Customer Care Concept and Customer Care Services

effective service quality. This is considered the most general concept, fully encompassing

the most meaningful of services.

Characteristics of service quality

Superiority: For customers, service quality represents superiority, and this superiority makes service quality a competitive advantage for service providers. The assessment of superiority in service quality is greatly influenced by the perception of service users, especially in marketing research and customer satisfaction.

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Characteristic: Service quality is the sum of the most essential aspects crystallized in the service product, creating the characteristic of the service product. It is thanks to these characteristics that customers can recognize the service quality of one business compared to another. However, in reality, the core characteristics of the service are only relative, so it is difficult to determine fully and accurately.

Service delivery: Service quality is closely linked to the process of implementing/transferring the service to the customer. Service implementation, service style and service delivery will determine whether the service is good or not. Therefore, to improve service quality, the supplier must first know how to improve this internal factor to create its own long-term strength in providing services to customers.

Satisfaction of needs: Services are created to meet the needs of customers. Service quality must necessarily satisfy customer needs and take customer requirements as the basis for improving service quality.

Value creation: Service quality is closely linked to the values created to serve customers. It would be useless and worthless to provide services that customers evaluate as having no quality. Enterprises create value and customers are the ones who receive those values. Therefore, considering service quality or more specifically the values brought to customers depends on the evaluation of customers, not of enterprises. Customers will receive the values provided by the service and compare them with what they expect to receive. Therefore, value creation is a basic characteristic and the foundation for building and developing service quality for enterprises.

Service quality indicators

Reliability: Is the ability to provide the service as promised reliably and accurately, it also includes the consistency and stability that the company must perform from the very beginning of providing the service. Ensuring reliable service is one of the expectations of customers.

Responsiveness: Is the willingness to help customers in a positive, enthusiastic, responsible manner and to serve quickly and promptly. It is shown when the business informs when to perform the service; the staff is ready to help customers; the service is provided quickly.

Service capacity: Includes the knowledge and skills needed to perform service work that demonstrates high professionalism, as well as the ability to gain trust and confidence. Attentiveness, courtesy, enthusiasm in serving and respecting customers .

Empathy: Includes the ability to approach and make an effort to understand the needs of customers, pay attention to individual customers including caring, understanding the needs of each customer. Put the interests of customers first. Customers often have different needs, expectations, attitudes and emotions, so they want to be treated as separate individuals.

Tangible factors: The presence of equipment, facilities and workers

activities in service businesses.

1.1.3. Customer care service

1.1.3.1. Concept of customer care and customer care service

Nowadays, when people's living standards increase, customers' demands also become more advanced and stricter, customer care is very necessary, meeting customers' requirements to the maximum. So what is customer care?

According to the authors of Besiness Edge, customer care is understood as what is necessary for businesses to do to satisfy the needs and expectations of customers, that is, serving what they want to be served and doing what is necessary to keep the customers they have.

Customer service is the provision of service to customers before, during, and after a purchase. Customer service refers to the priority an organization assigns to customer service in relation to components such as product innovation and pricing. An organization that values good customer service may spend more money on employee training than the average organization or may proactively interview customers for feedback.

1.1.3.2. The role of customer service

Maintain existing customers, create loyal customers: Customer care will help maintain the number of current customers because according to the concept of today's businesses, retaining an old customer is easier and more cost-effective than finding a new customer. And good customer care will help businesses easily do this. When taking good care of old customers, creating satisfaction and trust from them, this is also the way to create loyal customers. Especially when customers are increasingly difficult, carefully considering each purchase decision, businesses cannot take customer care lightly. When businesses show good customer care after purchase, it also shows respect for customers.

Attracting potential customers: According to some studies, a satisfied customer will tell 4 other people. An unsatisfied customer will tell 10 or more people. That means when you take good care of a customer, making them feel satisfied with both the quality of the product and the service, it is also a way to increase the reputation of the business and promote the number of potential customers exponentially.

Reduce business costs: When businesses perform good customer care services, they will obviously help reduce business costs significantly. These are the costs of finding new customers through advertising, marketing, and sales programs to attract new customers. According to the calculations of economic experts, the cost of conquering a new customer is 5-7 times higher than the cost of maintaining existing customers. Therefore, if businesses do a good job of customer care and retaining customers, they will maintain a relatively stable number of customers.

determined, thereby significantly saving the cost of finding new customers. At the same time, good customer care, making customers satisfied from the beginning will help limit costs in terms of time, effort and money in the process of resolving customer complaints and questions.

New competitive weapon between businesses: Besides competing on product quality and advertising costs, customer care solutions are the weapon for businesses to compete today.

1.1.4. Related research models

SERVPERF Model

According to Cronin and Taylor (1992), it is the customer's perception of the service performance of the business that best reflects the quality of the service. The SERVPERF model measures quality as an attitude, not satisfaction. However, it uses an idea of perceived service quality leading to satisfaction, SERVPERF is a modification of SERVQUAL. They argue that Parasuraman's study of the relationship between expected quality and experienced quality is not the right approach to quality assessment.

According to the SERVPERF model: Service quality = Perception level.

This conclusion has been agreed by other authors such as Lee et al. (2000), Brady et al. (2000), the scale of the SERVPERF model also uses 22 statements similar to the question about customer feelings in the SERVQUAL model, but omits the question about expectations.

RATER Model

The RATER model is an evolution of the SERVQUAL method, presented by A. Parasuraman, V. Zeithaml and L. Berry in 1988. The main idea is based on five gaps, which lead to lower than expected service quality. The authors propose that the difference between expected quality and perceived quality should be evaluated according to the following five points: reliability, assurance, tangibles, empathy, responsiveness.

Reliability: The ability to perform the promised service dependably.

Reliable and accurate. Ensure prompt and consistent service.

Assurance: The knowledge and skills required to perform the service work demonstrate a high level of expertise, as well as their ability to inspire trust and confidence. Attentiveness, courtesy in serving and respecting customers.

Tangibles: Physical conditions, equipment, and appearance of service personnel. Tangibles influence perceptions of service quality. They are an important signal reflecting the quality of the service.

Empathy: The ability to understand customers' psychology and emotions, be friendly and sympathetic to each customer; appropriate behavior towards each specific customer, and pay attention to each individual.

Responsiveness: Willingness to provide service and help customers.

Ability to handle situations skillfully.

The above factors must be harmoniously combined in the service process. To ensure high quality service, it is necessary to combine these factors in a subtle and smooth way. One of the difficulties of service quality management compared to production quality management is that due to the intangible nature of services, it is difficult to measure and difficult to determine standards to ensure the stability and consistency of the service provided. However, determining and providing criteria for evaluating service quality is very necessary, creating an important basis for unifying the implementation and evaluation of the quality of services provided by a business.

Gronroos's service quality model

Gronroos's service quality model identifies three dimensions of service quality: technical, functional, and image.

Technical quality: Technical quality: Is the value that customers actually receive from the service of the supplier (what do customers receive?)

Functional quality: Represents how the service provider delivers the service to the consumer (how does the customer receive the service?)

Image: plays a very important role for service providers and this factor is built mainly on two components: technical quality and functional quality.

Furthermore, Gronroos (1984) also argued that customer expectations are also influenced by factors such as traditional marketing activities (advertising, public relations, pricing policies) and external influences (customs, practices, consciousness, word of mouth), in which word of mouth has a more significant impact on potential customers than traditional marketing activities and also emphasized that service quality research must be based on the consumer's perspective.

This model is a good measurement tool for assessing service quality. However, the relationship between perceived quality and customer satisfaction and the above mentioned aspects is not clear.

Gummesson model

In 1992, Gummesson revised the SERVQUAL model by recognizing the tangible aspects of service. He proposed three simple criteria for evaluating a service as follows: Service elements, tangible elements, software elements or technical information.

He then presented a list of criteria for customers to evaluate service quality. These criteria are related to the service element and are very close to the criteria of the SERVQUAL model. What is special about Gummesson's research is the importance of tangibles. They can be evaluated in three aspects: product (reliability, presentation, personnel, appearance, serviceability and aesthetics), psychological (appearance, affordability, stress, customer management), and environment (surroundings, functionality, aesthetics, service personnel, other customers, other people). Finally, there is the software element, which focuses on evaluating how information technology supports customers (reliability, coverage and user-friendliness).

Gummesson's views have been recognized by other authors. They also believe in the importance of tangible aspects of services. They really influence the way customers behave and the way they view the organization.

1.1.5. Developing hypotheses and building proposed research models

1.1.5.1. Hypotheses

Hypothesis H 1 : The higher the level of hotel reliability, the higher the customer rating.

the higher the quality of customer service.

The company has the ability to perform the service right the first time, providing the service as promised. The higher the company performs these things, the more absolute trust it will give to customers, thereby the higher the customer's perception of this factor. According to Parasuraman et al. (1998), Cronin and Taylor (1992) have demonstrated a positive correlation between the factor of reliability and customer's perception of the service.

Hypothesis H 2 : The higher the hotel's responsiveness, the higher the customer's rating.

The higher the quality of customer service.

The company always informs customers when to perform the service and performs the service as quickly as possible as well as effectively resolves and handles problems that arise quickly and promptly during the process of providing and using the service. The faster the response, the higher the customer satisfaction. According to Parasuraman et al. (1998), Cronin and Taylor (1992), Tran Thi Tram Anh (2011) and Vu Thai Hoa (2013) have demonstrated a positive correlation between the response factor and customer perception of the service.

Hypothesis H 3 : The better and higher the service capacity of the hotel, the more customers will

Customers rate the quality of customer service higher.

The more polite, calm, and qualified the staff is to answer customers' questions during the service process, the more serious the customer's perception is. According to Parasuraman et al. (1998), Cronin and Taylor (1992), Vu Thai Hoa (2013) have demonstrated a positive correlation between service competence and customer perception of the service.

Hypothesis H 4 : The higher the level of hotel empathy, the higher the customer rating.

The higher the quality of customer service.

The more the hotel pays special attention to customers, puts customers' interests first and understands customers' needs, the more customers appreciate the quality of the hotel's services. According to Parasuraman et al. (1988), Cronin and Taylor

(1992), Vu Thai Hoa (2013) demonstrated a positive correlation between empathy and customer perception.

Hypothesis H 5 : The better the tangible means of the hotel, the more customers will evaluate it.

The higher the quality of customer service.

The more modern the hotel's facilities, the more attractive the facilities, the more polite and neat the staff are dressed, the higher the customers will rate the quality of the hotel's services. According to Parasuraman et al. (1988), Cronin and Taylor (1992), Vu Thai Hoa (2013) have demonstrated a positive correlation between tangible factors and customers' perceptions of the service.

1.1.5.2. Building a proposed research model

Tangible means

Level of empathy

Service Capacity Responsiveness Reliability

CUSTOMERS' FEELINGS ABOUT CUSTOMER SERVICE QUALITY

Figure 1: Research model

(Source: Research results, author's synthesis)

1.1.5.3. Building a scale

Based on the proposed research model and the hypotheses raised about customer perception of customer service quality, the author has built the following scale:

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