If you are like most business owners, you want your service
business to be more profitable and easier to run so you can dedicate more of
your efforts to building your business for the future. In order to accomplish this, you must find
innovative ways to profitably grow your business.
Service Innovation determines and delivers the optimum value
to customers, for each customer segment your business serves. In order for any business to profit it must
deliver sufficient “value” to attract customers in at least one market segment
that is large enough to financially support the business.
The concept of “value” is determined solely by the
customer’s perception of the value received.
Customers are astute at recognizing value when they see it and demand
the best value for themselves. Value is determined by total price, a service
level that meets the customer’s needs, customer’s perception of “risk” and the
total customer experience from arranging the service, to concluding the
transaction and after sale service.
Three Service Innovation goals:
1)
Achieving competitively superior Competence
to profitably deliver the “right value” to customers. Competence is how your service business
demonstrates that it delivers the best value from the customer’s point of
view. This requires your company to
have deep insight into what the customer is expecting and meets those expectations.
2)
Establishing and maintaining an absolute level
of Trust with your customer based on actions that your customer
consistently perceives are in their best interest. Demonstrating Competence is the first step in
a trusting relationship. Your company’s
relationship with the customer, however, extends far beyond just delivery of
the service and involves many interactions, each of which must reinforce in the
customer’s mind that your company is behaving in their best interests.
3)
Creating Evangelist Customers to build
the lifetime value of each customer through repeat business and / or referrals
resulting from favorable “word of mouth”. Customers can be hard to come by, expensive to
acquire and difficult to keep. Positive
comments about your business enhance the impression of Competence and Trust that
are essential to acquiring and retaining profitable new customers.
Two questions lead to the discovery of innovative
opportunities:
1)
What’s in it for the Customer?
2)
What’s in it for Team Members?
What’s in it for the Customer?
Discovering the “right” innovations is challenging. Your company must relate to the service being
provided solely from the customer’s point of view without thinking in terms of
the “best of everything” or the “greatest service”. Instead this is about your having a deep
understanding of the “right” type of services that your customer wants and
making sure that your company can deliver what is expected in a competitively
superior, competent way.
From the customer’s point of view; What’s in it for the
customer?
1)
Is the level of service just “right” and not too
much or too little?
2)
Are your service offerings appropriately adjusted
for different customer segments?
3)
Are only properly and thoroughly trained Team Members
been assigned to the service?
4)
Are the Team Members properly equipped
technically?
5)
Is the service delivered in a “visually”
efficient manner? Do your Team Members
look competent as they perform their tasks?
Does there appear to be a minimum of time wasted? (Think Lean 5S)
6)
Is the relationship with the customer
appropriately transparent relative to quoting, status updates, outcomes and
billing?
7)
Does the customer believe your company is making
decisions in their best interest?
8)
Issues effecting cost, timing, function and appearance
occur when performing service work. How
this is communicated to the customer and how the customer is involved is
central to their perception of value.
9)
Is the service delivered 100% on time, 100% on
spec and 100% on budget or what should the customer expect?
10)
What is your company asking the customer to
do? Is the service convenient? Is what you are asking the customer to do consistent
with what the customer wants to do and is capable of doing? Does the customer become a better customer,
over time?
11)
Is the customer really unreasonable or is your
company unprepared to deliver a level of service your customer should expect?
12)
What “risk” does the customer perceive in doing
business with your firm?
13)
Does your firm have a reputation of being
trustworthy based on it consistently acting in the best interests of the
customer?
14)
How are problems between the customer and your
company identified and resolved?
15)
Is there an effective feedback mechanism for the
customer to use? Does your company deal
with the feedback in a manner to encourage the customer to be an Evangelist?
What’s in it for the Team Member?
It is often, and rightly said, that PEOPLE are the key to the success of any business. This is especially true in a service business
as Team Members perform the work, interact with the customer, and are the face
of the business.
From the Team Member point of view:
1)
Is the Team Member properly trained to perform
the work in accordance with the “right” service standards?
2)
Is the Team Member properly resourced with
tools, parts, equipment, and communication capability?
3)
Is the Team Member properly trained in the
necessary communication skills to interact with customers to deliver the
service standard?
4)
Does the Team Member understand exactly what is
expected of them on each assignment?
5)
Does the Team Member understand exactly what is
expected by the customer on each assignment?
6)
Does the Team Member perceive themselves as a
“trusted” partner in satisfying the customer?
7)
Is the Team Member empowered to make “on the
fly” decisions on behalf of the company to resolve issues that arise either
with the service being provided or with the customer?
8)
Is the Team Member compensated in a way
consistent with the customer’s best interests, the company’s best interests and
their own best interest?
Service Innovation starts with asking the right questions. As a business owner, are you asking the right
questions, from the right view point?
