The service-product-customer triangle

Tech has changed the delivery of services—from a straightforward one-to-one relationship, to a more complex non-linear service/product/customer triangle. From healthcare to hospitality, to more internal services like HR, many services that were once entirely human-driven are now heavily supported—or even mediated—by technology. While this shift streamlines operations and improves efficiency, it also introduces a new layer of complexity that we in Product need to carefully navigate.

The old days: a simpler equation

Before the rise of technology, service interactions were primarily linear: the provider and the customer formed a direct, one-on-one relationship. Take a restaurant, for example. The experience was simple: a customer ordered, and a server took their order. If something went wrong—the food was cold or the order was wrong—the responsibility (and often the blame) was immediately tied to the server or the kitchen. The relationship was clear, the expectations were set, and the human element ensured that any misstep could be directly addressed.

Healthcare is another prime example. A patient visited a doctor, shared their symptoms, and the doctor provided a diagnosis or treatment. The relationship was intimate, and trust was built on this direct interaction. Any mistake, while devastating, was clearly a failure of human judgment or process. The stakes were high, but the cause and effect were obvious.

Enter the triangle: tech products in services

Now, enter technology. In restaurants, tablets for ordering, booking systems, they are becoming the norm. In healthcare, patient portals and telemedicine platforms are being used at all levels. What was once a two-person equation has now turned into a triangle: the service provider, the customer, and the tech product itself.

While the product often adds value by reducing friction, improving speed, and increasing convenience, it also introduces new risks. If the tablet crashes mid-order, or if a healthcare app misroutes an urgent request, who takes the hit? In many cases, in the eyes of the person sitting at the restaurant table or the patient, it’s not the technology, but the service provider themselves. This is a shift that Product Managers, especially us in B2B/Enterprise software, need to be acutely aware of: our product doesn’t just serve “customers”, it serves service providers. And when things go wrong, the service provider is the one left holding the bag.

Serving two audiences

As Product Managers in B2B, our job is not just about solving problems for those that pay the bill to our employer. This is a context in which we have two audiences, two sets of personas, with their very different needs, problems and expectations: the service provider, and the service customer. It’s easy to focus solely on the experience of those that pay us—after all, their satisfaction as customer is the metric that we as Product teams, Customer Success teams, etc. track more often. But overlooking the risks of the service providers is a mistake that can have serious consequences.

Let’s return to the restaurant example. A tablet ordering system might seem like a sleek way to modernise the dining experience. Customers can browse the menu at their leisure, customise orders, and pay seamlessly. But what happens when a customer has a dietary restriction that the tablet doesn’t account for? Or when a large party needs to split the bill in ways that aren’t easily handled by the system? Or when a tablet freezes? Suddenly, the server is left scrambling to accommodate the needs of their customer, manually override the tech, and salvage the experience—all while under pressure to uphold the restaurant’s reputation.

Navigating edge cases and complex scenarios

This brings us to an essential point for Product Managers: designing for edge cases and complex scenarios isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s critical. While the happy path in user journeys might serve 90% of our customer base, that remaining 10% can have a disproportionately large impact on the service provider’s reputation.

In product development, it’s tempting to focus on the clean, elegant solution that works perfectly under normal conditions. But when things go awry—when the system crashes during peak hours, or when a user input goes unrecognised—the burden falls squarely on the shoulders of the service provider. The reputation risk is theirs to bear, less ours.

It’s imperative that us PMs test for these edge cases and stress-test scenarios that go beyond typical user behaviour. Building in fail-safes, manual overrides, and robust customer support options ensures that when things go wrong (and they inevitably will), the service provider has the tools they need to mitigate the damage.

The PM’s responsibility

The Service-Product-Customer Triangle is ultimately about trust. Customers trust service providers, and service providers trust the products you build. If your product doesn’t serve both parties equally, it undermines this trust and leaves the service provider vulnerable. We’re not just enhancing customer experiences—you’re also providing the service provider with the confidence that our product will work when they need it most.

In a sense, we’re the silent partner in their operation. When things run smoothly, it feels effortless. But when things break, it’s their reputation on the line. For this reasons, we must ensure our products not only delight end users but also empower service providers to deliver great experiences, ultimately enhancing their reputation.