Design and implementation of a service guarantee

Purpose – To propose a decision support model that can be used to design, implement and communicate effective and efficient service guarantees. Design/methodology/approach – Based on in‐depth interviews by the author and on a recent literature review, the author has looked at different issues regarding service guarantees developed by services companies over the last five years. Findings – The decision support model looks first at 12 key issues to examine before designing a service guarantee. If the preliminary analysis is conclusive, discussion about design and implementation is presented. Originality/value – The main and original contribution of this model is to present to services marketing managers a step‐by‐step process, including preliminary analysis, marketing communication and performance analysis.