▪ Support: Often the service or pro

▪ Support: Often the service or product support provided by the company is as important to customers as the quality of the service or product itself. Customers get upset with a company if its financial statements are incorrect, responses to its warranty claims are delayed, its advertising is misleading, or its employees are not helpful when problems are incurred. Good support once the sale has been made can reduce the consequences of quality failures.▪ Psychological Impressions: People often evaluate the quality of a service or product on the basis of psychological impressions: atmosphere, image, or aesthetics. In the provision of services where the customer is in close contact with the provider, the appearance and actions of the provider are especially important. Nicely dressed, courteous, friendly, and sympathetic employees can affect the customer’s perception of service quality.Attaining quality in all areas of a business is a difficult task. To make things even more difficult, consumers change their perceptions of quality. In general, a business’s success depends on the accuracy of its perceptions of consumer expectations and its ability to bridge the gap between those expectations and operating capabilities. Good quality pays off in higher profits. High-quality services and products can be priced higher and yield a greater return. Poor quality erodes the firm’s ability to compete in the marketplace and increases the costs of producing its service or product. Managerial Practice 3.1 shows how Verizon Wireless aims to improve customer satisfaction by emphasizing many of the quality dimensions outlined above.Employee Involvement: One of the important elements of TQM is employee involvement, as shown in Figure 3.1. A program in employee involvement includes changing organizational culture and encouraging teamwork.