Village Volvo

3. Characterize Village Volvo in regard to the nature of the service act, the relationship with customers, customization and judgment, the nature of demand and supply, and the method of service delivery.

In regards to the nature of the service act, Village Volvo could be characterized by the first quadrant (top right corner). Village Volvo provides its customers with a tangible service for their property, physical possessions. Similarly, Village Volvo could be characterized by the first quadrant when it comes to their relationship with their customers. There is no formal relationship although they do seem to have a respected reputation and a following of satisfied customers. However, the relationship could be attributed to the continuous delivery of first class service by Village Volvo.

When it comes to the degree of customization and employees judgment in meeting the customers’ needs, I would say that the top two quadrants best characterize Village Volvo. This is because the selecting of the quadrant in which to position a service is a strategic choice that can be made by Village Volvo’s owners. While the employees’ judgment in meeting the customer needs should never be low (to ensure service quality), the degree of customization could vary from customer to customer based on their needs and Village Volvo’s inventory (type of oil, tires, etc.).

The nature of demand for Village Volvo’s services allows them to curve peak demand without major delays by scheduling key services. They provide ‘drop-in’ times for quick, routine jobs and allocate ‘no repair’ times to provide customer contact hours. Consequently, the extent of demand fluctuation over time is generally narrow. While the availability of the service outlet is limited to a single site, the nature of service delivery by Village Volvo combines to classifications. First, the customer has to travel to the service firm and request their services. Second, once the customer is present Village Volvo tries to...