Uncommon Service

1. What is "Uncommon Service" by Frances Frei and Anne Morriss about?

• Focus on Service Excellence: "Uncommon Service" explores how organizations can achieve service excellence by making deliberate design choices that put customers at the core of their business.
• Four Service Truths Framework: The book introduces a framework of four "service truths" that underpin successful, high-performing service models.
• Design Over Heroics: Frei and Morriss argue that great service is not about extraordinary individual effort, but about designing systems that enable average employees to deliver excellence routinely.
• Real-World Case Studies: The book uses case studies from companies like Commerce Bank, Southwest Airlines, Zappos, and others to illustrate how these principles work in practice.

2. Why should I read "Uncommon Service" by Frances Frei and Anne Morriss?

• Practical, Actionable Advice: The book provides concrete steps and frameworks for leaders seeking to improve their organization's service quality.
• Challenges Conventional Wisdom: It debunks the myth that you can be great at everything, showing that strategic trade-offs are essential for excellence.
• Broad Applicability: The lessons apply to businesses of all sizes and industries, including nonprofits and public sector organizations.
• Inspiring and Insightful: Through stories and examples, the book inspires leaders to rethink their approach to service and organizational culture.

3. What are the key takeaways from "Uncommon Service" by Frances Frei and Anne Morriss?

• Excellence Requires Trade-Offs: You must underperform in some areas to excel in others that matter most to your customers.
• Service Must Be Funded: Exceptional service needs a sustainable funding mechanism—either customers pay more, costs are reduced, or customers do some of the work.
• System Design Over Individual Effort: Service excellence is achieved by designing systems that enable average employees to succeed, not by relying on heroes.
• Customers Must Be Managed: Customers are active participants in service delivery and need to be managed, trained, and sometimes selected for operational fit.
• Culture Multiplies Design: Organizational culture is as important as service design; both must be aligned for sustainable excellence.

4. What are the "Four Service Truths" in "Uncommon Service" by Frances Frei and Anne Morriss?

• You Can’t Be Good at Everything: Excellence requires being bad at some things to be great at others, based on what your customers value most.
• Someone Has to Pay for It: Service excellence must be funded, whether through higher prices, cost reductions, or customer participation.
• It’s Not Your Employees’ Fault: The system, not individual effort, is the primary driver of consistent service excellence.
• You Must Manage Your Customers: Customers play an operational role and need to be managed, trained, and sometimes selected to ensure service quality.

5. How does "Uncommon Service" by Frances Frei and Anne Morriss define and use the concept of trade-offs in service design?

• Strategic Sacrifice: The book emphasizes that organizations must deliberately choose where to excel and where to underperform, based on customer priorities.
• Attribute Mapping: Tools like attribute maps help identify which service dimensions matter most to target customers and where to focus resources.
• Emotional Challenge: Embracing trade-offs can feel uncomfortable, but resisting them leads to mediocrity.
• Real-World Examples: Companies like Commerce Bank and Southwest Airlines are highlighted for their willingness to be "bad" at some things to be "great" at others.

6. What are the main ways to fund service excellence according to "Uncommon Service" by Frances Frei and Anne Morriss?

• Charge Customers More: Implement palatable pricing strategies where customers are willing to pay extra for better service.
• Reduce Costs While Improving Service: Find operational efficiencies that both lower costs and enhance the customer experience.
• Improve Service to Lower Costs: Invest in service improvements that reduce demand for costly interventions (e.g., better product design reduces support calls).
• Get Customers to Do the Work: Design self-service options that customers prefer, which also reduce organizational costs.

7. How does "Uncommon Service" by Frances Frei and Anne Morriss recommend organizations manage their employees for service excellence?

• Design for Average Employees: Build systems and processes that enable ordinary employees to deliver extraordinary service as a routine.
• Four Elements of Employee Management: Focus on selection, training, job design, and performance management, ensuring all are aligned with the service model.
• Simplify Jobs or Invest in Training: Either reduce job complexity or invest heavily in training and selection, depending on your business model.
• Integrate Technology Thoughtfully: IT systems should be designed to support, not hinder, employee performance and should be developed in tandem with job roles.

8. What does "Uncommon Service" by Frances Frei and Anne Morriss say about managing customers as part of the service process?

• Customers as Co-Producers: Customers are not just consumers but also play an active role in creating the service experience.
• Manage Variability: Recognize and address the different ways customers can impact service (arrival, request, capability, effort, preference).
• Customer Management System: Apply similar principles as employee management—select, train, design roles for, and manage the performance of customers.
• Use Normative and Structural Incentives: Employ community values, peer pressure, and system design (e.g., Netflix’s model) to encourage desired customer behaviors.

9. How does organizational culture factor into service excellence in "Uncommon Service" by Frances Frei and Anne Morriss?

• Culture Multiplies Design: Service excellence is the product of both good design and a strong, aligned culture (Service Excellence = Design × Culture).
• Three Cultural Levers: Clarity (knowing the culture you need), Signaling (communicating and reinforcing values), and Consistency (aligning actions and policies).
• Imprinting and Storytelling: Use onboarding, rituals, and stories to embed cultural values deeply in the organization.
• Decalcification: Regularly refresh and reinforce culture to prevent cynicism and complacency, especially in customer-facing roles.

10. What are some real-world examples and case studies used in "Uncommon Service" by Frances Frei and Anne Morriss?

• Commerce Bank: Excelled at convenience and attitude by sacrificing deposit rates and product complexity.
• Southwest Airlines: Focused on low prices and friendly service, while underperforming on amenities and network breadth.
• Zappos: Built a culture of happiness and service, with systems that support both employees and customers.
• Shouldice Hospital: Managed customer selection and training to achieve world-class surgical outcomes.
• Magazine Luiza: Designed customer management systems for low-income, often illiterate customers, enabling financial inclusion and loyalty.

11. How does "Uncommon Service" by Frances Frei and Anne Morriss address scaling and growth for service organizations?

• Standardization vs. Customization: To scale, organizations often need to standardize operations, but can still deliver high-quality, personalized experiences at the point of service.
• Multifocused Firms: Growth can also come from building multiple, distinct service models under one corporate umbrella, each optimized for different customer segments.
• Shared Services: Leverage economies of scale and experience by sharing back-office functions and knowledge across business units or brands.
• Leadership and Political Will: Successful scaling requires strong leadership to draw boundaries and maintain high standards in shared services.

12. What are the best quotes from "Uncommon Service" by Frances Frei and Anne Morriss and what do they mean?

• "You must be bad in the service of good." — Excellence requires deliberate underperformance in some areas to excel in others that matter most to customers.
• "Service excellence is a product of design and culture." — Both system design and organizational culture are equally important for sustainable service excellence.
• "The goal of an excellent service organization is to deliver outstanding results with average employees." — Systems, not individual heroics, should drive consistent excellence.
• "Leadership, at its core, is about making other people better as a result of your presence—and making sure that the impact lasts in your absence." — True leadership is about creating lasting conditions for others to succeed.
• "The primary obstacle to service excellence is not the ambition to be great, but the stomach to be bad." — Emotional resistance to trade-offs is the biggest barrier to achieving uncommon service.