Creating Customer Focused Service Descriptions
Sirenne, Mikko (2013)
Sirenne, Mikko
Laurea-ammattikorkeakoulu
2013
All rights reserved
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201305199481
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201305199481
Tiivistelmä
Customer’s perception of service quality is formed during the service delivery. Customer compares the service delivery against the expectations he or she had about the service.
These expectations are formed, for example, based on previous experiences and/or service providers marketing efforts. The expectations can be formed also in many other ways, for example, based on peer reviews or suggestions from friends. There are many ways, easier and harder, for service provider to try to manage the expectations. One way of managing the expectations is simply telling the customer what the service is about. Service descriptions (or specifications/definitions) are commonly used for this purpose. The challenge is to create a good service description that works the way wanted.
This thesis is about creating customer focused service descriptions for the case company’s internal service unit. Theoretical framework draws the basis – the purpose and benefits of service descriptions, mainly leaning on the Gaps model of service quality originally presented by Zeithaml, Parasuraman and Berry in 1985. It also explores the needed characteristics of service descriptions in general. In the empirical part, different service design methods were used to find out how the case organization’s services should be described. The empirical research followed the service design process and mostly the methodology presented by Stefan Moritz (Moritz 2005).
As a result of the thesis study, a service description template was created for the case organization. The service description template was formed by combining both customers’ and organization’s viewpoints. It is important that services are described in the receiver’s language. This means that it is important to know to whom the services are described to. On the other hand, it is important to understand the motivation for doing it: What is the wanted effect? In this thesis, a simple process was followed to find out that motivation and to create customer focused service descriptions to pursue the wanted effect.
These expectations are formed, for example, based on previous experiences and/or service providers marketing efforts. The expectations can be formed also in many other ways, for example, based on peer reviews or suggestions from friends. There are many ways, easier and harder, for service provider to try to manage the expectations. One way of managing the expectations is simply telling the customer what the service is about. Service descriptions (or specifications/definitions) are commonly used for this purpose. The challenge is to create a good service description that works the way wanted.
This thesis is about creating customer focused service descriptions for the case company’s internal service unit. Theoretical framework draws the basis – the purpose and benefits of service descriptions, mainly leaning on the Gaps model of service quality originally presented by Zeithaml, Parasuraman and Berry in 1985. It also explores the needed characteristics of service descriptions in general. In the empirical part, different service design methods were used to find out how the case organization’s services should be described. The empirical research followed the service design process and mostly the methodology presented by Stefan Moritz (Moritz 2005).
As a result of the thesis study, a service description template was created for the case organization. The service description template was formed by combining both customers’ and organization’s viewpoints. It is important that services are described in the receiver’s language. This means that it is important to know to whom the services are described to. On the other hand, it is important to understand the motivation for doing it: What is the wanted effect? In this thesis, a simple process was followed to find out that motivation and to create customer focused service descriptions to pursue the wanted effect.