A service excellence model going beyond smile on-the-telephone customer service tricks and ITIL best practice to provide a generic high-level model that is applicable across any industry or service.

1. Service
Excellence
PETER GROSS
http://uk.linkedin.com/in/petergross
peter@cityprojectpartners.co.uk
September 2014

2. The Goal of Service Excellence
Only Nice Surprises Permitted

3. Delight by Exceeding Expectations
Value:
• Return on Investment
• Cost vs Benefit
• Risk Avoidance/Reduction
• Fit for Purpose
• Fit with Self-Image
• Performance
• Convenience
• Aesthetics
Trust:
• Durability
• Credibility
• Security
• Confidentiality
• Integrity
• Warranty
• Consistency
• Engagement
• Risk vs Reward

4. The Landscape
Understanding the Customer Perspective

5. Individual References & Influences
• Beliefs & Values
• Circumstance
• Priorities
• Experience
• Knowledge
• Abilities
• Emotions
• Environment
• Self-Perspective & Identity

6. The Core
The four elements of the core are the
central components to service excellence.

7. Accuracy
• Validation
• Verification
• Complete

8. Availability
• Available as advertised
• Frictionless Access
• Ease of Navigation
• Capacity & Stock to Meet Demand

9. Reliability
• Quality
• Consistency
• Durability
• Privacy & Security
• Ownership & Response
• Guarantees & Resolution
• The Ronseal ™ test
• “It does what it says on the tin.”

10. Presentation
• Clean & Tidy
• Engagement
• Reassurance
• Discretion

11. The Foundation
The core is built on three foundation elements

12. Knowledge & Understanding
• Engage
• Listen
• Question
• Observe
• Analyse
• Theorise
• Replay
• Validate
• Measure
• Learn
• Repeat
“Any fool can know. The
point is to understand.”

13. Efficiency
• Customers assume efficiency is the suppliers problem
• They typically don’t want to see in the engine room or in
the kitchens
• Just don’t make them wait!

14. Expertise & Experience
• Customers assume staff have all the appropriate skills,
qualifications, experience and certifications
• Less relevant for low-value, low-risk, low-skill service
delivery
• Over-qualified is fine. Under is not!

15. Value-Add
Personalisation is the Key to Excellence

16. Advice
• Use experience, expertise and insight
as a foundation to relevant advice
• Test reception before advising
• Engage at customers pace and level

17. Customisation
• Individual customisation
• Bespoke outputs

18. Partnership
• Alignment of common goals
• Share of risks and reward

19. The Store Front
The Store Front is crucial to customer
engagement, relationships and retention

20. Communication
• Has the customer heard what you said?
• Under promise – over deliver
• Listening requires concentration
• What is not being discussed?
• Consider frequency, method, tone & consistency across channels
• The person engaging the customer is the provider. Speak with one voice

21. Delivery
• Customer buy experiences - obtained from
products and services
• Sell the sizzle not just the sausage
• Remove the pain and deliver the gain

22. The Service Excellence Model
The one-page model

23. Influences Customer Perception
Value and Trust
Communication & Delivery
Partnership, Customisation
and Advice
Accuracy
Reliability
Availability
Efficiency Expertise
Goals
“Store Front”
Value-Add
Core
Foundations
Presentation
Knowledge
& Understanding
The
Service
Excellence
Model
Elements are not uniform
and should be balanced to
suit the situation.
Copyright Peter Gross, 2014. All Rights Reserved.

24. About the author
Peter Gross
Peter is an accomplished programme and project
manager with over 25 years commercial experience
gained across a variety of public and private sector
organisations from early stage start-ups to
established global FTSE100 enterprise environments.
http://uk.linkedin.com/in/petergross