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Great service companies are built on the execution of the compelling service strategy. Nothing is more important. Dr Leonard L. Berry, one of the world’s leading authorities on service quality explains
Learning Points
- A compelling service strategy is the difference between victory and defeat.
- The starting point is the leader’s vision.
- A service strategy need be only a few words, but must not be confused with the emptiness of a mission statement. 4. A service strategy should incorporate both what is essential to the customer and what will make the customer say "wow".
- The author describes how a US book store’s service strategy drives the business.
Copyright eCustomerServiceWorld.com
About the Author
Dr. Leonard L. Berry holds the JC Penney Chair of Retailing Studies, is Professor of Marketing, and is Director of the Center for Retailing Studies AT Texas A&M University. He is also the author of On Great Service, co-author of Marketing Services and Delivering Quality Service (all published by The Free Press). You can find his newest book, Discovering The Soul Of Service, in our eBooks Store
To find out more about the author, read Dr. Berry’s write-up in the Who’s Who of Customer Service in the eResearch Store
A note on Language Conventions
Some of our articles are written in UK English. Others, like this one, use US English spelling. Throughout the site, we have tried to achieve a balance between the two, to reflect the cultural balance of our site users.
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The service strategy is more than a plan – although it does involve planning. The service strategy is inseparable from the character of the company. It is the dynamic that emerges from the vision, philosophy and values of the leader. It is the spirit of business, the unseen force driving the enterprise. It distinguishes one grocer or restaurant or airline from its competitors. In business, as in the Olympics, the strategy is the difference between victory and defeat.
The service strategy begins inside the leader, in the vision. From the leader’s vision emerges the company’s raison d’être, its controlling purpose. A service strategy is a mission, not a mission statement. Mission statements are often empty pronouncements that mean nothing to the people who do the work in organizations. A mission, however, is galvanizing; it is an overriding goal, a pathway, a calling. It binds people in a company together in a common pursuit, an important journey; it brings meaning to work.
In researching my book, ’On Great Service’, I studied some of the finest service companies in America. I purposely sought out firms both large and small that had not been written about in other books. I was struck by how each company in my sample was benefiting from a clear, compelling service strategy. Each company had an answer to the fundamental question: "What do we want to be famous for with customers of our service?" Their answer, expressed in a few sentences or words, was their service strategy. In every case, the service strategy embraced the company’s core-benefits; in every case, it touched the human spirit of achievement.
Everything the business is and does – the culture of the organization – emanates from the company’s service strategy. If employees have to look up the company’s service strategy in a manual, the company doesn’t have a service strategy.
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. |
| Determine existing and potential service capabilities of our company. Assess service competencies and incompetencies, resource strengths and weaknesses, service reputation, belief system, and "reason for being". |
| Develop a service strategy that addresses important, enduring customer needs, exploits competitor vulnerabilities, and fits our company’s capabilities and potential. |
The owner of Tattered Cover Book Stores in Denver, Colorado, Joyce Meskis, simply states her service strategy: "We’ll do everything it takes to put people and books together." Operating from this core philosophy, Meskis opened her first shop in 1974 with two employees in 950 square feet of space. By 1996, she had grown to 50,000 square feet with more than 400 employees in two locations. Tattered Cover is one of America’s most successful independent booksellers, experiencing double-digit sales gains each year, despite formidable book chain competition. (Editor’s note:…and the coming of Amazon!)
Meskis knew early on that she couldn’t compete strictly on price, but she knew pricing wasn’t the only strategy. She could outmaneuver the competition in other ways. Propelled by her passion for books and motivated by her belief in the magic between writers and readers, she was committed to creating a special kind of bookstore. Knowing that a reader’s universally favorite spot for experiencing the magic of books is curled up in a cozy chair, Meskis furnished her store with wooden bookshelves, antique desks and "151 comfy chairs and couches," according to one employee’s description.
Four principles of Great Service
Who would place overstuffed chairs and antique desks in a four-story building that houses more than 200,000 books? An astute leader implementing a strategy designed around four principles of quality service:
RELIABILITY
SURPRISE
RECOVERY
FAIRNESS
Reliability means consistent, dependable service every time the customer shops – supplying any requested book, searching for any answer.
Surprise delivers something extra, more than the customer expects to receive...a bookstore "furnished to provide a unique atmosphere of cozy comfort. There’s no place like it – except home."
Recovery restores the customer’s confidence when a service performance falls short of the expected quality.
Fairness involves treating customers with respect and integrity – such as Tattered Cover’s policy of recognizing the customers’ right to read what they want to read and training employees specifically to be non-judgmental about customers’ book purchases.
These four principles provide a framework for the service strategy. Around this framework, leaders marshal resources to carry out their unique service strategy. A service strategy should incorporate both what is essential to the customer and what will make the customer say "wow". The essential aspects of the strategy meet customers’ expectations. The "wow" aspects exceed them. Service reliability, recovery, and fairness are essentials; surprise adds unexpected value.
By definition, the service strategy is dynamic. Front-line employees as well as management live out the service strategy, for great service is created customer by customer on the spot. It is experimental. It’s the company’s value system in action. The basic question for management becomes "what is the right policy for our service strategy?" rather than "what is the right policy?"
The homey environment isn’t the only reason the Tattered Cover Book Store’s customers feel comfortable. The relaxed setting is just a p art of the strategy "to do everything possible to bring books and people together." The ambiance communicates emotional "comfort" as well. Customers immediately feel invited to browse and enjoy the books before they buy – or even if they don’t buy. In-store customers may read any book for as long as they want with no obligation. Those who do buy books are not asked for identification when paying by check.
Claiming Ownership
"Running a business is really about community," Meskis says. "It’s more than exchanging goods for money. It’s about people – they are the foundation, the bedrock of any business. Customers must feel ownership for the store." Making customers welcome and "at home" helps create their sense of ownership and loyalty.
Employees, as well, must feel ownership of the business. They must subscribe to the vision to be able to carry out the basic service strategy from day to day. For Joyce Meskis, this means "articulating the vision so that employees can participate." To establish a participatory management style, she gives every new hire a key to the store, a symbol of their ownership. But she really hands over more than a key; she extends her trust – in a sense, bestowing trustworthiness upon employees as an act of faith in them. Employees also may borrow any book in inventory to read – another sign of management’s active trust in them.
Clearly, Tattered Cover Book Store’s service strategy revolves around people – not product and profit. Customers and employees first, then books and balance sheets. How is this principle translated into front-line action and commitment?
Setting high standards for employees and holding out for the best candidates is basic. Joyce Meskis knows the kind of people she wants to hire. Of course, they must have a passion for books, for she believes that book-selling is not just a job but a way of life. Passion is not enough, however. The job requires diligence, unwavering attention to detail, a strong ego, willingness to work for low pay, and grace under pressure. Consequently, Meskis uses the first half of the interview to talk the applicant out of the job.
Every job has negatives, and she knows many reasons not to work in a book-store. On a slow day, half her staff may process 350 special orders for requested books not in inventory, 650 plus on an ordinary day. Customers come in with high expectations – they want information, they want service, and they sometimes garble their requests or make them unpleasantly. No employee can know everything. Meskis’ employees must be comfortable not knowing an answer to a question. She says, "We look at ego issues...We actively look for people who can work with others to find the answers."
Empowered Employees Enliven Strategy
Finding the right employee is clearly part of the company’s service strategy. Once hired, the next step is empowerment. Defined broadly, empowerment is a state of mind. Empowered employees experience appropriate control over the job responsibilities; they are aware of the context in which they work and are accountable for their performance.
To elicit superior performance, great service leaders foster genuine achievement in the organization. Employees are trained and challenged. They are encouraged to hone their skills and expand their knowledge. Their creativity and risk-taking are appreciated. Energized by a nurturing environment, employees commit to a vision and perform beyond industry standards.
At Tattered Cover, new employees spend the first two weeks in "boot camp," an intense training and education program plunging them into book-selling in earnest. They learn the specifics of carrying out the basic philosophy of the store. Following boot camp, they work the cash register, handling customers’ questions and financial transactions, and receiving a broad overview of the business. They learn teamwork, and, in fact, are encouraged to ask other employees for help. Their strengths rather than their limitations are the focus of the on-the-job performance.
At Tattered Cover, every employee’s job is to provide information and care for customers. Energized employees contribute high discretionary efforts, i.e., they work beyond the minimum job requirements. Staff members organize book groups, write reviews for the newsletters, recommend books, and interview authors. "Friendly & Knowledgeable Assistance!" touts one promo that promises the staff "will happily assist you in finding the books your soul needs."
The proof of any service strategy is in the customers. Tattered Cover’s story provides undeniable testimony to its success. When the company moved to a larger store in 1986, more than 200 customers volunteered to help – for a cup of coffee and a T-shirt. Going the extra mile to bring people and books together in the interest of freedom of expression and an inalienable right to information is a service strategy that not only inspires employees to high discretionary efforts but also customers.
All great service companies have a galvanizing service strategy. Identifying a service strategy comes down to finding a match between what needs doing and what the firm can do exceedingly well. Implementing a service strategy involves touching the human quest for noble achievement and contribution to the quality of life. Excellent service strategies are remarkably enduring. Tactical enhancements and refinements are common, but the fundamental strategy changes rarely because it taps basic human needs that change little over time.
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Source:
| Dr. Leonard L. Berry holds the JC Penney Chair of Retailing Studies, is Professor of Marketing, and is Director of the Center for Retailing Studies AT Texas A&M University. He is also the author of On Great Service, co-author of Marketing Services and Delivering Quality Service (all published by The Free Press). You can find his newest book, Discovering The Soul Of Service, in our eBooks Store |
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