Satisfaction mirror: the secret of two-way interaction to create quality service

? Whose interests are more important on the balance of enterprises? Is it the interests of employees or customers? There are many different views in the industry. Theodore levitt first put forward the viewpoint of "customer orientation" in Marketing Myopia published by Harvard Business Review, which led to the emergence of the trend of "customer first", among which the principle of "customer first" of Wal-Mart is quite representative: first, "the customer is always right"; Article 2 "If the customer is wrong, please refer to Article 1". The contribution of "customer orientation" to improving customer satisfaction is important, but if enterprises can't reasonably grasp the "degree", they may fall into the trap of "customer first" and fall into a dilemma. Correspondingly, Hal Rosenbruce put forward the viewpoint of "employees first, customers second" in "Customer Second", arguing that "a company must put employees first if it really wants to satisfy customers." Without excellent and loyal employees, there will be no quality and caring products and services, let alone satisfied customers. With the increasingly fierce market competition, more and more enterprises begin to re-measure the value of employees and customers. As internal resources, employees' initiative and innovative ability provide enterprises with unlimited possibilities to create value; As an external resource for enterprise development, customers bring direct profit income. Therefore, in the battlefield of building quality service and improving customer satisfaction and loyalty, the importance of employees and customers is inseparable, which also promotes the birth of the tool "satisfaction mirror".

First, the key elements to form a "satisfactory mirror image"

? As a key link in the service profit chain, satisfaction mirror was first developed by Benjamin, an American management scientist.

? Schneider and David Bowen proposed. Through research, they pointed out that employees' job satisfaction is closely related to customers' satisfaction, and the two are mirror images of each other, interacting and influencing each other: satisfied employees can maintain a high degree of enthusiasm for their work and provide happy services to customers; The improvement of customer satisfaction and loyalty will bring high-quality financial returns to enterprises; The benign development of enterprises will benefit employees, further improve their work enthusiasm, and then provide better services, forming a virtuous circle again and again. So "satisfaction mirror" is also called "satisfaction image".

? Similar to the ternary combination theory of service contact, the satisfaction mirror reveals the essential difference between service products and physical products: service and consumption occur at the same time, cannot be stored, and is heterogeneous. The above characteristics mean that the service is invisible before it happens, so it is impossible to check the quality in advance. Only when service providers (employees) and service recipients (customers) participate in the interaction at the same time, can services be produced. At the same time, as a * * * experience, who is the service provider, when and where to provide services, and who is the object of receiving services, these variables will have an important impact on service evaluation: employees' service attitude, professional skills, comprehensive quality and so on. Will directly affect the customer's evaluation of the service; On the other hand, as an important participant in the service process, the customer's own behavior will also affect this service experience and even the subsequent service evaluation. The service contact and delivery of both parties constitute a critical moment to evaluate the service quality, and they are inseparable. Therefore, how to effectively realize the interaction between the two ends of satisfaction mirror is the premise for enterprises to implement scientific decision-making.

Second, building a mirror of employee-customer satisfaction: starting from internal marketing

? The value of service is integrated into every detail through the attitude, skills and performance of employees. Lenold Lberry once pointed out in the investigation of labor-intensive service industries such as aviation, catering and hospitals that the service of employees determines the preference of customers for brands. A survey conducted in Meiti, a cleaning service industry, also shows that every increase in employee satisfaction 1% is equivalent to an increase in employee loyalty by 0.5%, which is similar to an increase in customer satisfaction by 0.22%. The industry has gradually reached the understanding of attaching importance to "internal marketing", and obtaining satisfied employees is the first step to obtain satisfied customers. Only when employees are regarded as "internal" customers of enterprises, and through successful employment, training and encouragement, can internal marketing drive external marketing and provide satisfactory services to customers. Therefore, this paper puts forward the following suggestions on how to shape the positive image of employees-customers in the satisfaction mirror.

(A) wise employment decision: choose a "natural service provider"

The particularity of service means that the quality of service depends largely on the interaction effect between employees and customers in the service process, so choosing the right employees is the beginning of success. A survey shows that excellent employees engaged in high-contact service posts generally have interpersonal skills such as extroversion, optimism, friendliness, caring for others, improvisation and sizing up the situation.

? Enterprises have also formulated different employment strategies according to their own service characteristics: Ritz-Carlton only recruits those who care about others, while Four Seasons Hotel only chooses employees who are born with "passion for service". They expect employees to grow rapidly under the cultivation of enterprises, effectively master the art of interacting with customers, and realize the transmission of service value by meeting customers' needs. Amy's ice cream prefers outgoing and creative candidates. They like employees who fully display themselves and are full of personality. Only when employees get happiness from their work can they ensure that service and ice cream can bring smiles to customers. Hire smart people or manage tough people. Although different companies have slightly different recruitment preferences, these preferences all point to the same employee group-"natural service providers".

(B) People-oriented organizational culture: "employees first, customers second, shareholders third."

? Southwest Airlines has a slogan, "Employees first, customers second and shareholders third". The reason given by the founder Herb Kelleher is, "If the company can serve its employees well, and employees are happy, satisfied, energetic and willing to contribute, they will take good care of their customers, and customers will come again when they feel happy, which is exactly what shareholders are happy to see." In line with the values of "employees first", it is necessary for enterprises to emphasize the following two points in organizational culture and management practice:

? Attach importance to employees' judgment on specific issues and give employees full freedom and decision-making power. Many customers are dissatisfied, and the fundamental reason is that front-line employees lack sufficient authority to respond to customers' expectations quickly in the first time. Front-line employees are the people who are closest to and understand the needs of customers. They can make customers feel happier than you think. For example, Amy ice cream mentioned above, employees can participate in store design and art exhibition, and can also play their own music freely in the store according to the type of customers. Southwest Airlines also allows flight attendants to humorously introduce safety flight guides to passengers in their own way. It is this happy atmosphere created by employees that brings a relaxed and happy experience to thousands of customers.

? Emphasize the recognition of employees' personal value, and reward and affirm employees' excellent performance. Authorization must be organically combined with rewards, and employees' sense of accomplishment and pride comes from the recognition of employees by enterprises. Southwest Airlines will engrave the names of employees on the specially designed Boeing 737 in recognition of their outstanding contributions. Since 2008, P&G China has implemented the "Long-term Employee Savings Plan" internally, and every employee can buy and hold overseas shares of P&G.. The above practice not only emphasizes the importance of the enterprise to the employee group conceptually, but also makes every employee sincerely affirm that the enterprise is proud of having them through various incentives.

Third, build a customer-employee satisfaction mirror: educate and guide your customers.

? In order to avoid image distortion, after having high-quality employees, it is necessary to establish appropriate target customer groups and guide them. As a "part-time employee" of service enterprises and a "creator" of service value, the quality of customer participation is also related to the final evaluation of service.

(a) Effectively manage customer interaction: educate your customers.

? Zeithaml, V.A. and others put forward that service enterprises not only need to pay attention to the management and training of internal employees, but also need to properly educate and guide customers, clarify the roles and abilities that customers should undertake, make them actively participate in the "cooperative production" of services, and promote a better interactive experience. With the progress of social economy and the development of science and technology, the innovation, professionalism and complexity of products and services are increasing. While gaining service value, customers are also faced with higher cognitive costs and learning costs, and need to invest more time and energy. By exporting service ideas, service norms, service common sense and service products through different media and ways, we can not only ensure smooth communication between customers and employees under the condition of consistent cognition and symmetrical information, but also indirectly guide and influence customers' participation behavior, so that customers can be in benign interpersonal interaction (including the interaction between customers and service personnel, and the interaction between customers and other customers) and jointly complete service delivery. Introduce airline flight safety and publicize aviation knowledge to passengers; Financial services lectures and graphic demonstrations held by the financial industry (banks, brokerage companies, etc.). Online and offline channels are all part of customer education, which helps to promote the application and popularization of service products and knowledge and guide customers to jointly build a harmonious service atmosphere.

(2) Do you have the courage to tell your customers? No: "We serve gentlemen and ladies."

? Horst Schulze, the first president of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Group, once established the service concept of "gentlemen and ladies" for the hotel: "We are gentlemen and ladies, and we serve them". This motto not only puts forward requirements for the service level of hotel staff, but also conveys the attitude of the hotel: we attach importance to the needs of customers, but we will also work to protect employees from rudeness of customers.

? The most respected concept in the service industry is "customer-centered", but this does not mean unconditionally obeying any unreasonable demand. Employees and enterprises, customers and products and services are actually a two-way choice. Customers can choose products/services, and products/services can also choose customers. In Evergreen: How to Attract Customers for a Long Time, Noah Fleming takes Sprint and Amazon as examples to introduce how companies use data to fire "hungry sharks" customers. Every enterprise will have similar customers, who may put forward too many or even unreasonable service requirements, abuse product consumption and use restrictions, and share too many negative complaints and feedback experiences. Faced with these customers, Noah Fleming believes that enterprises should not feed them all the time. In order to better serve the vast majority of customers with high quality and courtesy, enterprises should clearly distinguish which customers will bring negative effects to employees and even enterprises, and have the courage to "fire" them.

? In this rapidly changing era, besides a more open market environment, there is endless competition and contention. How to reasonably apply the satisfaction mirror to improve the service quality is a long-term task for enterprises.