Automation Divide the service into small parts and identify those parts that lend them-
selves to automation. For instance, by isolating check-cashing activity via ATM, banks have
been very effective at designing a product that both increases customer service and reduces
costs. Similarly, airlines have moved to ticketless service via kiosks. A technique such as kiosks
reduces both costs and lines at airports thereby increasing customer satisfaction and
providing a win—win "product" design.
Moment of Truth High customer interaction means that in the service industry there is
a moment of truth when the relationship between the provider and the customer is crucial. At
that moment, the customer's satisfaction with the service is defined. The moment of truth is the
moment that exemplifies, enhances, or detracts from the customer's expectations. That moment
may be as simple as a smile from a Starbucks barista or having the checkout clerk focus on you
rather than talking over his shoulder to the clerk at the next counter. Moments of truth can
occur when you order at McDonald's, get a haircut, or register for college courses. The operations
manager's task is to identify moments of truth and design operations that meet or exceed
the customer's expectations.
Documents for Services
Because of the high customer interaction of most services, the documents for moving the
product to production often take the form of explicit job instructions or script. For instance,
regardless of how good a bank's products may be in terms of checking, savings, trusts, loans,
mortgages, and so forth, if the interaction between participants.is not done well, the product
may be poorly received, Example 2 shows the kind of documentation a bank may use to move a