muhlemann. 1998. Professional service quality A step beyond other services?. Journal
of Retailing and Consumer Services 5, 209-222. [CrossRef]
51. Lynne Bennington, James Cummane. 1998. Measuring service quality: A hybrid methodology. Total Quality Management
9, 395-405. [CrossRef]
52. Antreas D. AthanassopoulosWarwick Business School, University of Warwick, Coventry. 1997. Another look into the agenda
of customer satisfaction: focusing on service providers own and perceived viewpoints. International Journal of Bank Marketing
15:7, 264-278. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
53. Roger HallowellHarvard Business School, Boston, MA, USA. 1996. The relationships of customer satisfaction, customer
loyalty, and profitability: an empirical study. International Journal of Service Industry Management 7:4, 27-42. [Abstract] [Full
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54. Martin FojtGuest Editor. 1996. Strategic issues for training. Industrial and Commercial Training 28:6, 1-36. [Abstract] [PDF]
55. Les GallowayLeicester Business School, De Montford University, Leicester, UK Sam HoLeicester Business School, De
Montford University, Leicester, UK. 1996. A model of service quality for training. Training for Quality 4:1, 20-26. [Abstract]
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56. R.L. Galloway Senior Lecturer, Leicester Business School, De Montfort University, UKR.F. Blanchard Area Director,
Commercial Banking. 1996. Variation in the perception of quality with lifestage in retail banking. International Journal of
Bank Marketing 14:1, 22-29. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]