Discuss reasons for using customer Purpose of evaluating a customer service policy service policies .
Discuss the purpose of evaluating a customer service policy, indicating how this can assist future staff training and development .
Evaluate different communication methods and how these are effectively used .
Analyze how customer perception is influenced by customer service provision.
Assess sources of information on customer requirements and satisfaction levels.
Carry out research on customer requirements and satisfaction levels for a selected business, suggesting potential improvements.
Deliver customer service in a business and service environment.
Review own performance in the delivery of customer service and make recommendations for improvement.
In present competitive environment high quality of service is expected for effective customer relationship management. The service organization today is transforming their emphasis from traditional interchange of business activities to activities of rational exchange (Feuss, 1995). Therefore it is very crucial for service organizations to maintain a satisfying relationship with their clients. Service quality in hotel industry is very much dependent on the exchange of processes that happens between the service provider and their customers (Buttle, 1996). In hospitality industry, it is crucial to evaluate any service gap and focus on ensuring quality services to enhance customer satisfaction; it also important to meet customer expectation and perception regarding service delivery (Feuss, 1995).
In this competitive environment, number of budgeted hotels is opening in UK market, one such renowned hotel chain is Travelodge. According to recent customer survey, the company is failing to meet customer satisfaction level and score as low as 50 and regarded within 5 most worst performing hotels in terms of customer satisfaction (Coldwell, 2013). However, with proper customer analysis, company can regain its market position. This is a customer analysis report prepared on London Hackney Hotel, one of the properties of Travelodge in north London (www.travelodge.co.uk, 2016). This report aims to evaluate three elements, importance of customer service policy and its role; second task focus on customer communication process, different methods and ways to convince customers and third is to evaluate customer expectations from the hotel and satisfaction level from the service through secondary and primary research. This paper will help managers of London Hackney Hotel in understanding gap between customer expectations of service and their service delivery, so that proper strategic actions can be taken to gain customer loyalty, satisfaction on the brand.
Customer service can be defined as an overall process of all the activities carried by organization to satisfy customer expectation and satisfaction level. It includes services provided before service is delivered, during service encounter process and also after service is given to customer. Key element of customer service includes service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty (Bowie & Buttle, 2004). A strong and effective customer service can help in gaining competitive advantage. Customer service policy is a standard document prepared for establishing a standard for execution of customer service in fairly standard situation (Feuss, 1995).
Use of customer service policy help in clarifying minimum standard of services for employees; it helps in understanding commitment, basic services, prohibition and communication within hotel property (Timm, 2008). Properly framed service policies are helpful for both customers as well as employees in understanding regulations and work accordingly.
Gaining competitive advantage in the market: In this competitive market, competitors generally match the product/service offering at same price; strong customer service policy will help in beating market competition by excelling employees in service delivery system (Kassim, 2010).
Stable working environment: in service industry continuous customer interaction take place, therefore employees must be clear about customer satisfaction level, it will help in ensuring team work, better employee and customer relationship and fast service delivery (Cronin, 2000).
Increase cost efficiency: Properly made and implemented customer service policy help in increasing customer retention, which help in boosting organizational profit.
Enhance brand value: increasing customer satisfaction and service helps in improving positive image of the hotel, it will also help in increasing positive word of mouth publicity.
In terms of London Hackney Hotel, there is no specific document present as customer service policy, there is integrity statement which represents information on honesty and ethical presentation of all transaction; there are two other core policies which include privacy policy and terms and condition. These two documents include information regarding booking, cancellation, data security, payments, rights, disputes etc. However, there is need for more concrete policies on customer service that include hotel commitment towards its customers, training to employees, dealing with people with disabilities and feedback process; all these elements are completely missing from hotel policy document, which must be included for improvement.
It is very crucial to evaluate customer service policy in order to understand present rules that are being followed by employees to gain customer satisfaction, whether set policies are covering all required aspects or not; it will help in analyzing the service gap and modify policies to make them more attractive and customer centric (Brotherton, 2008). Customer service policies have several elements, while evaluation it is crucial to analyze whether structure of the policy is proper or not, it must be present in easy and understandable language, it must be accessible to all; it must include information on customer requirements, their expectations, service information, confidentiality of data and communication process (Oh & Pizam, 2008).
Training is the process of providing and developing information and skills required by employees to operate within the organizational system. It helps in motivating employees and increasing overall productivity. It helps in developing staff skills, behavior; enhance team work and becoming competitive in the market (Noe, 2013). It will also help in developing professional and personal characteristics of staff.
Customer service policy can be used as an effective document for staff training in the organization; it can help in delivering information’s, which are as follow;
Basic service standard; this document help employees in understanding minimum service standard set by management, it include commitment, trust worthiness, the way booking, cancellation and disputes to be managed, services for people with disabilities; basic methodology to deal with situation and customer interaction.
Service quality: this document can be used to set customer expectations from service delivery, it helps in clarifying standardized processes within hotel, it also help in understanding code of conduct, privacy policies and terms and conditions for various service delivery; it also help in understanding staff competency requirement, flexibility and responsiveness to deal during service delivery (Robledo, 2001).
Evaluation process: this document also include information on feedback process, which help in understanding the way responses can be collected and used for enhancing customer experience within hotel.
As the above analysis on Travelodge hotel showed need for preparing a concrete customer service policy, it also helped in analyzing missing areas which must be included in the policy. Therefore, while proving training to future employees, management need to focus on factors like commitment, staff behavior, feedback process, need for people with disabilities; as this information will help employees in dealing with customers in better way. It will help employees in improving their service quality, understanding hospitality industry better and also get genuine feedback for industry improvement.
It is crucial to develop a customer-focused culture as it help in understanding customer demand and fulfill their needs in best way. Organization culture have indirect impact on guest experience, as it helps in framing the social environment in which employees operate and interact with customers (Laroche, 2009). It is crucial to develop culture that focus on customer needs and enhance coordination among employees. Further, the key to customer-focused culture is to develop employee skills, encourage ownership, risk, feedback and implement advance technological functions. Three core elements that impact customer delight include employees, customer expectations and organizational environment (McLean-Conner, 2006).
Communication is the key strategy to know the customer better and offer them personalized treatment which helps in exceeding their satisfaction level. Employee interaction methodology also impact the way service is being perceived by customers. It is crucial to evaluate different communication methodologies, their advantages, disadvantages, impact on customer satisfaction and prepare a concrete guide for communication that can be easily used by employees for effective communication with customers. Different types of communication methods that can be used in hotels are discussed below;
Verbal communication is regarding as oral conversation among people, it can be one to one interaction such as communication with customers, it can be with groups, and it can be over telephone also. In this methodology words are spoken to pass the intended message. Verbal message is very common in hospitality industry, when employees are in continuous interaction with customers (Robbins, et al., 2014). There are several element which must be considered during verbal communication, it include tone of voice must be low, staff need to interact in low and soft voice with customer and it induce positivity in communication process; other element include speed of communication and inflection; one should not use any sarcasm or defensive language during customer conversations. During group communication, voice needs to be louder but tone needs to be soft. This type of communication strategy is best suited in case of detail explanation requirement, for convincing someone, to understand problem, to complimenting someone.
Business communication are generally accepted in written forms as they help in presenting clarity as well as used for future reference. Written communication within organization include memos, business proposals, letters, training manuals, office orders, emails, policies, rules and notices. Written communication can be hand written or printed; now day’s customers are also opting for written communication for bookings in hotels (Chaturvedi, 2004). Customer interaction written communication must be written in polite, formal manner, it must convey positive message to customer. As during written conversation customers cannot see any expression, it is very crucial that they interpret right meaning of written message. Now a days increasing use of internet led an increasing use of written interaction between customer and hotel staff. This interaction impact hotel image and also create customer perception regarding hotel. This method helps in keeping reference for future.
Non-verbal communication can be defined as intentional or unintentional behavior of normative actions or expectations. The role of non-verbal communication methodology is inevitable during communication process, different factors such as gestures, postures, eye contact plays significant role in sending and receiving messages, which can be unsaid also. Staff expressions such as smile, physical appearance, dress code, hygiene, body movements, body orientation, eye contact, nodding, hand shaking, and smiling; proxemics and paralanguage have significant impact on service encounter. Transmission of emotions through nonverbal cues also impact customer perception regarding hotel (Kueh & Bagul, 2013 ). While communicating with customers, it is crucial to ensure that employees words are matched with proper expression, because deviation between the two impact customer perception negatively.
In general customer service provisions have strong impact on customer perception. If a customer is satisfied with customer services then it help in gaining customer loyalty, a company always want to increase repeat purchase and create a strong pool of loyal customers; it also help in increasing organizational profit and brand image (Mooij, 2010). Customer service provision impact the way customers see a brand, it shapes their image of hotel and further their choice also. Perception regarding Travelodge is not very positive in the market, it is being ranked three stars by customers in terms of value for money, and customer is dissatisfied from the breakfast offered. In the year 2014, company also invested for bedroom refurbishment of its hotel which helped in increasing customer satisfaction.
Though Travelodge is a budget hotel but there are issues in their customer service provisions, they are failing to satisfy customers, there are minimum service standards being expected as budgeted hotels also these days. For example, customers have complaints regarding no shampoos in bathrooms of hotel, these are basic demands which impact customer perception adversely and create negative image (Davis, 2007). Therefore, there is need for improving customer service provisions for Travelodge to get its market image back.
Secondary research
This chapter aims to understand customer requirements and expectations from the hotel; difference between customer expectation and actual service delivery leads to customer dissatisfaction. There are different type of sources that can be used by companies to assess customer requirements and expectations from the organization. Customer expectations are dynamic and they flow continuously at each service level. Understanding customer expectations and adding service performance accordingly helps in getting higher customer satisfaction.
This is the most widely used and successful method of understanding customer expectations as well as satisfaction from service delivery. Customer expectations are continuous evolving, therefore asking directly from customers help in knowing their expectations from service directly. Different tools for doing this include questionnaire survey, telephone or email surveys (Bernard, 2000). However, associating an incentive to survey help in collecting more feedback, for instance participate in the survey and get 5 percent off on next visit at Travelodge.
Another method for understanding customer expectation is to know failure areas, is the service delivery level is less than what is being offered. This can also be done by analyzing service delivery blueprint of hotel; it helps in identifying service delivery failure areas. This tool help in evaluating service from all 7 p’s perspectives such as core service, employees, infrastructure, pricing, promotion, any area which is failing to meet customer expectation can be improved.
Another tool that can be used for understanding customer expectation is to evaluate competitors position vis-à-vis own company position; it will help in understanding why customers prefer competitors over them, what is being offered by their competitors, it will help in understanding the service delivery gap and make strategy accordingly.
Apart from this, different stakeholders can also be observed and interviewed for understanding customer expectations from the hotel; some of them are as follow;
Customer: customer is the most appropriate person to understand their expectations from particular hotel, brand, it will help in analyzing what they want from the hotel and how their satisfaction levels can be enhanced
Employees: Front office employees are mostly involved in direct communication with customers; they can contribute in understanding customer expectations through observations
Customer records: different records such as complaints, grievances, customer comments at different websites, and reviews on the property helps in understanding service level expectations and loopholes
After collecting data from various sources following information have been collected regarding customer requirements and satisfaction level at Travelodge London Hackney Hotel:
In budgeted hotel, customer does not expect a very luxurious treatment but there are few basic service level expectations which include cleanliness, value, location, sleep quality, rooms and services.
Apart from this, SERVQUAL is an appropriate tool for evaluating customer expectations on the basis of tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy (Gale, 1994).
Analysis showed that customers are no more merely looking for low price element in budgeted hotels, rather they want to feel valued and an experience to remember; for example money back guarantee by primer inn in UK is a classic example of increasing customer expectation levels.
However, there is a customer segment called new budget converts, are the one who were using luxurious hotels but later on moved to budgeted hotels due to economic crisis but there expectations level from budgeted hotels are also very high
Customers do not want to pay for services they do not use such as a theatre desk, an extensive room service menu and a spa, therefore such price modification as per service usage are expected by customers.
Different sources that can use for collecting primary data on customer satisfaction include questionnaire, interview, case study analysis, observations etc. (Kothari, 2009). Here primary research has been conducted on visitors and guest of Travelodge, who has visited any of Travelodge hotels in the past and share their experience accordingly.
A small survey on ten randomly selected visitors was targeted through social media site, Facebook. A pre-defined questionnaire was sent to all guest and responses were collected and evaluated.
Name
Gender
|
Strongly Agree (SA) |
Agree (A) |
Neutral (N) |
Disagree (D) |
Strongly Disagree (SD) |
|
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
Expectation
|
Statements |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
|
1. The food served must be fresh, hygienically prepared and tasty. |
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|
2. Rooms must be clean |
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|
3. Personal basic facilities like music, basic hygiene material such as soap, shampoo must be available for the guest |
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4. Safety and security issues of the guest must be taken into consideration |
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5. The staffs must be enthusiastic to solve customer queries and handle unexpected situations |
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6. Follow up services such as tracking the customer experience after service encounters are taken into consideration. |
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7. Customer must get value of their money |
Satisfaction
Please tick statement while you think London Hackney Hotel is providing and meeting service expectations
|
Statements |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
|
1. The food served by the London Hackney Hotel is hygienic, fresh and as per customer specification |
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|
2. Rooms are clean |
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|
3. Personal basic facilities like music, basic hygiene material such as soap, shampoo are well available for the guest |
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|
4. The personal information of the customers are considered confidential and is not misused by the London Hackney Hotel |
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|
5. The staffs of the London Hackney Hotel are enthusiastic to solve customer queries and handle unexpected situations |
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|
6. Follow up services such as tracking the customer experience after service encounters are taken into well consideration by the hotel |
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|
7. Customers get true value for their money |
Below is graphical representation of customer expectation from hotel services:
Primary research helps in understanding that customers have high expectations in terms of value for money, as they are choosing a budgeted hotel for their stay because price holds significance in their choice. Further, second high expectation is in terms of facilities inside rooms, they seek access to basic facilities as they do not consider budgeted hotels to be cheap rather they must fulfill customer basic requirement. Third element is importance room, must be clean and of standard size and facilities. Fourth key expectation is from staff of the hotel, customer look for cooperative, enthusiastic staff that can help them in solving their problems. Fifth expectation is from food, followed by security and feedback.
Below is graphical representation of customer satisfaction from Travelodge hotel services:
Further, if present satisfaction level from London Hackney Hotel is analyzed then customers are highly dissatisfied from accommodation which score an average score of 2.5; value for money is also not worth, customers believe that hotel fails to provide them adequate services for money they pay, they are also dissatisfied with quality of food. Element facilities scores only 1 as all customers are dissatisfied with facilities provided within rooms, staff and feedback is also not up to the mark. Analysis shows that London Hackney Hotel, a property of Travelodge fails to meet customer expectation of service level in all criteria. It is a serious matter that require strategic changes in service management of Travelodge hotels otherwise it might impact the company adversely in both financial and non-financial terms.
There is need for revamping overall service strategy of Travelodge hotels, few of them is as follow;
Preparing a concrete customer service policy to state clear standards of service delivery for customers (Coye, 2004).
Providing adequate facilities, as budgeted hotels no more mean cheap hotels, rather customer expect standard services (Johns, 1993).
Proper training must be provided to staff on customer management and interaction.
Proper feedback system must be implemented to get customer reviews and grievance handling produce to resolve complaints in earliest possible time. Both internal and external feedback system must be implemented to review both operational and customer service performance (Rao, et al., 2008).
Conclusion
Above analysis helped in understanding importance of internal mechanisms, policies and communication on customer perception and expectation regarding hotel. Service industry is very fast, one poor service encounter spread hundred negative word of mouth comments and impact company image adversely. In this era of technological advancement, in no time customer can impact company image adversely through internet. It is crucial to keep all policies and standards at place, Travelodge needs to prepare a concrete customer service policy document that help employees in understanding their service standards and deliver work accordingly. Properly maintained policies help in training employees. Further, communication is the key element in service industry, therefore proper consideration must be ensured during verbal, written communication, nonverbal cues and expression should be considered properly. Major findings show low level of customer satisfaction regarding Travelodge, there is need for making strategies to improve customer experience and fulfill their expectation.
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