Planning and Creating Service Product
Services are mostly intangible. Service performances are
experiences rather than owned. Some service though have substantial physical
elements, but significant portion of price is paid for the service
elements. A service product comprises of all elements of
service performance, both tangible and intangible that create value for
customers.
Service products are designed keeping in mind these
tangible and intangible elements. The basic decision is to identify the core
service and then augment it with number of supplementary service. Since the
service product is mostly service delivery, the process of delivery completes
both core and supplementary services.
Core Product - This is the central component that supplies
the principal, problem-solving benefits that customers seek. This is usually
described by the industry it serves. For example food and beverages,
transportation, accommodation and so on.
Supplementary Services: These are the
service elements that augments the core product, facilitating its use and
enhancing its value and appeal. Supplementary services are value points for
marketers. They also function as point of differences. The creativity and
novelty seeking service provider add more number of services and brings them to
highest standards.
Delivery Processes: The processes used to
deliver both the core product and each of the supplementary services. For each
service element, delivery of service must address the following issues:
- Nature of Processes: How the different service components are delivered to the customer
- Customer’s role: The nature of the customer’s role in those processes
- Scheduling: How long delivery lasts
- Service Level: The recommended level and style of service to be offered
Documenting the Delivery
Sequence Overtime:
The blueprint of the service delivery is very crucial as
it gives guideline to decide the sequence or flow of service delivery. The
prerequisites are -
- All inclusions and exclusions in the service package and its sequence.
- The time element of each aspect including the customer waiting time,
- The amount of customer information needed and available.
The Flower of Service
This concept was first introduced by Christopher Lovelock
in 1992. In his paper "Cultivating the Flower of Service: New Ways of
Looking at Core and Supplementary Services", he has elaborated the range
of service elements that can be added to a services products as:
- The elements that are important in service delivery or aid to the delivery of core product. They are Facilitating Service.
- The elements that add extra value to the core product. They are termed as Enhancing Services.
Though there can be number of facilitating and enhancing
services, Christopher Lovelock has classified them in eight clusters. According
to this model these eight service elements are petals surrounding the center of
the flower which is represented by the core product called the Flower of
service. They consists of information, consultation, order-taking, hospitality,
safekeeping, exceptions, billing and payments.
The order of the elements in the service flower is
designed keeping in mind the flow of service and the order in which they
happen. Information, order taking, billing and payments describes facilitating
elements, and consultations, hospitality, safekeeping and exceptions brings up
enhancing service elements.
The facilitating and enhancing services aids the delivery
of core service product. They are present in services with variations as not
everyone aims at the highest level of service. Also the sequence of service
differs in different industries - for example in some cases like online travel bookings,
customers may not visit the service providers office at all. Facilitating
services are also determined by the role of customer in the delivery process
(people processing vs possession processing) and the waiting and delivery time
associated with the delivery.
Information
Information is a very strong element in facilitating core
service. Good service provider’s aims to create good impression by keep an
updated and informative website, which helps providing all necessary
information to the customer. The customer may seek following Information:
Directions to service site:
Service providers can use SEO to enable online search. On
the company's website all the information including product information,
reservations and FAQs guides the customer. It also provides location help to
the customers.
On the physical location there is an information counter
or reception provides the information. They are the people who guides the
customer to appropriate service factory.
Schedules/service hours:
Airlines provide information regarding flight timings and
duration, Hotels put up check-in and check-out timings, doctors display their
visiting hours to provide customers with the schedules.
Prices:
Most customers seek information regarding prices of the
service package. They also look for information regarding inclusions in the
given offer and prices for add-ons.
Reminders & Offers:
Most airlines sends messages to its customers regarding
schedules and delay, banks provide its customer with the updated account
information and beauty saloons sends message its customers for service
reminders. Tours and travel companies send messages to its customers regarding
offers and schemes.
Warnings and Conditions:
This tour and travel companies indicates current prices with warnings that it is subject to change as seats are full. They would also notify the change in itinerary, timings and packages are informed.
All disclaimers, cancellation policies, possible changes
in fares and prices are informed to the customers. Special conditions are
mentioned if required. For example, a hair spa would ask the customer to wash
the hair before treatment.
This tour and travel companies indicates current prices with warnings that it is subject to change as seats are full. They would also notify the change in itinerary, timings and packages are informed.
Documentation:
Customer may need information regarding their previous services that is
made available if documented. Confirmation of reservations can be provided
online or offline through a message or a voucher. Receipts and tickets are
a proof of bookings and payments an offline or online voucher or ticket is provided.Banks
and financial institutions provides summaries of account activities that are
updated and accurate.
Consultation
After seeking all the general information, the customers
will look for the suggestions and recommendations that best suits their
specific needs. The service providers tries to answer all possible queries of
customers. In an academic institution, students asks faculty members regarding
choice of course. In a restaurants, patrons ask captain to suggest what dish to
order, In a beauty saloon, customers ask experts to guide them regarding what
facial or haircut will suit them. Consultation is an enhancing service which
may not be offered by basic service providers. Some of the consultation
services includes:
Customized advice:
Tours and travel companies provide customized advice to
its customers regarding personal counseling, tutoring/training in product use
and management or technical consulting.
Norwegian cruise liners have personal consultants for guide customers booking the right cruise and packages.
Order taking
Once a customer is satisfied with all the information and
counseling, the order is placed. In services order placing may happen before
counseling, after counseling or simultaneously as well. Ordertaking is a
facilitating element and essential in all service. In basic services order is
taken on the basis of what is available and very less or no counseling is given
to the customers.
The customer may place the order online through the
reservation portals. Many service providers like beauty saloons, spas, hotels
and restaurants book reservations online.
Many rental companies like taxi services, car rentals or
equipment rentals also provide online booking services. Bookmyshow app provides
online booking of tickets for movies, concert, sports events and plays.
Some services like memberships in clubs, admissions in
schools and universities and subscription services requires the customer to
fill an application. In such cases, there are many applicants for one seat and
the service provider selects the customer on the basis of certain criteria.
Hospitality
Hospitality is an enhancing element. Its starts at the
moment customer enters a service factory. This elements is the most important
parameter of service quality and very essential in people processing high contact
services. Many services providers excels in hospitality. Major hotel
chains and restaurants have positioned themselves on their
exceptional hospitality services.
As per Christopher Lovelock, the hospitality element is
defined by the following:
Greeting:
Being the first contact point or moment of truth, service
providers makes sure that the customer is greeted properly upon entering the
service facility. The main entrance security, parking assistants, and the
people at reception greets the customer. At HDFC bank branches, the
customer is greeted by a security personnel at the entrance and
guided towards the right counter.
Food and beverages:
A very important aspect of hospitality s the food and
beverages offered to the customer, not only for the hotel and restaurant
services but for all the people processing services. In a beauty saloon,
consultancy services, complimentary refreshments are offered to the customers
waiting and availing the services.In some other service, like retail stores,
cinema halls and concerts, refreshments are made available on paid basis.
Other hospitality elements includes, neat and clean
toilets and washrooms, comfortable waiting facilities with basic amenities like
air-conditioner and water dispenser. Service providers also offers lounges,
waiting areas with wi-fi facility, comfortable seating. Changi airport in
Singapore provides massage chairs in the waiting lounge. Waiting lounges also
keep magazines, televisions, newspapers for the customers.
Service providers also provides weather protection from
sun, rains and snow is provided to the customers and the customer's vehicles.
Good hotels also
provide airport transfers and sight seeing tours.
Safekeeping
Safekeeping is
also an enhancing element. It includes:
- Caring for customer possessions child care, pet care, parking for vehicles, valet parking, coat rooms, baggage handling, storage space, safe deposit boxes and security personnel
- Caring for goods purchased like providing packaging, pickup, free transportation and delivery, installation, inspection and diagnosis of malfunctioned products, cleaning, refueling, annual maintenance repair and renovation.
Exceptions
Exceptions is an enhancing element of service product. At
time service providers have to deal with special requests from the customers
regarding their personal needs for example, children’s needs, dietary
requirements, medical or disability needs or religious observances. For hotels,
customer may request for early check-in or late checkout.
Service providers also excel in handling complaints,
compliments and suggestions. In case of complaints they try to recover the
service, if not possible they provide adequate compensation. For example, if a
customer is not satisfied with a haircut, the saloon may not charge the
customer. In case the customer is delighted with the experience and compliments
service provider, the service provider rewards the customers with some freebies
to retain the patronage. Customer suggestions are invited for improvements.
Services providers may provide exception in handling and
solving problem situations. They may offer service warranties and guarantees
like home repair and painting companies offers. They may assist customer using
a product or may assist customers mers who have suffered an accident or a
medical emergency
In case of service failure due to any reason, the service provider may restitute by offering refunds and compensation. They may also offer free repair of defective goods.
Billing
Billing is a facilitating element of service product.
Whatever level of service offered or availed, billed with great care and
accuracy. It includes, invoices for individual transactions, verbal statements
of amount due or machine display of amount due. At times customers may create
the bill themselves. Many hotels offers express check-ins.
Payments
The final and most important supplementary service is the
payment facility. These days there are many options available for payment.
Customer can pay online using payment gateway, using credit card or debit
cards. They may pay through mobile network or third party, like paytm. Some
housing and personal finance companies deduct directly from customer's bank
account. The option to pay at service provider site is also available.
Reference: Services Marketing: People, Technology, Strategy - Lovelock, Wirtz & Chatterjee & Service Marketing - Zeithmal, Bitner, Gremler & Pandit
Reference: Services Marketing: People, Technology, Strategy - Lovelock, Wirtz & Chatterjee & Service Marketing - Zeithmal, Bitner, Gremler & Pandit
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