1.3 Identifying Specific Moments of Truth in the Tasting Room

MOMENTS OF TRUTH

Jan Carlson of Scandinavian Airlines came up with the idea of the many “moments of truth” that we see every day in our service businesses. "Moments of truth" are all the instances in which a customer comes into contact with some aspect of a business, and, according to Carlson, any single one of these "moments" can make or break the overall customer experience. We try to be proactive in handling these moments of truth so they don't lead to customer complaints and dissatisfaction down the road, which can result in negative word of mouth in the marketplace.

Moments of truth can number in the thousands each day our winery is open for business. This is because you and your fellow staff members may interact with hundreds of guests per day, engaging in many small encounters, verbal and nonverbal communications, and physical service activities (such as opening bottles and correctly pouring wine into a glass), all of which should go right in order to achieve a positive customer outcome. As you see in the diagram below, winery "moments of truth" such as convenient parking lots, a warm welcome, and good wine quality combine to influence what customers think of your winery. What others can you think of?

As seen earlier, one major moment of truth is actively greeting customers when they enter the winery facility or come within 10 feet of you in the tasting room space. But there are some other important moments of truth worth mentioning that will be covered in the next section. For now, let's see what you remember about "moments of truth". What are the best answers for the following questions?

1. "Moments of truth" are important because they can:

a. make or break the overall service experience

b. lead to complaints and customer dissatisfaction

c. lead to negative word of mouth about your winery

d. all of the above

2. "Moments of truth" typically involve which of the following?

a. customer/employee encounters

b. verbal and nonverbal communications

c. physical service activities (such as opening a bottle)

d. all of the above

3. Greeting customers is a "moment of truth" in a winery.

a. True

b. False

Check your answers as follows: 1.d; 2.d. and 3.a.

THE FIVE FACTORS OF SERVICE QUALITY

When looking at the many "moments of truth" that can impact service quality in a winery, it helps to categorize them in a way that allows us to simplify things a bit. For the most part, there are five major types of moments of truth (or factors) that feed into customers' perceptions of service quality at a winery. You will see these defined in the following video. 

Next, please watch the following video which shows five case studies related to service quality at a winery. Think about what is happening from the perspectives of both the guest and the tasting room staff. Which of the five factors are a concern in each case?

If you have finished watching the video cases, see if you can match up each of the service factors with its definition in the following table. You will see the answers immediately following.

Answers: 1. e; 2. a; 3. c; 4. d; and 5. b.

Now it is time to move on to the last section in Module One. Just click on the following link.

Handling customer feedback and complaints