Sometimes, and just sometimes, one encounters a service design as if taken out of a book. Everything looks so flawless and easy to breeze through, sit back and get things done in a jiffy.
I don’t know about you, but I seldom stumble upon an empathic, guiding and responsive service. In fact, I kind of believe that the larger amount of businesses focus on a particular step of the service process and not really considering its entirety.
Yesterday, I tried to figure out where and when I can donate blood in Munich. Google was quite helpful, but the Bavarian Red Cross website was quite unhelpful. It took me a good 10 minutes to figure out the colour pattern marking the calendar availability. And once I did, it turned out if I book time now, I’d be able to donate earliest on January 9, 2019.
Opposite to the above example, I visited for a second time what I believe would be my new dentist. The doctor took such care to make a usually very uncomfortable procedure a walk in the park. Well, a forty-something walk, that is.
Before any move she was about to make, she said what she was about to do and what her actions might trigger. She had to step out and attend to a couple of urgent matters, and every time she did, she profusely excused herself.
In short, the service she has provided was designed to walk me thoroughly through the process, manage my expectations and deliver and the end what she has promised. This is how one gets happy customers.
And as easy as it might sound, more often than usual businesses get this wrong or simply don’t grant it any attention. And for me, as a consumer, this is always a deal-breaker. Such a shame, given this, is something businesses can influence to the greatest extent.
PS. I am visiting the DMV tomorrow – a notoriously difficult service design to navigate. Keep your fingers crossed or say a little prayer for me.
Photo credit: Pablo by Buffer
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