Designing the Soft Side of Customer Service Case Solution And Analysis, HBR Case Study Solution & Analysis of Harvard Case Studies

When folks think about innovation in customer service, they typically think about technical or process enhancements which make service delivery more efficient or quicker. Eateries have introduced hand-held apparatus that buzz customers when their table is prepared, and supermarkets use self-service checkout lines. While such innovations can simplify issues for customers, service organizations seldom stop to consider the general psychology that outlines the service encounters. Certainly, many essential psychological variables that affect customer perceptions-the delicate improvements that help define a positive experience-have yet to be completely defined or said.

Organizations frequently quantify the results of service meetings in concrete terms such as on-time flight arrivals or the time to solve a customer's call. On the other hand, the subjective outcomes- the emotions and the feelings – are harder to describe: Did the passenger love the flight? Just as having a more profound understanding of systems dynamics and procedure analysis has driven companies to reengineer their operations to reach explicit results, findings from behavioral decision-making, cognitive psychology, and social psychology can point service providers to ideas for redesigning the emotional or implied aspects of service meetings. In this article, the authors analyze how three factors- trust, emotions, and control – contour their complete view of service providers and customer evaluations of service experiences.

PUBLICATION DATE: October 01, 2010 PRODUCT #: SMR362-PDF-ENG

This is just an excerpt. This case is about LEADERSHIP & MANAGING PEOPLE