This document outlines steps for developing a customer service strategy, including determining important customer service attributes, competitor vulnerabilities, and a company's own service capabilities. It identifies four core elements of a service strategy: reliability, surprise, recovery, and fairness. For each element, it provides examples of how companies can meet customer expectations through things like dependable service, unexpected extras that delight customers, effective problem resolution, and fair treatment of all customers. The document stresses the importance of effective service recovery when problems occur and emphasizes designing reliable service systems to prevent errors.

1. Customer Service Strategy

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3. Steps in Identifying A Service Strategy Determine the most important service attributes for meeting and exceeding customers’ expectations. Determine the most important service attributes on which competitors are most vulnerable.

4. Determine existing and potential service capabilities of our company Develop a service strategy that addresses important, enduring customer needs, exploits competitor vulnerabilities, and fits our company’s capabilities and potential Steps in Identifying A Service Strategy

5. Four Core Elements of Service Strategy Service Reliability Service Surprise Service Recovery Service Fairness

6. Service Reliability Reliability refers to accurate and dependable service; it refers to keeping the service promise Service Surprise Surprise means finding ways to make the customer say “wow, these folks are good”; it comes from the unexpected extra.

7. Service Recovery Recovery involves regaining the customers’ confidence if the service is deficient; it means standing behind the service Service Fairness Fairness requires a level playing field for company and customer; business is conducted in an ethical arena.

8. Service Reliability Companies that continuously nurture the values of accuracy and dependability prevent many errors caused by carelessness Service Reliability is Attitude

9. Service Reliability is Design Service Reliability Dependability and accuracy can be designed into service system. Not all service mistakes stem from carelessness. Frequently, the real culprit is a needlessly complicated and failure-prone service system. The flaw is in the design.

10. Service Surprise Surprising Customers with Details Great service companies “major in minors”. They use details to be different and to signal customers that the company is special.

11. Service Surprise Surprising Customers with Details The “wow” is the total service experience; it is 101 little things done with the customers’ interest uppermost in mind.

12. Service Surprise Surprising Customers with Extra Efforts Companies earn extra credit with customers through extra effort. Customer remember when service providers go out their way to help them, when they refuse to give up until a persistent problem is solved.

13. Service Recovery Critical Importance of Effective Recovery Service Research finding reveals that customers in general are far more forgiving of a service failure when the company makes a sincere, concerted effort to remedy the problem.

14. Service Recovery Satisfactory recovery service sharply increases customers’ willingness to recommend the firm and significantly improves their perceptions of overall service quality. Critical Importance of Effective Recovery Service

15. Service Recovery Essential Steps in Recovery Service Teach the Importance of Recovery Service Identify Service Problems Resolve Problems Effectively Improve the Service System

16. Service Fairness Customers expect service companies to treat them fairly; they become angry and mistrustful when they perceive otherwise.

17. Service Fairness Fairness is not a separate dimension of service but, rather, touches all customer expectations.

18. Service Fairness Customers expect service companies to keep their promise ( reliability ), to offer clean, comfortable facilities ( tangibles ), to give prompt service ( responsiveness ), to be competent and courteous ( assurance ), and to extend caring, individualized attention ( empathy ).

19. Source of Reference: Leonard L. Berry , On Great Service : A Framework for Action, The Free Press If you think this presentation useful, please consider telling others about our site : www.studyMarketing.org