Hotels Attempts to Persoanlise Their Customer Service.

by murph56 (student)

University Degree Business and Administrative studies

What hotels like Hilton and The Ritz-Carlton are doing is a very daring strategy that could make for some either impressive service delivery or incredible service failure. I personally believe that this strategy will be a successful one. That said, this strategy is not full proof and is contingent on how the customer reacts. Imagine walking into a hotel that you frequent on a yearly basis. You walk in; the front staff knows your name, what room you will be in, who is accompanying you, how many days you will be staying, and any other preferences related to the hotel. On top of that, they know all of this information before you even say a word. To most people, this would seem like extraordinary service experience that really focuses on a personal touch. To some people though, this may feel intrusive and inappropriate. As stated in the article, hotels are to be a “home away from home”, a place with as much privacy as your own home. By monitoring and listening to customers in a stealthy manner, it would be common for people to feel uncomfortable. As stated above, this strategy’s success is founded on the customer and what aspects of their service, they would like to have monitored. In my opinion, the number of customers who will appreciate the service will outweigh those who oppose it.

If hotels are going to take such risky approaches to collecting customer data, they must have good reason, which is exactly what they do. The most important motivation for this strategy would have to be to gain a competitive edge. By knowing, what customers want and how they feel, any hotel can gain a competitive advantage through meeting those needs. By having, well-personalized service that helps to solve problems and that offers immediate feedback, hotels can respond faster to the customer’s needs. Along with a good competitive advantage comes increased market share. In a down economy, with declining profits, the more market share you can grab, the better. With the possibility of increased market share, it is clear to see what is driving these hotels. From the view point of SERVQUAL, these hotel chains want to shrink the gap between what the customers expects and what management thinks that customer expects. Monitoring the customer and getting clear feedback easily shrinks this gap. Monitoring the customer does leave room to widen the gap. When a customer goes to a hotel, they do not expect to be watched by the staff, and this can make them uncomfortable. Another reason as to why these hotels are taking these approaches to collect data could be to expand the brand name. Though maybe not a forethought, issuing cards to customers (i.e. Co-branded credit card), will extend the hotel name into areas not used before.

Ritz-Carlton:

The Ritz-Carlton’s strategy involves a new database called “Mystique.” In this system, employees catalogue their observations of the customer, and the database shares this information with the company’s 60 hotels. This system does not require the customer give any direct feedback, but rather, is dependent on employee observations.

Advantages

The customer is not bothered with forms to fill out

The information is shared with its other hotels**

Direct feedback allows for the service to be changed during the stay

**Advantage for hotel, disadvantage ...