L6: Flowcharting Service Usage

--- [0:00] Recap & Learning Outcomes --- Good morning, everyone. Last class we explored role theory and script theory — the idea that service encounters are essentially scripted performances, and that script violations are often the root cause of customer dissatisfaction. We used a bank branch in Panaji as our concrete example. Today we are going to learn a really practical, hands-on tool — Flowcharting Service Usage. This is also known as Service Blueprinting, and it was developed by Lynn Shostack in the 1980s. By the end of today, you will be able to construct a service blueprint for any service operation, identify fail points, and use this map to redesign the service for better customer experience. Today's anchor idea: a service blueprint makes the invisible visible — it maps every interaction, every process, and every support activity so that managers can systematically improve the experience. --- [5:00] Core Concepts: Service Blueprinting --- So what is a service blueprint? At its heart, it's a detailed map — a flowchart — of an entire service process. It captures everything that happens when a service is delivered, from the customer's perspective and from the organisation's perspective simultaneously. A service blueprint is organised around what Shostack called lines of visibility. These lines separate what the customer can see from what happens behind the scenes. Let me walk you through the structure. At the top, we have the Customer Actions — everything the customer does as they move through the service. This is the customer journey in step-by-step form. Below customer actions, there's the Line of Interaction — the boundary where customer and frontline staff meet. Below that are the Onstage Contact Employee Actions — what frontline staff do that is visible to the customer. Then there's the Line of Visibility — separating what customers can see from what they cannot. Below the line of visibility are Backstage Contact Employee Actions — what frontline staff do behind the scenes that customers don't directly see. Then there's the Line of Internal Interaction — separating frontline staff activities from support functions. At the bottom are Support Processes — the systems, databases, kitchen, laundry, IT — the infrastructure that enables the service to function. Now, why is this so powerful? Because it allows managers to see the whole system at once, identify where failures are likely, and trace exactly which support process failure causes which customer-facing problem. --- [20:00] Deep Dive: Service Blueprint for a Panaji Restaurant --- Let me build a service blueprint live with you for a restaurant in Panaji. Let's say a mid-range sit-down restaurant — the kind that does Goan cuisine, and also some North Indian and Chinese options. Customer Actions: Customer arrives at restaurant. Is shown to a table. Receives the menu. Studies menu. Places order. Waits for food. Receives food. Eats. Asks for bill. Pays. Leaves. Onstage Contact Employee Actions: Host greets customer, shows to table. Waiter brings menus, introduces specials. Takes order, confirms, repeats back. Delivers food. Checks on table. Brings bill, processes payment. Thanks customer on exit. Backstage Contact Employee Actions: Waiter transmits order to kitchen. Checks with kitchen on timing. Coordinates dessert timing with main course. Processes bill correctly. Support Processes: Kitchen prepares food. POS system generates bill. Inventory management ensures all items are available. Reservation system manages table allocation. Now, let me put some fail points on this map. A fail point is any step where the service is most likely to break down. Fail Point 1: Order taking. If the waiter doesn't clearly repeat the order back, incorrect dishes are prepared. This flows from customer action through to backstage to support process — a communication breakdown that manifests as wrong food at the table. Fail Point 2: Kitchen timing. If the kitchen has no clear system for managing multiple tables simultaneously, some tables receive food quickly while others wait too long. The customer experience varies by what's happening in a room they can't see. Fail Point 3: Billing. If the POS system doesn't communicate correctly with the waiter's order pad, billing errors occur. This is a support process failure that manifests as a customer-facing problem at the very end of the journey — worst possible timing. --- [35:00] Case / Field Connection --- This is not abstract — you see it in businesses all across Goa. And I want to make a point that sometimes students miss. The most important thing a service blueprint reveals is not individual fail points — it's systemic failure patterns. When you map a blueprint for, say, a clinic in Margao, and you find that most complaints relate to waiting time, the blueprint helps you trace exactly why. Is it because the appointment booking system double-books slots? Is it because the doctor takes longer per patient than scheduled? Is it because the front desk doesn't warn waiting patients about delays? Each is a different root cause requiring a different fix. And here's the connection to a misconception I want to address directly. Sometimes students see flowcharting as just a process diagram — an engineering or operations management tool that doesn't really belong in a marketing course. That's wrong. Service blueprinting is fundamentally a customer experience management tool. It exists to improve the encounter from the customer's perspective. Marketing's job is to manage the customer experience end-to-end. The blueprint is one of the most powerful tools we have for doing that systematically. I'll give you another example from Goa's tourism context. The Mandovi river cruise — which many of you may have been on — is a complex multi-stage service. There's the ticket-buying process, the boarding process, the on-board experience, the entertainment, the food and beverage, the disembarkation. A blueprint of the river cruise would reveal exactly where the process creates friction versus delight, and what backstage changes would improve the customer journey. --- [45:00] Class Activity --- Time to build. In groups of four, I want you to create a service blueprint — even a simplified one — for one of the following: a petrol bunk in Goa (with a service station attached), a state-run bus journey from Panaji to Margao, or a Zomato home delivery. Focus on: customer actions, onstage contact, at least two backstage activities, at least one support process, and at least two fail points. Ten minutes. Go. Let's debrief. The Zomato group — excellent. You've identified fail points at the restaurant accepting the order without having the item in stock, at the delivery partner being assigned to multiple far-apart orders simultaneously, and at the customer's address being unclear. All very real Zomato failure modes! And your backstage analysis — the restaurant kitchen's actual capacity versus the order volume — is exactly the kind of insight a blueprint reveals. Bus journey group — interesting choice. Your fail points are boarding (crowd management), en route (timing, stops), and destination (unclear communication about arrival). What's fascinating about public transport is that the "support processes" include government infrastructure — roads, bus maintenance schedules — which the operator doesn't fully control. That adds a layer of complexity to service design. --- [55:00] MCQ Recap & Assignment Brief --- Today's anchor: a service blueprint makes the invisible visible. The service blueprint for a Panaji restaurant showed us how a backstage communication failure between waiter and kitchen becomes a front-of-house problem at the customer's table. Your assignment: choose a service business in Goa and draw a full service blueprint. Submit it as a diagram with annotations. Identify at least three fail points and for each, write one improvement recommendation. One blueprint diagram plus half-page write-up. Due in two classes. Next lecture we move to Physical Distribution Channels for Services — how do you get a service to a customer who can't or won't come to you? Fascinating in the context of digital transformation and Goa's evolving tourism market. See you then.