Customer-Designed Service Standards for Lowes Home Improvement Stores

Customer-Designed Service Standards for Lowes Home Improvement Stores

Professional Services Marketing, Group Project

Sean McConnell, Eric Johnson, Joao Medina, James Marcelletti

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Abstract

This paper explores how Lowes can implement process and company improvements with the use of service blueprint tools. Four distinct processes will be analyzed on a detailed level to determine where actions and theories can be used to help maintain Lowes’ great service and product output. The explanations will be presented using the logic of the service standards-setting process while integrating the customer’s point of view. Recommendations for service improvement are also provided in each of the four sections. Finally, a conclusion is presented that pulls together some of the recommendations and summarizes the analysis in the paper.

Customer-Designed Service Standards for Lowes Home Improvement Stores

Lowes In-Store Retail

Lowes In-store retail offers multiple services for customers to meet their many demands and expectations. Service blueprints show the layout of the process and the many different moving parts that take place at each step. With help of the blueprint tool, Lowes can implement increased customer relationships by developing customer-defined service standards. The ultimate goal is to give the customers a pleasant experience with execution of meeting their requirements. The development of the customer-defined service standard is explained in eight steps below.

Identify Existing Service Encounter Sequence 

The first step is to identify existing service encounters (Zeithaml, Gremler, Bitner, and Pandit 2013). The service blueprint shows the process that the customer experiences as they enter and walk through the store. This tool allows the process to be analyzed in sequential order. The customer activities can be seen across the top of the tool. Each activity has a set of interactions that the customer experiences throughout the store. Lowes can use this blueprint ideology to figure out what impacts the customer experience. One example of a major impact to customer expectation, according to the blueprint, is the employees within the store. This is an important interaction to execute efficiently because the customer seeks assurance that Lowes has developed the most well prepared employees for daily functions. Another example of a major impact to customer experience, according to the blueprint, is the customer service department. Once again the customer looks for well-prepared employees to handle and recover issues. It is important for Lowes to provide the needed resources to help mitigate the risk of potential loss of customer and future business.

Translate Customer Expectations into Behaviors 

The second step in creation of customer-defined service standards is to translate necessary data into useful information for the employees to be better equipped to handle customer needs on the floor. The service blueprint allows Lowes to see which steps need qualitative measurements. One example is emphasis on the reliability and responsiveness of the service (Zeithaml et al. 2013). According to the blueprint, this can strongly be integrated at the shopping aisles within the store by placing employees in the proper locations to show their knowledge. Lowe’s can execute efficiency at this step by making sure the employees are subject matter experts of their area. Another example of a more concrete requirement for Lowes is to emphasize that every customer who enters into an area of the store, an employee should acknowledge them. The employee should also ask if any help is needed within the first couple of minutes. This will ensure that every customer has the opportunity to explain their service needs.

Determine Appropriate Standards.  

The third step in creation of customer-defined service standards is to delineate suitable standards. There are two types of standards; hard and soft. According to Zeithaml et al., “hard standards consist of quantifiable measures of employee behaviors and actions; soft standards are often concerned with more abstract requirements or issues, are not as easily quantifiable” (2013, p. 285). A hard standard that could be captured, according to the service blueprint, is during the checkout phase. The cashier could be measured by how fast customers can be checked out.  This measurement is useful information to have for Lowes to understand if enough resources are available for proper efficiency during peak hours with high volume of customers. Another hard standard that could be implemented into the in-store retail process is, according to Zeithaml et al., “do it right the first time” (2013). This standard of reliability can be captured at almost every step within the service blueprint. In addition, another step where hard standards could really be of great use is at the product to purchase phase. Employees could ask for customer feedback at this stage to see how well the service helped them choose the product they needed.  This information could be used for process improvements within the business structure.