By Elizabeth Coleman, Product Innovation Manager, IAG
Many firms have taken ideas from their customers to develop the way in which they deliver their products and services. Focusing on service has the advantage of directing customer efforts to how the product is delivered rather than only to the product itself.
Service ideas can be captured through customer research methods such as telephone surveys, through ‘walking with the customer’ or focus groups. Online customer interaction now provides an unlimited resource for capturing customer service ideas. To manage the ideas, a structured evaluation process can be very beneficial.
In some cases, a traditional product development approach may be useful when reviewing new service ideas for further development. Go-no go decisions should preferably be made by carefully chosen teams at critical stages of the service concept development. At the early stage, a team decision should be informed by industry best practice approaches and service quality measures.
For quick wins, the “Just Do It” approach may still need a go-no go decision before a service is added or implemented. For either approach, an end to end process map can be beneficial for designing and testing services.
Prototype services can be tested in contained environments, allowing feedback throughout the design process. When customers are engaged in this research, the results can be very powerful.
Companies such as Merck & Co, GM and Orbitz use their online interactions with customers to develop new and better services. These build greater customer trust, first through greater personalisation, then customisation to create high value for the customer.
GM uses the Auto Choice Advisor (ACA) tool to assess customers’ needs before matching car options to those needs. This online trust-based advisor is designed for people who are shopping for a car and are not sure which make and model suits their needs. The advisor selects from 150 cars (not all GM) and recommends cars that fit the customer’s needs.
Merck &Co has moved away from product-centric approach toward a more customer-centric approach, matching the customer to the product. Instead of using the web to inform customers about each product, Merck creates web sites that support interaction and dialogue. Enriched information (including online interaction) helps people make decisions
Orbitz, in business since 2000, has 1 million customers each month. The company provides unbiased travel information through the delivery of the product, but goes beyond that to offer customer care while the consumer consumes the product. The customer care programme includes highway information and air systems alerts for customers, warning them of any potential delays or developments that will affect their travel. By adding a dimension of service that eases some of the hassle of travel, Orbitz differentiates itself from its competitors.
While providing the customer interaction and dialogue, these companies capture new and valuable service ideas from their customers. In our next issue, I will look at communities of interest co-creating in service design.
(Reference: Management: Inventing and Delivering its Future, Thomas A Kochan, Richard Schmalensee)
