SERVICE MANAGEMENT Customer Experience and User Experience
Tymofii
Class_5.pptxTHE CUSTOMER ENCOUNTER
DR. NARCIS BASSOLS
BBA223 – SERVICE MANAGEMENT
Spring Term 2022
THE CUSTOMER ENCOUNTER / General Features
When a company delibers a service, they set up a series of customer encounter points to (self-) service customers, each of which is also and ‘evaluation point’ for the customer.
It may involve technology, a growing trend in recent decades: human touch becomes ‘Premium’. Example: going to the cinema, buying one’s clothes (regular or tailor-made).
SAS’ CEO Carlzon stated that the goal of a service organization is supporting frontline employees who are in permanent contact with customers so as to deliver an outstanding service
WHEN CUSTOMER SERVICE IS EXCELLENT...
In service environments, employees and customers show the same preferences: well-staffed offices, modern equipment, an emphasis on service, well-managed company,(or, at least, branch), corteous tellers.
“Employees are the first customers in service companyies”
Excellency in customer service, as perceived by customers, is directly correlated with employee motivation and well-being
THE CUSTOMER ENCOUNTER / Possible conflicts
Unempowered employees giving unpersonal or incompetent service
Over-empowered employees giving to customers more than the company are willing to
Too many expectations from the customers’ side due to too many promises by the company
Too much pressure of the company on employees for results.
THE SERVICE ENCOUTER TRYAD (Bordoloi et al, 2019)
AUTOMATING SERVICES... (Bordoloi et al, 2019: 97)
The alarm rings and Emma’s day begins with a shower followed by a breakfast of frozen
waffles heated in the toaster. Before leaving for the airport, she goes to the airline’s web page,
where weeks before she had purchased the ticket and made seat selections, and prints her
boarding pass.
At the entrance to the tollway on the way to the airport, a scanner reads the bar
code on her windshield for later billing. At the airport, she uses a credit card to pass through
the gate to the airport long-term parking structure. Inside the airport, she attaches a baggage
claim tape to a package she is checking and places it on the conveyor into the X-ray machine.
After landing at her destination, she looks on the message board at the car rental and picks
up her reserved car in the lot. On the way into town, she uses a cell phone to direct-dial
business appointments and leaves several messages on answering machines. She purchases
a drink and sandwich at a vending machine for lunch. Dinner is at a cafeteria where she selects
meal items, places them on a tray, pays with a credit card, and finds an empty table. When she
finishes eating, she buses her dishes.
After the day’s business meetings, she leaves the rental car at its drop-off point, proceeds to the airport terminal, and uses the airline kiosk to print her boarding pass. Arriving home, she picks up her car at the parking lot where a scanner reads the ticket and debits her credit card. She stops at a grocery store to pick up a few items on the way home and uses the self-checkout station and credit card.
At home, she checks her investments and sells shares of a poor-performing stock.
Problem Customers Service Failure
1. Unreasonable demands 1. Unavailable service
2. Abusive or hostile attitude 2. Slow performance
3. Inappropriate behavior 3. Unacceptable service
4. Unanticipated demands
5. Demands contrary to policies
THE TWO BIGGEST PROBLEM TYPOLOGIES
NOWADAYS COMPLAINTS MAY GO PUBLIC VIA SOCIAL NETWORKKS
STAFF ARE KEY TO AN OUTSTANDING SERVICE DELIVERY
Selecting and recruiting
Onboarding
Initial weeks/months support
Training
Control and feedback
Salary: linked to performance – wholly or partly
LONG-TERM EMPLOYEES
Permanent training
Prepare them for other (related) functions in the company
