Page 70 - Design for Six Sigma for Service (Six SIGMA Operational Methods)

Value Creation for Service Product 51

c. Social and ethical reasons (for example, environmentally friendly
brands)
d. Psychological awe (many first-in-market products not only may
provide unique functions but also give customers tremendous psy-
chological thrill, for example, the first copy machine really
impressed customers)
e. Psychological effects of competition
3. Service and convenience benefits
a. Availability (ease with which the product or service can be
accessed)
b. Ease with which correctional service in case of product problem or
failure can be obtained

The liabilities include
1. Economical liabilities
a. Price
b. Acquisition cost (such as transportation cost, shipping cost, time
and effort spent to obtain the service)
c. Usage cost (additional cost to use the product or service in addition
to the purchase price, such as installation)
d. Maintenance costs
e. Ownership costs
f. Disposal costs
2. Psychological liabilities
a. Uncertainty about product or service dependability
b. Self-esteem liability of using unknown brand product
c. Psychological liability of low-performance product or service
3. Service and convenience liabilities
a. Liability due to lack of service
b. Liability due to poor service
c. Liability due to poor availability (such as delivery time, distance
to shop)

Clearly, this definition of customer value contains much more information
than simply function and cost, and it is also in the unit of dollars, or monetary
worth.

3.2.1 Value and Other Commonly Used Metrics

There are other product metrics that can very easily be mixed in with the
concept of value. These metrics include price, performance, cost, and
quality. Let us discuss the similarities and differences of value and these
metrics.