Customers at Work

1. Customers at Work Self-service customers can reduce costs and become co creators of value. By: Peter C. Honebein & Roy F. Cammarano

2. The Do-It-Yourself Shift THEN.. • In the past, customers expected all of the work done for them. ie: They bag our groceries, and walk the cart out to our cars. It was a part of costumer service. NOW… • Customers find that performing these tasks themselves is faster and more efficient. It creates a larger sense of control and they find more value in being able to do it on their own. “The Future Bank” “Through vision, Access, incentive, and expertise, companies can create a coproduction experiences that ensure customers are co creators of value.”

3. Benefits & Disadvantages of this Shift • The Bad: • If the customer doesn’t understand how to use the new technology, they probably wont ever use it. “An estimated 91% of costumers with a bad experience on a self-service site won’t return.” The Good: • Airlines save an estimated… -$3.52 when a customer buys a ticket online -$2.70 when a customer conducts a self check-in. • Software companies, banks, and even local cable providers can save more than $9 when customers manage services and receive support with self service websites. • When “Do-it-yourself” costumers invest time in learning your new products, technology, and processes, they tend to come back for more…

4. Roles Customers Play Transactional: Like to execute everyday business themselves. Use self check-out at the grocery store, eat at buffets, Traditional: Favor do-it yourself in terms of home improvement, gardening, financial management, auto repair. Conventional: Acquire tangible, self-contained products that help them perform tasks independently Ex: A Snow-blower Intentional: Engage in coproduction experiences to customize goods and services. Ex: Build-A-Bear Radical: Take coproduction experiences to new extremes Ex: A man in California who modified his Toyota Prius’ batteries to achieve 80 miles per gallon.

5. Customer Experiences • Designed Experience- Leaders of coproduction experiences take a systematic, multidimensional view of the situation. • They establish internal cross functional teams • These teams integrate customer information and experiences into design process • Their goal is to truly understand the customer perspective. • Ex: Story of Al Yeganeh Default Experience- Lack of systematic design. The likelihood that a customer will fail here is high. Failures result from: • The experience isn’t written as a script, plan, or process • The experience hasn’t been tested • Employee tasks associated with the experience aren’t covered in training • No one knows who decided why it should work this way???

6. Coproduction-Experience Model Key tactics that can provide insight not only into how to asses your customers experience, but also how to design them. • Vision: Customers are encouraged to develop a vision of how they would use products • - Articulate goals & actions • - Must balance customer needs and company capabilities • Feedback is crucial • “The closer the feedback is to performance, the more likely the goal will be achieved.” “We shall not fail or falter; we shall not weaken or tire…Give us the tools and we will finish the job” -Winston Churchill Access: Reflects the resources companies supply so that customers can perform. Consists of eight critical tactics: policies, processes, procedures, people, tools, interface, information, and nuances. Ex: Subway sandwiches: Its difficult to complain about a sandwich when you directed the design.

7. Coproduction-Experience Model Continued • The Incentive: • Incentives can be powerful motivators for convincing customers to try new products or stop bad behavior. • Incentive types: • Recognition rewards • Cash Rewards • Disincentives The Expertise: The knowledge/skills customers must retain to execute work required by the coproduction experience Home Depot Do-It-Yourself

8. Age of Sophistication What we know now: • Do it yourself customers are steadily increasing. • Customers place more value in being a “Co-creator” of the product or experience they are buying. • As a result companies adopting this form of service are creating conditions for customers to flourish in.