Service blueprints provide a visual map of a service process from the customer's perspective. They show customer actions and touchpoints, as well as frontstage and backstage employee actions and support processes. The key components are the customer actions line, line of visibility separating visible and invisible employee actions, line of internal interaction separating employee actions from support processes, and evidence of service. Service blueprints can be used for new service development, improving reliability, service recovery strategies, and informing various business functions like human resources, technology, marketing, and operations management.

1. Service Blueprint

2. Service Blueprint Service blueprint is a picture or map that accurately portrays the service system so that different people involved in providing it can understand and deal with it objectively regardless of their individual point of view . Particularly useful at design and redesign stages of service development. It provides a way to break the service into logical components and to depict the steps or tasks in the processes, the means by which they are executed and evidence of the service as consumer experiences it.

3. Service Mapping/Blueprinting A tool for simultaneously depicting the service process, the points of customer contact, and the evidence of service from the customer’s point of view. Process Service Mapping Points of Contact Evidence

4. Blueprint components Basic components of Service Blueprint are: Customer actions “Onstage” contact employee actions “Backstage” contact employee actions Support processes

5. Blueprint components Customer actions: it includes steps, choices, activities and interactions that customer performs in the process of purchasing, consuming and evaluating the service Onstage employee actions: steps and activities that the contact employees performs that are visible to the customer. Backstage employee actions: steps and activities that occur behind the scene to support onstage activities.

6. Blueprint components Support processes: covers the internal services, steps and interactions that take place to support the contact employees in delivering the service.

7. Service Blueprint Components CUSTOMER ACTIONS line of interaction “ONSTAGE” CONTACT EMPLOYEE ACTIONS line of visibility “BACKSTAGE” CONTACT EMPLOYEE ACTIONS line of internal interaction SUPPORT PROCESSES

8. Service Blueprint Components Line of interaction: direct interactions b/w the customer and organization. Line of visibility: this line separates all service activities that are visible to the customers from those that are not visible. Line of internal interaction: separates contact employees activities from those of other service support activities and people. Physical evidence

9. Express Mail Delivery Service Truck Packaging Forms Hand-held Computer Uniform Truck Packaging Forms Hand-held Computer Uniform PHYSICAL EVIDENCE Customer Calls Customer Gives Package Receive Package CUSTOMER Driver Picks Up Pkg. (On Stage) Deliver Package CONTACT PERSON (Back Stage) Customer Service Order Airport Receives & Loads Fly to Sort Center Load On Truck Dispatch Driver Unload & Sort Fly to Destination SUPPORT PROCESS Load on Airplane Sort Packages

10. Overnight Hotel Stay Bill Desk Lobby Hotel Exterior Parking Hotel Exterior Parking Cart for Bags Desk Registration Papers Lobby Key Elevators Hallways Room Cart for Bags Room Amenities Bath Menu Delivery Tray Food Appearance Food PHYSICAL EVIDENCE Arrive at Hotel Give Bags to Bellperson Call Room Service Check out and Leave CUSTOMER Receive Bags Sleep Shower Go to Room Receive Food Eat Check in Greet and Take Bags Deliver Bags Deliver Food Process Registration Process Check Out (On Stage) CONTACT PERSON Take Food Order (Back Stage) Take Bags to Room Registration System Registration System Prepare Food SUPPORT PROCESS

11. Building a Service Blueprint Step 6 Add evidence of service at each customer action step. Step 4 Map contact employee actions, onstage and back-stage. Step 3 Map the process from the customer’s point of view. Step 1 Identify the process to be blue-printed. Step 2 Identify the customer or customer segment. Step 5 Link customer and contact person activities to needed support functions.

12. Application of Service Blueprints New Service Development concept development market testing Supporting a “Zero Defects” Culture managing reliability identifying empowerment issues Service Recovery Strategies identifying service problems conducting root cause analysis modifying processes

13. Blueprints Can Be Used By: Human Resources empowering the human element job descriptions selection criteria appraisal systems System Technology providing necessary tools: system specifications personal preference databases Service Marketers creating realistic customer expectations service system design promotion Operations Management rendering the service as promised managing fail points training systems quality control