Customers, in the process of consuming a service, also fulfill the role of its producers. Identifying these moments will allow you to ally yourself to generate quality in your service and not ruin it "because of the customer."
You must take control of this situation in your hands, which begins when you become aware that the quality of the service does not depend solely on the company that produces it. In addition to the interactions that the company has with other actors (such as suppliers, financial entities, etc.), which have an impact on the final quality of the service, the company that produces a service has a particular interaction with its customers.
This does not happen in those that are purely industrial, since the client does not contact the product until it is ready to be delivered. And there, the quality of it depends only on the actions of the same company.
On the other hand, companies that provide a service (that service may also be associated with a physical product) must have the customer as the producer of that service, which they will then consume (or consume while being produced).
Think of a restaurant. A client arrives, the waiter receives her, the client expresses her preference to be located at a table near the window. Then the waiter brings the letter. The customer asks for a suggestion, and finally chooses a certain dish and a glass of wine. The dish is prepared in the kitchen and finally the waiter brings it to the table. The client asks the waiter to bring him salt, adds salt to his plate, and consumes it. Then he starts reading a book and asks the waiter for a coffee and counts it. As he is involved with the book, he does not drink the coffee as soon as he receives it, and when he realizes it it is already cold. Leave it. The bill arrives along with the coffee and the customer pays it on the spot. When he finishes reading, he leaves.
What was the customer's perception of the service? There will surely be positive and negative aspects.
Positives: a good view from the window, the friendly attention of the waiter, the good combination of flavors of the dish with the wine, the promptness in bringing the bill, the absence of waiting.
Negatives: the number of dishes offered makes your choice difficult, the food does not have enough salt, you have not been able to drink the coffee because it is cold.
Now, notice that the customer perceives the service as a whole. In other words, their general feeling does not distinguish who was responsible for each positive or negative aspect. He couldn't drink the coffee because it was cold. That satisfaction did not have it, period. Then you can reason and understand that he was the one who let you cool by reading the book. But this will not change your experience.
So you, as a service provider, what are you looking for? Are you just looking to do your part and have him assume what is the customer's responsibility, or do you want your customer to have an exceptional service experience? Before proceeding, ask yourself what position you are in.
If your goal is for the customer to have an exceptional service experience, then you must understand that your customer is involved in producing the service, and consider this when designing and delivering the service. And how to do?
Well, you must provide them with the means to play that role (Bowen, Siehl, & Schneider, 1989; Mills & Morris, 1986). Clients must be guided, for example, with prior information, indications or personal advice from employees, so that quality is combined with the perception of service. It is what a waiter does when he suggests a dish and a wine. The choice is the client's, but his perception will depend on this choice, so it is advisable to guide him well.
So, take note of these points that you will need to have in order for your clients to perform their role as co-producers of the service well:
1. Motivation to participate in the production process. Imagine if the diner would have cared about any dish and any wine (not motivated to make a good choice). Sometimes it is necessary to reward the customer to motivate him to participate in certain stages of the production process.
2. Understand the task that must be carried out, that is, have a clear role. A customer who enters a self-service (but usual restaurant) for the first time in her life, probably sits at the table and waits to be served. You do not understand the role you must fulfill to receive the service.
3. Inform the task that the client must carry out and how to do it. In the previous case, the client must be informed that she must remove a tray, serve herself the drink, go through the bar of hot dishes, request the one she wants, serve herself her dessert and go through the box. Then you can sit down to eat your lunch. There are clients who, although they know the system in general, do not have to know the particularities of each company, and this must be taken into account.
4. They have the ability to do the task. The clearest example is when the retirement payment system was changed from a teller to an ATM. A person who was born at the time when everything was manuscript, suddenly it is intended that he use an electronic system totally foreign to his culture. This is an important barrier, and as this may be different deficiencies in customers that prevent them from actively participating in the production of a service. This aspect should not be neglected.
Well, the news you receive today is that you have new employees: your customers! What will you do for them
