ISO/PRF 23592

Service excellence -- Principles and model

Excellence de service -- Principes et modèle

Standards Content (sample)

INTERNATIONAL ISO
STANDARD 23592
First edition
Service excellence — Principles and
model
Excellence de service — Principes et modèle
PROOF/ÉPREUVE
Reference number
ISO 23592:2021(E)
ISO 2021
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ISO 23592:2021(E)
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© ISO 2021

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ISO 23592:2021(E)
Contents Page

Foreword ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................iv

Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................v

1 Scope ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 1

2 Normative references ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 1

3 Terms and definitions ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 1

4 Relevance and benefits of service excellence ......................................................................................................................... 3

5 Principles of service excellence ............................................................................................................................................................ 4

6 Service excellence model ............................................................................................................................................................................. 4

7 Elements of the service excellence model .................................................................................................................................. 5

7.1 Service excellence leadership and strategy .................................................................................................................... 5

7.1.1 Service excellence vision, mission and strategy ................................................................................... 5

7.1.2 Leadership and management requirements ........................................................................................... 6

7.2 Service excellence culture and employee engagement ........................................................................................ 9

7.2.1 Service excellence culture ........................................................................................................................................ 9

7.2.2 Employee engagement .............................................................................................................................................10

7.3 Creating outstanding customer experiences .............................................................................................................13

7.3.1 Understanding customer needs, expectations and desires......................................................13

7.3.2 Designing and renewing outstanding customer experiences ................................................14

7.3.3 Service innovation management.....................................................................................................................16

7.4 Operational service excellence ...............................................................................................................................................17

7.4.1 Managing customer-experience-related efficient and effective processes

and organizational structure ..............................................................................................................................17

7.4.2 Monitoring service excellence activities and results .....................................................................19

Bibliography .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................22

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ISO 23592:2021(E)
Foreword

ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards

bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out

through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical

committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International

organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work.

ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of

electrotechnical standardization.

The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are

described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the

different types of ISO documents should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the

editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www .iso .org/ directives).

Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of

patent rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. Details of

any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the Introduction and/or

on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www .iso .org/ patents).

Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not

constitute an endorsement.

For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and

expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the

World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see www .iso .org/

iso/ foreword .html.

This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 312, Excellence in service.

Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A

complete listing of these bodies can be found at www .iso .org/ members .html.
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ISO 23592:2021(E)
Introduction

Customer expectations in today’s competitive world have changed and are constantly evolving. Today,

globalization and digitalization and the increased variety of products and services allow customers

more freedom of choice. Every purchase and customer contact is a moment of truth.

Organizations often claim they put the customer at the centre of their business. However, in competitive

markets it is essential to manage the whole organization around the customer and the experience

offered. Organizations that do this will flourish. The optimal delivery of customer satisfaction can

no longer be achieved by the offering of basic products and services expected by the customer. To be

successful and to stay ahead of competitors, it is essential to delight customers by providing outstanding

and differentiating experiences. This is the objective of service excellence.

This document describes the principles, elements and sub-elements for creating outstanding customer

experiences. The basic foundations of implementing service excellence are the two lower levels of

the service excellence pyramid (see Figure 1). Levels 1 and 2 are about meeting the expectations of

customers and fulfilling the promises. They lead to customer satisfaction. The core service proposition

(Level 1) is perceived by customers as delivering on promises. The customer feedback management

(Level 2) results in dealing well with problems and queries. These are described in International

Standards such as ISO 9001, ISO 10002 and ISO/IEC 20000-1. This document deals with the upper levels:

— individual excellent service provision (Level 3);
— surprisingly excellent service provision (Level 4).

These two levels create an emotional connection with the customer and lead to customer delight. The

impact for the business is a strong brand image and attractiveness to new and existing customers as

well as competitive differentiation.

Individual excellent service provision (Level 3) results in service that is perceived by customers as

warm, genuine, personalized, tailor-made and value-creating. The customer experiences an emotional

reaction by feeling valued.

Surprisingly excellent service provision (Level 4) results in service that is tailor-made and leads to

emotions of surprise and joy. It is delivered by exceeding customer expectations. This can be achieved

by delivering unexpected outstanding customer experiences. However, various approaches can be used

to achieve customer delight.

The service excellence pyramid should be used to explain to managers and employees why an

organization has to focus on both fulfilling the promises (Levels 1 and 2) and exceeding customer

expectations by delivering excellent services (Levels 3 and 4).
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ISO 23592:2021(E)
Figure 1 — Service excellence pyramid

This document defines the essential terms, describes relevant principles and builds up a model of

service excellence. It delivers an all-embracing framework for further documents to deal with essential

elements of the service excellence model in more detail:

— ISO/TS 24082 offers principles, and activities of designing excellent services. It specifies the

elements of the dimension “creating outstanding customer experiences” of the service excellence

model. Thus, it is related to 7.3 of this document.

— ISO/TS 23686 provides an appropriate set of internal and external metrics and methods that can

be used to measure service excellence performance, particularly the influencers and substantial

effects of outstanding customer experiences and customer delight. It covers all the dimensions of

the service excellence model. Thus, it is related to 7.4 of this document.
1) Under preparation. Stage at the time of publication: ISO/DTS 24082:2021.
2) Under preparation. Stage at the time of publication: ISO/AWI TS 23686:2021.
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INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO 23592:2021(E)
Service excellence — Principles and model
1 Scope

This document specifies service excellence terminology, principles and model to achieve outstanding

customer experience and sustainable customer delight. It does not focus on the provision of basic

customer service but on the provision of excellent service.

This document applies to all organizations delivering services, such as commercial organizations,

public services and not-for-profit organizations.
2 Normative references
There are no normative references in this document.
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.

ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:

— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https:// www .iso .org/ obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at http:// www .electropedia .org/
3.1
service excellence
capabilities of an organization to consistently deliver excellent services

Note 1 to entry: Capabilities reflect the four dimensions and nine elements of the service excellence model and

their interplay.
3.2
excellent service

output of an organization with a high level of service provision performed between the organization

and the customer to achieve outstanding customer experiences that lead to customer delight

Note 1 to entry: Examples of a high level of service provision are individual excellent service provision (Level 3)

and surprisingly excellent service provision (Level 4) in the service excellence pyramid.

3.3
co-creation
active involvement of stakeholders in service design, delivery and innovation
3.4
customer

person or organization that can or does receive a product or a service that is intended for or required

by the person or organization
EXAMPLE Consumer, client, end-user, patient, beneficiary and purchaser.
Note 1 to entry: A customer can be internal or external to the organization.
[SOURCE: ISO 9000:2015, 3.2.4]
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ISO 23592:2021(E)
3.5
customer delight

positive emotions experienced by the customer derived from either an intense feeling of being highly

valued or by expectations being exceeded, or both

Note 1 to entry: Further emotions like surprise can intensify felt customer delight.

3.6
customer experience

perception by a customer about their interaction with an organization, its products or services

Note 1 to entry: An interaction is related to a customer journey or the whole relationship with an organization,

its products, systems, services or related networks. Interaction can be directly related or indirectly related to

the organization. If a customer uses a product, system or service it can be referred to as a user experience for

each interaction.
3.7
outstanding customer experience
significantly better than usual customer experience
3.8
customer journey

series or sum of customer experiences when engaging with an organization, its products or services

Note 1 to entry: “Series” is based on processes; “sum” is based on results.
3.9
satisfaction
perception of the degree to which expectations have been fulfilled
[SOURCE: ISO 9000:2015, 3.9.2, modified]
3.10
service

output of an organization with at least one activity necessarily performed between the organization

and the customer
[SOURCE: ISO 9000:2015, 3.7.7, modified]
3.11
service provision
delivery and management of a service
[SOURCE: ISO 41011:2017, 3.1.2, modified]
3.12
service excellence vision
future aspiration of an organization for achieving service excellence
3.13
service excellence mission
commitment of an organization on how to achieve the service excellence vision
3.14
service excellence strategy

translation of the service excellence vision and mission into solid principles, objectives and actions in

order to realize the goals
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ISO 23592:2021(E)
3.15
employee engagement

extent to which employees are committed to the organization, feel enthusiastic about their job and put

discretionary effort into their work

Note 1 to entry: Engaged employees are motivated to go above and beyond what they are expected to do for

customers and the organization.
4 Relevance and benefits of service excellence

Some of the greatest challenges for service organizations today are the growing demands, needs and

expectations of customers and their declining loyalty. As customer needs and expectations expand,

organizations should concentrate on optimizing the experience, using innovation at all touchpoints in

customer journeys. Services should be continuously and consistently improved, in co-creation with the

customer and all other stakeholders.

Service excellence describes an approach that enables the creation of outstanding customer experiences

by individual and surprisingly excellent service provision resulting in delighted customers. Thus,

service excellence leads to strengthening customer loyalty and consequently improves business

success.
This cause-effect chain is shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2 — Service excellence effect chain

Service excellence is a continuous process and requires investment in people, infrastructure and

research. The organization can benefit from this investment in a number of ways, through for example:

— competitive differentiation;
— higher customer centricity reputation;
— customer preference;

— establishment and strengthening of long-term customer relationships (leading to a greater

propensity to remain, recommend and repurchase, and thereby reducing the churn rate);

— cost-saving potential in the long term (e.g. lower failure costs, easier sale conversions and reduced

advertising expenses for acquiring new customers);

— an excellent employer brand (leading to improved recruitment opportunities, higher levels of staff

engagement and improved employee retention);
— improved customer co-operation and engagement;
— brand strengths, including positive brand awareness;
— help with managing networks with subcontractors;
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ISO 23592:2021(E)
— a boost to company efficiency;
— implementation of agility in organizations.
5 Principles of service excellence
Principles of service excellence include:
a) Managing the organization from outside-in.

The organization should design the desired experience from the customer’s perspective. Once

designed, resources and processes should be aligned in the sense of customer centricity on an

ongoing basis.
b) Deepening customer relationships.

The organization should strive for a superior level of individual personalization and be focused

on the customer needs and expectations throughout the relationship. A strong relationship can

be fuelled by continuous communication, which should reflect the customer’s desired level of

interaction.
c) People make the difference.

The engagement of everyone in the organization, including partners, in achieving customer delight

is of key importance.

d) Balanced attention to customers, employees, subcontractors and other stakeholders.

Customers, employees, subcontractors and other stakeholders are important and the organization

should give a balanced focus of attention to them all.
e) Cross-functional management approach.

The organization should work through customer journeys with an integrated cross-functional

approach.
f) Leveraging of technology.

Appropriate technology should be used to create outstanding customer experiences for staff,

customers and partners.
g) Create value for stakeholders.

Implementing service excellence leads to additional sustainable value for stakeholders. Co-creation

with stakeholders should be used to create enhanced value. Value can be monetary as well as non-

monetary.
6 Service excellence model

The service excellence model (see Figure 3) contains four dimensions with nine elements which lead to

outstanding customer experiences and delight.
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ISO 23592:2021(E)
Figure 3 — Service excellence model

The objective of permanently achieving customer delight is at the centre of the model. The four

dimensions and nine elements are equal with no sequence of implementation, although ideally a service

excellence strategy should be in place.
7 Elements of the service excellence model
7.1 Service excellence leadership and strategy
7.1.1 Service excellence vision, mission and strategy

An organization shall define their service excellence vision, mission and strategy in the long term. The

elements of service excellence vision, mission and strategy frame and determine the organization’s

targeted customer experience. They translate the principles and the design of outstanding customer

experiences into all other elements of the service excellence model. Depending on the brand positioning

of an organization, e.g. low-budget, premium or luxury brand, customer expectations vary regarding

the aspiration level.

The service excellence vision, mission and strategy shall be aligned to each other and should be aligned

to the organization’s overall strategy. They should be created and reviewed by involving all stakeholders,

including management, staff and customers. The vision, mission and strategy should be communicated

to all parts of the organization. It should also be implemented throughout the organization to help

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ISO 23592:2021(E)

create a service excellence culture and to inform everyone about the decision making. This element is

divided into three sub-elements:
a) Service excellence vision.

The organization shall have a service excellence vision in the long term which clearly states

its aspiration to consistently meet and exceed customers’ expectations and desires through

exceptional service delivery. The vision should embrace the whole organization and should be

based on a deep understanding of the needs and expectations of all relevant stakeholders as well as

the external environment.
b) Service excellence mission.

The organization shall have a mission in the long term which will enable the development of

a service excellence strategy that sets the goals and objectives to achieve the service excellence

vision. The organization should evaluate the proposed mission statements from a customer and a

feasibility point of view.
c) Service excellence strategy.

The organization shall translate its service excellence vision and mission into a coherent strategy

in the form of documented strategic and operational objectives. The service excellence strategy

forms an integral part of the overall organizational strategy and describes what the organization

will achieve and how it will realize these objectives.

The service excellence strategy should be based on the seven principles and the other eight

elements to achieve the results. The strategy shall be translated into actionable objectives, goals,

programmes and other tools. Responsibilities and how the organization plans to implement these

should be defined. The governance of service excellence has to be drawn up as a system by which

the current use of service excellence is directed and controlled. The strategy shall be deployed to

all relevant parts of the organization and reviewed regularly and whenever it is deemed necessary.

This review should take into account any changes in the external environment that have the

potential to affect service excellence.

Appropriate practices for the development and implementation of the service excellence vision,

mission and strategy can include:

1) the production of an inspiring vision document which is widely circulated and gains acceptance

by all stakeholders;

2) the realization of strategy workshops with key stakeholders in order to develop a service

excellence vision, mission and strategy;
3) the setting up of customer advisory boards.
7.1.2 Leadership and management requirements

All board members and relevant managers at all levels have a vital role in determining, implementing

and sustaining the service excellence strategy and shall be committed to service excellence. They

shall demonstrate their leadership by developing and deploying the service excellence vision, mission

and strategy in line with the overall strategic direction of the organization. They should develop the

necessary purpose and service excellence values and make sure that the whole organization, including

its people, are united towards achieving them. The mindset and commitment of top management to

create an environment which allows employees to realize their full service potential is crucial in order

to achieve service excellence.
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This element is divided into three sub-elements:
a) Leadership.

Relevant managers at all levels should focus on service excellence and create a service excellence

culture that captures the whole organization, including its key stakeholders. They should link the

performance of the organization directly with the performance regarding service excellence.

Managers should:

— develop the service excellence vision, mission, strategy and purpose and ensure that it is

communicated throughout the organization;

— regularly monitor and review the progress of implementation of the service excellence strategy

and objectives by defining and using a set of relevant performance indicators;

— inspire employees on service excellence and create an environment and a culture of ownership,

engagement and accountability;
— set the direction for service excellence innovation;

— receive regular customer feedback and use this information as an important input to the

performance of service excellence as well as employee performance;

— ensure achievement of service excellence objectives through supporting and developing

employees' knowledge and skills.
Appropriate practices for implementation can include:

1) implementing organizational development programmes supported by change management

for service excellence conceived, delivered or both by a dedicated structure (e.g. service

academies);

2) managers understanding and developing service excellence capabilities and using mentoring

programmes and coaching for service excellence;

3) effectively engaging stakeholders by organizing 360° feedback involving also customers, peers

and employees;

4) using feedback information as a key input for the development and review in the service

excellence objectives;

5) managers setting and communicating the direction and focus on service excellence as well as

sharing and promoting best practices;

6) creating a service excellence culture by involving managers for two days per year at minimum

in a customer-facing unit.
b) Sharing efforts, defined responsibilities and objectives.

Managers, through strong leadership and leading by example, should create an environment in

which employees are able to deliver outstanding customer experiences.
Managers should:

— translate the strategy into actionable operational objectives and programmes for departments,

teams and employees so that each one is fully aware of their impact on service excellence;

— establish and communicate motivational and agreed service excellence targets;

— communicate the operational objectives to external stakeholders, including subcontractors,

and ensure that the specifications given to them are properly understood and executed;

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— develop the necessary service excellence governance so that:
— service excellence is promoted and implemented;

— service excellence performance is monitored and reported and all necessary improvement

actions are initiated.
Appropriate practices for implementation can include:

1) Personal development programmes for all competencies and behaviours (e.g. training of

emotional and social competence).

2) The use of storytelling (e.g. recounting good or bad stories of service excellence).

3) Cross-functional solution teams and customer experience board for monitoring service

excellence performance.

4) Management encouraging everyone to take ownership in shared activities and results.

5) Management deploying programmes that ensure the acknowledgement of all employees’

efforts as part of the results obtained.

6) Translating the service excellence strategy (7.1.1 c) into its organizational objectives with a

balanced top-down, bottom-up approach as a part of the organization’s regular planning and

control cycle. The outcome of such a process is that each department, team and employee is

able to link their own objectives and individual actions with the service excellence strategy.

Employees should be able to regularly review their objectives and results.
7) Roles and responsibilities relating to the provision of service excellence.
c) Employee empowerment and engagement.

In a service excellence environment, employees should go above and beyond what they are expected

to do for customers in order to deliver outstanding and personalized experiences.

Managers should:
— empower employees;

— engage the employees by requesting their input in decisions that affect the customer;

— provide the necessary support and encouragement to the employees for the effective

implementation of their duties;

— assess the training needs based on individual competencies and provide the necessary training,

coaching and support;

— be close to the employees and provide quick feedback relating to the delivery of their service

excellence responsibilities;

— provide a work environment where employees are motivated to do their best towards achieving

customer delight.
Appropriate practices for implementation can include:

1) management encouraging, supporting and enabling employees to reach their full potential

by delegating au
...