HSM E-briefing Series
on Customer Retention and Loyalty

"HOLDING ONTO YOUR CUSTOMERS"

The HSM Group, Ltd. provides the following information in the hopes that it will help you, our valued clients and friends, in your efforts to build better relationships with your customers.
 

April 2005

Big Lessons from Legendary Service Leaders
by Stephen W. Brown, Ph.D.

Health care is perhaps the most insular industry in the world.  Yet, in holding onto its customers, health care has much to gain by overcoming its myopia.  Much can be gained from applying best practices from leaders in other industries.  Over several months, we will be sharing big lessons gleaned from legendary service leaders like Disney, Southwest Airlines, and Marriott.

Lesson 3: Creating a servicescape valued by customers.

Legendary service organizations have learned that the quality of the where, the environment within which the experience occurs, has an important effect on the customer's opinion of the firm. If the environment or “servicescape” is not in keeping with the rest of the experience, customer satisfaction often lessens. The servicescape extends from ambient temperature and lighting that affect the physiological responses of customers to the character and feel of the experience that affect their emotional and cognitive responses. Service Leaders know that the customer perceives the environment in a holistic way and that inconsistencies can have a negative impact the customer’s overall impression of the experience.[1]

The Disney parks provide the best examples of how an exemplary organization spends considerable time, thought, and money designing the optimal environment for the experiences it provides to customers. One example is the diligence of the Main Street painters at both the Magic Kingdom and Disneyland. Their only responsibility, all year long, is to start at one end of Main Street and paint all the buildings and other structures until they get to the other end, and then start all over again. Each painted rail is completely stripped down to the metal and repainted five times a year. The servicescape supporting the feeling of a fantasy experience for visitors requires a clean, freshly painted park, and the customer who finds the painting chipped or soiled will define the quality of the experience in a less favorable way. A whole generation of themed restaurants has been developed based on the awareness that the environment must be designed to convey the right message to the guests.

Spatial layout also contributes to the quality of the customer’s experience. At Disney parks, the environment helps guests know where they are and feel comfortable in their surroundings. Logical, easy-to-follow pathways lead people from one attraction to another. The big circular path around the World Showcase in Epcot makes it easy for visitors to go from one attraction to another and the lake in the middle of everything provides a focal orientation for the customer at any point around the circle. Visitors always know where they are and can see how to get to other locations. Customers comfortable with knowing where they are and where they are going are far more able to relax and enjoy the experience than those who are lost and anxious.

Every organization can use these lessons in designing both the delivery system and the environment in which customer experiences take place. A hospital should feel like a place that is conducive to patient care as well as being a place that has the latest medical capabilities available. Similarly, an auto dealer showroom should feel like a safe, comfortable place, as well as an effective place in which to conduct a sale.

Paying careful attention to the environment can also enhance the work experience for the firm’s employees. When management provides a safe, well-lit, clean, and supportive environment, the employees who sell the product or service and build the relationships with customers are sent a strong message about how the organization feels about them. Astute managers know that whatever they can do to make their own employees happy will inevitably help them make their customers happy as well. Paying attention to the where tells both customers and employees a lot about the organization’s commitment to an excellent customer experience extending beyond selling a product or service.

To discuss how HSM can help your organization better understand what your customers want, call Jim Hendrix, Vice President of Research and Economics, at 800-776-8078, ext. 310

[1] Bitner, Mary Jo  “Servicescapes:  The Impact of Physical Surroundings on Customers and Employees” Journal of Marketing, 1992, 56(2):60.

*Dr. Brown holds an endowed chair, is a business professor, and serves as executive director of the Center for Services Leadership at Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business. He is also a co-founder and senior advisor of The HSM Group. These lessons are updates from the article “Delivering Excellent Service” co-authored by Dr. Brown, Robert C. Ford, and Cherrill P. Heaton in the California Management Review.

Big Lessons From Legendary Service Providers
Lesson 1  |  Lesson 2  |  Lesson 3  |  Lesson 4  |  Lesson 5

Other e-briefings