process | seventeen
little short of mediocre. Those committed to
“Service is an exchange defi ned measures of success as part of the
delivering optimum customer satisfaction do
relationship in which
contract and service level agreements, and
not merely react to the statistics of others.
customers swap their
reviewing these on a regular basis.”
Rather, they fi nd out what it takes to perform
She singles out ISO20000 as a valuable
in the upper 10% of their sector and do
money and loyalty for
reference when setting up the supplier
whatever it takes to achieve those results.
need gratifi cation - a
relationship, so both parties are adhering to
the highest standards. “Most importantly, the
Customer Delight psychological contract relationship should be properly managed,
Keeping the customer truly happy, of course, is
with the vendor
with regular reviews, clearly defi ned
not some sterile exercise in applied theoretical
organisation to have their
communication and escalation paths, and
criteria. It goes much deeper than that. For jointly owned continuous improvement plans
we are not dealing with automata here,
needs gratifi ed.”
in place. It is also essential to have a two-way
but with living, breathing beings. Indeed,
Benjamin Schneider and David Bowen,
open and honest feedback process in place.”
current studies attribute a higher degree of
‘Winning the Service Game’
Macniven also argues for the creation of a
emotionality to the dissatisfaction end of road map. “This may sound basic and obvious,
the satisfaction continuum than in the past. Recent emphasis on relationship marketing but many companies don’t have a joint plan
By focusing on the more intense customer - ie, attracting, developing and retaining that tells them where the relationship and
emotions, such as delight, the authors explore customers - is pertinent, because building service is, where they should be heading,
the dynamics of customer emotions and their relationships requires that companies view and what benefi ts and value add should be
effect on customer behaviour and loyalty. customers as people fi rst and consumers expected in the short, medium and longer
In ‘Winning the Service Game’, university second. Service is an exchange relationship term. An annual review of the contract and
professors of psychology and management, in which customers swap their money and road map is an essential part of this process”
Benjamin Schneider and David Bowen detail loyalty for what Schneider and Bowen argue
an explicit set of rules by which organisations is need gratifi cation - a psychological contract “Collaboration means
can meet customer expectations and with the vendor organisation to have their
making sure both
needs, as well as capitalise on customer needs gratifi ed. Note that they base their
competencies as a source of competitive conceptualisation on people’s needs, rather
parties are clear in their
advantage. Drawing on an extensive body of than the more conventional model that
objectives, when it comes
research, the authors reveal the important focuses on customer expectations about their
relationships across three tiers in any service interactions with an organisation.
to what they want out
organisation - customers, front-line workers, Interestingly, they propose a complementary of the relationship. That
and management - and demonstrate how needs-based model for service businesses
means drawing up a
management can ensure that all three tiers that assumes both customer delight and
work in harmony to produce an environment its opposite, outrage, originate with the
contract that is neither
where employees fl ourish and customers handling of three basic human needs -
too restrictive, nor too
experience superior service. security, justice and self-esteem. By recasting
generalised, so the service
a situation as one that has violated any of a
customer’s fundamental needs, the deeper
level agreements have to
emotional outcome (eg, outrage) does not
be carefully defi ned, by
seem incongruous. The appropriate strategy,
therefore, when it comes to specifi c managerial
both sides.”
tactics is to avoid outrage and create delight –
Jennifer Macniven,
no simplistic task.
She also recommends that end users
Clear Objectives talk to other customers within the supplier
Jennifer Macniven – one of the UK’s leading community who are using similar solutions,
IT service management specialists - points as well as visiting supplier sites to observe
to close collaboration between vendor and how they operate and see fi rst-hand their
end user as paramount, in order to achieve a level of professionalism. “Always know your
successful outcome. “Collaboration means alternatives! Find out where they sit in the
working together to ensure that both parties market, who their competitors are and what
are clear in their objectives, when it comes to they are offering. Very few suppliers deliver
what they want out of the relationship and alone, so end users also need to understand
Emerson F
reedman, BBC W
orldwide
:
the products. That means drawing up clearly the supply chain.
List
ening, l
earning and c
o-oper
ating
is the k
ey.
august.september | 2009 SupportWorld
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