Premises
On arrival we sat in the foyer and we are cheered for quite some time before being seen how ever this was a comfortable experience due to the leather sofas, so would seem that the speed of service was a bit low for us. Accuracy however was perfect.
Products and Services
T Clarke made a presentation for us on their customer service skills and attributes. I asked him what kind of products or services are you currently offering to customers and is there anything else you're planning to introduce for the future. He spoke clearly and replied that they are thinking of adding a spa, at the moment they are focusing on the wedding market and are thinking of new ways to encourage families.
Effective Communication
The Best Western Magherabuoy staff does have effective communication skills, you know this because Trevor Clarke himself was the example given to us and he spoke clearly to us, not trembling with nerves or speaking too fast. He gave us the information that we needed and more.
For Magherabuoy house the customer is the most important person in the business, therefore worth meeting customer needs is a priority, it is important to them that the customer is never dissatisfied.
Teamwork
Teamwork is important throughout all the staff, especially the ones dealing with customer service. There are 80 members of staff in the whole hotel and for them; there are 10 managers, one for every 10 staff sections.
This is a very good thing, they do not only have enough managers for their staff but the managers would meet up together on a regular basis to make sure that the staff are doing their job the way they should. and not only that but to make sure all staff even from different sections are working at the same level and that they are all providing the same level of customer service.
Customer Service Polices
The Best Western group have costumer policies in place which means that their hotels and the staff in customer service roles will be monitored every three months, first of all the employees go under a training course which involves achieving a certificate in Welcome Host so that they can be more experienced in the job field.
Meeting Customer needs
Meeting customer needs is something that the Magherabuoy strongly believe in and states that they want to exceed their needs at all times.
When they serve up a Sunday carvery in a specific room which looks out onto the garden with the play park for children, this is so that the parents can enjoy their dinner and at the same time know that their kids are safe and not causing any bother. This is evidence of meeting the customer needs of families.
Mission Statement
The mission statement of best western international is to enhance brand equity and increase member value.
This shows some different things; first of all it shows that best western want to keep things simple and basic, this is a careful move as they do want to say their aim is higher than their action. It would be hypocritical of them to state a list of positive things which they aspire to do if they were not trying to do any of them. It is also quite clever because the best western group does cover a large group of people and to hope they were all acting the same way is a risk.
The next organisation I will talk about is Virgin and more specifically Virgin-Atlantic. My research for this part of the task has come from their website, and so I will be investigating the basic principals of customer service from this.
From looking at their website my first immediate impression is that it is definitely the right one!
Logo
When you see anything with the trademark name Virgin on a plane or in a store, on CD covers or anywhere else; you know who it comes from and what brand it is straight away from the bright red labels.
The virgin websites are all like this, which is good it emphasises just how recognisable their logo is.
Premises
I cannot visit any of their premises for this investigation but from being in Virgin media stores before I remember that it was well laid out, easy to find the products you were looking for, and like other music stores had low level aisles so it made the place look bigger and more spacious.
Meeting customer needs
Virgin aims to meet customers’ needs; and with Virgin Atlantic, they have a department dedicated to helping their passengers with special travel needs, providing a broad range of services to make their journey as comfortable as possible. The Special Assistance department creates a specific plan for each passenger to ensure that their special travel needs are fulfilled. These needs vary from special meals to providing mobility aids at the airport.
Customer service policies
When it comes to customer service, Virgin has links on the website to many helpful pages including a list of FAQs which explains just about everything you could possibly want to know as a customer. It explains complaints procedures and is keeping the public up to date with the recent dilemma with terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport.
“Customer service and commitment to our passengers has been the driving force behind our brand. We strive to get it right, first time, every time. Occasionally things do not go as planned. We believe that you have the right to know what level of service you can expect from us all the time - even in those rare moments when we fall short of the very high standards we have set ourselves.”
Products and services offered
This is a list of all the products and services offered through the website of Virgin- Atlantic
Speed and accuracy of service
To test how speedy (taking into account of the slowness of the computer) and accurate their levels of service are, I put in my booking information and was delighted to find that exactly what I wanted came up, I then entered a few specific needs and they were able to cater for me.
Teamwork
Virgin Atlantic has a procedure of a one day training course which will enable staff to provide exceptional customer service.
Mission Statement
The mission statement of virgin Atlantic itself; separate from Virgin as a whole is;
"To grow a profitable airline, that people love to fly and where people love to work."
This shows that they want both their costumers and workers to have an enjoyable experience with them, which is good that they take into account the feelings of the both groups of people who make organisations’ growth possible.
Methods used to monitor and evaluate service standards
There are three main methods that can be used to monitor the levels of service and Best western use all three.
Mystery Shoppers
Magherabuoy House hotel do use mystery shoppers to evaluate their levels of customer service, they have began using these methods due to complaints. After using mystery shoppers in the bar, reception area and generally throughout the entire customer facing roles of staff, Trevor Clarke told us this in our questions and answers session with him. He said that they were able to improve with a lot more ease and were able to pin point the flaws so the company could then improve. The hotel does not use mystery shoppers on a regular basis, more so only when there could be a problem which cannot be seen by managers or fellow colleges.
Questionnaires
Quantitative these are quite simply yes/no questions for example the Magherabuoy use these sorts of questions to try and understand the needs of the customers.
Qualitative are more open questions which can be used to describe how something felt, Magherabuoy use these in their restaurant to find out how people enjoyed the food and what could be better.
Observation
The managers at Best Western regularly observe the state of their properties, from the use of the questionnaires; the Magherabuoy restaurant staff were able to observe the responses and came to understand that the majority of the negative reports were coming from the breakfast menu. Once the observation had taken place, the restaurant changed their menu and then soon found goof feedback coming back to them about it.
Part Two
P2 describe the benefits of good quality customer service, and the consequences of poor service, in two different travel and tourism organisations.
Benefits of good service to the employee
Magherabuoy promote working as part of a team for collective goals to help boost staff motivation; this is one of their staff incentives. With clear standards in place staff will be customer focused therefore the level of customer complaints should be reduced.
The employee will look forward to the financial rewards; the Magherabuoy give pay rises to the employees after a period of time, once the employee has worked there for the first three months their salary will rise slightly and so on.
The employee will look forward to the monthly rewards such as staff bonuses and employee of the month; obviously these are only given when and were disserved so this will incentivise the staff.
There are opportunities for further promotion through training- once the staff are in higher training they will soon feel proud to work for the organisation.
When the employee is working well and looks well; they will feel well. This means that if the employees are providing a good service, the customers then will have nothing to complain about and perhaps may say thank you for the service- this will result in job satisfaction.
Benefits of good service to the employer
The employer will achieve business success if customer expectations are satisfied and exceeded.
For the employer; increased sales and profits and profits mean customers may buy more products or services and will want to repeat business when they enjoy themselves but this will only happen when a good service is provided to the customer.
The employer himself will gain a good PR (reputation) as a strong share of market continues to grow.
As an organisation the Magherabuoy can compete more strongly by reducing complaints and complaints can only be reduce through providing a good service.
Benefits of good service to customer
Will feel satisfied.
Will have enjoyed experience.
Be encouraged to return again, therefore a repeat business is assured.
Will feel they receive real value for their money.
Consequences
Employer
Minor problems can cascade into more serious situations.
Revenue lost.
Customers lost
Image and reputation damaged
Competitive advantage is lost
Market share decrease
Financial success undermined
Employee
Customers pay wages so if poor customer service is offered….
Higher level of complaints to deal with
Difficult working environment… low staff motivation
Threay of job security. If losses made, job not secure
No oppertunities for promotion
May not get good employee ref
Hotel wont achieve 4*
Customer
Needs not met they go elsewere
Org cant afford to loose customer… they depend on customer
Competitors will pick up your business
