The term 'services' has been a misused and abused word by many businesses, to their disadvantage.
Ask what makes a company’s offer unique and you'd likely get the answer 'more personalized service' or 'going the extra mile.' A more careful analysis make this frame of thinking a bit wanting.
From our years of training and consultancy work, we have gathered a list of major pitfalls that have caused the service component of a customer offer to fail.
1. Essence of Service Is Vague.
Most businesses do not have a strong background on what and why service is necessary as a different attribute in the total offer. They simply copy what others have done through the years and use the misnomer 'service.'
Product packaging, features, and usage still make it to top of mind, with service playing a supporting role in creating the customer experience. Thus, service is seen only as needed when the product has been bought or consumed. In some cases, service is relegated to a mere 'customer service hotline' for receiving complaints. This clearly shows that service has become a reactive endeavor that is available only when something goes wrong!
2. Service As Delight Is Misinterpreted
In its true sense, service should stand alone as an attribute that provides its own contribution as a 'delight handle.' Meaning, with a quality product and a good process of execution, the customer response should reach a satisfactory level. From there, the service attribute should be able to contribute add-on features like more responsive assistance to heighten product experience or more timely information feedback to bring about a state of delight.
However, countless incidents have shown service delight being aligned with incentives to cover up the lack of customer satisfaction. Examples abound such as treating customers to high-end dinners since the promised deliveries have not been completely met or, say, paying for a client's out-of-town or overseas trips since a major breakdown or lapse in negotiations was not properly handled.
Thus, 'delight' is not actually realized. Instead it is seen as a recovery tool for lapses in processes or commitments.
3. Service Extra Mile Becomes Open Season.
Imagine a business allowing all its personnel to go the extra mile with no clear parameters of how far they can go? Some employees may stay until 10 p.m. to answer phone calls, while others may provide service even on Sundays. Still some may go to the extent of visiting customer homes to provide service.
Nothing is wrong with going the extra mile. The problem starts when customers compare the various extra-mile service renditions they enjoy and start demanding the same from all employees of the company. Should employees not be able to provide the same 'extra-mile' service given by co-employees, then the customer starts complaining.
4. Service Rendition Was Not Efficiently Measured.
How does one ensure the same service in terms of quality, standards, and completeness? Through clear and specific measurement tools. This means that both the service provider (employee) and the customer are educated on how to measure what was executed and what was experienced.
Sadly, businesses tend to use 'YES, I am happy' or 'NO, I am not happy' benchmarks. 'Yes, I am happy' does not specify what part of the service execution is involved. Was it the ambiance? The technical skill of the service provider? The conversational or interpersonal skills? The relationship of total experience versus amount of money charged? Without a more specific feedback response guide, the benchmarks can become meaningless.
Based on studies, many businesses make the mistake of copying existing, inadequate customer feedback mechanisms and then conduct simple collation.
5. Providers Are Not Service Oriented.
After a series of mandatory training, employees begin to see their service role as a routine instead of value-differentiated. So what happens is that courtesy and answering questions are wrongly seen as 'service orientation.' There is no extra effort to ensure employees are able to give a timely, accurate, and even complete response.
A critical concern in the lack of enthusiasm for better service orientation is that the company provides neither significant incentives nor immediate recognition for those who excel in providing memorable service.
Given these common scenarios we've encountered, it is no a surprise that true service is almost non-existent in many business organizations in the country today.
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