Customer Roles in Service Delivery

Everyone has a part to play in a service encounter. A person’s role in a service encounter is a set of behavior patterns to be performed by the players to achieve the goals of the encounter effectively and efficiently. Very often, we expect service providers to play their role well, in order for us to have a satisfactory service encounter. Customers are also required to play their parts well, to facilitate a smooth delivery of the service.

An education and financial advisory services require a moderate or high level of customer participation:

1. How important is the customer to the service delivery process? Can the service be delivered without actions or behaviors on the part of the customer?