Introduction
The services provided at a beauty center are varied and may range from haircutting to massage. Additionally, such salons have a section for makeovers, makeup, manicure, and pedicure. The hypothetical beauty salon chain named Paradise aims to offer beauty-based services that would attract and broad target market. Along with beauty services which are core products of the company, the company also has supplementary services such as consultation, order-taking, information, and exceptions, among others, that ensure customers receive the core product at ease with the desired effect. It is imperative to evaluate these supplementary services using the flower of service framework to gain a deeper understanding of how Paradise offers them and provide suggestions in those service elements that the company might show some weaknesses.
Flower of Service Framework
The Flower of Service framework is a notion that displays various supplementary services that surround the core product provided by an organization, which represent facilitating and enhancing services. The facilitating services within the framework include information, billing, payment, and order taking, while enhancing include consultation, hospitality, safekeeping, and exceptions (Hashem, 2018). It is expected that the facilitating services are supported and influenced by supplementary services, the interplay of which is aimed at improving the experiences of clients that come to a facility to receive a service. The value of a business that provides top-quality services is closely connected to the range of supplementary services that they can offer for the sake of clients’ comfort.
Information
In order to get the most out of the encounter with a service, customers need as much information as possible to be provided to them. In the Paradise salon, which offers various salon services, information will entail a complete list of services along with a price list, the facility’s location, details on how to book an appointment, service hours, as well as products that may be sold at the salon. After receiving the service, customers may require proof of what has been provided to them, such as receipts and tickets and confirmation of a booked appointment. It is also possible for customers to have a subscription to the salon or have received a gift card, which means they need to have information on their terms and conditions.
Nevertheless, the management of Paradise needs to ensure that the information they provide is both timely and correct; otherwise, customers may become irritated or hassled by having to figure out information by themselves. The company mainly relies on front-line staff, which are not always as well informed as consumers would prefer, printed notifications, pamphlets, and instruction books which are all examples of traditional methods of presenting information to clients. Despite the available technologies, the center has not invested in touchscreen displays or software-driven tutorials. Besides, it could have been good for customers to interact with menu-driven recorded phone messages.
Corporate Web sites have been the most significant recent innovation but are yet to be implemented at Paradise. Other companies use social media to provide knowledge about new beauty products such as creams and body lotion availability and reservations, certain salons’ location, implementation, and rates, among other things. Paradise also lacks corporate logistics providers who can allow the company to trace the progress of its shipments of salon products, which can be pretty diverse and each of which is given and unique identifier.
Order Taking
The efficient order-taking process entails the effective management of applications, orders, and reservations when customers are ready to make their purchases at the salon. In the case of Paradise, there are no established mobile phone or computer-based applications to allow order placements, especially when clients want to order specific beauty products like hair gels or even face creams. Ideally, customers should not spend time or exert excessive mental or physical effort if their orders are taken in a polite, quick, and precise manner. Potential customers are expected to complete a process of application that gathers relevant information and also allows filtering out clients who do not meet the primary standards of enrollment, such as health issues or poor credit records. Despite this, the Paradise salon allows making reservations ranging from brief consultations with stylists to actual appointments taking several hours, guaranteeing customers a scheduled time and a specific location.
Billing
It is expected that every service area has a system of billing, with the exception of services provided free of charge. The services at Paradise, including pedicure, manicure, and even makeovers, are all provided at a stipulated fee. These services are typically paid for once the customer receives them, meaning the process of payment is crucial as the service itself. Clients who have seemed to be satisfied with the service up to that point can get disappointed by the low quality of financial reporting and payment. If the customer is already unhappy, such failures add insult to injury. At Paradise, there is a clear and straightforward billing system that lets the customer know what they are paying for and why they are paying for it. There has been a recent change in the center’s billion systems, with the shift toward machine-displayed prices in contrast to verbal declarations. Besides, instead of handwritten bills, the center has started providing in-depth monthly statements and fees.
Payment
In most cases of customer service, a bill entails the requirement for the customer to pay the designated price for the service. Bank statements are an exception because they represent the charges that have already been taken away from a client’s account. It is essential to streamline the processes of payment because clients expect convenience when paying for services or purchasing something. Paradise has a flawless billing on completion system where customers are allowed to pay after their desired benefits have been offered. For this system, customers are allowed to insert money, banknotes, tokens, or cards into self-service payment terminals. However, equipment failures negate the entire point of such a system, needing proper maintenance and quick troubleshooting.
Although hand-to-hand exchanges of cash and cheques still account for the majority of payments for Paradise, card transactions are becoming increasingly popular as many beauty-based businesses accept them. Tokens, discounts, and prepaid tickets are among more options that are currently being applied in beauty companies. The type of system employed by this company allows prompt payment, which benefits the business since it minimizes the number of accounts receivable. In addition, to the mentioned system, control mechanisms are considerations that Paradise is on the verge of implementing as it allows customers to pay what they owe before getting the services. Inspectors and security officials, on the other hand, must be trained to blend civility and toughness in their work so that honest consumers are not harassed.
Consultation
Consultation is a valuable add-on service that entails a conversation to determine consumer needs and design a tailored solution. At Paradise, customer consultation entails receiving instant advice from a skilled service representative in response to the question: “What do you recommend?” Before advising a good line of action, Paradise employers are required to have a thorough grasp of each customer’s existing circumstances. The company also employs customer records since they are instrumental if pertinent data is downloadable from a distant terminal. Another way that the salon offers consultancy services is via counseling which is a more nuanced version of consultation. It entails assisting clients in better understanding their circumstances so that they can develop their personal “own” answers and action plans. This method is a particularly useful complement to services like skincare. However, the key problem in this situation is persuading clients to take a long-term view of their condition and adopt healthier skincare practices, which typically require some upfront sacrifice. Other beauty parlors use counseling to help consumers adjust their habits so that a significant decrease can be maintained after the original diet is done.
Hospitality
Customer service in the hospitality industry should ideally express delight in meeting new clients and greeting existing ones when they return. Companies like Wal-Mart take this principle to its logical conclusion, assigning a single staff to greet clients as they enter each store. Employees in well-managed organizations strive to treat consumers as guests. Both face-to-face and telephone conversations require courtesy and concern for clients’ demands. Face-to-face interactions are when hospitality shines brightest. In other cases, such as the shuttle buses provided to clients for free, it starts with improving customers’ comfort through complimentary transportation. If clients must wait for the service outside before it can be delivered, a considerate network operator will protect them from the elements.
If the wait is taking place indoors, visitors ought to have access to a reception room with chairs and entertainment, TV, newspapers, or magazines to keep them occupied. Recruiting individuals for customer-contact professions who are naturally warm, welcoming, and thoughtful also helps to establish a pleasant environment. The quality of its hospitality services can influence the level of satisfaction with a company’s core product. This is particularly true for individual services when consumers are unable to leave the facility. Medical institutions frequently strive to improve their hospitality by providing hotel accommodation, including meals, comparable to that of a nice hotel.
Safekeeping
Customers who visit certain facilities and locations to get a service, would like to get assisted with their personal possessions. This is where safekeeping comes into play – employees of Paradise are responsible for keeping records to ensure clients’ safety, privacy, and confidentiality, which is essential for improving service quality (Hashem, 2018). In addition, safekeeping can increase clients’ trust in the company and its workers. In a beauty salon environment, customers should have designated spots where they can safely store their personal possessions during the time when they get a service provided. In addition, all equipment used for various services in the Beauty Center must be regularly checked, sterilized, and maintained in pristine condition to adhere to the health and safety standards.
Exceptions
Within the Flower of Service framework, exceptions represent non-routine supplementary services that are not included in the list of standard services provided by an organization. Examples of these include compliments, special requirements, solving difficulties and problems per customers’ requests, refunds and compensations, and others (Hashem, 2018). For example, in the beauty salon context, exceptions to the service may include refunding dissatisfied customers for the poor quality of haircuts or nail designs they get. Besides, exceptions may include customers returning to get a fix on their services, such as broken or lost acrylic nails, damaged hair, and others. If the salon provides the highest quality services and focuses on customers, workers may fulfill such tasks as getting clients a coffee from a coffee shop or re-parking their car if needed. It is up to the salon’s manager to decide whether a customer should be charged for exceptional services; however, the main issue here is to make sure that a client is aware of the potential costs associated with the service.
Conclusion
To conclude, the Flower of Services framework allows a business to develop a comprehensive approach to service provision to reach high levels of client satisfaction and ensure that they return for repeated services. For salons like Paradise, the focus of all supplementary services is the orientation on the client and finding out the ways in which more value can be brought to them. Whether it is online appointment booking or getting a cup of coffee from the nearest Starbucks, employees of the salon should be prepared to fulfill the entire service flower list.
Reference
Hashem, T. (2018). The flower of service concept and its influence on the customer satisfaction: Case study of Jordanian private hospitals sector. International Journal of Business and Management, 13(2), 122-137. DOI:10.5539/ijbm.v13n2p122