Role of customers in service delivery

Article by: Priya Chetty

Service delivery for customers can be seen in a factory. The place the service is
produced and is consumed interacting with the employees and other customers. E.g in
a classroom or in a training situation, students (customers) are sitting in the factory
interacting with the instructor and other students as they consume the educational
services.
Since these customers are present during the service production, customers can
contribute to or detract from the successful delivery of the service and to their own
satisfaction.
Importance of customers in service delivery
Customer participation at some level is inevitable in service delivery. Services are
actions or performances, typically produced and consumed simultaneously. In many
situations employees, customers and even others in the service environment interact to
produce the ultimate service outcome. As the customers receiving the service
participates in the service delivery process. He or she can contribute to the gap
through appropriate or inappropriate, effective or ineffective, productive or
unproductive behaviors.
Customers who are unprepared in terms of what they want to order can soak up the
customer service representatives time as they seek advice. Similarly, shoppers who
are not prepared with their credit cards can put the representative on hold. While
they search for their credit cards or go to another room or even out of their cars to get
them. Meanwhile, other customers and calls are left unattended, causing longer wait
times and potential dissatisfaction.

Participation in service delivery

The level of participation low, medium, high varies across different services. In
some cases, all that is required is the customers physical presence (low level of
participation), with the employees of the firm doing all of the service production
work, as in case of a Ghazal/ musical concert. The listeners must be present to receive
the entertainment service. In other cases, consumer inputs are required to aid the
service organization in creating the service delivery (moderate level of participation).
Inputs can include information, effort or physical possessions. All three of these are
required in case of accounting services who prepares a clients income tax return
effectively. Information in the form of tax history, marital status, and number of
dependents. Effort in putting the information together in a useful fashion. Physical
Possessions such as receipts and past tax returns. In case of long term consulting
engagements involvement of the customers high as they co create the service.
Customers roles
Customers as a productive process
Service customers are referred to as partial employees of the organization. They are
human resources who contribute to the organizations productive capacit y. In other
words, if customers contribute effort, time or other resources to the service production
process, they should be considered as part of the organization.
Customer inputs can affect the organizations productivity through both quality and
quantity of output. E.g. research suggest that in an IT consulting context:

Clients who clearly articulate the solution they desire.

Provide needed information in a timely manner.

Communicate openly.

Gain the commitment of key internal stakeholders.

And raise the issues during the process before it is too late will get better
service.

Customers as quality contributors to service delivery and satisfaction

Another role customers play in service delivery is that of the contributor to their own
satisfaction and the ultimate quality of the services they receive. Customers may care
little that they have increased the productivity of the organization through thei r
participation. But they likely care a great deal about whether their needs are fulfilled.
Effective customer participation can increase the likelihood of service delivery that
their needs are met and that benefits the customer seeks are attained. Service s such as
health care, education, personal fitness, and weight loss, where the service outcome is
highly dependent on the customers participation. In such services unless the customers
perform their roles effectively, the desired service outcomes cannot be achieved.
Research has shown that in education, active participation by students as opposed to
passive listening increases learning the desired service output significantly.
Customers as competitors
A final role played by service customers is that of a potential competitor. If selfservice customers can be viewed as resources of the firm, or as partial employees,
self-service customers in some cases. They can partially perform the service or the
entire service for themselves and may not need the prov ider at all.
Customers thus in that sense are competitors of the companies that supply the service.
Whether to produce a service for themselves (internal exchange). E.g. child care,
home maintenance i.e. have someone else provide home services for them (ex ternal
exchange) is a common dilemma for consumers.

Similar internal versus external exchange decisions are made by organizations. Firms
frequently choose to outsource service activities such as payroll, data processing,
research, accounting, maintenance, and facilities management. They find that it is
advantageous to focus on their core businesses and leave these essential support
services to others with greater expertise. Alternatively, a firm may decide to stop
purchasing services externally and brin g the service production process in-house.