Improving Patron E iExperience

II. DesigningII. Designing

Philippe RavanasProfessor

Columbia College Chicago

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Customer Service Management Cycle 2

Customer Service Where you want it to be

Customer ServiceWhere it is now

Stage 1 Understand the service

Stage 5Provide proactive

seekers

S 4Stage 2

pProblem solving

Stage 4Check up regularly

Design experience& Set Standards

Stage 3Stage 3Build & train a winning team

Ultimate goal: Understand how to move patrons along the value continuum, from single ticket buyers, to subscribers and to donors

Metropolitan Opera3

“Even when we mistreated our patrons, they were coming back, because they loved the opera. But that was no reason to do it.” Joseph Volpe, Former General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera

“If we had been rude to a client, would he give us another gdime? He might still buy tickets from us, because he loves opera, but he will certainly not contribute to our fundraising campaigns. We had to delight our customer so that they p g g ywould remember their great experience with us when we would ask them for support. […] We had no mechanism to capture the voice of customers and collect their pcomplaints” adds Sharon. “We had no idea how they felt about us. If you don’t measure it, you don’t know it and you can’t change it.” gSmeeta Sharon, Former Assistant General Manager, Metropolitan Opera

Chicago Symphony Orchestra4

“By the 1950s, we intellectualized the whole thing and turned our back to the public. Most orchestras across the country, particularly the largest ones, focused inward and became rather unwelcoming. Their message to the public seemed to be: we do what we want and we will bless you with the opportunity to buy a ticket to come to hear what we like to play. It became a social thing to do for the elite. That worked for a while because people were proud of their orchestras and still really wanted to hear them. Not any longer. We now have so many vehicles for music, from TV to CDs. And customer service has improved in almost every industry. We have to provide our customers with an unparalleled experience. […] We have to stop showing our back to the audience and turn to face it.”Deborah Card, President, Chicago Symphony

Steppenwolf5

“We have to make our guests happy the moment they get in. We have to make them think, ‘this is different, I walked in here and somebody greeted me.’ We are constantly y g ytelling our box office people, our front of house people –even our parking people: ‘you are the first impression. Whatever you do, however you look, however you treat y , y , ythat person… you have more power to create a feeling for that evening than the actors on stage do. And if you screw it up on the phone or at that window, if you don’t have the it up on the phone or at that window, if you don t have theright information and create the wrong impression, then you screw it up for the actors on stage. They don’t have a chance if you didn’t do your job well.’”chance if you didn t do your job well. David Hawkanson, Executive Director, Steppenwolf Theater

6Service convergence / divergence

The 5 elements of service designApplying product design methods to service dev.

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pp y g p g1. Focus on the customer journey

Think full customer experienceAnalyze every touch points5 stages: Attraction, Entry, Immersion, Exit,

( bl G )Extension stage (source: Doblin Group)Identify physical evidences at each stage - moment of truthtruth

2. Tell a storyIntegrate every touch points & bring a story to lifeIntegrate every touch points & bring a story to life (Chevignon, Governor’s table)Rituals are key to communicate stories

Denis Weil, VP, Innovation & Concept Development - McDonald’s

The 5 elements of service design8

3. Improve AND simplify processCustomers want Choice & Control (exchange policy at CSO)Smoothness of experience: no stress, no surprise

4 i4. Experimentget it off the page to prototype - Make it real B ild iBuild scenariosThink in terms of extreme usersHow to provide the right queuesHow to provide the right queues

The 5 elements of service design9

5. Think big, star small Imagine far, plan near Develop a line of sight: what would be the ideal customer experience, if money was not the issue

h t if h d t i t ?- what if we had no constraints? Disney’s imagineers/Blue SkyCirque du Soleil / Blue Ocean : don’t compete on C q e d So e / e cea : do t co pete oticket price: Create an exceptional experience

Test & ask

Measuring progress

Annual Customer

Online Questionnaires Feedback

FormsCustomer Satisfaction

SurveysOnline Polls

Customer Service

CRM FeedbackCRM

SoftwareOther

Surveys (Benchmarking,

Employee…)Focus Groups

(Formal/ informal)

Phone Surveys

Employee…)

Surveys

Layers of design

S i i d i

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Service operations process design: activities needed to deliver or maintain a service. Ex- steps needed to rent a car- collect plicense, validate payment option, check availability, obtain customer signature.S d d d f hService product design: design of the physical attributes of the service. Ex- meals served at the restaurantService facility design: design of the physical layout of the facilities where the

i d li dservice delivered. Ex- A restaurant interior

Service Blueprinting12

A tool for simultaneously depicting the serviceprocess, the points of customer contact, and theevidence of the service from the customers point ofevidence of the service from the customers point ofview. (Marie Jo Bittner – U. of Arizona)

Service

Process

ServiceBlueprint

Points of contact

Evidence

Marie Jo Bittner , Professor – University of Arizona

Building a Service Blueprint13

Step 1

Id if

Step 2

Id tif

Step 3

M th

Step 4

M

Step 5

Li k

Step 6

AddIdentify the process to be bl

Identify the customer or

t

Map the process from the customer’s

i t f

Map contact employee actions,

t

Link contact activities to

d d

Add evidence of service at each

tblue-printed

customer segment

point of view

onstage and back-stage, and/or t h l

needed support functions

customer action step

technology actions

14Service blueprint : Key components

Customer actions

Physical evidence

Line of interaction

Onstage contactOnstage contact Employee action

Line of visibility

Back stage contactInternal interactions

Support processes

15 Blueprint for overnight hotel stay servicehy

sica

l

vide

nce

Hotel i Carts for

Desk registration Elevators Room

i i /Delivery

/ f d F d

Bill desk/ lobby hotel/

t i

Ph ev

exterior parking

Carts for bags

registration papers

Lobby key

ElevatorsStairs menuamenities /

bath roomtray/ food

appearanceFood exterior

parking

Arrive at hotel

Gives bags To attendant Check in

Receive food

Call roomservice

Receive bags/ shower/ sleep

Go to roomCheck out/

leaveEat

Cus

tom

erac

tions

Greet & take bag

Deliver bags Deliver food

/ sleep

Process registration Process

checkout

C

(Ons

tage

)

on

T kck st

age)

Con

tact

per

so

Take bagsto room

Takefood order(B

aC

Registration system

Prepare food Registration system

Supp

ort

proc

esse

s

Fail points

Classification of employees16

1. Contactors Directly involved - regular customer contactsWell Trained/motivated to serve customers on day to day basis - recruitment based on responsivenessE f t d k plEx: front desk employees

2. ModifiersNot directly involved but frequent customerNot directly involved but frequent customer contactHigh levels of customer relationship skillsg pEx: Receptionists

Classification of employees17

3. InfluencersSparse/No Customer contactImplementation of organizational marketing strategyEvaluated according to customer - oriented

f d dperformance standardsEx: you!

4 I l t4. IsolatorsPerformance of support functionsCritical for better performanceCritical for better performanceUnderstand Their contribution to better performance Ex: support functions: IT HR accountingEx: support functions: IT, HR, accounting…

Your turn!

Y ill

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You will:1. Describe customer journey2 Writ th t r2. Write the story3. Use service blue print4 Think big4. Think big5. Measure progress

1. Describe customer journey

Li h i f h A i

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List every touch points of each stage: Attraction, Entry, Immersion, Exit, Extension stage Identify physical evidences at each stage - moment ofIdentify physical evidences at each stage moment of truth

Engagement ExtensionEntry Exit

20 2. Write the story

I h i & b i lifIntegrate every touch points & bring a story to lifeWhat are the key rituals which communicate the story

If o r organization as a s per hero?If your organization was a super hero? Name of heroSpecial power(s)Special power(s)SidekickArch enemy or villainArch enemy or villainSpecial mode of transportationSecret base or headquartersSecret base or headquartersTransformative moment in his/her past(optional) A cliffhanger moment to end the first ( p ) ginstallment…

213. Use service blue print

To improve AND simplify the process and

Ph i l id

To improve AND simplify the process, and smooth the experience

Customer actions

Line of interaction

Physical evidence

Line of interaction

Onstage contact Employee actionEmployee action

Line of visibility

Back stage contactInternal interactions

Support processes

4. Think big22

If you had no constraints, what would be the ideal experience for your customers(The ideal funeral by Bill Russo )Let’s brainstorm!

23Brainstorming

Lateral thinking technique focused on a given problem to:

open possibilitiesopen possibilities break down wrong assumptions about limits of problem

/Generate many radical ideas / solutions to problemIdeas should be:

as broad and odd as possibleas broad and odd as possiblefrom every possible angledeveloped as fast as possiblep pintroduced and considered no matter how ridiculous or ineffective they might appear on the surface

24 Brainstorming Ground Rules

1. No Criticism: Repression & fear of criticism do not encourage creativity. Record every idea. Save evaluation for laterfor later

2. Quantity Over Quality: the best way to get a good idea is to get many ideasis to get many ideas

3. Free-Wheeling: present one idea at a time, but jot down multiple thoughts or ideas for presentation in the next round.

4. Hitch-Hiking: get ideas from other ideas. Unless second idea is identical to first record bothsecond idea is identical to first, record both.

Let’s go: If you had no constraints what would be theLet s go: If you had no constraints, what would be the ideal experience for your customers?

25Reversal

Ask the opposite of the question you want to ask, and apply the results.Example: you want to improve the response of a service center. You would ask 'How would I reduce customer satisfaction?' Answers:satisfaction? . Answers:

Not answering / returning customers phone callsHave people with no product knowledge answeringHave people with no product knowledge answering the phone Use rude staff Give the wrong advice, Etc…

26SCAMPER

A checklist of changes to make to an existingproduct to create a new one. pS Substitute: components, materials, people C Combine: mix / integrate with other services, A Adapt - alter: change function, use part of another

element M Modify: increase / reduce scale change shapeM Modify: increase / reduce scale, change shape,

attributes P Put to another use E Eliminate: remove elements, simplify, reduce to core

function R Reverse: turn inside out upside downR Reverse: turn inside out, upside down…created by Michael Mikalko in his book ' Thinkertoys'

27 Reframing matrix

Different people with different experience approach problems in different ways

Put yourself in the mind of a (doctor, engineer…)Look at problems with their perspectiveimagine the solutions they would come up with

Draw up a reframing matrix by: p g yWriting a question in a box in middle of pagethen drawing grid around it Each cell contains one approach to problem

5. Measuring progress28

Let’s write a customer satisfaction surveyWrite 5 specific questions to ask in a satisfaction surveyp q

Strongly Disagree

Strongly Agree

1 2 3 4 5

The ushers were courteous

To whom, when & with what frequency to ask these questions

“If you can’t measure it, you can’t fix it!”If you can t measure it, you can t fix it! Smeeta Sharon – Metropolitan Opera

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5 Laws Of Customer Experience

1. It’s personal30

Experiences need to be designed for individuals: While it may not be possible to individualize every interaction, ffocus on narrow segmentsPrioritize: Since you need to design for specific type of people, experiences will be optimized for a set of customers. Have a clearexperiences will be optimized for a set of customers. Have a clear picture of your important customers.Empower: Since every situation can be different, the needs of

i i F li l dcustomers can vary across interactions. Front-line employees need to have the latitude to accommodate the needs of key customers. You need to understand your customers, personallyy , p y

2. You are self centered – get over it31

Don’t let company organization drive experiences: Customers shouldn't have to know (or care) how you are organized. Don’t make them jump through hoops. Front-line g j p g pemployees shouldn’t need to explain your structure to customer. You know more than customers - deal with it: there's a natural bias for making experiences too complicated fora natural bias for making experiences too complicated for customers. Recognize that they don’t understand your lingo or processes. Make it simple for them. D ’ ll hi h l b hDon’t sell things, help customers buy them: frame customer experience from the customers point of view. Look at all interactions as an opportunity to help customers to do

m thinsomething.Make the shift from self-centeredness to customer-centeredness

3. Align employees on customers, not reverse

M f li h lMany front-liners see themselves as controllers, not service providers: can be abusive to the audience.

Volunteers can be worse: ex: the saints – “The best deal in town”).

L k f i di iLack of cooperation or coordination across people and organizations is often at fault.

Put customer needs ahead of personal orPut customer needs ahead of personal or organizational preferences.

An external focus is an antidote to internal problems

4.Your employees are your customers

Unengaged employees don’t create engaged customers: If employees have low morale, then

i h “ ” ill b lgetting them to “wow” customers will be nearly impossible.

Show appreciation: give incentives, acknowledge pp g , gcustomer service achievements and find ways to celebrate them

Maintain an healthy turnover and make sure theMaintain an healthy turnover and make sure the job doesn’t get old and routine.

Customer experience pdepends on employee experience

5. You Can’t Fake It

Good customer service is work: it requires a commitment of the whole organization

There’s no silver bullet: You can fool some people for some of the time but most of thepeople for some of the time, but most of the people can eventually tell what’s not.

“The way to gain a good reputation, y g g pis to endeavor to be what you desire to appear.”

Socrates

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Any questions?

Thanks!R d f t kRead for next week:

Disney on customer service,M t i itMystery visitors,

Watford Customer Care Policy