addressing service breakdowns
DESCRIPTION
Slides from my IA Summit talk. March 25, 2012.TRANSCRIPT
addressing service breakdowns
bala chennupati@balchenn#ServiceBreakdowns
When the experience of the service falls below people’s expectations.
what is a service breakdown?
the expectation
“Our goal is to make every flight a positive experience for customers.”
the experience
why we should address breakdowns
90% of customers who are dissatisfied with service they received will not come back or buy again
SOURCE: RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF AMERICA
breakdowns affect business
Only 4% of unhappy customers bother to complain.
For every complaint heard, 24 others are communicated to potential customers, but not to the company.
SOURCE: RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF AMERICA
breakdown = bad publicity
Of the customers who register a complaint, between 54% and 70% will do business again with the organization if they receive a response to their complaint.
That figure goes up to 95% if the customer feels that the complaint was resolved
SOURCE: RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF AMERICA
good recovery = loyalty
service recovery paradox
how to address a breakdownwhen things go wrong
“I'm so sorry about the delay in shipping your order.”
“We always want to make sure the prints are perfect before we ship them and it sometimes slows us down!”
“I'm going to refund the shipping and handling fee you paid right now. ”
a good response from 20x200.c0m
1. respond quickly
2. apologize
3. provide an explanation
4. offer a resolution
the basics
“You increase my rates by 60% and don’t even bother to explain why or give me a single reason to remain a customer?”
ethicalbusinessbuilder.com
providing an explanation
The influence of service failure and service recovery on airline passengers’ relationships with domestic airlines: an exploratory study. P.G. Mostert, C.F. De Meyer & L.R.J. van Rensbur (2009)
the resolution - what people expect
If the breakdown occurs due to mistakes or errors by theservice personnel or external sources the recovery should be psychological – the employees need to apologize for the inconvenience.
If the error however is due to errors in the service architecture the recovery effort needs to be tangible and the customer should be compensated.
The service encounter: diagnosing favorable and unfavorable incidents. Bitner, Booms, Tetrault. (1990) via designforservice.wordpress.com
the right resolution
bonus: make it fun
preventing breakdowns
what causes breakdowns?
people’s expectations
people’s experience
GAP
what causes breakdowns?
service activities by company
people’s expectations
people’s experience
what causes breakdowns?
company vision
people’s expectations
people’s experience
what causes breakdowns?
company vision
service design
people’s expectations
people’s experience
what causes breakdowns?
company vision
service design
service implementation
people’s expectations
people’s experience
what causes breakdowns?
company vision
service design
service implementation
people’s expectations
people’s experience
GAP
GAP
GAP
GAP
company vision
service design
service implementation
people’s expectations
people’s experience
what causes breakdowns?
the gaps model of service quality
GAP
GAP
GAP
GAP
company vision
service design
service implementation
people’s expectations
people’s experience
seek feedback
DROWNONLINE.COM
Feedback
• Get periodic feedback
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/magazine/12tipping‐t.html?_r=1&hp=&adxnnl=1&pagewanted=1&adxnnlx=1330372820‐CG9Z1Vopw96ds6+ZaFWL1g
Feedback
the gaps model of service quality
GAP
GAP
GAP
GAP
company vision
service design
service implementation
people’s expectations
people’s experience
make the vision tangible
University of Washington Medical Center Service Recovery Program
the gaps model of service quality
GAP
GAP
GAP
GAP
company vision
service design
service implementation
people’s expectations
people’s experience
how many people does it take to fix my internet connection?
2 twitter reps3 call center reps2 technicians
empower employees
“Too often companies desire to do everything well, and they create a kind of exhausted mediocrity. Employees can’t do everything well: When you optimize a system to be both best in class at speed and best at thoroughness, you’re going to wind up being average at both.”
Frances Frei, author of Uncommon Service
the gaps model of service quality
GAP
GAP
GAP
GAP
company vision
service design
service implementation
people’s expectations
people’s experience
Feedback
set the right expectations
• Netflix example
• wayfinding signage in restaurant
MUY YUM, FLICKR
design for transparency
conclusion
1. put the emphasis on people2. design your organization to serve people
thank you.