Service innovation and design
Service innovation and design is more than just building services from the customer’s point-of-view. It is a way to identify and create new value for both the customer and the service provider, resulting in an enhanced customer experience, more effective service and sales processes, as well as motivated sales and customer service personnel.
The need for service innovation stems from many sources:
- Open-architecture business models. Digitalisation, convergence, networked business models and involvement in co-creation create new possibilities and demands for service providers.
- Growth from services. The commoditisation of products forces many companies to innovate service elements or create totally new service concepts to their offering.
- Need for efficiency. Providing excellent customer experiences with fewer resources is a reality for many companies.
- Differentiation and consistent customer experience. Service encounters offer possibilities for the service provider to differentiate itself in the eyes of the customer. At the same time, multi-channel services challenges the level of service quality. Customer experiences need to be consistent and should reflect the brand promise in every encounter; across channels, concepts and geographical areas.
New paradigms. Traditional service management tools such as moment of truth and line of visibility are becoming obsolete. How to manage “moments of truth” as these moments are no longer in the control of the service provider, but accessible to the customer anywhere, anytime, and through multiple channels? How to manage front-office and back-office processes as the “line of visibility” is becoming more and more transparent and interactive as customers are participating in creating the service experience?
Service process innovation. Restructuring existing service processes and creating a relevant and distinctive offering requires a deep understanding of the customer’s everyday practices and iteration in service offering creation with the help of prototypes and mock-ups. Furthermore, modularity in service structure is needed in order for the service provider to create tailored offerings with an industrialised logic.
New work practices required. Implementing service innovations also requires analysis of what the service processes and work practices are that enable or disable the desired customer experience. Designing service work practices, i.e. ways of working and usage of tools, also creates new possibilities for enhancing the customer experience and improving motivation among service personnel.
Vectia helps companies in service innovation and design by:
- Designing customer experience and service work practices. Analysing the customer experience and customer service work practices through observation and ethnographic methods, such as Customer Safari, Customer Journey, Practice Design or Work Practice Diaries.
- Innovating service offerings. Outlining the desired customer experience. Defining a modular service offering, value proposition, service processes, as well as service portfolio management principles.
- Implementing new work practices. Training and coaching key personnel in desired ways of working to ensure cultural change in the organisation.
Success stories
- OP-Pohjola: Engaging Youth on their own terms, Explore Autumn 2009
- Skanska Kodit: Can work practices be designed, Explore Autumn 2010
Studies and presentations