31. March 2009 by Aidan.

There are many cases of customer service where the delivery of the service is blended with a product. For example, the bedroom you sleep in at a hotel is a product that is part of the overall service offering that the hotel provides. So, your experience and interaction with the hotel is a blend of the service and products that the hotel offers.

This product-service blend (PSB) needs to be strategically considered when you are reviewing your overall service offerings. You need to take time to review your strategy for both the product and service elements of the blend and the interaction of both of these. By taking this approach you will be able to accurately determine the correct actions to take to maximise your revenue and to deliver customer service excellence.

Posted in Servitize, PSB, Selling "Services", Customer Service, strategy, General | No Comments »

26. March 2009 by Aidan.

Company Case Studies and Research Insights into World Class Service Business and Best Practices

The most recent views in service business will be presented by leading international companies and research scientists at the 6th Industrial Service Business Day by BestServ Forum. This year the presentations will emphasize in the following themes in particular:

• Service Design and Design for Services
• Service Organisation and Management
• Service Business during Recession

The event takes place on April 21st in Finland.

Here is the programme for the day.ISBD Programme

More information can be found here.

Posted in Servitize, Selling "Services", Customer Service, international, General | No Comments »

20. March 2009 by Aidan.

One of my favourite examples of applying “servitization” to product development is the case of Mash Direct.

Mash Direct looked at what people did with potatoes when they got them home from the supermarket. A key step in identifying what value added services you can add to your products is to examine what your customers do immediately before and after using your product. In the case of potatoes, some customers were taking the time and effort to boil the potatoes and then mash them before they ate them.

Mash Direct decided to remove the time and effort for the customer and provide a range of quick-serve pre-mashed potatoes (and vegetables) that contain no artificial additives, preservatives or colourings and can be prepared in under 5 minutes.

Since forming in 2003, this family run business now has a turnover of more than £3.1M and supplies major supermarkets and other outlets in Ireland, Scotland and England. The business is profitable and has funded its own growth with limited borrowings. It now employs 44 people and spends more than £1.5M with local suppliers.

The company recently won an Ulster Bank Business Achievement Award in the Family Run Business Category and is a great example of using the service design process to develop new servitized products. Their food tastes great too.  

Posted in Servitize, Selling "Services", innovation, General | No Comments »

13. March 2009 by Aidan.

Here are details of two upcoming conferences related to Service Design and Service Sciences.  

International Symposium on Services Science 23.-25.3.2009

The First International Symposium on Services Science will take place in Leipzig (Leipzig University) between March 23rd and 25th, 2009 as a part of the Multi-Conference SABRE - Software, Agents and Services for Business, Research and E-Sciences. The goals of the symposium are to present the current state of the art in research and industry regarding the Services Science, to establish a platform for the exchange of interested experts from various disciplines. The symposium welcomes both scientific contribution and best practices from practitioners.

Further information: http://isss.uni-leipzig.de/
 
QUIS 11 The Service Conference, 11.-14.6.2009, Germany

The QUIS symposium brings together the interdisciplinary academic research and management practice in a forum to advance the study of service management, service leadership, customer management, technology in services and delivery of service quality. The objectives of this event is to promote the continuing improvement of service quality in all economic sectors around the world, to gather thought leaders from the international business and academic communities for an open exchange of insights and experiences and to share and advance the state of the art in theory and practice through presentation and discussion of scholarly research and successful business strategies.
Researchers and practitioners from all disciplines are invited to submit an abstract describing their scholarly work for consideration for presentation at QUIS 11. Please note that abstracts of max. 300 words may be submitted online by November 10, 2008.

Further information about the conference http://quis11.kampagne24.de/54.html

Posted in Servitize, Selling "Services", Customer Service, strategy, General | No Comments »

10. March 2009 by Aidan.

Met Ed Hendrick at BizCamp and Ed has started a company called Sonru .

Ed’s company provides online tools for remote interviewing of job candidates, particularly for preliminary or screening interviews.

The company is based in Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford, and is going to be very successful, particularly with so many people applying for every job now.

In case you’re wondering, “Sonru” comes from the Gaelic phrase “Bí le sonrú” - which means to “stand out”. 

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9. March 2009 by Aidan.

Great day at the BizCamp conference on Saturday and well done to Keith and the other organisers. 

Here is a link to the presentation that I gave on the day,

“Servitize your Business” 

 Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Aidan

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