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8/3/2019 8 Designing and Managing Service Processes
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Designing and ManagingService Processes
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Blueprinting Services to
Create Valued Experiences and
Productive Operations
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Developing a Blueprint
Identify key activities in creating and delivering service
Define big picture before drilling down to obtain ahigher level of detail
Distinguish between front stage and backstage
Clarify interactions between customers and staff, andsupport by backstage activities and systems
Identify potential fail points; take preventive measures;prepare contingency
Develop standards for execution of each activity timesfor task completion, maximum wait times, and scripts toguide interactions between employees and customers
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Key Components of a Service Blueprint
1. Define standards for front-stage activities
2. Specify physical evidence
3. Identify principal customer actions
4. Line of interaction (customers and front-stage personnel)
5. Front-stage actions by customer-contact personnel6. Line of visibility (between front stage and backstage)
7. Backstage actions by customer contact personnel
8. Support processes involving other service personnel
9. Support processes involving IT
- Identify fail points and risks of excessive waits
- Set service standards and do failure-proofing
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Blueprinting the Restaurant Experience: Act 1
MakeReservation
Coat RoomValet
Parking
Acceptreservation
Greetcustomer,
take car keysGreet, takecoat, coat
checks
Checkavailability,
insert booking
Take car to
parking lot
Hang coat withvisible check
numbers
Maintainreservation
system
Maintain(or rent)facilities
Maintainfacilities/
equipment
Line ofinteraction
Line ofvisibility
Line ofinternalphysical
interaction
Contact person(visible actions)
Contact person(invisible
actions)
Front
-
Stage
Back
-
Stage
TimelineAct 1
PhysicalEvidence
Service Standardsand Scripts
SupportProcesses
W W W
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Blueprinting the RestaurantExperience: A Three Act Performance
Act 1: Prologue and Introductory Scenes
Act 2: Delivery of Core Product
Cocktails, seating, order food and wine, wine service
Potential fail points: Menu information complete? Menu intelligible?
Everything on the menu actually available? Mistakes in transmitting information a common cause of quality failure
e.g. bad handwriting; poor verbal communication
Customers may not only evaluate quality of food and drink, but howpromptly it is served, serving staff attitudes, or style of service
Act 3: The Drama Concludes Remaining actions should move quickly and smoothly, with no surprises at
the end
Customer expectations: Accurate, intelligible and prompt bill, paymenthandled politely, guest are thanked for their patronage
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Setting Service Standards
Service providers should design standards for each step sufficientlyhigh to satisfy and even delight customers
Standards may include time parameters, script for a technically correctperformance, and prescriptions for appropriate style and demeanor
Must be expressed in ways that permit objective measurement
First impression is important as it affects customer
s evaluations ofquality during later stages of service delivery
Research by Marriott Hotels indicates that four of five top factorscontributing to customer loyalty come into play during the first 10 minutesof service delivery
Customer perceptions of service experiences tend to be cumulative
For low-contact service, a single failure committed front stage isrelatively more serious than in high-contact service
Viewed more seriously because there are fewer subsequent opportunitiesto create a favorable impression
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Improving Reliability of Processes byFailure Proofing
Analysis of reasons for failure often reveals opportunities for failureproofing to reduce/eliminate future risk of errors
Need fail-safe methods for both employees and customers
Errors include:
Treatment errorshuman failures during contact with customer
e.g., lack of courteous or professional behavior, failure to acknowledge, listento, or react appropriately to the customer
Tangible errorsfailures in physical elements of service
e.g., noise pollution, improper standards for cleaning of facilities and uniforms,equipment breakdown
Goal of fail-safe procedures is to prevent errors such as: Performing tasks incorrectly, in the wrong order, too slowly
Doing work that wasnt requested in the first place
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Redesigning Service Processes
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Mitchell T. Rabkin MD,formerly president of
Bostons Beth Israel Hospital
Why Redesign? (1)
Institutions are like steel beamsthey tend to rust.What was once smooth and shiny and nice
tends to become rusty.
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Why Redesign? (2)
Revitalizes process that has become outdated
Changes in external environment make existing practices obsoleteand require redesign of underlying processes
Creation of brand-new processes to stay relevant
Rusting occurs internally Natural deterioration of internal processes; creeping bureaucracy;
evolution of spurious, unofficial standards
Symptoms:
- Extensive information exchange
-Data redundancy
- High ratio of checking or control activities to value-adding
activities, increased exception processing
- Customer complaints about inconvenient and unnecessary procedures
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Process Redesign: Approaches andPotential Benefits (1)
Eliminating non-value-adding steps
Streamline front-end and back-end processes of services with goal offocusing on benefit-producing part of service encounter
Eliminate non-value-adding steps
Improve efficiency
More customized service
Differentiate company
Delivering direct service
Bring service to customers instead of bringing customers to provider
Improve convenience for customers
Productivity can be improved if companies can eliminate expensive
retail locations
Increase customer base
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Process Redesign: Approaches andPotential Benefits (2)
Shifting to self-service Increase in productivity and service quality
Lower costs and perhaps prices
Enhance technology reputation
Greater convenience
Bundling services
Involves grouping multiple services into one offer, focusing on a well-defined customer group
Often has a better fit to the needs of target segment
Increase productivity
Add value for customers through lower transaction costs
Customize service
Increase per capita service use
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Process Redesign: Approaches andPotential Benefits (3)
Redesigning physical aspects of service processes
Focus on tangible elements of service process; include changes tofacilities and equipment to improve service experience
Increase convenience
Enhance the satisfaction and productivity of front-line staff Cultivate interest in customers
Differentiate company
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The Customer as Co-Producer
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Levels of Customer Participation
Customer Participation
Actions and resources supplied by customers during service production
and/or delivery
Includes mental, physical, and even emotional inputs
Three Levels
LowEmployees and systems do all the work
- Often involves standardized service
MediumCustomer inputs required to assist provider
- Provide needed information and instructions
-Make some personal effort; share physical possessions
HighCustomer works actively with provider to co-produce the service
- Service cannot be created without customers active participation
- Customer can jeopardize quality of service outcome (e.g., weight loss,marriage counseling)
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Self-Service Technologies (SSTs)
Ultimate form of customer involvement
Customers undertake specific activities using facilities or systems providedby service supplier
Customers time and effort replace those of employees
e.g. Internet-based services, ATMs, self-service gasoline pumps
Information-based services lend selves particularly well to SSTs
Used in both supplementary services and delivery of core product
e.g. eBayno human auctioneer needed between sellers and buyers
Many companies and government organizations seek to divert
customers from employee contact to Internet-based self-service Economic trade-off between declining cost of these self-service systems
and rising cost of labor
Challenge: Getting customers to try this technology
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Psychological Factors in CustomerCo-Production
Economic rationale of self-service
Productivity gains and cost savings result when customers take over workpreviously performed by employees
Lower prices, reflecting lower costs, induce customer to use SSTs
Research shows that customers tend to take credit for successful
outcomes, but not blame for unsuccessful ones
Critical to understand how consumers decide between using an SSToption and relying on a human provider
SSTs present both advantages and disadvantages
Benefits: Time and cost savings, flexibility, convenience of location,greater control over service delivery, and a higher perceived level ofcustomization
Disadvantages: Anxiety and stress experienced bycustomers who areuncomfortable with using them
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What Aspects of SSTs Please or AnnoyCustomers?
People love SSTs when
SST machines are conveniently located and accessible 24/7often as close
as nearest computer!
Obtaining detailed information and completing transactions can be donefaster than through face-to-face or telephone contact
People in awe of what technology can do for them when it works well
People hate SSTs when
SSTs failsystem is down, PIN numbers not accepted, etc
They mess upforgetting passwords, failing to provide information asrequested, simply hitting wrong buttons
Key weakness of SSTs: Too few incorporate service recovery systems
Customers still forced to make telephone calls or personal visits
Blame service provider for not providing more user-friendly system
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Putting SSTs to Test byAsking a Few Simple Questions
Does the SST work reliably?
Firms must ensure that SSTs are dependable anduser-friendly
Is the SST better than interpersonal alternatives? Customers will stick to conventional methods if SST
doesnt create benefits for them
If it fails, what systems are in place to recover?
Always provide systems, structures, and technologiesthat will enable prompt service recovery when thingsgo wrong
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Customers as Partial Employees
Customers can influence productivity and quality of serviceprocesses and outputs
Customers who are offered opportunities to participate at activelevel are more likely to be satisfied
However, customers cause one-third of all service problems
Difficult to recover from instances of customer failure Focus on preventing customer failure by collecting data on problem
occurrence, analyzing root causes, and establishing preventive solutions
Managing customers as employees helps to avoid customer failures
Conduct job analysis of customers present role in businesscompare
against role that firm would like customers to play Educate customers on how expected to perform and skills needed
Motivate customers by ensuring that rewarded if they perform well
Appraise customers performance regularly
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Dysfunctional Customer BehaviorDisrupts Service Process
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Addressing the Challenge ofJay customers
Jay customer: A customer who behaves in a thoughtless or abusivefashion, causing problems for the firm, its employees, and othercustomers
More potential for mischief in service businesses, especially whenmany customers are present
Divergent views on jay customers The customer is king and can do no wrong.
Marketplace is overpopulated with nasty people who cannot be trusted tobehave in ways that self-respecting services firms should expect andrequire
Insight: Theres truth in both perspectives
No organization wants an ongoing relationship with an abusivecustomer
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Six Types of Jaycustomers:The Thief
No intention of payingsets out to steal or pay less
Services lend themselves to clever schemes to avoid payment
For example: bypassing electricity meters, circumventing TV cables, ridingfree on public transportation
Firms must take preventive actions against thieves, but not alienatehonest customers by degrading their service experience
Make allowances for honest but absent-minded customers
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Six Types of Jaycustomers:The Rulebreaker
Many services need to establish rules to guide customers safelythrough the service encounter
Government agencies may impose regulations that service suppliersmust enforce
Some rules protect other customers from dangerous behavior
For example: Vail and Beaver Creek, Coloradoski patrollers issuewarnings to reckless skiers by attaching orange stickers on their lift tickets
Ensure company rules are necessary, not bureaucratic
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Expresses resentment, abuses service employees verbally or evenphysically
Confrontations between customers and service employees can easilyescalate
Firms should ensure employees have skills to deal with difficult
situations
In a public environment, priority is to remove person from other customers
May be better tomake a public stand on behalf of employees than concealfor fear of bad publicity
Six Types of Jaycustomers:The Belligerent
Confrontations between Customers and Service Employees Can Easily Escalate
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Family Feuders: People who get into arguments with other
customersoften members of their own family
The Vandal:
Service vandalism includes pouring soft drinks into bank cash machines;slashing bus seats, breaking hotel furniture
Bored and drunk young people are a common source of vandalism
Unhappy customers who feel mistreated by service providers take revenge
Prevention is the best cure
Six Types Of Jaycustomers:Family Feuders and Vandals
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Six Types Of Jaycustomers:The Deadbeat
Customers who fail to pay (as distinct from
thieves
who neverintended to pay in the first place)
Preventive action is better than curefor example: insisting onprepayment; asking for credit card number when order is taken
Customers may have good reasons for not paying
-If the client's problems are only temporary ones, consider long-term valueof maintaining the relationship
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Consequences of DysfunctionalCustomer Behavior
Consequences for staff working front stage Abused employees may find their emotions negatively affected and/or
suffer long-term psychological damage
Productivity and quality may suffer
Consequences for customers can be both negative and positive
Exposure to unpleasant incidents can spoil consumption experience;some customers may even terminate their use of the service
Bad behavior can be contagious
But customers may rally to support of abused employee
Consequences for organization
Unmotivated employees may work less effectively
Abused employees may take medical leave
Direct financial costs of restoring damaged property, legal fees, payingfraudulent claims
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