This document discusses the strategic roles of physical evidence and servicescapes in customer service. It defines physical evidence as the environment where a service is delivered and customers interact with employees, including any tangible items that facilitate performance. The document outlines different types of physical evidence and servicescapes, and identifies four key roles they can serve: as a package to set expectations, a facilitator for service processes, a socializer between customers and employees, and a differentiator from competitors. It concludes by providing six steps for developing an effective physical evidence strategy.

1. Physical Evidence and the
Servicescape
• Physical Evidence
• Types of Servicescapes
• Strategic Roles of the Servicescape
• Framework for Understanding Servicescape
Effects on Behavior
• Guidelines for Physical Evidence Strategy
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2. Physical Evidence
• “The environment in which the service is
delivered and where the firm and the
customer interact, and any tangible
commodities that facilitate performance or
communication of the service.”
• Physical facility = Servicescape
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3. Table 11.1
Elements of Physical Evidence
Servicescape Other tangibles
Facility exterior
Exterior design
Signage
Parking
Landscape
Surrounding environment
Facility interior
Interior design
Equipment
Signage
Layout
Air quality/temperature
Business cards
Stationery
Billing statements
Reports
Employee dress
Uniforms
Brochures
Web pages
Virtual servicescape

4. Examples of Physical Evidence from
the Customer’s Point of View
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5. Typology of Service Organizations Based on Form
and Use of the Servicescape
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6. Roles of the Servicescape
• Package
– conveys expectations
– influences perceptions
• Facilitator
– facilitates the flow of the service delivery process
• provides information (how am I to act?)
• facilitates the ordering process (how does this work?)
• facilitates service delivery
• Socializer
– facilitates interaction between:
• customers and employees
• customers and fellow customers
• Differentiator
– sets provider apart from competition in the mind of the consumer
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7. Developing and Effective Physical
Evidence Strategy
Steps:
1. Recognize the strategic impact of physical evidence
2. Map the physical evidence of service
3. Clarify roles of the servicescape
4. Assess and identify physical evidence opportunities
5. Be prepared to update and modernize the evidence
6. Work cross-functionally