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Design and Quality in Service Systems

Understand the distinctive characteristics of services and the importance of customer participation, simultaneity, perishability, intangibility, and heterogeneity. Learn about designing a service system, service quality assessment, gaps in service quality, service blueprint, and experience enhancers.

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Design and Quality in Service Systems

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  1. Services: Design and Quality Chapter 5

  2. Distinctive Characteristics of Services • Customer participation • Simultaneity • Perishability • Intangibility • Heterogeneity

  3. Customer Participation • The customer is more involved in the delivery of services than products • Providing services means that you must pay attention to the service facility • Customers can play an integral role in the delivery of the service

  4. Simultaneity • Services are consumed simultaneously (as they are provided) • There is no inventory • Services operate as an open system

  5. Perishability • A service is a perishable commodity (can’t be saved) • The full utilization of service capacity is a management concern • Demand for services is often cyclical

  6. Intangibility • Services are not tangible things • Difficult to patent • Customer relies on reputation since there is no product to touch or try out

  7. Heterogeneity • There are variations of service between customers • Direct customer-employee contact

  8. Designing a Service System • Involves: • Selecting a location • Designing the layout of the facility • Developing procedures and job definitions • Developing measures to ensure quality • Deciding how involved the customer will be in the service delivery • Selecting Equipment

  9. Designing a Service System • The “design” process is never finished. • Modifications or innovation in the service delivery system should be introduced as needed.

  10. System Elements - Structural • Delivery system • Facility design • Location • Capacity planning

  11. System Elements - Managerial • Service encounter • Quality • Managing capacity and demand • Information

  12. Service Blueprint • A diagram of the service process showing activities, flows, physical evidence, and lines of visibility and interaction

  13. Service Blueprint

  14. Generic Approaches to Service System Design • Production-Line Approach • Customer as Co-producer • Customer Contact Approach • Information Empowerment

  15. Production-Line Approach • Limited discretionary action of personnel • Division of labor • Substitution of technology for people • Service standardization

  16. Customer as Co-producer • Self-service • Smoothing service demand

  17. Customer Contact Approach • Degree of customer contact • Separation of high- and low-contact operations

  18. Information Empowerment • Employee empowerment • Customer empowerment

  19. Service Quality • For services, the assessment of quality is made during the service delivery process. • Customer satisfaction can be measured as the difference between the customer’s service expectation and the service actually received.

  20. Gaps in Service Quality • Measuring the gap between expected service and perceived service is a routine customer feedback process practiced by many companies

  21. Service Quality Gap Model

  22. Walk-Through Audit (WtA) • A process-oriented survey given to customers and managers to evaluate the perception of the customer service experience

  23. Identifying GAPS with WtA

  24. Moments of Truth • Concept created by Jan Carlzon of Scandinavian Airways • Critical moments between the customer and the organization that determine customer satisfaction • There may be many of these moments • These are opportunities to gain or lose business

  25. Standard Expectations Experience Enhancers Only one local number needs to be dialed I never get a busy signal I get a human being to answer my call quickly and he or she is pleasant and responsive to my problem A timely resolution to my problem is offered The technician is able to explain to me what I can expect to happen next The technician was sincerely concerned and apologetic about my problem He asked intelligent questions that allowed me to feel confident in his abilities The technician offered various times to have work done to suit my schedule Ways to avoid future problems were suggested Experience Detractors I had to call more than once to get through A recording spoke to me rather than a person While on hold, I get silence,and wonder if I am disconnected The technician sounded like he was reading a form of routine questions The technician sounded uninterested I felt the technician rushed me Moments-of-Truth Computer Company Hotline Figure 5.13

  26. Unconditional Service Guarantee • Unconditional • Easy to understand and communicate • Meaningful • Easy to invoke • Easy to collect

  27. Service Recovery • Letters of apology • Replacement Product/Complimentary service

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