Service Blue-printing

Developing a new service based on the subjective ideas contained in the serviceconcept can lead to costly trialand-error efforts to translate the concept into reality.When developing a building, the design is captured on architectural drawingscalled blueprints, because the reproduction is printed on special paper, creating bluelines. These blueprints show what the product should look like and all thespecifications needed for its manufacture. G. Lynn Shostack has proposed that aservice delivery system also can be captured in a visual diagram (i.e., a serviceblueprint) and used in a similar manner for the design of services.

As we explore the blueprint for a bank installment lending operation shown inFigure 5.1, many uses for this diagram will become apparent. First, the blueprint is amap or flowchart (called a process chart in manufacturing) of all transactionsconstituting the service delivery process. Some activities are processing information,others are interactions with customers, and still others are decision points. Thedecision points are shown as diamonds to highlight these important steps, such asproviding protocols to avoid mistakes, for special consideration. Studying theblueprint could suggest opportunities for improvement and also the need for furtherdefinition of certain processes (e.g., the step "Print payment book" contains manyactivities, such as printing booklet, preparing check, and addressing and mailingenvelope).The line of visibility separates activities of the front office, where customersobtain tangible evidence of the service, from those of the back office, which is out of the customers' view. The high- and low-contact parts of the service delivery processare kept physically separate, but they remain linked by communications. Thisseparation highlights the need to give special attention to operations above the lineof visibility, where customer perceptions of the service's effectiveness are formed. Afull treatment of this service encounter is the subject of Chapter 9. The physicalsetting, decor, employees' interpersonal skills, and even printed material all make astatement about the service, and the subject of facility design and layout isdiscussed in Chapter 6. Designing an efficient process is the goal of the back office,but the back-office operations have an indirect ef fect on the customer because of delays and errors