1.

0 Introduction
Services have been playing a major role in the economic growth in developed and also most
of the developing countries today. A service is defined as an act, performance or experience
that one party can offer to another and that is essentially tangible and does not result in any
ownership of anything (Lovelock, Patterson & Wirtz 2011). The purpose of this diary report
is to show an understanding of application of theory concepts to the experience in relation to
the chosen service business. The business chosen for this report is a caf called Pulp by Papa
Palheta.
This report covers the experience encountered at the caf through the three stages of service
consumption which are the pre-purchase stage, purchase and consumption stage and lastly,
the post-purchase stage. Later on, a further analysis about the service experience is to be
provided in the report.
The flower service model will be used to explain how it links the eight supplementary
services to the experience encountered at Pulp. In additionally, service quality will be an
extra theory used for further explanation of the service. Last but not the least,
recommendations will be given in the last part of the report in relation to the service areas
that have been discussed.

2.0 Analysis and Recommendations for Caf Businesses

2.1 The Flower of Service Model
The flower of service model shows the core service being in the middle surrounded by two
kinds of supplementary services which are facilitating services and supporting services.
Facilitating services include information, order-taking, billing, payment while supporting
services include consultation, hospitality, safekeeping and exceptions. These elements are
needed for the service delivery to aid the core product (Lovelock, Wirtz & Chew 2009).

2.1.1 Facilitating Services

Information
It is important to provide relevant information or details of the service for the customers
especially new customers in order to obtain full value from any good or service (Lovelock,
Patterson & Wirtz 2011). As the caf, Pulp by Papa Palheta is still new in town, it does not
have an official webpage or a Facebook page to provide information to the customers. The
customers may not know the whereabouts or even the existence of the caf. The only way of
getting details about the caf such as the location, operating hours, the menu and others for
the time being is to obtain from the food bloggers websites and most importantly, the word
of mouth. Therefore, customers can know about the existence of the caf only if they come
across in reading the food blogs or hearing it from their peers.

Order-taking
The first step in transaction is order-taking. According to Contact One (2012), the ordertaking process should be fast and accurate in order not to lose important sales. Pulps ordertaking process occurs at the cashier where the barista will take customers orders by keying in
the details into the cafs system. Orders will even be repeated by the barista to have final
confirmation with the customers. After that, customers will be given reference numbers while
waiting for their food and beverages to be arrived. However, Pulp does not offer booking
reservation probably due the limited seats offered in the caf.

Billing & Payment

Billing is also an important element in supplementary service. Customers also expect billing
to be clear, informative and itemised in a proper way. It also has to be timely so that
customers do not have to wait for a long time for response (BillWise 2012). Payment takes
place once billing has been done. The purpose of billing and payment is to make sure that
people pay what is due (Lovelock, Patterson & Wirtz 2011). Billing and payment will be
issued at the same time in Pulp. Billing is usually being delivered in a printed receipt format.
Like all the other cafs, advance payment is usually being practiced probably to act as a
protection against non-payment. Customers usually expect more options of payment method
(Schreft 2006). Despite that, Pulp only offers cash payment method which is somehow seems
limited to the customers.

2.1.2 Enhancing/Supporting Services

Consultation
According to Lovelock, Patterson and Wirtz (2011), consultation involves some form of
dialogue to figure out what customers require and then comes up with a tailored solution. It
becomes the base of building the trust and potentially enduring relationship with a customer.
In the case of Pulp, customers who cannot make their decision based on the wide range of
coffee beverages can seek suggestions from the barista. The baristas will then explain and
provide the best option for the customers.

Hospitality
A friendly and generous treatment to make the customers feel welcome and comfortable, this
is called hospitality (Hass & Hawk 2010). It is important to provide a good hospitality so that
good impressions will be made to the customers. A good quality of hospitality service can
increase customer satisfaction and thus increasing their repeat purchases and use of services
(Hu et al. 2010). Pulp makes use of the hospitality by greeting warmly and happily at its
customers as they enter and leave the caf. Chatting with the customers is also a way for Pulp

to get connected with the customers. Besides that, the simple and cosy concept of the caf is
designated to provide a comfortable ambience for the customers.

Safekeeping
It is said that customers often need assistance with their personal possessions when visiting a
service site. However, Pulp does not provide safekeeping services to look after their
customers possessions. Even a service like parking facilities for vehicles is not provided.
Therefore, customers will find it difficult to find parking especially during peak hours and
sometimes may even park illegally in terms of convenience.

Exceptions
In this case, there was no exception in the business operation of Pulp.

2.2 Service Quality

The service quality is the differences between service performance (customers own
perception) and service expectation (Parasuraman, Zeithaml & Berry 1985). Service quality
is needed to create customer satisfaction. Hence, a service will be considered excellent if
perceptions are higher than expectations; a service will be considered good if perceptions and
expectations are on par; and a service will be considered bad if expectations are not met
(Oliver 1997).
Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1988) came up with a measurable scaled termed
SERVQUAL to measure service quality. There are five crucial dimensions in the scale to be
applied to this case which are tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy.

Tangibles
Pulp has high quality of coffee makers and blending machines which actually did create a
good taste and art of coffee. Besides having friendly baristas at the caf, the simple
decoration and the cosy ambience of the caf had given a sense of comfort to the customers.
Not to forget, the good selection of music also had boosted its ambience.
Reliability
Reliability could not be judged as there was no certificate of the baristas qualifications
hanging in the caf. This may lead to doubts in the customers about the coffee making skills
of the baristas.
Responsiveness
Pulps baristas are always ready to serve their customers. They showed willingness in
explaining the differences between the types of coffees and even provided suggestions as in
which was the best option to be chosen.
Assurance
With the vision of running the best coffee shop in town, Pulp has definitely provide trust and
confidence by being able to make a good cup of coffee. A consistent good performance will
not only attract more customers but also maintaining the current customers.

Empathy
Pulp pays fully attention and understands the needs of its customers. The art of the coffee can
be made according to the customers requests.

3.0 Conclusion
The Flower Service Model has clearly highlighted the concept of the core and supplementary
services in relation to the diary. Not only that, the diary report has also been analysed by
using the five dimensions of service quality. This service experience was satisfactory but as
always, there are still rooms for improvement in everything. In conclusion, in order to survive
in such competitive environment for a services business, a constant innovation is important to
keep up with the ever-changing environment.

3.1 Recommendation
The caf service can be improved by creating social media platforms to increase awareness.
Pulp can post up latest information such as promotions, activities and others through
platforms like the Facebook, Instagram and even its own webpage so that people are able to
keep track with the caf. Besides that, Pulp should also implement credit payment system so
that customers have more options of payment. Furthermore, in order to allow more people to
share the enjoyment of sipping on coffee, the caf should increase more seats.

(1397 words)