Using Service Quality to Gain Competitive AdvantageIn today's competitive environment, organizations must earn customer trust by consistently meeting or exceeding expectations . The gap between expectations and perception is the major determining factor in a customer's evaluation of service quality. The quality of service and customer service is very important. One of the most important customer service skills you can develop is the ability to understand and respond effectively to customer needs and concerns. For a long time, a sale was seen as primarily about convincing the customer that they needed the product. Great customer service starts with taking the time to know the customer, their situation, their vision, their frustrations and their goals. The quality of service is very important. Companies should use the following strategy: under-promise and over-deliver. Because business services are intangible and non-standardized, buyers tend to have more difficulty evaluating services than goods. Customers use various sources of pre-purchase information to reduce risk. There are five dimensions of service quality that customers use to evaluate service quality: reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and tangibles. Reliability is most important to customers. Reliability is about performing the promised service reliably and accurately. If you don't keep your promise, you risk losing customers and your credibility will be damaged. An example of reliability would be meeting delivery dates. In all...... middle of paper ...... there can be such a difference. It is very difficult to control, and therefore difficult to imitate. It is difficult to control due to its variability. The level of service can vary considerably between two providers within the same organization. It can also vary from time to time, even if it is delivered by the same provider. The difficulty is compounded in the case of operations involving multiple units: in addition to variability within units, there is also variability between units. This is both the challenge and the opportunity. The consistent delivery of superior service requires the careful design and execution of an entire system of activities that includes people, capital, technology and processes. The few companies capable of managing this system stand out and are sought after. It is the foundation of their sustainable competitive advantage.