LensCrafters' customer benefit package, service delivery, and competitive strategy

¶ … characteristics LensCrafters 3 levesl ( a total 9). a. Customer Benefit Package (CBP), strategy competitive priorities. b. Service delivery system design c. Service encounter design Discuss lessons LensCrafters demonstrates organizations learn.

LensCrafters

LensCrafters is one of the leading prescription grasses and sunglasses companies in the world. Headquartered in the United States, the company is part of the Italian conglomerate Luxottica, which is the largest eyewear company in the world (Barbaro, 2006). The organization was founded in 1983 in Mason, Ohio, and has since then, increased in size, importance and popularity. Today, LensCrafters is notable not only as a provider of eyewear products, but also as a reputable business organization, worthwhile analyzing. In order to conduct this analysis, the focus would fall on four specific issues, as revealed below:

Customer benefit package, strategy and competitive priorities

Service delivery system design

Service encounter design

Lessons from LensCrafters

1. Customer benefit package, strategy and competitive priorities

On a first note, the primary characteristic is represented by the company's commitment to customer satisfaction and value through the delivery of a superior customer benefit package. In this stance, LensCrafters places an increased emphasis on the provision of high quality products, coupled with convenient and high quality services. An example of the company's customer benefit package, revealed below, shows that the company is committed to ease of use, easy accesses, wide product range, quick delivery, availability of accessories, service and so on.

Source: Collier and Evans, 2011

At the level of strategy, the company has focused its attention of the development and implementation of a business model focused on an increased effectiveness of the leadership effort. The program to improve leadership effectiveness was implemented through a duration of two years and its targeted objectives were those of increasing the market share of the organization, as well as generating an increase in sales, and subsequently, profitability. In conducting the strategic intervention, the company paid special attention to directing, coaching, supporting, delegating, goal setting, observing performance and giving feedback. The results of the intervention were better than expected as the company registered increases in sales, and also a net improvement in the internal environment at the firm (Phillips, 1994).

Third, in terms of the competitive priorities, the characteristic pertaining to LensCrafters is represented by the company's desire to become differentiated from its competitors at the social level, rather than the business level. In other words, the company has focused on the satisfaction of the needs and wants of various stakeholders, and used this process as a means of reputation enhancement. LensCrafters for instance has created a campaign by which their customers were encouraged to donate their used glasses to others in need. Additionally, aside from this, the competitive priorities also fell of high quality services.

"LensCrafters has chosen to differentiate itself from optical competitors with similar products through superior service. While we created GOS [Give the Gift of Sight] for its social benefits, we maintain and grow it because it helps us build a service-minded culture" (Kotler and Lee, 2005).

3. Service encounter design

At the level of the service encounter design, the three important characteristics refer to the existence of sufficient and necessary staffs, the training of the staffs and the guarantee attached to the LensCrafters glasses.

In terms of the staff, each LensCrafters store employs at least three different categories of staffs, which ensure that each specific customer need is addressed. Additionally, these staff categories -- namely the sales associates, the lab technicians and the optometry doctors -- ensure that the company provides not only the material; product, but also the immaterial adjacent services required by the customers, such as specialized consult and consultancy.

Then, at the level of the skills and capabilities of the staff members, it is noted that all of the staffs posses vast knowledge of their field of operation and they had been subjected to intense training programs.

"Each job at LensCrafters -- sales associate, lab technicians and doctor of optometry -- requires both technical skills and service management skills. Associates are well-trained, friendly and knowledgeable about their jobs. The lab technicians are certified in all work tasks and processes. Many associates are cross-trained" (Collier and Evans, 2011).

Finally, at the level of the guarantee, all customers are able to return the purchased items within a 30 day period; during the same period, the company provides unconditional guarantee. This feature allows the company customers to have the products mended -- if necessary -- or changed to better fit their needs or desires, which might have changed since the moment of purchase. All these characteristics are designed to enhance the value of the customer experience.

4. Lessons from LensCrafters

LensCrafters is a successful and notable business agent, which has managed to develop and implement a business model that ensures its long-term and sustainable success. In such a setting then, the firm becomes interesting not simply as a business agent, but also as a source of inspiration for other economic agents. Specifically, there are numerous lessons to be drawn from the business model and decisions adopted by LensCrafters, and some of the more notable of these lessons are revealed throughout the following lines:

The creation of points of difference at non-business levels. LensCrafters has implemented a competitive priority of social importance, through which it improves its public image. In today's economy, the access to resources and technologies is easier, which means that the quality of the products tends to converge. This means that the economic agents have to devise new points of difference, and the focus on various stakeholder categories is a solid starting point.

The integration of the business decisions. In the case of LensCrafters, this is best obvious at the level of the service delivery system design, where the commitment and decisions for service quality are present at all company levels, including the structure, the technology, the job design and so on. It is necessary for all economic agents to identify the pillars of their business models and to support them in an integrate manner, at a company wide level.

Convenience of purchase. LensCrafters has emphasized the convenience of purchase through store location and an offer of complementary products and services. Economic agents should as such remember that customers are attracted by convenience, ease of purchase and availability of complementary products and all these increase the chances of purchase and customer satisfaction.

References:

Barbaro, M., 2006, Personal business; at LensCrafters, selling candor and designer frames, The New York Times, http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0DE0D9163FF936A25757C0A9609C8B63 last accessed on June 6, 2012

Collier, D.A., Evans, J.R., 2011, OM3, 3rd edition, Cengage Learning

Kotler, P., Lee, N., 2005, Corporate social responsibility: doing the most good for your company and your cause, John Wiley and Sons

Phillips, J.J., 1994, Measuring return on investment, Vol. 2, American Society for Training and Development, ISBN 1562860658