Value in Pricing Services, Essay Example

An example of a recent service experience that was less than pleasant was at my local CVS/Pharmacy. These stores have recently updated the way they conduct the checkout process by providing automated self-checkout systems. Although one employee is available to supervise this process, this is not enough for the potential errors that can be encountered. The original cash registers are still available but are not manned. CVS/Pharmacy claims that they made these changes in order to make the checkout process quicker, but it appears that they did so to reduce the number of employees that would be necessary to run the store. As a consequence, their customer service experience has diminished.

At my local store, I encountered a problem because an item was not ringing up as having the correct price. However, I had to wait a very long time for the problem to be alleviated because several other customers were having problems as well and only the employee and her manager were available to help. Thus, it is important to give feedback to the store so that they can create a blueprint that optimizes customer experience. First of all, it is necessary to increase the frontstage interactions.Implementing the use of machines for checkout has reduced this aspect of the blueprint altogether. This can be resolved by increasing the number of employees available to assist with checkout or by returning to the old system altogether. Furthermore, support processes can be enhanced so that the employees at the front of the store have a lesser need to resolve price discrepancies. If customers encounter fewer problems at checkout, there will be a reduced need to employ a larger support team. Ultimately, it is important for CVS to consider the impact of these service changes on their customers when constructing a service blueprint, and it doesn’t appear that they have accomplished this.