Purpose - Educational institutions must delight their customers and provide quality of services so as to be competitive and achieve a leading position. The paper aims to present the results of an empirical study conducted on students of select management institutes in India with a focus on their orientation as a customer to the quality paradigm. The study is an attempt towards the integration of multiple methodologies so as to be able to identify customer requirements and evaluate service quality; prioritize improvement of service; and guide and develop educational services by incorporating the voice of the customer. Design/methodology/approach - The study was conducted across three phases. In the first phase, service quality was determined through the application of the SERVQUAL; in the second phase, the Kano model was applied; and, in the final phase, the QFD was applied. This paper, which forms the first part, is restricted to the application and findings of the first phase of the study, namely identification of customer requirements and the evaluation of service quality. The second part in the series is aimed at the establishment of prioritization for improvement of service design of an educational system through incorporation of the voice of the customer and the generalization of results. Findings - The study helped identify customer requirements, measure performance and evaluate service quality through the SERVQUAL and gap analysis. Practical implications - The paper can be useful to policy makers, educational planners and administrators in developing a system that could lead to customer satisfaction and delight. Originality/value - The integration of the multiple tools and their application to the field of management education in India has not yet been made available in the literature. The integration of such methodologies and the comprehension of the findings and relationships could enable policy makers, educational planners and administrators to assess performance and guide improvement efforts, with resultant customer satisfaction and delight. Copyright © 2011 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.