Essential Consultancy Services

Service Management: The creation, operation and development of services

Services are distinguished from products by

• Their perishable nature, they may only exist for the short period of an interaction with a customer
• Their immediacy - there may be no opportunity to delay, a day may be considered a speedy delivery of a product, but 15 seconds would be a long delay in delivery of a response during a telephone based service encounter.
• Their tangibility - their limited physical substance
• Their intimacy - services are produced and consumed at the same point (unlike a product)
• Variability - more difficult to standardise, each interaction may vary slightly in content, and similar interactions may vary on each occasion

These pages introduce

• Specification and design of a service, through to service level agreements
• Operational processes through which services are delivered
• Management structures and culture for services, especially where an element of outsourcing is involved
• The supply chain through which a service is delivered, and implications for delivery of the target service

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The content of these pages represents the personal views of the author and is provided for information only.  The content does not constitute advice.  The reader shall accept responsibility for all uses to which the information is put.