The strengths of this are that each member of staff know that when they progress they will be rewarded.
The weaknesses of this are that people who are new comers may progress higher than others who have been in the company a long time; this may cause conflict between staff members.
Policies
Feedback, rewards, loyalty, mission statement/customer charter
Feedback,
P & O ferries feedback is received through emails and on-ship questionnaires, these are sent to the selected branches where they then look at all customer feedback if any is negative then they will try to amend the problem. The feedback is then evaluated and assessed if the feedback once evaluated is drawing concerns then the area of concerns will be investigated.
The strengths of this are the company knows what each customer feels and then can improve the service from this.
The weaknesses of this are the people who fill in he forms may not know what to write so lie, or they may be younger children playing around this causes a lot of delays.
Rewards, loyalty
There is a loyalty scheme offered, where you can earn points which can then can be used to get cheaper rates for the services, however to qualify you must have been using the service for at least five times. This service allows you to get advance boarding and departing, you are also entitled to free supplements while on board.
The strengths in this are that customers who join the service know that they are entitled to bonuses.
The weaknesses to this are the company has stated that you must have used them at least five times before you join, passengers may not remember how many times they have used the service and therefore may cause conflict between them and the customer.
Mission statement
P & O ferries mission statement” Welcome p&ople... To a way of travel that comes with freedom of choice and great service, all at affordable fares” sums up what the customers should expect while using the service. The mission statement expresses “great service” this means that the customers should not have any problems with the service.
The strengths of this are the customers can read what the company say the passengers should expect while on the journey.
The weaknesses of this are that the passengers can use it as evidence when complaining, they may not get a great service and then would be used to state that the customer is entitled to a “great service”
Virgin
Processes
Records Kept, Receipts, Booking Systems, databases, accident books
Records kept, Receipts, databases
Virgin keep a database of the customers who have used the service each individual booking would have a record number; this is then used if they need to track a booking.
The records are also kept in paper format, when a booking is made then the customer gets a copy of their reference number along with their tickets, sent to them in the post.
The strengths of this format for storing the data is that each customer can be identified using their unique record number.
The weaknesses of this are that the tickets may not be sent in time for the journey, this would mean that the customer could not travel without purchasing another ticket.
Booking Systems,
Virgin have an online booking system which can easily be used it is, in live format so they can book knowing that the prices displayed are correct.
There are also booking systems kept in the train stations where they form a network of databases, where the passenger can get their ticket straight away.
The strengths of this are that the booking systems all have unique registration numbers which would be used to identify which booking system was used to purchase the item.
The weaknesses of this is that as there are multiple booking systems if one crashes then the data is lost, however if they were all interlinked if one crashed the others would not, causing the data to be kept.
Accident Books
On each train owned by virgin there are groups of accident books which keep the detailed information on the accident, this would include how was it caused, who was involved, when did it occur, was any one injured and was it resolved. The other incidents may require investigating, to see if the same type of incident is appearing.
The strengths of these are that each individual involved could easily be found and the detailed information could identify the source of the problem.
The weaknesses of this type of recording the reports are that the data in it may not be hard to read because when a page is filled in then they may accidentally read another page when flipping through to the next empty space.
Resources
Staffing Levels, experience, qualifications
Staffing Levels, experience, qualifications, Training
The staff can progress from basic levels to highly skilled managers.
The basic levelled staff may just require G.C.S.E’S the next stage up may require a-levels, and anything above that will require a degree.
Virgin offers a training programme where the people with very little background knowledge can progress on to other levels. This may include a role such as leader of a region, then of a department nationwide and so on. They could then progress to manager of a particular area within virgin, such as manager of Pendolino trains.
The strengths of this are that each individual can then progress to the next level when they are ready to advance to the next stage.
The weaknesses of this are that staff that do not have a degree may progress to higher ranks than those who have a degree; this could then cause conflict between the other staff members.
Policies
Feedback, rewards, loyalty, mission statement/customer charter
Feedback,
Virgin’s feedback is received through emails and on-train questionnaires, the feedback is then evaluated and assessed if the feedback once evaluated is drawing concerns then the area of concerns will be investigated.
The strengths of this are that the feedback can be easily checked against others because the times of each departure would be different to another.
The weaknesses of this are that each person may mean the same phrase how ever they may say it in a different way, which will make it harder for the results to be compared.
Rewards, loyalty
There is a loyalty scheme offered, where you can earn points which can then can be used to get cheaper rates for the services, however to qualify you must have been using the service for at least five times. This service allows you to get advance boarding and departing, you are also entitled to free supplements while on board, these include newspapers and headphones, which can be used with the in seat audio system.
The strengths of this are that the customers who purchase the loyalty scheme will then recommend it to other people and they will then try to join.
The weaknesses for the scheme are that although people want to join they may only use the service five times a year and therefore will only be able to get discounts the following year after joining.
Mission statement
The statement states that the virgin team, are providing each individual customer with everything that they require.
“We commit to bringing the high standards of service associated with the Virgin brand to rail. We rely on well motivated and fully trained people to realise this, and all Virgin Trains people will receive on-going full training in customer care and related issues. We are also committed to co-operation with other train operators to provide you with as seamless a journey as possible”
The strengths of this are that each customer can refer to the statement to check that they are entitled to what they believe causing no confusion.
The weaknesses of this are that the statement may only mean one thing when the customers would believe it to mean something else, causing a lot of confusion and may lea to argument about certain topics.
Virgin
I would recommend that virgin to improve their service should ensure that on each journey there is a member of staff who would regularly (every 30 minutes) would walk through each carriage and ask their customers if every thing is alright and if not it can be sorted while the trains are still in motion and will not cause delays, e.g. if a person felt their carriage was too cold, then at the next station another carriage could be waiting for them or they could just be moved to another carriage where there is space.
Weaknesses
I believe the weakest part of virgin trains is the evaluation of the incidents, which takes place every three months. This should be every 6 weeks because there may be some incidents which can not be properly examined; these may include derailments and crashes.
P and O
I would recommend that P and O could improve their service by ensuring that thorough checks of every cabin is carried out after and during the service, this would also ensure that no one should make any complaints while onboard the vessel, this would also mean that the staff would work more efficiently knowing that everyone is pleased by the service they offer.
Weaknesses
I believe the weakest part of P & O ferries customer service is the booking system because there is no way of checking if the ferry will have all that you require on board and that you have to personally inform P & O ferries if you require assistance such as wheelchair access.
Virgin and P and O
If the same complaint is made for the same vehicle , then a thorough investigation is carried out, to ensure that each vehicle can operate correctly and the problem will not occur again, however if the problem can not be resolved then the vehicle will be suspended from service until the problem is resolved.
Both organisations share the same interests where they aim to provide their customers with the best possible experience given. They both aim to assist each individual with their specific needs.
However virgin examine their comments every three months whereas
P & O check their comments every 4 weeks, so that there is time to amend the problem by either providing a replacement or giving the customer vouchers or a refund if they felt their journey was not a very pleasant one, in which the description was incorrectly told to them.