Café Coffee Day

The Coffee Café industry is currently one of the biggest and fastest growing sectors in
business. In India more and more customer are moving towards Coffee cafes.

Café Coffee Day (C.C.D.) is India’s largest coffee conglomerate, the Amalgamated Bean
Coffee Trading Company Limited. (ABCTCL). CCD brought the concept of cafes in India.
The first one opened in 1996 on Brigade Road in Bangalore. It is founded by V.G.
Siddhartha Hegde Chairman of ABCTCL, has family owned 10,500 acres of coffee plantation
farms in Karnataka.

CCD is 750 cr. Rupees company with ISO 9002 certification. CCD is the market leader in
India at present. Till March 2012 it had 1270 stores and is diversifying all over the world and
it is the vision of its founder. CCD has positioned itself as a place for having coffee and fun
together at the same time. This assignment focuses on the service blueprint, service flows or
bottlenecks in Coffee service delivery at CCD with special reference to its outlet located at
Viman Nagar, Pune near reliance fresh.

(CCD Viman Nagar Outlet near Reliance fresh mall,Pune)

The significance of a service blueprint to a service organisation

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Service Blueprint:

Lynn Shostack, a bank executive coined the term through an article published in Harvard
Business Review in 1984.

“A service blueprint is a picture or map accurately portrays the service system so that
different people involved in providing it can understand and deal with it objectively
regardless of their roles or individual points of view”.

The service blueprint consists of 5 components:

Customer Actions:

This component contains all of the steps that customers take as part of the service delivery
process.

Onstage / Visible Contact Employee Actions:

This element is separated from the customer actions by a ‘line of interaction’. These actions
are face-to-face actions between employees and customer.

Backstage / Invisible Contact Employee Actions:

The ‘line of visibility’ separates the onstage from the backstage actions, everything under the
line of visibility is invisible for the customers.

Support Processes:

The ‘internal line of interaction’ separates the contact employees from the support processes.
These are all the activities carried out by individuals and units within the company who are
not contact employees.

Physical evidence:

For each customer action, and every moment of truth, the physical evidence that customers
come in contact with is described at the very top of the service blueprint.

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 Service Blueprint Significance for service organisations

 It helps organisations to improve existing service fail points to deliver better customer
service.
 Cuts down time, cost and inefficiency of random service development.

 Forms a common point of reference for all parties (project team, affected staff and
management) concerned with achieving a successful launch – also serves as crucial point
for later refinements or last-minute changes.

 It helps to stimulate strategic decisions.

 Helps to identify and access cost, revenue and capital invested in each service elements.

 It makes easy for advertising agency or marketing department to overview a service and
select essential message for communication.

 Facilitate top-down and down-top approach to quality improvement.

 Ease for managers to identify channels and support quality improvement effort for both
front-line and support team.

 It can help to convince the organisation that changes are in order and what specifically
can be done.

 Line of interaction between customers and employees lighten the customer role, where
customer experiences quality and contribute to informed service design.

 Line of visibility means what customer sees and which employee of organisation should
contact with them to improve service experiences in service delivery to customer.

 Line of internal interaction explains boundaries across departmental line, with their
intrinsic interdependencies, that strengthen continuous quality improvement of service
delivery in the organisation.

 It can be a formalised way to inspire corporate-wide change directed at integrating

customer focus across the organisation.

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 The principle components of a typical service blueprint

To distinguish the differences between services and physical products, Booms and
Bitner suggested 3Ps additional factors:

 People: -

It refers to all people directly or indirectly involved in the consumption of a

service, example employees or other consumers. As delivery of services occurs during
interaction between contact employees and customers, attitudes and behaviours of
the service providers can considerably affect customers' perceptions of the service.
This is important, because customers' perceptions of service quality and its value can
influence customer satisfaction, and in turn, purchase intentions.

 Physical evidence: -

It related to the environment in which the service is delivered, and the tangibles that
help to communicate and perform the service. The physical evidence of service
includes all the tangible pictures of service such as brochures, letterhead,
business cards, reports, signage, internet presence and equipment.

 Process: -

It is the delivery and operating systems of procedures, mechanisms and flow of

activities which services are consumed. Managing the process factor is essential due to
the perishability of services. Process that provides evidence to the customer is
the standardized or customized approach based on customer’s needs and
expectations.

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 No parking Menu card, Employee Computers
Furniture,
Dishes,
Evidence
Physical

Brochure, Uniform, and

Chairs,
Cutlery,
Offer cards, Vending printers,
Table,
Service
Display coffee, Machine Credit
TV,
trays,card
Cups and Machines,
Sofa,
Coffee
Coffee packets Thrash-bins
cups and
Glasses
Customer
action

Place the
Enter the CCD Walk up to the Locate and order at Payment
Receive
Drink
Leaving
CCD counter examine the menu the CCD
coffee
counter

Line of the Interaction

Take Bill given Take a

Receive
Serve
Thanks
order and ask money
Payment &
Coffee
custome
On stage

for the Process

To rthe
Contact person

payment order
Customer

PickPrepare
up the
Line of Visibility coffee
coffee
Back stage

Checking stock

Line of Internal Interaction

Counter Update Stock updating

Processes

Records
Support

computer the
process fresh mall
Images of CCD outlet of Viman Nagar, Near Reliance Database

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 Side View of CCD outlet
with

Cups Displayed inside outlet

Order Placing and Cash

Counter of CCD

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 Three key element of Physical Evidence revealed in the CCD Service
Blueprint and their Influence on Customer Experience

1) Ambient Conditions:-

It includes background characteristic of the environment of the CCD outlet such as

temperature, lighting, noise, music and colour. All of these features can deeply affect how
customer feel, think, and respond to a particular service organisation. The ambient conditions
helps customer to rejoice and relax.

Influence on Customer Experience:-

It is the most important aspect of every service organisation and also for CCD. When
customer are spending time inside servicescape, where ambient play very crucial role to make
them stay longer. If inside servicescape music is going on than customer perceives that they
spent less time. On other hand loud music can make customer would not be spend more time
in servicescape. Colour will make sudden change in the customer behaviour like Green
colour portray calming and relaxing message. Temperature and fragrances used mostly in
hotel, coffee shops will make customer draw in and will expand time of stay.

2) Spatial Layout or Décor :

CCD Spatial layout or décor refers to the ways in which furnishing, equipment, and
machinery etc., are arranged inside it, also the size, shape of the items and spatial relationship

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among them. It is at most important for service organisation, where the most of service done
by customer itself like CCD (New styles of service, where customer goes and gives order,
pay bills and wait to order to come). It conveys the Aesthetic Strategy of the organisation.

Influence on Customer Experience:-

This is one aspect where the aesthetic strategy of CCD comes in the picture. It will make sure
to customer that there is sufficient place to sit and décor are up to their expectation.
Satisfaction of customer comes from this area, because customer will see value in
organisation offering. It will impact on customers several aspects like customer purchase
behaviour, store performance and customer satisfaction.

3) Employees’ Uniform and Appearance:

The employee’s uniform and their appearance is integral part of the service delivery to the
customer, where bright colour uniform leads to a better satisfaction of customer than dull or
over uses of colour. CCD outlet uniform is not very good and up to the mark. Its colour is
dark black and customer does not see charm in their appearance.

Influence on Customer Experience:-

This is one aspect which impacts while delivering service to the customer. If every aspect of
service delivery except employee uniform and appearance is good, then also the customer
will feel dissatisfied. When employee is presentable, they can turn customer dissatisfaction
into satisfaction. It is always known in every industry that employees represent the company
to the customer and outside world. Customers perceive the quality and value in organisation
while interacting with the CCD employee.

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 Three bottlenecks in service blueprint and their Solutions

CCD at chosen outlet has three bottlenecks found in the service blueprinting:

1) No Parking:-
At CCD’s chosen outlet there is no space for customers to park their vehicles. It creates
inconvenience for them, where to park bikes and cars. It affects directly or indirectly to the
customer to enter CCD or not. Dissatisfaction starts from the beginning, it will affect both
customer as well as CCD because service delivery process will not be fulfilled as per
customer perception.

Possible Solution:-

To avoid this awkwardness, CCD should take some extra service scape on rent or buy it to
park customer’s cars or bike, so that they will feel more comfortable. Parking should be
provided free of cost and proper sign boards (In and Out), (Enter and Exit) and parking
attendant must be provided to guide the customer for hassle free parking condition.

2) Placing order time at Counter:-

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Four months ago CCD’s service delivery was different. The customer would sit and the
waiter would come and take order, then consume order and ask for bills followed by
payment. But presently CCD changed the way of placing order, now customer have to go at
counter select order from menu and place order and pay bill at counter. Also customer has to
wait in queue, which Indian consumer mostly does not like to wait. CCD has only one
counter at chosen outlet, if many customers come at same time then the waiting time will
increases and this will lead to the dissatisfaction in service delivery.

Possible Solution:-

There are two ways to tackle this problem. First, CCD should revive their earlier service
delivery style, which will improve customer satisfaction. There will be more employee and
customer interaction leading to better customer relationship.

Second, CCD should open more counter at Viman Nagar’s outlet. It will reduce the time
between choosing item from menu and placing order and making payment. Hassle free
placing order at counter with proper help of the employee will make service more memorable
and pleasant. For this CCD should increase the length of service counter and should increase
counter attendant, so they can handle many customer at same time.

3) Waiting time to receive order to the Customer:-

After some visits at CCD outlet, found that the time duration between then placing order at
counter and then receiving of order is more than it expected. Customers in India or anywhere
in the world do not like to wait for their meals and drinks to arrive. It was found that
approximate time taken was 15-20 minute, making the customers feel that the service
delivery is very poor and slow.

Possible Solution:-

CCD should adapt the new technology and new machine for coffee making and also train the
employee for improvement of service. Also the service trays and other tools required for

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service deliver should be ready before order gets ready. There must be coordination between
order receiver, order maker and delivery employees that will make service delivery more
prompt, speedy and accurate.

Application of Blueprint

Use of Service Blueprint to other areas of Organisation

1) Human Resource Management:-

 It helps Service standards to be clearly communicated to the staff and will not create any
difficulty for employee to deliver standard service. HRM will provide required tools as
per the service blueprint need to deliver recognized service to the end customer.

 Keep ease in the recruitment is essential to ensure that the organisation has suitable staff.
HRM can get idea through service blueprint that how many employees are needed for
satisfactory service delivery and make it easy for manager to organise its staff as per the
dusty schedule.

 It should help to identify and provide on-going training to employees. Sometime existing
and new staff requires training to make sure that they are in harmony with service
blueprinting process.

 Empower the service personnel. Empowering give staff to have better control over
uncertain circumstances which arrives in service delivery and it helps to build standardize
service within the organisation.

 It makes easier to recognize job description, appraisal system and selection criteria. It
helps HRM to measure the performance of staff, which will help them at the time of

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 performance appraisal. Selection criteria will be easy to match the prospect staff with the
service delivery quality within the organisation.

2) Operations:-

 Delivering the services as per the promise to get customer loyalty with consistent Zeal of
delivering standard service.
 Helps to identify and manage fail points. Wherever there are fail points that has to be
detect and make a recovery as soon as possible. Always be ready with the back-up plan in
service delivery.

 Create control mechanism of quality control and training system. Well brand always
standardise service delivery and quality is where they make differentiation from
competitors. Training system is must for such brands to make and give memorable service
delivery to the customer.
 Identify areas, where financing is required and distribute resources as per operational
needs. To make and deliver a good service a financial aspect comes first while creating
service and decision has to be taken as per the scenario. Finance should be widely
distributed within and through the organisation to achieve desired goal and objective of
the organisation.

3) Marketing:-

 Service blueprint creates realistic customer expectation, which makes marketing team to
plan out proper strategy. Marketing strategy gets help from the blueprinting to carry out
plan of the cost incurred, development of new service and upgrading the existing ones.
 It makes easier for marketing team to develop service system design. This is the important
aspect carry out by marketing department to strengthen the how long processes within the
service take, and how that connects to cost due to they are obtainable with a base of time
Comparison of differences in basic services, standards and processes Capturing of
processes, architecture and systems in the context of service, not in isolation or solely
from the internal business perspective. Also to cut down the inefficiency in the service
delivery.
 Create path for marketing team to plan and implement for internal and external promotion
with respect to blue print. Staff in service organisation is more closely works with the
customer, so staff should be a motivated and represent the better organisation image to
outside world. Also customer relationship, value added services and need understanding
of customer can help organisation of getting promotion through a word-of-mouth.

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 Bibliography and References

 www.cafecoffeeday.com
 Harvard Business review in 1984 article of Shostack about service
blueprint
 Café coffee day outlet of Viman Nagar, near reliance fresh mall, Pune
 Zeithaml & Bitner, ‘Services Marketing’, 4th Ed.; Tata-McGraw Hill
 finalproject-110912145719-phpapp02
 MMW-Lecture4
 50709753-cafe-coffee-days

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