The battle for service has just begun…

Service management is changing. This is simply a reflection of societal changes, which impact each organisation, as each now incorporates service to some degree… After having hammered home, for many years, the importance of the customer, the challenge now is to prove that everything is being done to satisfy the customer. Have no doubt: for your customers, the battle for service has just begun.

The customers have changed places…

They have become more demanding with regard to the quality of the service provided. The change in their expectations can be summarised in 5 key points:

• Time. The service I want when I want.
• Recognition. The desire for a closer, more personalised relation.
• Information. Customers are better informed: technique, price, quality evaluation via comparers and communities…
• Effectiveness. A radical demand: 1-click buying, a meeting with a decider, etc.
• Identity. Great attention given to company image.

The employees expect more

The expectations of employees are changing too. This can be summarised in 5 points:

• Recognition. A strong demand for purpose and respect: simple obedience no longer exists.
• Recognition. The greater recognition of service professions must replace the disdain of those that serve.
• Freedom. The obligation to give true freedom and the right to make mistakes.
• Trust. Which is also based on the pride and enjoyment of making a commitment to the company.
• Symmetry. A quality of relation between the manager and the employee that is equal to that asked of the employee with respect to his customers.

Changing the approach to quality: a necessity

In addition to the traditional service quality approach, a customer satisfaction approach should also be integrated, which also takes into account the reaction, the subjectivity and the emotions of the consumer. Furthermore, it is of prime importance to establish a relation of trust between the two service actors:

• The professional, recognised by his counterpart for his technical and relational expertise.
• The customer, listened to, understood, differentiated and respected by the professional.

To reach this objective, it is necessary to increase the recognition of the service professions and personnel.