Service Marketing Strategy

In Part III of the book, we focus on some key marketing compo- nation of several different pricing elements like a fixed monthly
nents of the 8Ps—product elements, price and other user out- rate, a usage charge that offers volume discounts, and various sup-
lays, and promotion and education. Figure 111.1 shows how these plementary charges. Service managers need to recognize that
three elements relate to the service management decision price is not the only cost incurred by customers. There may be out-
framework. of-pocket expenditures associated with purchasing and using the
We've already addressed service product issues in several service. Customers may also incur significant nonfinancial outlays
previous chapters, where we (1) defined service as an act or per- and burdens ranging from time costs to physical and mental effort.
formance that provides benefits for customers, (2) showed how the Designing a good product and pricing it appropriately will
core product is surrounded by a group of supplementary service not ensure its success if people are unaware of it. So service
elements, and (3) specified how the nature of the underlying ser- firms must address the question: How should we communicate
vice process shapes the performance and thus the customer's what our service has to offer? Credibility is an important issue
experience. Chapter 7 raises the question: What should be the in marketing communication and may depend, in part, on the
core and supplementary elements of our service product? reputation of the organization, its capabilities, and its brand
Developing service product strategy requires managers to identify names. Managers must ask themselves what customers need to
the characteristics of the core product, consider how it should be know about the service and its benefits. Communication must go
augmented and enhanced by supplementary services, and deter- beyond mere promotion. Many customers, especially new ones,
mine how best to design the overall service experience. These deci- will need to be educated about the service. Service businesses
sions are shaped by the nature of the market for the service, requir-have to determine what communication methods and media will
ing consideration of what product benefits will create the most be most effective in reaching their target audiences. They also
value for target customers. need to examine the role that physical evidence can play in cre-
The question What price should we charge for our service? ating desired impressions. These issues are discussed in
is addressed in Chapter 8. Identifying the costs to be recovered Chapter 9.
tends to be a more challenging task for services than for manufac- Finally, service managers must decide how to differentiate
tured goods. Service prices may vary by time of day, day of week, or their firm's offerings from those of the competition—which is
season. And the price actually paid by customers may be a combi- the essence of positioning strategy. Chapter 10 examines issues
 FIGURE I I I . l
Product, Pricing, and
Communication Decisions

related to linking product, pricing, and communication in a needs of specific target segments, and (3) create a service pack-
strategic context. This chapter also emphasizes the need to (1) age that is differentiated from competitors' offerings in mean-
integrate different elements of the 8Ps so that they are mutually ingful ways.
reinforcing, (2) ensure that key product attributes relate to the

139
The Service Product
The Moose Ts Loose at Germany's Most
Popular Radio Station
SWF3 is Germany's most popular radio station, reaching more than dise offers. The Club is also featured on SWF3's Web site,
two million listeners in southwestern Germany every day. Some say www.swf3.de.
that it's more than radio—it's a lifestyle.1 Perhaps SWF3's most note- Of course, anyone can access the Web site, and fans living far
worthy feature is the never-ending production of its comic radio skits. outside SWF3's broadcast reception area—even on another conti-
For over 20 years the station has created characters and slogans that nent—can still listen to the station live on Web radio. The user-friendly
have become part of everyday conversation in Germany. These skits, site features information on the station, its staff, and programming, as
plus investigative journalism and trend-setting music, reflect the sta- well as offering services ranging from weather forecasts to
tion's philosophy and are essential keys to its success. SWF3's trade- Kinodatenbank (a useful database of movie reviews). There is also a
mark, the moose, was chosen because the station is headquartered in chat room and a library of pictures of real moose, cartoon moose, and
Baden-Baden in the famous Black Forest. The animal has become a stuffed toy moose in many amusing situations.
part of the station's lifestyle, to the extent that quality is referred to as To serve listeners who want information about the station, club
"moose-proof." services, and related activities, the station has instituted the SWF3
Following deregulation of the German radio broadcasting market, Service Center (even using the English-language term as its name),
hundreds of new local and national radio stations swamped the mar- which also handles ticket sales and merchandise orders. The SWF3
ket. To compete more effectively and to build greater loyalty among its Club produces and coproduces about 120 events each year. Large
listeners, SWF3 established a club, now some 100,000 strong, that open-air concerts and festivals can draw over 100,000 visitors,
offers members a variety of financial and nonfinancial benefits with a whereas the numerous smaller shows with newcomer bands attract
high emotional and economic value. Holders of the SWF3 Club's gold just a few hundred. At all major events, a Club Lounge—open to
Wildcard (which costs the equivalent of about $15) can obtain savings members and event guests only—provides special catering. After the
on a variety of purchases. show, rock and pop stars show up for scheduled "unplugged" sessions
The Club's popular quarterly publication, ON, offers a mix of and interviews. Club members can save up to $6 off the ticket prices
journalism, music, and humor written by the station's staff, including to all major pop and rock concerts in Germany, including concerts of
DJs, editors, and anchors. The members' newsletter, published every major artists such as the Rolling Stones, Simple Minds, R.E.M., and
six weeks and called ONFO, contains details of Club events through- U2. In addition to tickets for the Club's own productions, members also
out the year, news from the station, and current ticket and merchan- get offers for preferential tickets to hundreds of events each year.
 SWF3 believes that its club program and event sponsorship have
helped the station to build high awareness, develop a strong relation-
© Learning Objectives
ship with its listeners, and increase its ratings. In short, the Club has After reading this chapter, you should
proven to be absolutely "moose-proof." be able to
£> discuss several frameworks for
describing the augmented service
product
^> define the eight petals of the Flower
of Service
^> distinguish between facilitating and
enhancing supplementary services

^> complete a service blueprint for

different kinds of services

:£> describe the types of information

that service blueprints can provide

141
142 PART THREE . SERVICE MARKETING STRATEGY

THE SERVICE OFFERING

In this chapter, we address the question, What should be the core and supplementary ele-
ments of our service product? T h e core addresses the customer's need for a basic bene-
fit—such as transportation to a desired location, resolution of a specific health problem,
or repair of malfunctioning equipment. Supplementary services facilitate and enhance
use of the core service; they range from information, advice, and documentation to
problem solving and acts of hospitality.
As an industry matures and competition increases, there's a risk that prospective
customers may view competing core products as commodities that are indistinguishable
from each other. For instance, many airlines fly the same types of aircraft, all credit cards
perform the same basic function, and it's hard to distinguish one hotel bed from another
within a given class of service. In these cases, the customer's natural tendency is to
choose the option with the cheapest price. Hence, the search for competitive advantage
augmented product: the in a mature industry often focuses on differentiating the product through better supple-
core product (a good or a mentary services. SWF3, the German radio station in the opening story, uses a mix of
service) plus all financial and nonfinancial benefits to offer a value-oriented package that attracts listen-
supplementary elements that ers in the highly competitive radio broadcasting market and keeps them loyal.
add value for customers.
The Augmented Product
molecular model: a
framework that uses a Marketers use the term a u g m e n t e d product to describe the combination of a core
chemical analogy to describe product with a bundle of value-adding supplementary elements. Theorists have devel-
the structure of service oped several frameworks to describe augmented products. Lynn Shostack created a
offerings. m o l e c u l a r m o d e l (Figure 7.1) that can be applied to either goods or services. The

FIGURE 7.1
Shostack's Molecular Model:
Passenger Airline Service
Source: G. Lynn Shostack, "Breaking Free from Product Marketing," Journal of Marketing (April 1977), published by the American Marketing
Association. Reprinted with permission.
 CHAPTER SEVEN • THE SERVICE PRODUCT 143

model uses a chemical analogy to help marketers visualize and manage what she termed
a "total market entity." At the center is the core benefit that addresses the basic cus-
tomer need, with links to a series of other service characteristics. Surrounding the mol-
ecules is a series of bands representing price, distribution, and market positioning (com-
munication messages). As in chemical formulations, a change in one element may
completely alter the nature of the entity.
The molecular m o d e l helps identify the tangible and intangible elements
involved in service delivery. By highlighting tangible elements, marketers can deter-
mine whether their services are tangible-dominant or intangible-dominant. In an air-
line, for example, the intangible elements include transportation itself, service fre-
quency, and pre-flight, in-flight, and post-flight service. But the aircraft itself and the
food and drinks that are served to passengers are all tangible.The more intangible ele-
ments exist, the more necessary it is to provide tangible clues about the features and
quality of the service.
Eiglier and Langeard developed a different model to describe the augmented prod-
uct. In their model, the core service is surrounded by a circle containing a series of sup-
plementary services that are specific to that particular product. 3 Their approach, like
Shostack's, emphasizes the interdependence of the various components. They distinguish
between those elements needed to facilitate use of the core service (such as the reception
desk at a hotel) and those that enhance the appeal of the core service (such as a fitness
center and business services at a hotel). Eiglier and Langeard focus on two issues: (1)
whether supplementary services are needed to facilitate use of the core service or simply
to add extra appeal; and (2) whether customers should be charged separately for each ser-
vice element or whether all elements should be bundled under a single price tag.

IDENTIFYING AND CLASSIFYING

SUPPLEMENTARY SERVICES
The more we examine different types of core services, the more we find that most of
them have many supplementary services in c o m m o n . Although core products may dif-
fer widely, certain supplementary elements—like information, billing, and reservations
or order taking—keep recurring. 4 There are dozens of different supplementary services,

FIGURE 7.2
The Flower of Service: Core
Product Surrounded by
Clusters of Supplementary
Services
144 PART THREE • SERVICE MARKETING STRATEGY

T A B L E 7.1 Directions to service site

Examples of Information Schedules/service hours
Elements Prices
Instructions on using core product/supplementary services
Reminders
Warnings
Conditions of sale/service
Notification of changes
Documentation
Confirmation of reservations
Summaries of account activity
Receipts and tickets

but almost all of them can be classified into one of the following eight clusters. We have
facilitating listed them as either facilitating s u p p l e m e n t a r y services, which aid in the use of the
supplementary services: core product or are required for service delivery, or e n h a n c i n g s u p p l e m e n t a r y ser-
supplementary services that v i c e s , which add extra value for customers.
aid in the use of the core
product or are required for
Facilitating Services Enhancing Services
service delivery.
*- Information >• Consultation
enhancing >- Order Taking 5* Hospitality
supplementary services:
supplementary services that >- Billing >- Safekeeping
may add extra value for >- Payment >• Exceptions
customers.
In Figure 7.2, these eight clusters are displayed as petals surrounding the center of a
flower—which we call the Flower of Service. We've shown them clockwise in the
Flower of Service: a visual
sequence in which they are often likely to be encountered by customers (although this
framework for understanding
the supplementary service sequence may vary—for instance, payment may have to be made before service is deliv-
elements that surround and ered rather than afterwards). In a well-run service organization, the petals and core are
add value to the product core. fresh and attractive. But a badly designed or poorly executed service is like a flower with
missing, wilted, or discolored petals. Even if the core is perfect, the overall flower is
unattractive. Think about your own experiences as a customer. W h e n you were dissatis-
fied with a particular purchase, was it the core that was at fault or was there a problem
with one or more of the supplementary service petals? N o t every core product is sur-
rounded by supplementary elements from all eight clusters. As we'll see, the nature of
the product helps to determine w h i c h supplementary services must be offered and
which might be added to enhance the value of the core service.

Information
To obtain full value from any service experience, customers need relevant information
(Table 7.1). N e w customers and prospects are especially information hungry. Customer
needs may include directions to the physical location where the product is sold (or
details of how to order it by telephone or Web site), service hours, prices, and usage
instructions. Further information, sometimes required by law, could include conditions
of sale and use, warnings, reminders, and notification of changes. Finally, customers may
want documentation of what has already taken place, such as confirmation of reserva-
tions, receipts and tickets, and monthly summaries of account activity.
Companies should make sure the information they provide is b o t h timely and
accurate; if it's not, customers may be annoyed or inconvenienced. Traditional ways of
providing information to customers include using front-line employees (who are not
always as well informed as customers might like), printed notices, brochures, and
 CHAPTER SEVEN • THE SERVICE PRODUCT 145

Applications TABLE 7.2

• Membership in clubs or programs Examples of Order-Taking
• Subscription services (e.g., utilities) Elements
• Prerequisite-based services (e.g., financial credit, college enrollment)
Order Entry
• On-site order fulfillment
• Mail/telephone order placement
• E-mail/Web site order placement
Reservations and Check-in
• Seats
• Tables
• Rooms
• Vehicles or equipment rental
• Professional appointments
• Admission to restricted facilities (e.g., museums, aquariums)

instruction books. Other media include videotapes or software-driven tutorials, touch-

screen video displays, and menu-driven recorded telephone messages.The most signifi-
cant recent innovation has been corporate use of Web sites. Companies use the Internet
for a wide range of useful applications including the provision of information about
train and airline schedules, hotel availability and reservations, the location of specific
retail outlets such as restaurants and stores, and service descriptions and prices. Many
business logistics companies offer shippers the opportunity to track the movements of
their packages—each of which has been assigned a unique identification number.

Order Taking
Once customers are ready to buy, companies must have effective supplementary service
processes in place to handle applications, orders, and reservations (Table 7.2). T h e
process of order taking should be polite, fast, and accurate so that customers do not
waste time and endure unnecessary mental or physical effort.
Banks, insurance companies, and utilities require prospective customers to go
through an application process designed to gather relevant information and to screen
out those w h o do not meet basic enrollment criteria (like a bad credit record or serious
health problems). Universities also require prospective students to apply for admission.
Reservations (including appointments and check-in) represent a special type of order
taking that entitles customers to a defined unit of service at a specific time and loca-
tion—for example, an airline seat, a restaurant table, a hotel room, time with a qualified
professional, or admission to a facility such as a theater or sports arena.
Ticketless systems, based upon telephone or online reservations, provide enormous
cost savings for airlines. There is no travel agent commission since customers b o o k
directly, and the administrative effort is drastically reduced. A paper ticket at an airline
may be handled 15 times while an electronic ticket requires just one step. But some cus-
tomers are not comfortable with the paperless process.

Billing
Billing is common to almost all services (unless the service is provided free of charge).
Inaccurate, illegible, or incomplete bills risk disappointing customers w h o may, up to that
point, have been quite satisfied with their experience. Such failures add insult to injury if
the customer is already dissatisfied. Billing procedures range from verbal statements to a
machine-displayed price, and from handwritten invoices to elaborate monthly statements
of account activity and fees (Table 7.3). D u e to recent technological advances, many
146 PART THREE • SERVICE MARKETING STRATEGY

T A Tl T TH 7 1
• Periodic statements of account activity
Examples of B i l l i n g Elements • Invoices for individual transactions
• Verbal statements of amount due
• Machine display of amount due
• Self-billing (computed by customer)

forms of billing are computerized to capitalize on the potential for productivity improve-
ments. But computerized billing can sometimes cause service failures, as when an inno-
cent customer tries futilely to contest an inaccurate bill and is met by an escalating
sequence of ever-larger bills (compounded interest and penalty charges) accompanied by
increasingly threatening, computer-generated letters.
Customers usually expect bills to be clear and informative, and itemized in ways
that make it clear how the total was computed. Unexplained or confusing charges do
not create a favorable impression of the supplier. N o r does fuzzy printing or illegible
handwriting. Laser printers, with their ability to switch fonts and typefaces, to box and
to highlight, can produce statements that are not only more legible but also organize
information in more useful ways.
Marketing research can help companies design user-friendly bills by identifying
what information customers want and h o w they would like it to be organized.
Sometimes billing information can even be used to provide extra value to customers.
For example, American Express built its Corporate Card business by offering companies
detailed documentation of the spending patterns of individual employees and depart-
ments on travel and entertainment. Its Corporate Purchasing Card is particularly useful

FIGURE 7.3
American Express Promotes the
Benefits of Its Corporate
Purchasing Card
 CHAPTER SEVEN • THE SERVICE PRODUCT 147

for firms making purchases through the Internet, allowing senior management to estab-
lish spending limits, designate preferred vendors, and track expenses (Figure 7.3).
Intelligent thinking about customer needs led A m E x to realize that well-organized
billing information and control of spending were valuable to its business customers,
beyond just the basic requirement of knowing h o w much to pay.
Busy customers hate to be kept waiting for a bill. Some service providers offer
express checkout options, taking customers' credit card details in advance and docu-
menting charges later by mail. Many hotels push bills under guests' doors on the m o r n -
ing of departure showing charges to date; others offer customers the option of preview-
ing their bills before checkout on the TV monitors in their rooms. Some car rental
companies use an alternative express checkout procedure. An agent meets customers as
they return their cars, checks the odometer and fuel gauge readings, and then prints a
bill on the spot using a portable wireless terminal. Accuracy is essential with all of these
billing methods. Since customers use the express checkouts to save time, they certainly
don't want to waste time later seeking corrections and refunds.

Payment
In most cases, a bill requires the customer to take action on payment. Bank statements
are an exception, since they detail charges that have already been deducted from the
customer's account. Increasingly, customers expect ease and convenience of payment,
including credit, wherever they make their purchases.
A variety of options exists to facilitate customer bill paying (Table 7.4). Self-service
payment systems, for instance, require customers to insert coins, banknotes, tokens, or
cards in machines. But equipment breakdowns destroy the whole purpose of such a sys-
tem, so good maintenance and speedy trouble-shooting are essential. M u c h payment
still takes place through hand-to-hand transfers of cash and checks, but credit and debit
cards are growing in importance as more and more establishments accept them. Other
alternatives include tokens, vouchers, coupons, or prepaid tickets. Firms benefit from
prompt payment, since it reduces the amount of accounts receivable.
To ensure that people actually pay what they owe, some services employ control
systems, such as ticket collection before entering a movie theater or boarding a train.
However, inspectors and security officers must be trained to combine politeness with
firmness in performing their jobs, so that honest customers do not feel harassed.

T A B L E 7 4
self-service
• Exact change in machine Examples of Payment
• Cash in machine with change returned Elements
• Insert prepayment card
• Insert credit/charge/debit card
• Insert token
• Electronic funds transfer
• Mail a check
• Enter credit card number online
Direct to payee or intermediary
• Cash handling and change giving
• Check handling
• Credit/charge/debit card handling
• Coupon redemption
• Tokens, vouchers, etc.
Automatic deduction from financial deposits (e.g., bank charges)
Control and verification
• Automated systems (e.g., machine-readable tickets that operate entry gates)
• Human systems (e.g., toll collectors, ticket inspectors)
148 PART THREE • SERVICE MARKETING STRATEGY

TABLE 7.5 • Advice

Examples of Consultation • Auditing
Elements • Personal counseling
• Tutoring/training in product usage
• Management or technical consulting

Consultation
Consultation is an enhancing supplementary service that involves a dialog to identify
customer requirements and develop a personalized solution. Table 7.5 provides exam-
ples of several supplementary services in the consultation category. At its simplest, con-
sultation consists of immediate advice from a knowledgeable service person in response
to the request: " W h a t do you suggest?" (For example, you might ask the person who
cuts your hair for advice on different hairstyles and products.) Effective consultation
requires an understanding of each customer's current situation before suggesting a suit-
able course of action. Good customer records can be a great help in this respect, partic-
ularly if relevant data can be retrieved easily from a remote terminal.
Counseling represents a more subtle approach to consultation. It involves helping
customers better understand their situations so that they can come up with their " o w n "
solutions and action programs. This approach can be a particularly valuable supplement
to services such as health treatment. Part of the challenge in this situation is to get cus-
tomers to take a long-term view of their personal situation and to adopt more healthful
behaviors, which often involve some initial sacrifice. Diet centers like Weight Watchers
use counseling to help customers change their behaviors so that weight loss can be sus-
tained after the initial diet is completed.
Finally, there are more formalized efforts to provide management and technical
consulting for corporate customers, such as the "solution selling" associated with mar-
keting expensive industrial equipment and services. T h e sales engineer researches the
business customer's situation and then offers objective advice about what particular
package of equipment and systems will yield the best results. Some consulting services
are offered free of charge in the hope of making a sale. In other instances the service is
"unbundled" and customers are expected to pay for it.

Hospitality
Hospitality-related services should ideally reflect pleasure at meeting new customers
and greeting old ones when they return. Companies like Wal-Mart take this concept
quite literally, designating a specific employee in each store to welcome customers as
they enter. Well-managed businesses try to ensure that their employees treat customers
as guests. Courtesy and consideration for customers' needs apply to both face-to-face
encounters and telephone interactions (Table 7.6). Hospitality finds its full expression in
face-to-face encounters. In some cases, it starts with an offer of transport to and from

TABLE 7.6 Greeting

Examples of Hospitality Food and beverages
Elements Toilets and washrooms
Waiting facilities and amenities
• Lounges, waiting areas, seating
• Weather protection
• Magazines, entertainment, newspapers
Transport
Security
 CHAPTER SEVEN • THE SERVICE PRODUCT 149

the service site, as with courtesy shuttle buses. If customers must wait outdoors before
the service can be delivered, then a thoughtful service provider will offer weather pro-
tection. If the wait occurs indoors, then guests should have access to a waiting area with
seating and entertainment (TV, newspapers, or magazines) to pass the time. Recruiting
employees w h o are naturally warm, welcoming, and considerate for customer-contact
jobs also helps to create a hospitable atmosphere.
The quality of a firm's hospitality services can increase or decrease satisfaction with
the core product.This is especially true for people-processing services where customers
cannot easily leave the service facility. Private hospitals often seek to enhance their hos-
pitality by providing the level of r o o m service—including meals—that might be
expected in a good hotel.
Some air transportation companies (like Singapore Airlines) differentiate themselves
from their competitors with better meals and more attentive cabin crew.While in-flight
hospitality is important, an airline journey also includes passengers' pre- and post-flight
experiences. Air travelers have come to expect departure lounges, but British Airways
(BA) came up with the novel idea of an arrivals lounge for its terminals at London's
Heathrow and Gatwick airports to serve passengers arriving early in the m o r n i n g after
a long, overnight flight from the Americas, Asia, Africa, and Australia. T h e airline allows
holders of first- and business-class tickets or a BA Executive Club gold card (awarded to
the airline's most frequent flyers) to use a special lounge where they can take a shower,
change, have breakfast, and make phone calls or send faxes before continuing to their
final destination. T h e arrivals lounge provided such a significant competitive advantage
for British Airways that other airlines felt obliged to copy it.

Safekeeping
While visiting a service site, customers often want assistance with their personal pos-
sessions. In fact, unless certain safekeeping services are provided (like safe and conve-
nient parking for their cars), some customers may not come at all.The list of potential
on-site safekeeping services is long. It includes: provision of coatrooms; luggage trans-
port, handling, and storage; safekeeping of valuables; and even child and pet care
(Table 7.7).

Caring for possessions customers bring with them TABLE 7.7

• Childcare Examples of Safekeeping
• Pet care Elements
• Parking facilities for vehicles
• Valet parking
• Coatrooms
• Luggage handling
• Storage space
• Safe deposit boxes
• Security personnel
Caring for goods purchased (or rented) by customers
• Packaging
• Pick-up
• Transportation
• Delivery
• Installation
• Inspection and diagnosis
• Cleaning
• Refueling
• Preventive maintenance
• Repairs and renovation
• Upgrade
150 PART THREE • SERVICE MARKETING STRATEGY

Additional safekeeping services are directed at physical products that customers buy
or rent. They include packaging, pick-up and delivery, assembly, installation, cleaning,
and inspection. Sometimes there's a charge for these services.

Exceptions
Exceptions involve supplementary services that fall outside the routine of normal ser-
vice delivery (Table 7.8). Astute businesses anticipate exceptions and develop contin-
gency plans and guidelines in advance. That way, employees will not appear helpless and
surprised w h e n customers ask for special assistance. Well-defined procedures make it
easier for employees to respond promptly and effectively.
There are several different types of exceptions:
1. Special requests. There are many circumstances when a customer may request ser-
vice that requires a departure from normal operating procedures. Advance
requests often relate to personal needs, including childcare, dietary requirements,
medical needs, religious observances, and personal disabilities. Such special
requests are c o m m o n in the travel and hospitality industries.
3. Problem solving. Situations arise w h e n normal service delivery (or product perfor-
mance) fails to run smoothly as a result of accidents, delays, equipment failures,
or customers experiencing difficulty in using the product.
3. Handling of complaints /suggestions /compliments. This activity requires well-defined
procedures. It should be easy for customers to express dissatisfaction, offer sug-
gestions for improvement, or pass on compliments, and service providers should
be able to make an appropriate response quickly.
4. Restitution. Many customers expect to be compensated for serious performance
failures. Compensation may take the form of repairs under warranty, legal settle-
ments, refunds, an offer of free service, or other forms of payment-in-kind.
A flexible approach to exceptions is generally a g o o d idea because it reflects
responsiveness to customer needs. On the other hand, too many exceptions may

TABLE 7.8 Special requests in advance of service delivery

Examples of Exceptions • Children's needs
Elements • Dietary requirements
• Medical or disability needs
• Religious observances
• Deviations from standard operating procedures
Handling special communications
• Complaints
• Compliments
• Suggestions
Problem solving
• Warranties and guarantees against product malfunction
• Resolving difficulties that arise from using the product
• Resolving difficulties caused by accidents, service failures,
and problems with staff or other customers
• Assisting customers who have suffered an accident or
medical emergency
Restitution
• Refunds
• Compensation in kind for unsatisfactory goods and services
• Free repair of defective goods
 CHAPTER SEVEN • THE SERVICE PRODUCT 151

compromise safety, negatively impact other customers, and overburden employees.

Managers need to keep an eye on the level of exception requests. Large numbers of
exceptions may indicate a need to reexamine standard service procedures. For instance,
if a restaurant constantly receives requests for special vegetarian meals w h e n there are
none on the menu, then it may be time to revise the m e n u to include at least one
meatless dish.

Managerial Implications of the Flower of Service

The eight categories of supplementary services that form the Flower of Service provide
many options for enhancing the core service product. Most supplementary services do
(or should) represent responses to customer needs. As noted earlier, some are facilitating
services—like information and reservations—that enable customers to use the core
product more effectively. Others are "extras" that enhance the core or even reduce its
nonfinancial costs (for example, meals, magazines, and entertainment are hospitality ele-
ments that help pass the time). Some elements—notably billing and payment—are
imposed by the service provider. But even if not actively desired by the customer, they
still form part of the overall service experience. Any badly handled element may nega-
tively affect customers' perceptions of service quality. T h e "information" and "consulta-
tion" petals emphasize the need for education as well as promotion in communicating
with service customers.
A key insight from the Flower of Service concept is that different types of core
products often share use of similar supplementary elements. As a result, customers may
make comparisons across unrelated industries. For instance, "If my stockbroker can give
me clear documentation of my account activity, why can't the department store where
I shop?" Or "If my favorite airline can take reservations accurately, why can't the French
restaurant up the street?" Questions like these suggest that managers should be studying
businesses outside their own industries in a search for "best-in-class" performers on spe-
cific supplementary services.
N o t every core product will be surrounded by a large n u m b e r of supplementary
services from all eight petals. People-processing services t e n d to be the most
demanding in terms of supplementary elements like hospitality, since they involve
close (and often extended) interactions with c u s t o m e r s . W h e n customers do not visit
the service factory, the need for hospitality may be limited to simple courtesies in
letters and t e l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n s . Possession-processing services sometimes place
heavy demands on safekeeping elements, but there may be no need for this particu-
lar petal in information-processing services w h e r e customers and suppliers deal
entirely at arm's length. However, financial services that are provided electronically
are an exception to this. C o m p a n i e s must ensure that their customers' intangible
financial assets are carefully safeguarded in transactions that occur via p h o n e or the
Web.
Companies in the business-to-business sector face many decisions concerning what
types of supplementary services to offer. A study of Japanese, American, and European
firms found that most simply added layer upon layer of services to their core offerings
without knowing what customers really valued. 5 Managers surveyed in the study indi-
cated that they did not understand which services should be offered to customers as a
standard package accompanying the core, and which should be offered as options for an
extra charge.
There are no simple rules governing decisions about core products and supple-
mentary services. But managers should continually review their firms' product offer-
ings to make sure they are in line with both market practice and customer needs. A
study of plastic surgeons' offices and procedures suggests that poor performance on
152 PART T H R E E • SERVICE MARKETING STRATEGY

supplementary services—notably, u n w a n t e d information and inhospitable waiting

areas—creates unfavorable initial impressions that may lead patients to cancel surgery
or even change doctors (see the box titled "Cosmetic Surgeons' Offices Disappoint
Patients").
Customer needs and expectations often vary by segment. Consider the example of
Asea Brown Boveri (ABB), a supplier of power plant equipment and maintenance ser-
vices to utilities companies. ABB's Power Transformers business realized that not all
customers needed or wanted the same levels of maintenance service; some utilities pre-
fer to handle maintenance in-house, using their o w n employees and equipment.
Instead of simply supplying a comprehensive maintenance service to all of its cus-
tomers, ABB n o w offers different levels of service and prices as part of a negotiated ser-
vice agreement. It no longer requires customers to have ABB service all aspects of their
transformers. Instead, they can choose the combination of supplementary services that
they prefer. 6
Tables 7.1 t h r o u g h 7.8 can be used to identify value-added ways to augment
existing core products and design n e w offerings. T h e lists provided in these eight
tables do not claim to be all encompassing, since some products may require special-
ized supplementary elements. A company's marketing strategy helps to determine
which supplementary services should be included. A strategy of adding benefits to
increase customers'perceptions of quality will probably require more supplementary
services (and also a higher level of performance on all such elements) than a strategy
of competing on low prices. In general, a firm that competes on a low-cost, no-frills
basis will require fewer s u p p l e m e n t a r y elements than o n e that is m a r k e t i n g an
expensive, high-value-added product. And firms that offer different grades of ser-
vice—like first class, business class, and economy class in an airline context—often

Cosmetic Surgeons' Offices

Disappoint Patients
What do patients want? Most requests are surprisingly simple
It appears that plastic surgeons could use some service marketing and involve creature comforts like tissues, water coolers, tele-
training along with their other courses in medical school. That's the phones, plants, and bowls of candy in the waiting room and live
diagnosis of two experts, Kate Altork and Douglas Dedo, who did a flower arrangements in the lobby. Patients also want windows in
study of patients' reactions to doctors' offices. They found that the examining rooms and gowns that wrap around the entire body.
many patients will cancel a surgery, change doctors, or refuse to They would like to sit on a real chair when they talk to a doctor
consider future elective surgery if they feel uneasy in the doctor's instead of perching on a stool or examining table. Finally, preopera-
office. The study results suggested that patients won't usually tive patients prefer to be separated from postoperative patients,
"doctor-jump" because they don't like the doctor; they defect since they are disturbed by sitting next to someone in the waiting
because they don't like the context of the service experience. The room whose head is enclosed in bandages.
list of common patient dislikes includes: graphic posters of moles These study results suggest that cosmetic surgery patients
and skin cancers decorating office walls; uncomfortable plastic would rather visit an office that looks more like a health spa than a
identification bracelets for patients; claustrophobic examining hospital ward. By thinking like service marketers, savvy surgeons
rooms with no windows or current reading material; bathrooms could look outside their own industries to find ways of creating
that aren't clearly marked; and not enough wastebaskets and patient-friendly environments that will complement rather than
water coolers in the waiting room. counteract their technical expertise.

Source: LisaBannon, "Plastic Surgeons Are Told to Pay More Attention to Appearances." Wall Street Journal, 15 March 1997, B1.
 CHAPTER SEVEN . THE SERVICE P R O D U C T 153

differentiate t h e m by adding extra supplementary services to a c o m m o n core for

each upgrade in service.
Regardless of which supplementary services a firm decides to offer, the elements in
each petal should receive the care and attention needed to consistently meet defined
service standards. That way the resulting Flower of Service will always have a fresh and
appealing appearance rather than looking wilted or disfigured by neglect.

SERVICE DESIGN
Service design is a complex task that requires an understanding of how the core and
supplementary services are combined to create a product offering that meets the needs
of target customers. For physical objects like new buildings or ships, the design is usually
captured on architectural drawings called blueprints (because reproductions have tradi-
tionally been printed on special paper where all the drawings and annotations appear in
blue).These blueprints show what the product should look like and detail the specifica-
tions to which it should conform.
In contrast to the physical architecture of a building, ship, or piece of equipment,
services have a largely intangible structure that makes t h e m all the more difficult to
plan and execute. However, it is possible to m a p service processes by defining the
steps required to provide the core and supplementary product elements. To do this,
we b o r r o w p r o c e s s - m a p p i n g t e c h n i q u e s from logistics, industrial e n g i n e e r i n g ,
decision theory, and c o m p u t e r systems analysis, each of which uses blueprint-like
techniques to describe processes involving flows, sequences, relationships, and
dependencies. 7
Blueprinting can be used to document an existing service or design a n e w service
concept. We introduced a simpler version of blueprinting k n o w n as flowcharting in
Chapter 4. But in that case our focus was limited to front-stage service delivery from the
customer's perspective. As you'll see, blueprinting provides more extensive documenta-
tion of the activities involved in producing a service.
To develop a blueprint, you need to be able to identify all of the key activities
involved in service delivery and production, clarify the sequence, and to specify the
linkages b e t w e e n these activities. 8 S e r v i c e b l u e p r i n t s clarify the interactions service blueprint: a visual
between customers and employees and h o w these are supported by additional activ- map of the sequence of
ities and systems backstage. As a result, they can facilitate the integration of market- activities required for service
ing, operations, and h u m a n resource management within a firm. This can be benefi- delivery that specifies front-
cial, since operationally oriented businesses are sometimes so focused on managing stage and backstage elements
and the linkages between
backstage activities that they neglect to consider the customer's view of front-stage
them.
activities. Accounting firms, for instance, often have elaborately d o c u m e n t e d proce-
dures and standards for h o w to conduct an audit properly, but may lack clear stan-
dards for w h e n and h o w to host a client meeting or h o w to answer the telephone
when clients call.
By analyzing blueprints, managers are often able to identify potential fail points in fail point: a point in a
the service delivery process where there's a significant risk of problems that can hurt ser- process where there is a
vice quality. Knowledge of these fail points enables managers to design procedures to significant risk of problems
avoid their occurrence or implement effective recovery strategies if necessary. that can damage service
quality.
Blueprints can also pinpoint parts of the process where customers commonly have to
wait. Standards can then be developed for these activities that include times for comple-
tion of a task, maximum wait times in between tasks, and scripts to guide interactions
between staff members and customers.
Blueprints of existing services can suggest ideas for p r o d u c t i m p r o v e m e n t s .
Managers may spot opportunities to reconfigure delivery systems (perhaps through
154 PART T H R E E • SERVICE M A R K E T I N G STRATEGY

use of n e w technologies), add or delete specific elements, or reposition the service to

appeal to o t h e r segments. For example, Canadian Pacific Hotels (which operates
hotels u n d e r Fairmont and Delta brand names) decided to redesign its hotel services.
It had already b e e n successful w i t h conventions, meetings, and g r o u p travel but
w a n t e d to build greater b r a n d loyalty a m o n g business travelers. T h e c o m p a n y
blueprinted the entire "guest e x p e r i e n c e " from pulling up at the hotel to getting the
car keys from the valet. For each encounter, Canadian Pacific defined an expected
service level based on customer feedback and created systems to m o n i t o r service
performance. It also redesigned some aspects of its service processes to provide busi-
ness guests w i t h m o r e personalized service. T h e payoff for C a n a d i a n Pacific's
redesign efforts was a 16-percent increase in its share of business travelers in a single
year.
There's no single "best" way to prepare a service blueprint, but it's helpful to adopt
a consistent approach within a single organization. In this chapter, we adapt and simplify
an approach proposed by Jane Kingman-Brundage. 9 If desired, any aspect of a blueprint
can subsequently be examined in greater detail.

Developing a Service Blueprint

To illustrate blueprinting, let's examine the process of dining at Chez Jean, an upscale
restaurant that enhances its core food service with a variety of supplementary services.
A typical rule of thumb in full-service restaurants is that the cost of purchasing the food
ingredients represents about 20 to 30 percent of the price of the meal. T h e balance can
be seen as the "fees" that the customer is willing to pay for supplementary benefits like
renting a table and chairs in a pleasant setting, hiring the services of food preparation
experts and their kitchen equipment, and having staff to wait on them both inside and
outside the dining room.
Figure 7.4 (shown on pages 156—159) contains a blueprint of the Chez Jean restau-
rant experience. T h e key components of the blueprint (reading from top to bottom)
are:
1. Definition of standards for each front-stage activity (only a few examples are
actually specified here)
2. Physical and other evidence for front-stage activities (specified for all steps)
3. Principal customer actions (illustrated by pictures)
4. Line of interaction
5. Front-stage actions by customer-contact personnel
6. Line of visibility
7. Backstage actions by customer-contact personnel
8. Support processes involving other service personnel
9. Support processes involving information technology
Reading from left to right, the blueprint prescribes the sequence of actions over
time. To emphasize the involvement of human actors in the service delivery process, our
blueprint uses pictures to illustrate each of the 14 principal steps in which our two cus-
tomers are involved. T h e process begins with making a reservation and concludes with
departure from the restaurant after the meal. Like many high-contact services involving
discrete transactions, the restaurant experience can be divided into three "acts," repre-
senting activities that take place before the core product is encountered, delivery of the
core product (in this case, the meal), and subsequent activities while still involved with
the service provider.
 CHAPTER SEVEN • THE SERVICE PRODUCT 155

Act I: Starting the Service Experience

Act I begins with the customer making a reservation—an interaction conducted by
telephone with an unseen employee. In theatrical terms, the telephone conversation
might be likened to a radio drama, with impressions being created by the speed of
response, tone of the respondent's voice, and style of the conversation. O n c e the cus-
tomers arrive at the restaurant, the "stage" or servicescape includes both the exterior
and interior of the restaurant. From this point on, front-stage actions take place in a very
visual environment. Restaurants are often quite theatrical in their use of physical evi-
dence like furnishings, decor, uniforms, lighting, and table settings; they may also
employ background music to help create an environment that matches their market
positioning.
By the time our customers reach their table in the dining room, they have been
exposed to several supplementary services, including reservations, valet parking, coat-
room, cocktails, and seating. They have also seen a sizeable cast of characters, including
five or more contact personnel and many other customers. Standards that are based on a
good understanding of guest expectations should be set for each of these service activi-
ties. Below the line of visibility, the blueprint identifies key actions that should take
place to ensure that each front-stage step is performed in a m a n n e r that meets or
exceeds customer expectations. These actions include recording reservations, handling
customers' coats, delivery and preparation of food, maintenance of facilities and equip-
ment, training and assignment of staff for each task, and use of information technology
to access, input, store, and transfer relevant data.

Identifying the Fail Points R u n n i n g a good restaurant is a complex business and

much can go wrong. T h e most serious fail points, marked by Q. are those that will
result in failure to access or enjoy the core product.They involve the reservation (Could
the customer get through by phone? Was a table available at the desired time and date?
Was the reservation recorded accurately?) and seating (Was a table available w h e n
promised?). Since service delivery takes place over time, there is also the possibility of
delays between specific actions that will cause customers to wait. Points at which there
is a risk of such a wait are identified by a y(^\ Excessive waits at critical steps in delivery
can be classified as fail points, because they will annoy customers and negatively impact
perceived service quality.
Every step in the process has some potential for failures and delays. David Maister
coined the term O T S U ("opportunity to screw up") to highlight the importance of
thinking about all the things that might go wrong in delivering a particular type of ser-
vice. 10 O T S U s can be very humorous if you're not personally involved. J o h n Cleese
made millions laugh with his portrayal of an inept hotel manager in the television series
Fmt'lty Towers. Chevy Chase and Steve Martin have entertained movie audiences for
years by playing customers tortured by inept, rude, or downright cruel service employ-
ees. However, customers don't always see the funny side w h e n the joke is on them.
That's why it is important for service managers to identify all the possible O T S U s asso-
ciated with a particular task so they can put together a delivery system that is explicitly
designed to avoid these problems.

Setting S e r v i c e S t a n d a r d s T h r o u g h b o t h formal research and o n - t h e - j o b

experience, service managers can learn the nature of customer expectations at each
step in the process. As discussed in other chapters, customers' expectations range
across a spectrum—referred to as the zone of tolerance—from desired service (an ideal)
to a threshold level of merely adequate service. Service providers should design
156 PART THREE • SERVICE MARKETING STRATEGY

FIGURE 7.4
Blueprinting a Full-Service
Restaurant Experience
CHAPTER SEVEN . THE SERVICE PRODUCT 157
158 PART THREE • SERVICE MARKETING STRATEGY

FIGURE 7.4
(continued)
CHAPTER SEVEN • THE SERVICE PRODUCT 159
160 PART THREE • SERVICE MARKETING STRATEGY

standards for each step that are sufficiently high to satisfy and even delight customers.
These standards may include time parameters for specific activities, the script for a
technically correct performance, and prescriptions for appropriate employee style and
demeanor.
T h e initial steps of service delivery are particularly important, since customers' first
impressions can affect their evaluations of quality during later stages of service delivery.
Perceptions of their service experiences tend to be cumulative. 1 1 If things go badly at
the outset, customers may simply walk out. Even if they stay, they may be looking for
other things that aren't quite right. On the other hand, if the first steps go well, their
zones of tolerance may increase so that they are more willing to overlook minor mis-
takes later in the service performance.
Research by Marriott Hotels has found that four of the five top factors contribut-
ing to customer loyalty come into play during the first 10 minutes of service delivery. 12
While initial impressions are critical, performance standards should not be allowed to
fall off toward the end of service delivery. O t h e r research findings point to the impor-
tance of a strong finish. They suggest that a service encounter that starts poorly but then
increases in quality will be better rated than one that starts well but declines to a poor
conclusion.

Act II: Delivery of the Core Product

In Act II, our customers are finally about to experience the core service they came
for. We've condensed the meal into just four scenes for simplicity's sake. But review-
ing the m e n u and placing the order are actually two separate activities and meal ser-
vice typically proceeds on a course-by-course basis. Assuming all goes well, the two
guests will have an excellent meal, nicely served in a pleasant atmosphere, and perhaps
a fine wine to enhance it. But there is always the possibility that the restaurant won't
satisfy customer expectations during Act II. T h e answers to the following questions
can help managers identify potential fail points: Is the m e n u information complete? Is
it intelligible? Is everything that's listed on the m e n u available this evening? Will
employees provide explanations and advice in a friendly and noncondescending man-
ner for guests w h o have questions about specific m e n u items or are unsure about
which wine to order?
After o u r customers decide on their meals, they place their order w i t h the
server, w h o must t h e n pass on the details to p e r s o n n e l in the k i t c h e n , bar, and
billing desk. Mistakes in transmitting information are a frequent cause of quality
failures in many organizations. Bad handwriting or unclear verbal requests can lead
to delivery of the w r o n g items a l t o g e t h e r — o r of the right items incorrectly
prepared.
As Act II continues, our customers evaluate not only the quality of food and
drink—the most important dimension of all—but also how promptly it is served and
the style of service. A disinterested, ingratiating, or overly casual server can still spoil a
technically correct performance.

Act III: Concluding the Service Performance

T h e meal may be over, b u t m u c h activity is still taking place b o t h front stage
and backstage as the service process moves to its close. T h e core service has n o w
been delivered, and we'll assume that our customers are happily digesting it. Act
III should be short. T h e action in each of t h e r e m a i n i n g scenes should move
smoothly, quickly, and pleasantly, with no shocking surprises at the end. In a N o r t h
 CHAPTER SEVEN . THE SERVICE PRODUCT 161

American environment, most customers' expectations would probably include the

following:
>- An accurate, intelligible bill is presented promptly as soon as customers request it.
>- Payment is handled politely and expeditiously (with all major credit cards
accepted).
>• Guests are thanked for their patronage and invited to come again.
>- Customers visiting the restrooms find them clean and properly supplied.
»- T h e right coats are promptly retrieved from the coat room.
>- T h e customers' car is brought promptly to the door in the same condition as
when it was left.
>- T h e parking lot attendant thanks them again and bids them a good evening.
But how often do failures at the end of a service intervene to ruin the customers'
experience and spoil their good humor? Can you remember situations in which the
experience of a nice meal was completely spoiled by one or more failures in conclud-
ing the service delivery? Informal research among participants in dozens of executive
programs has found that the most commonly cited source of dissatisfaction with restau-
rants is an inability to get the bill quickly w h e n customers are ready to leave! This seem-
ingly minor O T S U can sour the overall dining experience even if everything else has
gone well. (For some suggestions on reducing customer waits, see the box, "In and O u t
Food Service.")
We chose a restaurant example to illustrate b l u e p r i n t i n g because it is a
high-contact, people-processing service that is familiar to most readers. However,
many possession-processing services (like repair or maintenance) and information-
processing services (like insurance or accounting) involve far less contact w i t h
customers since m u c h of the action takes place backstage. In these situations, a

In and Out
Food Service
4. Place the quickest, highest-margin menu items either first or
When customers are on a tight time budget, making them wait last on the menu.
unnecessarily at any point in the process is akin to stealing their
5. Offer dishes that can be prepared ahead of time.
time. Restaurant Hospitality, a trade magazine for the restaurant
industry, offers the following 10 suggestions for serving customers 6. Warn customers when they order menu items that will take a
quickly without making them feel like they've been pushed out of the lot of time to prepare.
door. As you'll see, some of these tactics involve front-stage
7. Consider short-line buffets, roving carts, and more sand-
processes while others take place backstage—but it is the interac-
wiches.
tion between front stage and backstage that creates the desired ser-
vice delivery. 8. Offer "wrap"-style sandwiches, which are a quickly prepared,
filling meal.
1. Distinguish between patrons who are in a hurry, and those
who are not. 9. Use equipment built for speed, like combination ovens.
2. Design specials that are quick. 10. Eliminate preparation steps that require cooks to stop
3. Guide hurried customers to those specials. cooking.

Adapted from Paul B. Hertneky, "Built for Speed," Restaurant Hospitality, January 1997, 58.
162 PART THREE • SERVICE MARKETING STRATEGY

failure c o m m i t t e d front stage is likely to represent a h i g h e r p r o p o r t i o n of the

customer's service encounters w i t h a company. T h u s it may be viewed even more
seriously, because there are fewer subsequent o p p o r t u n i t i e s to create a favorable
impression.

REENGINEERING SERVICE PROCESSES

Blueprinting can provide valuable insights by suggesting opportunities to reengineer
business processes, improve capacity planning, and better define employee roles. T h e
design of business processes has important implications for the nature and quality of the
customer's experience as well as the cost, speed, and productivity w i t h which the
desired outcome is achieved.
Improving productivity in services often requires speeding up the overall process,
since the cost of creating a service is usually related to h o w long it takes to deliver each
step in the process (plus any dead time between each step). W h e n they are relaxing or
reengineering: the analysis being entertained, customers don't mind spending time. But w h e n they are busy, they
and redesign of business hate wasting time and often view time expenditures as something to be minimized.
processes to create dramatic Even w h e n customers aren't directly involved in the process, the elapsed time between
performance improvements ordering and receiving a service may be seen as burdensome (for example, waiting for
in such areas as cost, quality, repair of a broken machine, installation of a new computer system, receipt of legal
speed, and customers' service
advice, or delivery of a consulting report).
experiences.
R e e n g i n e e r i n g involves analyzing and redesigning business processes to
achieve faster and better performance. To reduce the overall time for a process, ana-
lysts must identify each step, measure h o w long it takes, look for opportunities to
speed it up (or even eliminate it altogether), and cut out dead time. R u n n i n g tasks in
parallel rather than in sequence is a well-established approach to speed up processes
(a simple household example would be to cook the vegetables for a meal while the
main dish was in the oven, rather than waiting to cook t h e m until after the main dish
was removed).
Examination of business processes sometimes leads to creation of alternative deliv-
ery forms that are so radically different as to constitute entirely new service concepts.
Options may include eliminating certain supplementary services, adding new ones,
transforming personal service into self-service, or rethinking the location where service
delivery takes place. Figure 7.5 illustrates this principle with simple flowcharts of four
alternative ways to deliver meal service. Take a m o m e n t to compare and contrast what
happens front stage at a fast-food restaurant, a drive-in restaurant, h o m e delivery, and
h o m e catering. And now, for each alternative, think about the implications for backstage
activities.

Understanding Employee Roles

M a n y of the benefits of b l u e p r i n t i n g c o m e from the actual nature of the w o r k
required to create the charts—especially if employees themselves are directly
involved in the task. Participation in mapping specific processes gives employees a
clearer picture of their roles and responsibilities and makes t h e m feel like part of a
team that is responsible for implementing a shared service vision. Blueprints can also
help managers and employees understand the service delivery process as customers
experience it.
Blueprinting can also be used to show backstage personnel how their work relates
to that of their front-stage colleagues. Backstage personnel provide a series of internal
services (represented by each of the vertically stacked boxes in Figure 7.4) that support
 C H A P T E R SEVEN • T H E SERVICE P R O D U C T 163

FIGURE 7.5
Flowcharts for Meal Delivery
Scenarios
front-stage activities. If they do their jobs poorly, the employees working backstage may
create problems for their coworkers with customer-contact responsibilities. It's not
always possible to give either external or internal customers exactly the service that they
would like, but blueprinting can be a valuable tool for facilitating discussion about how
to improve service processes.

Conclusion
In mature industries, the core service can become a commodity. T h e search for compet-
itive advantage often centers on improvements to the supplementary services that sur-
round this core. In this chapter, we grouped supplementary services into eight cate-
gories, circling the core like the petals of a flower. T h e y are categorized as either
facilitating or enhancing supplementary services. Facilitating supplementary services aid
in the use of the core product or are required for service delivery, while enhancing sup-
plementary services add extra value for customers.
Designing the overall service experience is a complex task that requires an under-
standing of h o w the core and supplementary services should be c o m b i n e d and
sequenced to create a product offering that meets the needs of target customers.
Blueprinting is a structured procedure for analyzing existing services and planning
new ones. In particular, it enables us to define the different components of the aug-
mented service, to examine the sequence in which they are delivered, and to identify
potential fail points. We also gain insights into what is happening to the customer at
each stage. Supporting each front-stage action are backstage activities involving people,
supporting equipment and facilities, and information (often stored in a databank). As
we discussed, a poorly organized backstage can lead to failures that are experienced by
the customer.
SERVICE MARKETING STRATEGY

Study Questions and Exercises

1. Define what is meant by the core product and supplementary services. Can they
be applied to goods as well as services? Explain your answer.
2. W h a t service failures have you encountered recently? D i d they involve the core
product or supplementary service elements? Identify possible causes and suggest
how such failures might be prevented in the future.
3. Explain the distinction between enhancing and facilitating supplementary
services. Give several examples of each for services that you have used
recently.
4. R e v i e w the blueprint of the restaurant experience in this chapter (Figure 7.4).
Identify and categorize each of the supplementary services described in the
figure.
5. Prepare detailed blueprints for the following services:
a. Repair of a damaged bicycle
b. Applying to college or graduate school
c. R e n t i n g a car
6. Describe the different types of information that service blueprints can
provide.

Endnotes
1. Thomas Brinckwirth and Stephen A. Butscher,"Germany's Most Popular
Radio Station Creates Loyal Listeners," Colloquy (the Frequency Marketing,
Inc. quarterly newsletter) 6, no. 3 (1998); SWF3 Web site, www.swO.de,January
2001.
2. G. Lynn Shostack, "Breaking Free from Product Marketing," Journal of Marketing, 44
(April 1977): 73-80.
3. Pierre Eiglier and Eric Langeard,"Services as Systems: Marketing Implications," in P.
Eiglier, E. Langeard, C. H. Lovelock, J.E.G. Bateson, and R. F. Young, Marketing Consumer
Services: New Insights (Cambridge, MA: Marketing Science Institute, 1977), 83-103. Note:
An earlier version of this article was published in French in Revue Francaise de Gestion,
March-April, 1977,72-84.
4. The "Flower of Service" concept presented in this section was first introduced in
Christopher H. Lovelock, "Cultivating the Flower of Service: New Ways of Looking at
Core and Supplementary Services," in P. Eiglier and E. Langeard (eds.) Marketing,
Operations, and Human Resources: Insights into Services (Aix-en-Provence, France: IAE,
Universite d'Aix-Marseille III, 1992), 296-316.
5. James C.Anderson and James A. Narus, "Capturing the Value of Supplementary
Services," Harvard Business Review, 73 Qanuary-February 1995): 75-83.
6. From James C.Anderson and James A. Narus, Business Market Management (Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1999), 180.
7. See G. Lynn Shostack,"Understanding Services through Blueprinting" i n T Schwartz et
al., Advances in Services Marketing and Management (Greenwich, CT:JAI Press, 1992),
75-90.
8. G. Lynn Shostack, "Designing Services That Deliver," Harvard Business Review (January-
February 1984): 133-139.
9. Jane Kingman-Brundage,"The ABCs of Service System Blueprinting," in M.J. Bitner and
L. A. Crosby (eds.), Designing a Winning Service Strategy (Chicago, IL: American Marketing
Association, 1989).
 CHAPTER SEVEN • THE SERVICE PRODUCT 165

10. David Maister, now president of Maister Associates, coined the term OTSU while
teaching at Harvard Business School in the 1980s.
11. See for example, Eric J. Arnould and Linda L. Price, "River Magic: Extraordinary
Experience and the Extended Service Encounter," Journal of Consumer Research 20
(June 1993): 24-25; Nick Johns and Phil Tyas, "Customer Perceptions of Service
Operations: Gestalt, Incident or Mythology?" The Service Industries Journal 17 (July
1997): 474-488.
12. "How Marriott Makes a Great First Impression," The Service Edge 6 (May 1993): 5.
13. David E. Hansen and Peter J. Danaher, "Inconsistent Performance during the Service
Encounter: What's a Good Start Worth!" Journal of Service Research 1 (February 1999):
227-235.