Service Response Logistics Model

Service Response Logistics Model

Service Response Logistics Model

1. Establish discussions with the customer
2. Determine what the customer really needs
3. Determine if the firm can deliver customer needs
4. Commit to the customer
5. Evaluate the customer's response
6. Schedule the customer's service delivery
7. Inform delivery partners concerning the schedule
8. Monitor the service delivery process
9. Counsel Partners
   

Intermediaries in Service Response Logistics

• The functions performed by Service Response Logistics intermediaries are:
• Efficiency in delivery of services due to specialization
• Sorting, Accumulating, Allocating, and Categorizing services
• Standardizing service transactions
• Matching buyers and sellers of services
• Providing technical support, education, delivery, and transportation
• Each intermediary may specialize in only one or a few of these functions
• There are five categories of Intermediaries:
• Agents
• Agents act on behalf of principals and have authority to create a legally binding relationship between customers and Service Response Logistics Principals.
• Example: Travel Agents.
  
• Retailers
• Retailers are intermediaries who sell services directly to the consumers
• The role of retailers in Service Response Logistics in indirect
• Example: Department Stores having Cafeterias, Grocery Stores offering catering services, etc.
  
• Wholesalers
• Service wholesalers buy from service providers and then resell these services to other firms
• Example: Hotel wholesalers purchase large blocks of rooms and then sell the hotel's room to retailers who offer them to customers
  
• Franchises
• A Franchise is a contractual relationship between two parties in which the franchisor offers to maintain a continuing interest in the business of the franchise
• The franchisee operates under a common trade name, format, or procedure owned by or controlled by the franchisor.
• Examples of franchises include the following: McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Hertz, Avis, Hilton, Merrill-Lynch, etc.
  
• Electronic Channels
• Electronic Channels may be defined as a machine communicating with another machine in a standard format
• This is a unique form of intermediary that does not require direct human involvement.
• Advantages:
1. Better quality control
2. Lower cost of delivery
3. More customer convenience
4. Potentially wider distribution of service
5. Higher quality consistency
6. More customer choices
• Challenges:
1. Lack of control of the electronic environment
2. Lack of customization
3. Lack of c
   ustomer education in using the technology
4. Possible lack security in delivering the service