6 common problems with customer service design
When we work with service organisations, we frequently come across some of the same causes of poor customer experience. All have their roots in industrial thinking, which has for many years been applied in service organisations.
The industrialisation of service is a relatively recent phenomenon, having been initially proposed by Theodore Levitt in an HBR article in 1972.
https://hbr.org/1972/09/production-line-approach-to-service
Levitt argued that it was possible to gain greater efficiency in the delivery of service by applying the same lessons that had driven greater efficiency in manufacturing industries in the post-war period.
A few years later, in 1978, Richard Chase in another HBR article proposed the creation of a front office to deal with customers, and a back office where the work could be sent to be done without interruption from those pesky customers!
https://hbr.org/1978/11/where-does-the-customer-fit-in-a-service-operation
Levitt's and Chase's ideas took hold, and are now accepted as a default template for the design of most service organisations. But few of those implementing the Levitt/Chase service model have heard of either of these gentlemen, let alone realised that the model they proposed is now 50 years old.
When we have worked with organisations who begin to challenge this model, and apply critical thinking to the way in which they might best organise themselves to service the needs of today's customers, a new way of working emerges which turns much of the Levitt/ Chase model on its head!
For example, we worked with a life insurer whose claims team was split between a front office contact centre (where claims were reported by phone) and a back office team who handled all the subsequent paperwork. Many of the calls going into the contact centre team were from customers chasing progress on paperwork being handled in the back office. Claims typically took 40 days to settle from first notification to payment being made.
By understanding the customer journey, challenging the perceived need for certain controls, and investing in technology, we were able to transform this process to one where the majority of claims were able to be handled and settled by the call centre team, reducing headcount in the back office, avoiding 50k chasing calls going into the contact centre, and delivering a significantly improved customer experience with 60% of claims settled in under 3 days.
If you run a service organisation and you are not aware of the Levitt/Chase model, maybe it's time to take a fresh look and see if you recognise any of the 6 signs above in your team?
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