Transcript Chapter 13: Customers’ Roles in Service Delivery

Chapter 13: Customers’ Roles in
Service Delivery
When a customer does not understand his role in the
service delivery process, he is contributing to
Provider Gap 3
Customers producing service for themselves
Levels of customer participation: High vs Low:
eating in a restaurant, staying in a hotel, attending a
concert, having a physical exam
Table 13.1
Levels of Customer Participation across Different Services
Source: Adapted from A. R. Hubbert, “Customer Co-Creation of Service Outcomes: Effects of Locus of Causality Attributions,”
doctoral dissertation, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, 1995.
Importance of Other (“Fellow”) Customers
in Service Delivery
• Other customers can ____________ from satisfaction:
– disruptive behaviors
– overly demanding behaviors
– excessive crowding
– incompatible needs
• Other customers can ______________ satisfaction:
– mere presence
– socialization/friendships
– roles: assistants, teachers, supporters, mentors
Figure 13.2
Services Production Continuum
Customer Production
1
2
Joint Production
3
4
Firm Production
5
6
Gas Station Illustration
1. Customer pumps gas and pays at the pump with automation
2. Customer pumps gas and goes inside to pay attendant
3. Customer pumps gas and attendant takes payment at the pump
4. Attendant pumps gas and customer pays at the pump with automation
5. Attendant pumps gas and customer goes inside to pay attendant
6. Attendant pumps gas and attendant takes payment at the pump
Customers’ Roles
1. Customers as ____________________
If customers contribute effort, time, or other resources to
the service production process, they should be
considered as part of the organization - partial employees
Ex: Self service gas station; automated ticket machines
for airlines
Customer inputs can affect the organization’s productivity
Should customers’ roles be expanded or reduced?
Does role enhance customer value?
Customers’ Roles
2. Customers as contributors of __________
___________________
Effective customer participation may increase the
likelihood that needs are met and that the benefits the
customer seeks are actually attained
Customers’ Roles
Customers can contribute to:
the ___________________ of the service they receive
• by asking questions
• by taking responsibility for their own satisfaction
• by complaining when there is service failure
their own _______________ with the service
• by performing their role effectively
• by working with the service provider
Customers’ Roles
3.Customers as ___________________
Customers are viewed as competitors when they produce a
service for themselves
internal exchange vs. external exchange based on:
expertise, resources , time, economic rewards, psychic
rewards, trust, control
Strategies for Enhancing Customer
Participation (p. 404)
Define _________________________:
Increase the level of customer involvement in service
delivery through active participation (help oneself)
example:
Ask current customer to help other customers
example:_____________________________
Use customers to promote service: credit card offers
10,000 free miles to those who can solicit a new credit card
customer
Strategies for Enhancing Customer
Participation
Recruit, Educate, and Reward Customers:
Recruit the _____________: communicate expected roles and
responsibilities in advertising and other company messages
Example: child-care center requires parental participation
Educate and Train Customers to Perform Effectively: patient
handbooks for hospitals
Reward Customers for Their Contributions: make benefits
apparent to customers - better health or quicker recovery
from following patient handbook
Strategies for Enhancing Customer
Participation
Manage the Customer Mix:______________
________________________________
Communicate beforehand - allow customers to self-select
Compatible customers are grouped together
Customer “codes of conduct”
Proper training of personnel
Exercise – Thoughts to Consider
Describe a time when your satisfaction in a particular
situation was increased because of something another
customer did. Could (or does) the organization do
anything to ensure that this happens routinely? What does
it do? Should it try to make this a routine occurrence?
Describe a time when your satisfaction in a particular
situation was decreased because of something another
customer did. Could the organization have done anything
to manage this situation more effectively?