Designing and Managing Service Processes

1. Chapter 8
Designing and Managing
Service Processes

2. Developing a Blueprint – Some Basic
Advice
• Identify key activities in creating and delivering
the service
• Distinguish between front stage (what
customers experience) and back stage
• Chart activities in sequence
• Show how interactions between customers and
employees are supported by backstage
activities and systems
• Establish service standards for each step
• Identify potential fail points
• Focus initially on “big picture” (later, can drill
down for more detail in specific areas)

3. Service Blueprinting: Key Components
1. Define standards for frontstage 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 personnel
6. ------------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
Where appropriate, show fail points and risk of excessive waits

4. Simplified Example: Blueprinting a Hotel Visit
(extract only)
Physical Hotel exterior, lobby, Elevator, corridor,
Evidence employees, key room, bellhop
Arrive, Check-in Go to
Stage
Make
Customer reservation valet park at reception room
Actions
Line of
Interaction Employee
Doorman Receptionist
Front
Actions greets, valet verifies, gives
Face-to-face takes car key to room
Phone
Contact Rep.
records, c
onfirms
Line of
Visibility
Valet Make up
Backstage
Parks Car Room
Enter Register
data guest data

5. Improving Reliability of Processes
by Failure Proofing
• Analysis of reasons for failure often reveals opportunities for
failure proofing to reduce/eliminate risk of errors
• Errors include:
– treatment errors—human failures during contact with customers
– tangible errors—failures in physical elements of service
• Fail-safe procedures include measures to prevent omission of
tasks or performance of tasks
– incorrectly
– in wrong order
– too slowly
– not needed or specified
• Need fail-safe methods for both employees and customers

6. Process Redesign: Principal Approaches
(Table 8-1)
• Eliminating non-value-adding steps
• Shifting to self-service
• Delivering direct service
• Bundling services
• Redesigning physical aspects of service
processes

7. Customers as Co-Producers:
Levels of Participation in Service
Production
• Low – Employees and systems do all the work
• Medium – Customer inputs required to assist
provider
– Provide needed information, instructions
– Make personal effort
– May share physical possessions
• High – Customer works actively with provider to
co-produce the service

8. Self Service Technologies (SSTs)
• Self-service is ultimate form of customer involvement in service
production
– Customers undertake specific activities using facilities or systems
provided by service supplier
– Customer’s time and effort replace those of employees
• Concept is not new—self-serve supermarkets date from 1930s,
ATMs and self-serve gas pumps from 1970s
• Today, customers face wide array of SSTs to deliver information-
based services, both core and supplementary
• Many companies seek to divert customers from employee contact
to Internet-based self-service

9. Service Firms as Teachers:
Well-trained Customers Perform Better
• Firms must teach customers roles as
co-producers of service
• Customers need to know how to
achieve best results
• Education can be provided through:
– Brochures
– Advertising
– Posted instructions
– Machine-based instructions
– Websites, including FAQs
– Service providers
– Fellow customers
• Employees must be well-trained to
help advise, assist customers

10. Managing Customers as Partial
Employees
to Increase Productivity and Quality
1. Analyze customers’ present roles in the
business and compare to management’s ideal
2. Determine if customers know how to perform
and have necessary skills
3. Motivate customers by ensuring that will be
rewarded for performing well
4. Regularly appraise customers’ performance; if
unsatisfactory, consider changing roles or
termination

11. The Problem of Customer
Misbehavior – Identifying and
Managing “Jaycustomers”
What is a jaycustomer?
A customer who behaves in a thoughtless or abusive
fashion, causing problems for the firm itself, employees, other
customers
Why do jaycustomers matter?
• Can disrupt processes
• Affect service quality
• May spoil experience of other customers
What should a firm do about them?
• Try to avoid attracting potential jaycustomers
• Institute preventive measures
• Control abusive behavior quickly
• Take legal action against abusers
• BUT firm must act in ways that don’t alienate other customers

12. Six Types of “Jaycustomer”
• Thief – seeks to avoid paying for service
• Rule breaker – ignores rules of social behavior and/or procedures for
safe, efficient use of service
• Belligerent – angrily abuses service personnel (and sometimes other
customers) physically and/or emotionally
• Family Feuders – fight with other customers in their party
• Vandal – deliberately damages physical facilities, furnishings, and
equipment
• Deadbeat – fails to pay bills on time
Can you think of others?
How should firms deal with each of these problems?