Service-Ability
Service-Ability: Create a Customer Centric Culture and Achieve Competitive Advantage is a book written by the customer service advocate Kevin Robson to highlight the need for organizations of all types and in all sectors to respond to the effects that increasing use of technology is having on the customer. Rationale. The rapid emergence of new technology is undoubtedly bringing incalculable benefit to organisations of all types but Robson's argument is that the widespread application of computerisation has caused people and processes to become conformed to systems thinking and this is depersonalising both the employee and the  customer to such a degree that it is preventing truly customer-satisfying interactions. Organisations of all types are now experiencing high customer churn, antagonism and loss of business sustainability because they are dangerously ignoring the time-honoured business axiom that, 'People do business with people.' Increasingly, organisations, whether private, public or third sector are facing the reality that their customer service is being mediated through social media. (Many are now monitoring Twitter and Facebook for negative chatter and pouncing on it to mitigate damage.) As this trend continues Robson argues that a major opportunity for sustainable competitive advantage is opening  up. Organisations that challenge this emerging paradigm, put the technology behind them in support rather than as a mediator of the interaction, and refocus on treating customers in a way that satisfies the customer, not the technology, will have better customer retention, lower costs of customer replacement and will build their brand value through better reputations. This will only be achieved by re-focusing on the people who are the organization, raising the morale and releasing their human potential for relationship with customers. The book is about the skill of the organisation as a whole to deliver strategic customer-satisfying  service capability. Definition. Service-Ability can be defined as:The ability of the whole organization, through its individual members, to deliver consistently what the organization seeks to do: in a culture of initiative, professionalism, engagement and involvement that resonates with the customer and creates delight and satisfaction in both parties. Service-Ability is not just about the skill of individual employees in dealing with customers, nor is it about perfecting the service itself. It is about the ability of the organization as a whole to deliver customer-satisfying service that creates a depth of ethical relationship, extending from the very  centre of the organization, to the loyal, satisfied customer through the loyal, satisfied employee. In other words, the organization becomes in its very essence 'service-able'. Underpinning philosophy. Service-Ability is a structured idea that focuses on the people and is underpinned by an understanding of morale (esprit de corps or team spirit). High morale is universally recognized as being necessary for successful human endeavour, especially in the military context: it sustains purpose and, in both the military and in non-military organizations, it is a matter of strategic intervention by senior management. Morale is a corporate culture that comprises  four key elements: Outcomes. These elements respectively result in "initiative", "involvement", "professionalism" and "engagement" in the individual employee; attributes that are necessary for consistent customer service delivery. These four elements are inferred back into the organisation and classified into four core corporate/policy values:" Summary. Service-Ability, therefore, emerges from an organization-wide team spirit based on a culture of trust between colleagues and between the people and their leaders, a belief in what the organization stands for and what it seeks for itself, and pride in the job: all embedded within a supporting and facilitating set of initiators, facilitators  and core values under each of the four dimensions. These are nested in layers or orbits, operating at each of the levels of the organization, in which all the elements spiral, are interrelated, interconnected and ultimately become focused on the people who deliver the service-product. The whole idea is illustrated by a quadrant model that is useful for analyzing, thinking, intervening, training and organizing for Service-Ability.