What's in Service Levels?
What's in Service Levels? Is hard to explain without explaining a few things. The company has the reputation for providing good service. However, that doesn't always explain the service they provide. It doesn't even explain what industry the company serves. Once there is an understanding of the industry served there needs to be an explanation of the service level the company provides. There are very adamant augments about Diners not being restaurants. However, they both serve food. There is a Five Star restaurant in the Country Club. The problem is there are five levels of service currently at the Country Club. The common area serves anything from salads and sandwiches to the most expensive steak or entree. There are three other area's that serve food in the Country Club. At Meadow Brook Country Club in St. Louis, Missouri, USA 30 years ago they club had The Copper Cove, The Banquet Hall, The Club Room, and the Snack Bar referred to as the 19th Hole. I will use the 19th Hole to help you understand the level. The Snack Bar has bags of chips, sandwiches, cups of chili, and of diner level foods. I was a group of professional golfers that would not consider that to be a 19th Hole. The Golfers might even argue that The Copper Cove isn't a 19th Hole level eatery. The level of service you get hasn't even been discussed yet.
I worked at a Greenhouse that sold plants retail. Hannigan's Greenhouse sold season flowers, trees, Holiday arrangements, cut flowers, and installation services. When I started working Hannigan's I worked in the greenhouse daily. I did maintenance work and plant daily care. The daily work for plant care was helping customers load their cars, watering, stocking the greenhouse. I was not required to answer customer questions but assisting customers is a part of the retail service (Norris (Chip) Britton). That was the things that made the retail service level available for the walk-in customer. I was an employee a year before the installation portion of the greenhouse became my daily responsibility. Joan Britton had installations to take care of in the Greater Denver, Colorado area. During the winter the work slowed and the was not much to do in retail or installations. I was asked if I would help with the Holiday Season work. This is a simple place season holiday indoor plants at office location and sell Christmas Trees, this led to the indoor plant maintenance service. There is now a wholesale poinsettia and succulents (Cary and Dennis West) area of the greenhouse. There are now four levels of service in one place.
When I was in my early 30's I was a Mortgage Broker. During my time as a Loan Officer, I sold loans to a variety of customers. Being a Loan Officer is not like being a Personal Banker. Banks then offer Conventional Loans and Loan Officers sold Non-Conventional Loans. The Mortgage Loan industry breaks into multiple levels of service within the Bank and Mortgage Company. Generally, 25 years ago your bank offered 75/25 mortgage or 75/20/5 mortgage loan. Construction loans were generally structured in another way and Mortgage Company did not handle those loans. Mobile homes were handled by finance Companies toward the end of my Mortgage career the mobile home industry changed, and this changed loan services for mobile homes. The Mortgage Banker organized bulk loan packages and sold the loan servicing. The loan servicer (Mortgage Banker) handles the customer service and loan services during the loan term. The three levels of lender provide three levels of service within the same industry. This does not explain the different services of the Personal Banker versus Loan Officer. The Loan Processor may have some customer interaction but that mainly is handled by the Loan Officer.
The service levels of each of the above all have very intracule parts that make them perform the service well. The first thing to determine is the service level the company or business is going to provide. When determining the services provided there may be a need for multiple divisions within the company or business. I will present part 2 of this article to discuss the actual service levels and why the divisions do not always work as one business. The cohesiveness of the business makes a seamless service provider. The Logistics Industry have developed into an industry of asset and non-asset-based industry. How does this improve or hinder the services offered will be another two-part article for readers. Selling services and providing services are not the same thing.
By Darren Dwayne Frazier
By Highland Productions LLC