4362ch3 Sp10
- 1. Chap 3 – Plugging into the Information AgeObjectivesTo explore the services economy and the information ageTo show how services marketers can use information technology as an employee tool for improving customer service and increasing productivityTo demonstrate how services marketers can enlist information technology to empower their customersTo explain how information technology can help bridge the physical distance between organization and customer and enable the interactive experience
- 2. Objectives (cont’d)To illustrate the various ways in which services marketers can employ information technology to learn more about their customers and respond to them more effectivelyTo caution service organizations regarding the negative impact of technologyTo convey the many challenges of using technology to manage customer interfaces in service industries
- 3. Services and the Information Age
- 4. Services and theInformation Age (cont’d)LagsMany services are very people-intensiveMany services are hard to standardizeMany services are difficult to infuse with technologyLullsDigesting new technology takes time (time sink)Many changes are more qualitative than quantitativeLeapsOrganizational transformations are possibleNurturing of intellectual resources
- 5. Services and theInformation Age (cont’d)Technology in the Core ServiceTechnology as a Supplementary Service Support Tool
- 6. Services and theInformation Age (cont’d)
- 7. Empowering EmployeesThrough TechnologyTechnology DevicesNetworking
- 8. Empowering the CustomerSelf-service machines, such as vending or automated teller machines (ATMs)Computerized service delivery systemsIntelligent agentsService robots
- 9. Enabling the Interactive Experience
- 11. Capturing Customer InformationAdvances in information technology have allowed organizations to collect large quantities of information about customers and to create and deliver customer services hitherto unimaginable.It has also become possible to move from mass marketing to targeting individuals.
- 12. Capturing CustomerInformation (cont’d)Customer databases require several steps:Group customers into categories: current customers, prospective customers, and lapsed customersData on the recency and frequency of each customer's purchasesData on each customer's purchases over a period of about twelve monthsData on relevant customer information that will improve the company's ability to serve customer needs (preferred sizes, birthdays, credit card numbers, etc.)
- 13. Capturing CustomerInformation (cont’d)UsesTracking customers' purchase patternsMake purchase patterns easily accessible to the frontline service providerCautionsServices marketers need to be very cautious about privacy issues as they create and use customer databases
- 14. Coping with Negative Impactsof Services TechnologyTechnology will continue to play a critical role in service organizations’ competitive position.Service organizations often find that they have implemented new technology systems only to discover they have made no provisions for the absence of the technology during a power failure.Services employment levels may fall in absolute terms as technology replaces workers or reduces the need for workers.
- 15. Challenges of Using Technologyto Manage Customer InterfacesTechnological weak links in customer interfacesSteps for improving the technology of customer interfaces
- 16. Weak Links in Customer InterfacesAutomated IdiocyThe rush to automate service functions often leads to systems that automatically do stupid things.Time Sink New services technology can be a “time sink” that steals time from the technology user. Law of the Hammer Based on the idea that a small child with a hammer sees everything as a nail. Technology can be used too much!An obsession with too many “bells and whistles”
- 17. Weak Links inCustomer Interfaces (cont’d)Technology LockTechnological designs persist long after their functional value is gone. Last InchMany customer interface problems occur at the point of contact between the customer and the technology.Hi-Tech Versus Hi-TouchCustomers face a confusing set of automated instructions when they really need to speak to a human being and not to a machine. Phone mail can become “phone jail.”
- 18. Steps for Improving theTechnology of Customer InterfacesProvide marketer input into the technology of customer interface designThe marketer can help prevent design problems Stay customer-focused, not machine-focused Essential to successful customer interface designMake services technology invisible to the customerPlace technology in the background Insist on design for flexibility Insist on designs that offer employees and customers maximum flexibility