Beyond Competition - How Cooperation Fosters Customer Experience in Service Industries
Series
Forum Dienstleistungsmanagement
ISBN
978-3-658-26388-1
Type
book section
Date Issued
2019-07
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Bruhn, Manfred
Hadwich, Karsten
Abstract
Society is changing. Former value structures such as religion or family are becoming less important, and consumers have more space to search for their own identity. In addition, megatrends such as digitization and interconnectivity provide consumers with tools for real-time peer-to-peer communication and for expressing their opinions and quality standards online. Thus, power is increasingly shifting from businesses to consumers, with the actual needs of consumers at the center of value creation, to ultimately boost competitive advantage. In this paradigm, services that are able to build identity are more valuable to consumers than simple services that only deliver a particular service promise. One way to address identity is to create holistic experiences, as experiences become part of a consumer’s individual identity, can be shared with others several times, are more durable, and can increase in value over time.
As consumer needs do not arise within industry boundaries, many service companies are left with services that only partially meet customer needs. Cooperation between one or more service organizations is an efficient possibility for companies to address this deficiency and complement an existing service promise by integrating value-added services or products. We argue that cooperation, if done right, has the potential to increase customer experience with a service provider. We show the potential for this by presenting examples from the insurance industry, an industry that has traditionally performed poorly, both in cooperating with other firms and in delivering an outstanding customer experience. Now, insurance companies are increasingly cooperating with companies from various industries and customers with the aim to tailor unified offerings and enhance customer experience.
As consumer needs do not arise within industry boundaries, many service companies are left with services that only partially meet customer needs. Cooperation between one or more service organizations is an efficient possibility for companies to address this deficiency and complement an existing service promise by integrating value-added services or products. We argue that cooperation, if done right, has the potential to increase customer experience with a service provider. We show the potential for this by presenting examples from the insurance industry, an industry that has traditionally performed poorly, both in cooperating with other firms and in delivering an outstanding customer experience. Now, insurance companies are increasingly cooperating with companies from various industries and customers with the aim to tailor unified offerings and enhance customer experience.
Language
English
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
HSG Profile Area
Global Center for Customer Insight
Book title
Kooperative Dienstleistungen - Spannungsfelder zwischen Service Cooperation und Service Coopetition
Publisher
Springer Gabler
Publisher place
Wiesbaden
Start page
477
End page
504
Pages
28
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Eprints ID
256323