What is Service Blueprint and why use it to improve CX?

Do you want to generate an extraordinary customer experience? Do you want to design a service that satisfies consumers?

If you need help figuring out where to start, I'll explain a tool intended to design and improve a service, analyzing the principal elements and interactions that affect the customer experience to identify the gap between the user's expectations and the reality your business offers.

Index

• What is a Service Blueprint?
• What does a Service Blueprint include?
• What is a Service Blueprint for?

What is Service Blueprint?

Simply put, Service Blueprint is a visual tool that maps the customer's experience with a service, describing the steps and touchpoints a customer goes through when interacting with the business and the processes and resources needed to deliver that service.

This tool, created by Lynn Shostack, takes the Customer Journey as a reference and broadens its scope. In other words, it uses the step-by-step customer process but also analyzes the actions performed by the business with the customer and those that occur internally, focusing on the variables (employees, systems, and processes) that support the main points of contact with the customer.

What does a service blueprint include?

The Service Blueprint typically consists of a series of horizontal rows representing the stakeholders involved in the service delivery process, such as the customer, front-line employees, second-level employees, and supporting systems or technology. Each row is further divided into a series of vertical columns representing the different stages of the Customer Journey.

>>Welcome aboard: Customer Journey<<

The components of a Service Blueprint are as follows:

• Steps of the Customer Journey

The customer's actions during the pre-purchase, purchase, and post-purchase of a product or service.

• Front-end actions

The visible actions that occur in the interaction between business and customer.

For example: exchanging information by call or mail, sending documents, or cashing up at a physical branch.

• Back-end actions

Actions performed internally by the business without the customer seeing them.

For example: picking in the warehouse or the accounting procedure when processing an order.

• Support systems

Technological systems that support those responsible for the process.

For example: CRM or ERP.

• Interaction and visibility lines

Dividing lines that indicate where the interaction begins and what actions the customer can or cannot see.

What is the Service Blueprint for?

A Service Blueprint can be used to identify opportunities to improve the customer experience and optimize service delivery processes. It can also facilitate collaboration and communication between the various parties involved in the service.

For improving the customer experience, the Service Blueprint helps to:

• Anticipate customer needs: it helps businesses anticipate their customers' needs at every stage of the process. This way, they can proactively address customer expectations and deliver a more personalized service experience.
• Streamline the process: helps businesses improve by identifying inefficiencies or bottlenecks. Companies can reduce wait times and increase customer satisfaction by optimizing service delivery processes.
• Facilitate communication: facilitates communication between the various parties involved in the process. The business can offer the customer a more consistent experience by improving communication and collaboration.
• Improve service quality: A clear and detailed process map helps businesses identify areas where service quality may be poor. By addressing these areas, overall service quality can be improved and the customer experience enhanced.

Overall, applying a Service Blueprint facilitates understanding of the customer journey, helping to anticipate customer needs, streamline processes and improve service quality, leading to a more positive and satisfying customer experience.

>>Six dimensions to understand customer experience<<

If you require support in designing a service process and improving the customer experience, Imagineer can help.