A HOUSE DIVIDEDTwo Perspectives on Managing the Customer Experience
Ryan Freitas | [email protected]
“Ideas from Neighboring Fields.”
“I stick with subjects I'm passionate about and avoid any article or subject where I'd have to adopt the pose of ‘expert’ or ‘authority’.”
- Tony Bourdain
Before they ever get on a flight, Virgin America’s customers have encountere multiple systems within the airline’s “Back Stage.”
Flight Search
ReservationsDatabase
Loyalty Systems CRM
Ticketing
“Line of Visibility”
The customer experience is built on the intensity, variability and appropriateness of the service encounter.
THE “FRONT STAGE” PERSPECTIVETHE “BACK STAGE” PERSPECTIVE
The customer experience is built on the quality, consistency and timeliness of the product or service when the customer receives it.
A HOLISTIC PERSPECTIVE
“It is essential to consider the entire network of services that comprise the back and front stages as complementary parts of a service system.”
- Glushko & Tabas
Everything you need to know about managing the customer experience can be learned from the restaurant industry.
MANAGING EXPERIENCEMy “high concept pitch.”
“Back Stage” = The Kitchen
THE KITCHEN’S PRIORITIES
“Quality”
Did your meal taste good? Was your food fresh? Well seasoned? The right temperature?
“Consistency”
You order the porkchop every time. Did they cook it the same way the always have?
“Timeliness”
Did the kitchen time your meal correctly? Did you wait too long for a course? Did you feel rushed?
“Front Stage” = The Dining Room
THE DINING ROOM’S PRIORITIES
“Intensity”
Was your server responsive to your table? Were they overbearing, or invisible?
“Variability”
Did you get the feeling that your server had the freedom to treat you as a special guest?
“Appropriateness”
How well did the level of service match up with your expectations?
HIGH VARIABILITY
LOW VARIABILITY
HIG
H IN
TEN
SITY
LOW
INTE
NSI
TY
15% tip“Y’know. Tobe polite.”
20% tip“Maybe they
remember me.”
25%+ tip“They loveme here.”
18% tip“They were quite
attentive.”
MANAGING EXPERIENCEThe stakes we’re playing at.
£4.3 Billion
27 March, 2008
1 2 3
WHAT DOES CASCADING FAILURE LOOK LIKE?
WHAT THREE DAYS CAN COST
30,000 bags separated from owners500 flights cancelled£16m in losses to British Airways
"Terminal 5 is like a Formula 1 car that has two-star petrol in it. It is a perfect storm of poor infrastructure and over-optimistic assumptions."
- Mike Platt, Hogg Robinson Group
“@*&%$!”
MANAGING EXPERIENCEWhat any good chef would tell you.
MANAGING EXPERIENCEFrom the Back of the House
ORCHESTRATE DELIVERY
Structure your offering to make efficient use of the resources you have available.
An essential element of menu design is ensuring no single station will end up being overloaded every night.
“getting hit”
“getting slammed/crushed”
“in the weeds/dans la merde”
Be Prepared!
OPTIMIZE FOR CONSISTENCY
Studies have found that customers prefer predictable service to variable service of higher intensity.
In the dining experience, “variability is the enemy.” Consistency is essential, from the dish’s fire time to its plating.
Longevity
MANAGING EXPERIENCEFrom the Front of the House
Keep an eye on the output of backend systems to predict macro- and micro-trends in production.
PAY ATTENTION TO PATTERNS
“I know what’s up in the kitchen based on how fast the food is coming out... and I disregard everything else.”
USE WHAT YOU CAN CONTROL
A comped drink or dessert, or a visit from the General Manager can defuse a bad situation quickly.
What happens in the kitchen is out of the hands of the service staff. This can impact their ability to meet the needs of customers.
SERVICE RECOVERY PARADOX
This means that a good recovery can turn angry and frustrated customers into loyal customers. In fact it can create even more goodwill than if things had gone smoothly in the first place.”
“With a highly effective service recovery, a service or product failure offers a chance to achieve higher satisfaction ratings from customers than if the failure had never happened.
http://tinyurl.com/4lzzob- Bernhard Schindlholzer
netflix envelopes
RECORD EVERYTHING, AND SHARE IT
They also have a second system of manager “logs.” Any detail that could contribute to better service the next night is kept there.
Top restaurants have databases of the usual data: your reservation history, table size, visit frequency, average check amount.
WHY SHARE WIDELY?
Having vital customer data stored in the head of a single employee, no matter how senior, is untenable.
The restaurant industry has personnel with shifting weekly schedules. It also has a shockingly low employee retention rate.
MANAGING EXPERIENCEFrom the Both Sides of the House
Velcro!
COORDINATE ACTIVITY TO DISTRIBUTE LOAD
Forget “C.Y.A.” - figure out how to cover everybody’s collective ass.
Restaurants structure service times and promos to ensure a steady number of customers throughout the night.
KNOW WHERE TO DRAW YOUR LINE
If it makes sense to move elements of production forward, consider it as a means to build a compelling experience.
Restaurants experiment with the elements of the dining experience that are hidden from their customers.
The Open Kitchen
VW’s“Glass Factory”
MANAGING EXPERIENCEIn Conclusion.
NO MAGIC BULLET, NO MOMENT OF TRUTH
“A service outcome is never the result of a single encounter between a service provider and service consumer. Instead, it emerges from the service system of back and front stage services.”
- Glushko & Tabas
“Our bright and glorious future.”
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION
Ryan Freitas | [email protected]