Service Process Design

The 3 Elements of the Service-Product Bundle:

-Tangible service, Millington Savings offers a wide range of accounts and also great customer service.

-Psychological benefits, this implicit service rest in the hands of the customers and their overall experience when they bank with Millington Savings. The customers' satisfaction is a main priority. Millington Savings creates an enjoyable atmosphere for their clients with the small home town friendly environment, which allows the customers to feel welcomed and safe.

-Physical goods, Millington Savings satisfies the customer needs by knowing they are getting good service at a reliable institution. Although customers do not walk away with a physical good, they leave the institution knowing that their money is in a secure and trusting organization.

Millington Savings Bank utilizes three elements of the service product bundle effectively in order to maintain their exceptional customer service. From the tellers to their personal bankers, Millington Savings provides explicit service to each and every customer through direct support, helpfulness and courtesy. Millington Savings accomplishes their exceptional service because they focus on maintaining the appearance of the institution by making sure it is organized and well kept. Bank tellers and representatives both also make sure every customer is attended to immediately to ensure great individual customer service.

Millington Savings Bank falls in the highly standardized service which is why they have a provider routed service. All Millington Savings Bank employees are properly trained to interact with customers in a professional manner, be courteous, knowledgeable and understanding. Customers have a limited number of process pathways that they could choose from and the service that is offered is standardized with a highly reputable business. Tellers at Millington Savings Bank are the first line of customer service once a customer enters the building. Tellers are equipped with highly technical and protected computer software so that every transaction is protected. Millington Savings also offers a host of ATMs so that customers are able to skip the line and directly deposit or withdraw money from their account without the direct communication with a teller, this is available 24-hours.

The Cell they operate in on the Service Matrix:

The cell that Millington Savings Bank operates in on the service matrix would be the provider-routed services. The services that the bank provides are characterized by only a few options that the customer has to choose from; all the customers that walk into the bank expect the same or similar service transaction to occur. Millington Savings Bank also provides an ATM, which would also be considered a provider-routed service. ATMs provide a limited amount of service that customers may choose from such as, making a deposit, withdrawal, transfer, and balance inquiry.

The customer wants and needs in the service package are standardized with highly repeatable process sequences to captivate what the customers are initially seeking. Customers also have low decision-making power in this service matrix. For instance in banks, rates and the database systems in which the bank operates on is already set and formatted to the institution. For example, a customer is unable to go into a banking institution and request a certain interest rate they would like to receive on a specified account.

The operations service system process is the limited number of process pathways. Depending on the account at a bank a customer may be limited to the amount of checks written out or even the amount of withdrawals made.

Some types of customer contact they encounter and how they respond to it.  Do they use self service?  Do they use technology?  Do they use focused operations? How do they support employees?

Millington Savings Bank is considered to be under the low customer contact matrix, which separates the customer from the service production system allowing a greater standardization of processes and providing better production efficiency. Under this matrix there is a strong focus on office innovation which includes paper handling, most of the work is considered to be clerical skills for both the tellers and the customer service representatives. Also there is low sales opportunity on the tellers end. The only form of high contact services would be that there is direct face-to-face customer contact; however the provider has complete control of the process being conducted.

Millington Savings gives the customers an opportunity of self-service by having 24-hour banking through the ATM. Our company uses technology as a customized database to register new customers and processing transactions of existing customers by also using other programs to verify identity. For focused operations, the bank has developed accuracy in handling high volume of paper work, flow control, and making sure that we provide excellent customer service. These operations support our employees becoming friendlier and delivering service value to the customer.

Service Recovery and Guarantees:

At Millington Savings Bank it is our duty to make sure each customer gets great service. The tellers and/or the customer service representatives start by greeting each customer and giving our undivided attention to each and every need, whether it is completing transactions or answering a few questions. If all tellers are busy at the moment and no one is available to take care of another customer, the tellers always make sure to acknowledge that customer and verify that someone will be with them shortly. If it just so happens that a customer is waiting a little longer than usual the teller will apologize for the wait and thank that customer for their patience.

As a bank there is no way of compensating a customer for bad service. If a customer is dissatisfied with the service received by the teller, the teller can only apologize and assure them that it will not happen again or send that customer to see someone with higher authority, such as a supervisor or a manager, if they continue to be dissatisfied. Depending on the situation, the supervisor or manager will take this matter into his or her own hands.

If a teller makes an error on a customer’s transaction, the teller must apologize and fix the transaction before the customer leaves the institution. The depth and the sincerity of the apology given is greatly important in the service recovery at Millington Savings Bank, all customers must receive great service and leave the institution completely satisfied.

Millington Savings Bank deals more with service recovery than guarantee, as a bank there is no true way to compensate for a service that is not guaranteed. However, there are rare exceptions that may occur. For instance, a customer wanted to go into her safety deposit box, the bank employee followed the procedures to allow the customer into her box. The employee has to use both the bank key and the customer key to open the lock, when the employee tried opening the lock; the customer’s key broke inside of the lock. The customer immediately got aggravated and became irate with the employee; there was nothing the employee can do besides call a locksmith that wouldn’t arrive for another forty minutes. When this occurred Millington Savings Bank deeply apologized for the inconvenience and offered her one-year free rent guaranteed of her safety deposit box.

Other than rare occurrences like the example, Millington Savings Bank does not offer service guarantees.