3 tips for improving the service package

Imagine you have been given the mandate to improve customer service in your organisation. You know it is important to give the staff a sense of ownership. So how can you involve them in such a project? One approach is to invite them to improve the ‘service package’ - a term coined by Barrie Hopson & Mike Scally in their book 12 Steps To Success Through Service. Here are three ideas for making this happen.

1) You can introduce people to the service package.

During the past 20 years I have used this approach with many organisations. The example described here comes from working with a famous hospital. The Chief Executive asked for volunteers to improve its customer service. Twenty people volunteered and we began by looking at the 4 P’s in the organisation’s service package.

* The ‘Product’.

This was the basic product and service they provided for their customers—the patients and their families. For example, superb medical care given in a clean and attractive hospital.

* The People-skills.

These were the people skills the staff practiced when carrying out their work. These ‘softer skills’ are often crucial - because we all know that many bad experiences stem from being patronised or treated rudely.

* The Procedures.

This was how the hospital organised its systems to put the patient first, rather than last. For example, the process of them arriving, being admitted to the ward, eating meals, receiving treatment and so on. Unfortunately some organisations design their systems to suit the staff, rather than the patients.

* The Packaging.

This was the way the hospital presented its ‘product’ and services to the customers. For example, the appearance of the building, the brochures, web site and so on.

Every organisation is different - so each will have its own content within the 4 P’s. After introducing and discussing the concept, move onto the next stage.

2) You can involve people in improving the product, people-skills, procedures and packaging.

The hospital staff from the hospital split into four groups. Each took one of the topics and did preliminary work on the following exercises.

Product

The specific things we can do to improve
the product and services that we offer are:

*

*

*

People-skills

The specific things we can do to improve the people-skills
involved in delivering the product and services we offer are:

*

*

*

Procedures

The specific things we can do to improve the procedures and
make it easy for the customer to do business with us are:

*

*

*

Packaging

The specific things we can do to improve the packaging –
the ways the product and services are presented – are:

*

*

*

They presented back their ideas and discussed the suggestions. Then came the real work.

3) You can implement the ideas and keep improving the total service package.

People formed project groups that focused on doing in-depth work around each of the 4 P’s. This meant taking the following steps:

a) Involving other people in the hospital - especially those who would be affected by any of the improvements. This produced scores of suggestions.

b) Implementing the ideas, getting some early wins and building positive momentum.

c) Inviting each department to use the 4 P approach in their own area. They were encouraged to implement the ideas and share success stories.

Virtually all the hospital staff became involved in the project which produced many improvements in customer service. Strangely, however, one of the biggest sticking points proved to be dress code. The staff enjoyed wearing ‘mufti’ - casual dress - and were incensed when it was suggested they should return to wearing ‘uniforms’. The problem was that, while they felt comfortable in mufti, it was hard for patients to identify who was a staff member. The issue was resolved when an intruder in another hospital carried out medical duties, even though they were not medically qualified. That led to the staff opting for some form of identification - and a comfortable but professional dress code.

You will obviously adapt this approach to fit your organisation - but the 4 P’s have proved an excellent way of involving people in improving customer service.