Service Blueprint Benefits

A service blueprint is a customer experience optimization tool
used in business development SaaS and High-Tech.

What is a service blueprint?

Business development is an area where it is important to provide the best possible customer experience. A service blueprint is a tool that helps optimize service quality by analyzing the entire customer service process and identifying areas for improvement. This makes it possible to maximize customer satisfaction by optimizing internal processes, not only those visible to the customer, but also those invisible ones that affect their experience. In this way, a service blueprint can be an effective tool in business development activities.

What is a service blueprint map?

A service blueprint map is a graphical representation of service processes in the form of a flowchart, which is created based on contact points along the customer path and customer pain points. An important element of the service blueprint map is to separate the zone of operations that customers cannot see from those that are visible (customer service).

Is service blueprint a complicated method?

The service blueprint method is not a complicated method of quality management, but it does require diligence in process mapping. The starting point of the analysis is external analysis – a study of customer activities, based on which customer needs and points of contact with the brand are identified. The next step is analysis within the organization. To achieve a sufficient level of detail in the service blueprint map, it is necessary to involve people responsible for all operations.

What are the points of contact?

The service blueprint map is a tool that allows us to better understand how our customer service activities work and where difficulties may arise for our customers. It allows us to identify the touch points along the customer path, i.e. where customers most often interact with our company, and the pain points, i.e. areas where customers may experience difficulties or frustrations. The service blueprint map also allows us to isolate operations that are visible to the customer and those that happen behind the scenes, but have a direct impact on the quality of service. By optimizing these activities, we can provide a better experience for our customers, which is a key component of business development activities.

Service blueprint: a tool for optimizing service quality

Service blueprint map analysis is an extremely important element in optimizing service quality and providing a better experience for customers. With this method, we can identify the strengths and weaknesses of our customer service operations and adjust them to meet customer needs and expectations. In the SaaS and High-Tech sectors, this method is particularly popular because it allows you to find a competitive advantage and stand out in the market by offering better service quality. The result of service blueprint map analysis is usually the optimization of services provided, which translates into increased customer satisfaction and generates more revenue for the company. By using this method, companies are seen as innovative, even if their products have similar functionality to those offered by competitors.

Map analysis:
key to better customer experience

Service blueprint is a method that allows us to get a complete picture of customer service processes and their impact on the customer experience. As part of the analysis, it’s important to consider all stages of customer service, from production and quality control, to sales and customer service, to aftersales actions such as repair and technical support. Taking a holistic view of the customer experience allows us to see how individual operations affect customer satisfaction and where difficulties may arise. During the analysis, we also separate internal operations (back office) from customer service (front office) to better understand what actions underlie the quality of service. The expected result of the service blueprint map analysis is the identification of process chains that affect service quality, as well as the weakest links, i.e. critical points that may be bottlenecks in the company’s operations. This allows us to effectively optimize our operations and provide a better experience for our customers.

How to effectively use the service blueprint?

The service blueprint method is a simple way to optimize service quality, which involves a thorough mapping of customer service operations. The process begins with an external analysis, that is, a study of the customer’s activities and identification of their needs and points of contact with the brand. Then we move on to internal analysis, where we map internal processes and see what impact they have on customer service quality. In order to achieve the right level of detail in the service blueprint map, it is important to involve all the people responsible for each process in the process. This allows us to effectively optimize our operations and provide a better experience for our customers, which is a key element of business development activities.

How to introduce innovative solutions in customer service and sales?

Innovation is not only about a new product or service, but also about how it is delivered to the customer. As part of a go-to-market strategy, additional services offered alongside the main product or service can provide great value to the customer and increase customer satisfaction. An optimized sales or service delivery process can also be seen as innovative by customers. Therefore, it is important not only to focus on developing new products or services but also on improving customer service and sales processes.

To effectively innovate your customer service and sales, you can use the following steps:

Identify the purpose for which you want to innovate your customer service and sales operations. This may include increasing customer satisfaction, improving process efficiency, or increasing revenue.
Identify areas where you can innovate. This could include, for example, the way you communicate with customers, sales actions, or after-sales services.
Conduct surveys and gather feedback from customers to identify their needs and expectations. You can use various tools, such as surveys, interviews, or focus groups.
Analyze your current customer service and sales operations and look for areas where you can improve them. You can use methods such as service blueprint to accurately map your processes and identify where weaknesses may exist.
Introduce innovative solutions and test them on a small group of customers. Monitor the results and check whether the changes made are bringing the expected benefits.

If the innovative solutions prove successful, consider introducing them more widely. Remember to continuously monitor the results and make further process improvements, if necessary.

How to design new services using the service blueprint method?

Designing a new service using the service blueprint method allows you to identify all the necessary actions and resources that will be needed to implement it. This allows you to better plan and prepares for its launch, which will contribute to its success.

Reverse engineering as part of the service blueprint involves analyzing the needs of customers and mapping out processes to meet their expectations. The starting point here is to analyze the customer’s points of contact with the company, which allows you to identify where there may be customer pain or lack of satisfaction. This allows you to create a service that is tailored to customer needs and expectations.

Service blueprint vs. Customer Journey

The service blueprint method allows you to examine in more detail the company’s internal processes that affect the customer experience. This allows you to effectively optimize these operations to maximize customer experience. The customer journey, on the other hand, focuses mainly on the customer’s actions and experiences while interacting with the brand. While the two methods are related, service blueprint provides a broader view of internal actions and their impact on customer experience.

5 elements of the service blueprint map

A service blueprint (map) is a graphical representation of the chain of actions outside and inside the company that influences the customer experience at the point of contact with the brand. The purpose of the blueprint is to indicate the factors that directly and indirectly affect the quality of service as perceived from the customer’s perspective. Using the blueprint also identifies key people inside the organization (stakeholders) responsible for the operations. The service blueprint consists of 5 elements:

physical evidence (physical evidence), i.e. the tools and technology needed to deliver the service
customer action (customer actions), i.e. how the customer interacts with the brand, e.g. going to the website, making a purchase, visiting a store or service, returning an item
frontstage, i.e., the company’s actions that are visible to the customer, e.g., email marketing, contacting customer service, using the product or service
backstage, i.e. actions invisible to the customer, e.g. purchase of goods for stock, quality control of products and services, segmentation of target groups
support processes, i.e. budgets, marketing automation program integrations

In summary, a service blueprint map is a tool that allows you to identify and optimize operations inside your company that affect customer experience. It consists of 5 elements: physical evidence, customer actions, frontstage, backstage, and support. With this tool, you can better understand what actions inside the company affect the customer experience and how to optimize them to increase customer satisfaction.

7 benefits of using service blueprint map

The use of service blueprint map can bring many benefits to the business, such as:

holistic analysis of service processes
identification of the role and impact of individual employees on service quality
identification of ways to gain competitive
advantage through service optimization
increased quality of services offered
increased customer satisfaction and higher conversion
inspiration for new innovations
increased company profits

Optimizing services in the high-tech sector

Service blueprint is a tool that allows high-tech companies to better understand their internal operations and their impact on the customer experience. In the SaaS sector, the licensing model is becoming more prevalent, and service optimization is becoming critical to revenue generation. By analyzing the map, companies can better understand their repair and support processes and their impact on customer retention. As a result, this can lead to a significant increase in turnover, which is crucial for any company in the high-tech sector.

Service blueprint for SaaS

Service blueprint is widely used in the SaaS industry, due to the fact that it is a service sector. The method is used to optimize services by analyzing the layered operations within a company and looking for the relationship between the different layers. The main task is to identify processes that directly or indirectly affect the quality of the service and are not optimized. In the SaaS sector, the method is used to optimize services, but also to design new services. When designing a new service, the method helps to understand the roles of the various actions and the people responsible for them (stakeholders).

Salesforce CRM support

Organizations in the high-tech and SaaS sectors use CRM when designing or optimizing processes. Salesforce CRM, for example, allows the path of internal and external processes to be established in order, along with the assignment of people responsible for each step. In addition, it is possible to trigger further processes when the need arises. For example, the Salesforce CASE object can be used for the support process, and be linked to the process of purchasing new services. Using Salesforce CRM allows access to all process participants at each stage of the service blueprint (frontstage and backstage).

What are the lines of interaction, visibility and impact?

Service blueprint analysis breaks down the service process into smaller components using 3 breakdown criteria: impact, visibility, and interaction. In practice, these criteria are used to answer the question: does the customer interact with the employee, does the customer see the employee, and to what extent does the employee interact with the customer satisfaction? A more detailed analysis may additionally take into account process times, KPIs, or the emotions of the customer and employees during the interaction. The latter, or emotions, often have a big impact on the customer experience at brand touchpoints.

How does service blueprint affect customer experience?

By looking at processes from the customer’s point of view, it is possible to see the causes of the emotions the customer experiences when interacting with the brand. By identifying the causes of the customer’s problems (pain points), the service blueprint method allows the company to be more flexible and deliver a better experience.

Service Blueprint in 6 steps:

Build a customer path based on customer interviews. Determine the points of contact and what emotions accompany customers, and what they think as they interact with the brand.
Separate the main zones of customer interaction: front, back, and support. The front zone is the one where customer interaction takes place, the back zone is the one that directly influences the front zone, and the supporting processes have an indirect impact but do not belong to the front and back zones.
Make a list of activities and physical evidence (needed technologies and tools to perform the service), tasks
Create a service diagram (map)
Mark the operations indicating responsible persons, those that are and are not optimized, useless ones, missing links of supporting, and bottlenecks
Together with the responsible persons, indicate the optimization measures

Competitive advantage through service optimization using service blueprint method

If you run a high-tech company and offer SaaS services, you surely realize the importance of providing quality service to your customers. A service blueprint method is a tool that allows you to holistically analyze the processes inside your company and look for relationships between the different layers, resulting in increased customer satisfaction and increased turnover. Consider consulting with service blueprint experts who can help you optimize your company’s operations and find new opportunities for growth. Don’t wait, take care of your competitive advantage today!