Customer Expectation and Excellence in Service Industry
Customer Expectation and Excellence in Service IndustrySid
Gupta
Credential Sid Gupta Professional Experience20 years of
distinguished service as Commissioned Officer in Indian Armed
ForcesRelinquished as Commander by rank and Joint Director by
Appointment at Naval Headquarters Business Director RMS Automation
Systems. Telecommunication and Renewable Energy BusinessGroup CEO
IKF Technology. Listed in Mumbai Stock Exchange. BPO, K12
Education, Renewable Energy, GIS Mapping etc. Business Consultant
Shaw Communication. Business IT Solution Country Manager, Canada
Codan Radio Communications. Trunking Radio and LMRSales Manager,
Canada & USA DDS Wireless, SaaS & PaaS for Taxi Industry
QualificationsMasters in TelecommunicationsMasters in Business
Management Six Sigma Green CertifiedCertified Network
Administrator
Views expressed are all personal
Agenda Unacceptable Customer Service Service Provider- Call
Center Wait Time Todays CustomerCustomer Service DriversMeasuring
Service QualityDelivering Exceptional Customer Service
Understanding Service ExcellenceResearch Group Findings
Achieving Culture of ExcellenceNext Generation Customer Service
Apple Service Excellence Example Q&A Session
BibliographyService Quality WikipediaManaging Quality Jeff
HeylDelivering Exception Customer Service Achieving a Culture of
Excellence QAPIHow to Provide Service Excellence Failte Ireland
Towards Better Understanding of Service Excellence Robert
JohnstonNew Tools for Measuring Service Quality - A. Parasuraman,
University of MiamiNext Generation Customer Service The New
Strategic Differentiator Booz & CoMastering the Customer
Experience: The Key Drivers for Success, by IBF Mgmt LLC
Unacceptable Customer Service - Comcast
Service Provider - Call Center Wait Time Earlier each customer
had average waiting time of 45 min. The company was rated very low
for Customer Service Company lost 46,000 customers in 2010. The
service was not very bad but had huge wait time. They hired 500 CSR
(Customer Service Reps) in late 2010 to early 2011. Target was to
bring down the call time to within 5 min in a bad day
It worked. Now wait time is within 5 min.
Todays Customer InformedDemanding ExperimentalCollaborative Cost
sensitiveTechnologically alignedLow Patience / low ToleranceReady
to pay for better serviceAlternatives are available in market
Over the last five years, the ways consumers communicate, learn
about products and make purchasing decisions have fundamentally
changed
Consumers have never been smarter than they are today. They have
more information than ever before to help them make purchasing
decisionsTodays Customer
Strategic ValueCustomer Relationship ManagementOperational
InnovationTechnological AdvancementsCustomer Expectations
Customer Service Drivers
Customer service management is Mission critical asset to the
corporation For revenue protection Revenue generation
opportunities
Increase customer responsiveness and satisfaction Create
customer loyalty and increase retention Lower marketing and account
acquisition costsEnhance corporate image and competitive
advantage
Customer Service Drivers
Strategic Value
The customer service delivery model has a long, progressive
history: administrative customer support reactive customer service
proactive customer care and, ultimately, Internet-based
collaborative service. The services business continues to
strategically evolve: from a cost of doing business that is
vertically organizedby narrowly defined segments of
work/activities; to a multi-channel, cross-organizational approach
that is horizontally aligned around customer-focused processes.
This strategic paradigm shift represents the recognition of
customer service management as a mission critical asset to the
corporation for revenue-protection and revenue- generation
opportunities.Increase customer responsiveness and satisfaction
Create customer loyalty and increase retention Lower marketing and
account acquisition costsEnhance corporate image and competitive
advantage
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Customer Service Drivers
Customer Relationship ManagementSynchronization across
traditional customer-interfacing boundaries:Marketing, Sales, Field
service, Technical and Aftermarket support
Understand customer expectations and relationship management
trendsCreate company-wide customer management Salesforce and
Customer Facing TeamEstablish learning relationships with customers
Golden Triangle
Enterprise-wide customer relationship management has broadened
the concept of customer care.
No longer is it satisfactory to develop strategies and
operations within organizational silos.
Personalized customer contacts the basis for a business
relationship require common customer knowledge across internal
functional areas.
In addition, customer segmentation rules based on contact
triggers are necessary to reduce flight risk of high-valued
customers.
An overall approach is required to synchronously manage across
the traditional customer-interfacing organizational boundaries,
e.g., marketing, sales, field service, technical and aftermarket
support.Understand customer expectations and relationship
management trendsCreate company-wide customer managementEstablish
learning relationships with customers12
In global competitive landscape, companies need to: Benchmark
within and across industries Strive to stay on the leading edge
world-class customer care experience Based on customer needs and
exceeding expectations
Provide service outside the traditional channels for 24x7x365
digital Set customer service objectives that drive personalization
adoption Dispatch ScenarioCreate data- and knowledge-sharing
infrastructure Learn from customer data business trends Realign
compensation with customer satisfaction and retention Account
Manager
Customer Service Drivers
Operational Innovation
As corporations strategically leverage the customer contact,
innovation inherently follows.
Leading-edge service organizations looks beyond the four walls
of a particular operation and deliver customer contacts to the most
appropriate associate regardless of reporting structure
Applying the principles of the contact center across the
enterprise.
As benchmarks in providing exceptional service evolve, the
continuous improvement paradigm becomes more of a necessity.
It is imperative, in the global competitive landscape, to not
only benchmark within and across industries but strive to stay on
the leading edge of providing world-class customer care based on
customer needs and exceeding expectations.Provide service outside
the traditional channels for 24x7x365Set customer service
objectives that drive personalization adoptionCreate data- and
knowledge-sharing infrastructureLearn from customer dataRealign
compensation with customer satisfaction and retention
13
Customer Service Drivers
Technological AdvancementsAdvancements in both operation support
systems and customer-facing technologies promise flexibility and
innovation.
Set the pace with personalized, proactive service Flag CRM on
customer attributesBreak down service silos to show one face to the
customer Best touch pointCoordinate across all customer contact
channels Collaborative Approach
Technology applications are unique in both supporting and
driving operational requirements
Consistently raising the bar in how customer and operations
support are defined.
Advancements in both operation support systems and
customer-facing technologies promise flexibility and
innovation.
It is necessary to address human factors, business rules and
workflow for a business to capitalize on these innovations.
In addition, the Internet and other electronic communications
raise unique challenges. For example, how to provide proactive,
personalized service in an inherently impersonal environment where
certain customer touch points, such as email, are not real-time.Set
the pace with personalized, proactive serviceBreak down service
silos to show one face to the customerCoordinate across all
customer contact channels
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Customer Service Drivers
Customer ExpectationExpectations have evolved to the point where
exceptional customer service is considered the minimal requirement
and personalized, proactive customer care is gaining momentum.
Master customer interactions on- and off-line for 24x7x365
availabilityBlending of sales and service paradigms
RATER AttributesMeasuring Service Quality
Many researchers have struggled with the issue of how to measure
service quality. Perhaps the most widely used measure is based on a
set of five dimensions which have been consistently ranked by
customers to be most important for service quality, regardless of
service industry. These dimensions defined by the SERVQUAL
measurement instrument are as follows:
Tangibles:appearance of physical facilities, equipment,
personnel, and communication materials;Reliability:ability to
perform the promised service dependably and
accurately;Responsiveness:willingness to help customers and provide
prompt service;Assurance:knowledge and courtesy of employees and
their ability to convey trust and confidence; andEmpathy:the
caring, individualized attention the firm provides its
customers.
These five SERVQUAL dimensions are used to measure the gap
between customers expectation for excellence and their perception
of actual service delivered. The SERVQUAL instrument, when applied
over time, helps service providers understand both customer
expectations, perceptions of specific services, and areas of needed
quality improvements.SERVQUAL has been used in many ways, such as
identifying specific service elements requiring improvement, and
targeting training opportunities for service staff.Proper
development of items used in the SERVQUAL instrument provides rich
item-level information that leads to practical implications for a
service manager.The service quality dimensions evaluated by
SERVQUAL should be adjusted for optimal performance in different
industry, public and private sector applications.SERVQUAL scores
are highly reliable, but when used in different industries may fail
to produce a clear delineation of the five basic dimensions. Other
measures, such as the Six Sigma model should be considered for
applicability in quantifying the gap between service expectations
and perceptions.
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ISP Example Internet Offering Internet offering by ISP was not
transparent to the customer Most often Sales Rep steers the
customer to ramp up their service and pay more. Customer did not
have any visibility of usage and hence lack of confidence
Company offered online experience to the customerCustomer can
see their usage pattern and decide their best optionsCustomer felt
empowered It increases brand credibility for the company
Taxi Owners are operatorsGeneral Manager is an employee for 12
months around Dont expect him to do wonders Dispatching system is
focused on Owners and not on customersCustomers experience is not
as satisfying Lacks Business Experience Emotional Decisions
Taxi Industry Background
A highly regulated and controlled industryPassenger was not
central to business but the driver/owner Lacks Quality of
ServiceLacks adequate service number of carsDelay in call
takingDelay in dispatchingRude customer experienceSome of them
using outdated technology Conventional Taxi IndustryPoor Website
QualityTaxi App Not innovative Web Booking Option Not best of the
experience for customersPoor business ethics Lacks strategic
view
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UberLyft .
A different concept of offering service Customer is central to
this offering Driver is central to this modelTechnology is a
facilitatorSimple management traits Demand and Supply- Surge
Pricing
Taxi Industry - Paradigm Shift
Differentiated Service Offerings Taxi IndustryCustomer
FocusedAll activity central is CustomerNeed based solutions:Taxi
CompaniesLimos and Executive Livery servicesCar Sharing by EVO,
Modo, Zip Car and Car2GoLatest one is Turo.com like AirbnbRide
Sharing - Uber, Lyft, Sidecar, Carma
Service excellenceSatisfaction v. delightdelight is an
expression of very high satisfaction resulting from surprisingly
good performance (i.e. excellent service).Exceeding expectations
implies that:Organizations have continually to do more in order to
deliver excellent service and delight their customers.What is
missing is some notion of what the customer values that leads to
feelings of delight (or disgust). Understanding Service
Excellence
Service excellence is both obtrusive and elusive. We know when
we have received it and, rather more frequently, we know when we
have not. Such service, both excellent and poor, has a strong
emotional impact upon us as customers, creating intense feelings
about the organization, its staff and its services, and influencing
our loyalty to it.
Yet many organizations seem to find service excellence elusive,
hard to grasp, and also difficult to deliver.
These derivations are based on five-year study into service
excellence commissioned by the Institute of Customer Service. Its
purpose is to try to bridge this gap in management thinking by
trying to develop a better understanding of service excellence and
suggesting how to achieve it.
This exploratory effort makes an attempt to understand what is
meant by the term service excellence as a first step towards
helping marketers and managers, where appropriate, to design and
deliver it.
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Characters of ServiceService excellence was simply about being
easy to do business with (not necessarily exceeding expectations).
Excellent service was described simply as a pleasure Customers did
not expect the earthOne respondent reported: it was quick and easy,
they were really helpfulWe are easily pleased. Interestingly, the
respondents admitted that they were quite prepared to pay extra for
thisResearch Group Findings
There was a research Group created with 3 categories of age
group with 150 samples.
In essence, service excellence was simply about being easy to do
business with (not necessarily exceeding expectations). Excellent
service was described simply as a pleasure. 23
Research Group Findings
Excellent service provided by the respondents fell into four
categories: (1) Delivering the promise.(2) Providing a personal
touch.(3) Going the extra mile.(4) Dealing well with problems and
queries.
..and conversely for Poor Service
There was a research Group created with 3 categories of age
group with 150 samples.
In essence, service excellence was simply about being easy to do
business with (not necessarily exceeding expectations). Excellent
service was described simply as a pleasure. 24
Achieving Culture of Excellence
How to Provide Customer Service Excellence
Commitment to Service ExcellenceGet as close as you can to your
customers Apple PayDesign your products and services to meet
defined needs and expectationsDeliver products and services in a
way that consistently exceeds expectationsIntroduce informal and
formal feedback systemsThe External Customer
The Internal Customer Clearly Define Roles and
ResponsibilitiesProvide appropriate and continuous training to all
employeesCreate a working environment which engages employees to
the fullest extentMeasure employee satisfaction at regular
intervals
Standard of Performance
Next Generation Customer Service The New Strategic
Differentiator
There are 5 attributes to next generation customer service
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Employ cross selling and retention during inbound service
contractsLeverage contacts for customer insightUse service
propositions as differentiator
Leverage Service for Revenue Growth
Innovate the Customer Interface
Provide Multiple Channels Employ Web methods to engage customers
correct segmentation & positioningApply smart automation to
balance human and automated interactionExperiment with technology
innovation
Integrate Customer Touch Points Integrate service channel
management across all customer touch pointsDesign and execute
integrated channel strategyCreate seamless service experience
Drive Customer Centricity
Establish customer service as cross functional hubAppoint a
chief service officerDemonstrate value of serviceEstablish a
service minded culture
Increase efficiency, balance with effectivenessStreamline and
synchronise process and systems Selectively outsource simple
processesAutomate responses to standard inquiriesCreate High
Performance Operations
Apple - Service Excellence Example
Conclusion Customer is Sensitive Business to grow only with
customer collaborationCustomers experience is critical for business
growthCustomer Care to be authentic, ethical and transparentStand
by your promise Customer is looking for that extra mile. Can you do
it..!!
Sid [email protected] & A
