The Service Profit Chain: How Leading Companies Link Profit and Growth to Loyalty, Satisfaction and Value
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The Service Profit Chain: How Leading Companies Link Profit and Growth to Loyalty, Satisfaction and Value
James L. Heskett, W. Earl Sasser and Leonard A. SchlesingerThe Free Press£20
Keywords Customer satisfaction, Customer service, Profit, Service industries
The UK economy has been moving over the last decade from being manufacturing-based to being service based. In service based industries, the contact with the customer is even more important there is no stock buffer, the entire business transaction often takes place on a face-to-face basis at a single point in time. The customer must receive, and perceive, value at that moment. This requires an interaction with service staff capable of presenting and producing value at this customer contact point.
This is not just a function of "customer care". The authors, here, argue that the service operator must be backed up by internal processes that help create the value at the service point. All employees in the service chain have a responsibility to add value and create customer satisfaction. They go on to suggest that it is more important to recruit and promote staff with the correct attitude technical skills can be added much more easily.
The role of managers is to facilitate customer value by supporting their staff, and facilitating effective processes throughout the service chain. Profit follows!
