Service Model Canvas: A Framework for Designing Experiences That Exceed Customer Expectations

What exactly is "customer experience" (カスタマーエクスペリエンス), a term now seen even more frequently than "customer journey"? While definitions vary, I define it as "a company providing experiences that exceed customer expectations at every touchpoint." Incidentally, I define the "customer journey" as the chronological mapping of all these customer touchpoints. While some may include customer actions and thoughts beyond direct company-customer interactions to better visualize customer insights, I believe focusing solely on company-customer touchpoints is sufficient for the outputs of the projects I typically work on. However, I occasionally see customer journeys that merely list advertising media touchpoints chronologically. While this depends on the purpose, unless there's a specific intent to limit it to advertising media, it seems inconsistent with the fundamental purpose of a customer journey.

Now, why did I suddenly bring up "customer experience"? It's because I define "digital marketing" – the theme of this series – not as "efficiently and effectively delivering 'the message the company wants to convey'," but as "efficiently and effectively delivering 'the experience the customer seeks'." Why experience, not message? It's because, as corporate marketing strategies gradually shift from acquiring new customers to retaining existing ones, initiatives are also shifting from campaign-based efforts focused on gaining product awareness to ongoing initiatives focused on maintaining customer satisfaction. Furthermore, the continuous connection between customers and companies via networks makes it possible to generate revenue from the experiences themselves. I define the "service" a company provides as these ongoing initiatives that maintain customer satisfaction while also being experiences that can themselves become revenue streams.

Considering Services

Now, let's focus on the main topic: "service." It's no exaggeration to say that virtually every company is becoming service-oriented today, as the value delivered to customers shifts from "products" to "services." Accordingly, I believe significant changes are occurring, particularly within the 4Ps of marketing. For example:

Price: Shifting from a one-time sale model for individual products to subscription models based on service content.

Promotion: From lead generation for acquiring new customers to CRM for retaining existing customers.

Place: Moving from limited channels to omnichannel, organically linking multiple channels to enhance CRM.

What kind of value does "service" actually provide to customers? I believe there are two types of value customers can enjoy.

1.Value customers perceive as commensurate with the price paid

2.Unexpected value that customers did not expect to be included in the price

The second type is particularly effective for maintaining customer satisfaction. Providing an experience that relatively exceeds the customer's prior expectations is said to have a very positive impact on customer satisfaction. Currently, the management of this provided experience relative to customer expectations is called "CEM" (Customer Experience Management) and is gaining significant attention. For example, in business settings, you might hear phrases like "adjusting client expectations beforehand." Managing these expectations to avoid setting them too high is also part of this management.

Now, I categorize customers' pre-service expectations for corporate offerings into six types, such as "accuracy" and "agility" ( details can be explained directly ). To exceed any of these six expectations, companies categorize their service offerings into "advertising," "content," "functionality," "customer service," and "information."

For example, if a customer you haven't engaged with recently is experiencing a life stage change, rather than immediately providing ads for products you want to sell, wouldn't offering "content" that solves the challenges they likely face due to this life stage change be an unexpected experience that exceeds their prior expectations and creates value? This could also be seen as expanding the scope of what advertising agencies can provide beyond just "advertising."

We provide the "Service Model Canvas" as a framework to support designing experiences that exceed customer expectations.

We will also quantitatively verify, using the customer journey that visualizes customer sentiment introduced in Session 2, what prior expectations target customers hold at each touchpoint and whether those expectations are currently being met. After identifying problem touchpoints and pinpointing the prior expectations that must be exceeded, we will develop the service strategy and concept design together with internal planners. Three perspectives are essential during this design process.

1.For the "Customer": Can we define service quality that exceeds customer expectations? We also organize the specific services provided using the five classification axes outlined earlier.

2. For the "employees" providing the service: Have we defined the decision criteria, delegated authority, and motivation necessary for employees to maintain service quality?

3. For the "processes, systems, and data" delivering the service: Are these valuable to both customers and employees?

The reform of these processes, systems, and data is specifically referred to as "digital marketing" or "digital transformation."

What solutions can advertising agencies provide beyond optimizing advertising touchpoints?

As non-advertising customer touchpoints grow increasingly important for businesses, I would like to provide examples of specific service solutions advertising agencies can offer beyond optimizing advertising touchpoints.

Content
As touchpoints between companies and customers increase, the importance of content leveraging resources beyond a company's own assets grows. We provide expertise in efficiently sourcing content owned by external parties, such as publishers, and transforming it into services offered by the company.

Customer Service
For example, we provide systems that enhance customer service at car dealerships. These systems enable staff to detect when a customer arrives in their own vehicle, supporting appropriate greetings and hospitality upon entry. To elevate the sales process itself, we also offer systems that summarize information about the company's products from mass media and social media, which can be utilized in sales pitches.

Function
For example, we provide a function allowing automotive company customers to schedule service appointments for their vehicles at dealerships 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Such services not only exceed customers' pre-existing expectations for responsiveness but also reduce daytime appointment handling tasks for employees, freeing up time for more important customer interactions.

Such solutions are realized through the process, system, and data reforms known as "digital transformation." Next time, I would like to discuss the framework for this "digital transformation."