Question

Select one high-contact and one low-contact service. Using the Flower of Service framework presented in Chapter 4, define the core product and then identify and categorize all the supplementary elements for each of the two services. Describe the results of your analysis.

Discuss how the petals can be used for service differentiation and competitive advantage.

Answer 1

An example of high contact service is Banking services where the customers can closely interact with the service providers, bank employees and managers to understand the various services and seek clarifications or changes on the plans and schemes. The core product of the banking services are providing a banking account or loan to the customers with suitable terms and conditions like interest rates and payment terms. The supplementary elements for this core product of service will be customer service, phone banking, internet banking, ATM facilities, number of branches or free debit or credit cards as per customer preferences.

An example of low contact services will be laundry services where the core product is offering laundry services, drycleaning or ironing of the clothes to customer satisfaction as per high quality standards. The customer contact is less depending on the need and the interaction is also limited to collection of the clothes or linen material. The supplementary elements for this type of services is providing good packaging to customers, convenient billing and payment methods, on time delivery of goods and tips for maintaining the clothes and linen in good conditions.

The results of the analysis can be interpreted that the mostly customers avail a service for their core benefits and repeat usage, customer satisfaction, frequent purchases depend on the supplementary services provided. In case of high contact services it is important that skilled personnel and infrastructure is used for positive influence while for low contact services there is less scope of interaction and quality of work impacts customer satisfaction.

Petals can be used for service differentiation and competitive advantage by creating a diagram of the core services and various supplementary services which are supporting the core services. The company can develop an understanding of the various aspects of the services they are offering and the role of the supplementary factors in promoting the core product or services. The sharing of information, understanding of customer needs through communication, offering reliable services, good behaviour, timely response, problem solving and ensuring the availability of the services are some of the factors that help in service differentiation and competitive advantage. The customers can be given value and benefits in various ways to create differentiation and competitive advantage to make their experience better than competitors and encourage them to buy the services more often for the additional benefits.