This activity is designed to provide evidence for Pl.

Transcription

1 Analysing th rsults of customr survys will giv managrs a dtaild imprssion of thir standards of customr srvic and highlight aras for improvmnt. Managrs will also us sals and profitability figurs as anothr important masur of customr satisfaction, as wll as analysing data on customrs, such as th volum of rpat businss, frquncy of bookings, satisfaction lvls, customr spnd, tc. Monitoring such information, ithr manually or with th hlp of a computr-basd systm, will allow managrs to s if prformanc standards and spcific objctivs of thir customr srvic programm ar bing mt. Informal fdback is oftn a valuabl indicator of customr satisfaction lvls, sinc a customr is mor likly to rval his or hr tru flings and attituds in an unpromptd chat with a mmbr of staff than whn that sam mmbr of staff is carrying out a qustionnair survy of usrs. Informal fdback can tak many forms, including: A rmark to a holiday rprsntativ about th poor standard of th food in a rsort hotl; A mmbr of staff ovrharing customrs praising th standard of srvic rcivd at a holiday cntr; A child hard complaining to his fathr about th lngth of tim thy ar having to quu for a rid at a thm park. It is important that managmnt stablish a mchanism by which this informal fdback is collctd and monitord. W ar all wll awar ofth influnc that unhappy customrs can hav on th imag of an organisation and thrby its succss. W all lik to talk about our travl and tourism xprincs, which, if ngativ, can sprad vry quickly by 'word of mouth'. This powrful mchanism can also b bnficial for thos organisations that hav providd an xcllnt standard of srvic. Many travl and tourism oprators now hav rgular staff mtings at which mploys ar invitd to shar any informal fdback that thy hav pickd up. Thy ar also ncouragd to rcord commnts from customrs on spcially dsignd fdback forms, so that managmnt can monitor th situation to s if corrctiv action is ndd in any aras. Th managmnt at Disnyland Paris follows th lgndary Disny managmnt philosophy of putting th customr at th hart of th opration. All staff ar traind in customr srvic skills and hav rgular training sssions at which thy discuss th importanc of informal fdback and shar thir xprincs with othr mploys. Carry out som rsarch into two local travl and tourism organisations (from diffrnt industry sctors) to discovr th rang of mthods usd to monitor and valuat customr srvic standards. This activity is dsignd to provid vidnc for Pl. Excllnt standards of customr srvic not only bring bnfits to customrs, but also to mmbrs of staff and th organisation itslf. Customrs bnfit by having thir nds mt in an fficint and frindly mannr, thrby producing an njoyabl xprinc with lss strss! Staff working in th organisation will also rap rwards, with incrasd job satisfaction, bttr opportunitis for promotion, a bttr working nvironmnt, mor training and mayb financial incntivs linkd to sals targts. Th main bnfits to th organisation of providing xcllnt customr srvic ar shown in Figur 4.3. Th diagram in Figur 4.3 shows us that th bnfits to organisations of offring xcllnt customr srvic ar good public rlations (PR), fwr complaints, incrasd sals and profits, and a comptitiv advantag for th organisation.

2 hav a critical rol to play. Staff working for a company that placs a high valu on giving xcllnt customr srvic can rap a varity of rwards and bnfits. To bgin with, thy ar likly to njoy job scurity from knowing that thir mployr is among th bst in th sctor for customr srvic. Through plannd and co-ordinatd training programms, staff will also advanc thir prsonal and profssional dvlopmnt. Thr ar, of cours, costs associatd with rcruiting and training th bst staff availabl, but in th long run this is oftn a vry good invstmnt for both mployr and mploy. Othr bnfits to an organisation of introducing xcllnc in customr srvic ar likly to includ: Improvd co-opration btwn dpartmnts; Rducd absntism by staff; Lowr turnovr of staff; Improvd scurity; Lss wast (of matrials, tim, mony, tc.); Improvd quality in othr aspcts of th organisation's work; Rduction in advrtising spnd (through rtaining xisting customrs). Most of all, following a policy of customr srvic xcllnc will hlp to nsur that th organisation achivs its objctivs and that all who hav a stak in th businss, whthr thy ar customrs, ownrs, sharholdrs, staff, managrs or tax payrs, will all bnfit. Most travl and tourism organisations ar privatsctor com panis looking to maximis thir profits. In an incrasingly comptitiv businss nvironmnt, high customr srvic standards can mak a ral diffrnc to a company's 'bottom lin', i.. thir profit margin, by ncouraging rpat businss and by 'word of mouth' from satisfid customrs. Giving xcllnt customr srvic can also giv a company a comptitiv advantag ovr othr businsss in th sam sctor; for xampl, two rstaurants in th sam strt in a holiday rsort could offr vry diffrnt standards of customr srvic, with low standards lading to lss customrs and lowr profits. With so many companis compting for tourists' spnding, th way that staff trat customrs can mak th diffrnc btwn succss and failur for a company. Also, organisations that trat thir customrs wll tnd to trat thir staff in th sam way, thrby attracting high calibr mploys, kping staff turnovr to a minimum and crating a positiv imprssion with customrs. As wll as th implications facd by organisations whn providing customr srvic, mploys also Not surprisingly, th popl who gain most from high standards of customr srvic ar th customrs thmslvs! Thir holiday or travl xprinc can

3 b mad xtra spcial with th hlp of attntiv and profssional customr srvic staff. By th sam tokn, if srvic standards ar poor, it is th customrs who suffr first. Any customr srvic opration should b built around giving th customr complt satisfaction at all tims. Failur to offr a consistnt and rliabl standard of customr srvic can rsult in a lss than njoyabl xprinc for th customr and could los th company businss in th long run, as this rsarch from th US Offic of Consumr Affairs dmonstrats: about spcial offrs, discountd dals or mor complx customr loyalty programms as th nxt xampl dmonstrats. xplains th bnfits of good quality customr srvic for customrs, mploys and mployrs. This activity is dsignd to provid vidnc @ 96 pr cnt of dissatisfid customrs nvr complain; But 90 pr cnt of thm will not rturn in th futur; On unhappy customr will tll at last nin othrs. On way that travl and tourism companis try to maximis thir customrs' xprinc is by offring a customr satisfaction guarant. For xampl, train companis oftn agr to pay compnsation to travllrs if thir train is dlayd by a crtain amount of tim. Flying Club isvirgin Atlantic'sfrquntflyr programm. Travllrs taking a qualifying flight with th company or on of its partnr airlins arn on Flying Club mil for vry mil travlld in th air. Th mils arnd can b xchangd for flights, hotl stays, car rntal and othr Virgin Group products and srvics. Travl and tourism companis also try hard to kp th customrs thy alrady hav by building customr loyalty. This could b via rgular mailings Th British Airways Group consists of British Airways pic and a numbr of subsidiary companis, in particular British Airways Holidays (tour oprations) and BA Connct, a rgional airlin. BA is th UK's largst intrnational schduld airlin, flying to mor than 550 dstinations and carrying around 36 million passngrs worldwid. Th company mploys just undr 50,000 staff in th UK and stratgic global locations, th grat majority of whom hav customr srvic rsponsibilitis such as airport chck-in, cabin crw and sals positions.

4 British Airways has a commitmnt to srvic xcllnc and has mphasisd this by signing th Airlin Passngr Srvic Commitmnt. BA stats that it is focusd on dlivring a suprior product and srvic to its customrs so that it rmains th airlin of customrs' choic. Safty and scurity ar of th utmost importanc to th airlin and is nvr compromisd. Th company constantly rviws and dvlops its products, srvics and policis in th light of changing dmands from customrs and othr xtrnal factors. British Airways is part of th Onworld allianc which was launchd in It is a ntwork of airlins working in partnrship to pool rsourcs, complmnt ach othr's srvics and offr an intgratd srvic to customrs. Currntly, th following ight airlins form th allianc - Ar Lingus, Amrican Airlins, BA, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Ibria, LanChil and Qantas. Each of th Onworld allianc airlins offrs a commitmnt to: Th blif that th customr is at th hart of th businss; Outstanding customr srvic; Th importanc of its popl; Srvic standards such as punctuality, chck-in, baggag handling and in-flight srvic - all of which ar monitord constantly. Evry six months, all mmbr airlins masur thir prformanc against an stablishd st of prformanc standards in ordr to nsur that th lvl of srvic to passngrs is consistntly high across th allianc. Customr quris ar rsolvd by staff of any of th mmbrs of th allianc, vn if this airlin is not rsponsibl for th sctor in qustion. Approximatly 15,000 cabin crw work for BA, th vast majority basd at Hathrow and Gatwick. In addition, th company has intrnational cabin crw basd at stratgic ovrsas locations such as Bunos Airs, Dlhi and Bahrain. Thir aim is to provid customrs travlling ths routs with local crw who hav first-hand knowldg of thir languag and cultur. Th rol of British Airways cabin crw is to dlivr outstanding customr srvic and nsur passngr safty. Byond that, crw shar a common goal- to s passngrs walk away from vry flight wanting to fly with British Airways again.

5 1. Dscrib how BA applis th principls of customr srvic. 2. Do you think that BA will b abl to maintain its high standards of srvic in th fac of incrasd comptition from th low-cost airlins? 3. Why dos th company invst so much tim and mony in training its staff in providing xcllnt customr srvic? 4. What advantags dos bing part of th Onworld allianc offr th company and its passngrs? 5. How dos BA adapt its customr srvic to mt th dmands of diffrnt customr typs? 6. Log on to th British Airways' wbsit and find out about th rwards it offrs to businss and lisur travllrs who travl frquntly with th airlin and with othr Onworld mmbr airlins. This cas study is dsignd to provid vidnc for P1, P3 and M1. W'v sn prviously in this unit that thr ar distinct bnfits to organisations in adopting xcllnc in thir customr srvic. Thr ar tims, howvr, whn customrs xprinc poor srvic, although dfining xactly what is 'good' and 'bad' srvic is not an asy mattr. On prson's ida of good srvic in a rstaurant, for xampl, may b thought of by sombody ls as mrly avrag. Whthr a prson is happy or unhappy with thir srvic is ssntially a prsonal xprinc; no two popl hav th sam prcption of what good or bad srvic mans to thm. Th vry prsonal natur of th customr srvic xprinc nds to b accptd by staff working in travl and tourism organisations right from th outst. If customrs ar not tratd as individuals, thy will bcom disnchantd with th srvic thy ar gtting and may choos to tak thir businss lswhr. Although it is not always asy to dfin xactly what constituts good srvic, w ar all familiar with circumstancs whn th lvl of srvic w hav rcivd is ithr vry good or vry bad. In travl and tourism, th following xampls giv a flavour of what xcllnt and poor customr srvic ar all about: In a rstaurant - an xampl of good srvic would b whn th managmnt rmmbrs that an vning booking is for a coupl's first wdding annivrsary and provids a complimntary bottl of champagn. Bad srvic is whn you tlphon in advanc to mak a booking, only to find whn you arriv that th waitr has no rcord of th booking and all th tabls ar takn; In a hotl - good srvic would b whn th rcptionist rmmbrs th nam of a gust's child and provids a box of toys for hr to play with. Bad srvic would b not attnding to a brokn showr in a gust's room as soon as possibl aftr th fault is rportd; In a halth club - an xampl of good srvic would b providing fr us of armbands for all th undr 5s in th swimming pool. Bad srvic would b th tmporary rcptionist tlling a tlphon callr that h (th rcptionist) is not sur of th cost of hiring th indoor bowls hall for th day as h is nw to th job and only coms in on Saturdays.

6 to find out thir rcnt xprincs of good and bad srvic in travl and tourism facilitis (hotls, tourist attractions, airports, frry trminals, villa complxs, travl agncis, tourist information cntrs, tc.). Rcord what thy say on a sht and analys th rsults with th rst of your group. Suggst how th xampls of poor srvic standards could b put right. This activity is dsignd to provid vidnc for P2. Th main consquncs of poor customr srvic ar summarisd in Figur 4.4 and discussd in dtail in th following sctions of this unit... Dcrasd.. Poor staff.. Data protction sals and/or moral.. Disability profit.. High staff Discrimination.. Lss rpat turnovr Act businss.. Advrs.. Trad publicity Dscriptions Act.. Halth and safty Poor standards of customr srvic can rsult in lss rpat businss and lad to dcrasd sals and/or profits, thrby affcting th so calld 'bottom lin' of an organisation. Many of th problms associatd with poor standards of customr srvic in travl and tourism ar th rsult of a lack of training. Staff must b traind in th skills ndd to provid an xcllnt srvic to customrs, not just whn thy start a job but throughout thir working lif. Managrs nd to:.. Discovr any undrlying problms that ar causing th customr srvic problms; programms Th Wlcom to Excllnc sris of training programms, offrd through Rgional and National Tourist Boards in th UK, has traind mor than 240,000 staff sinc first introducd toth UK by th WalsTourist Board as Wlcom Host in Companis taking part rang from small accommodation providrs to largr organisations such as Bourn Lisur, English Hritag, YHA, Cntr Parcs and many public sctor organisations. Thr ar now svn on-day courss, which provid front-lin customr srvic staff and managrs with th skills thy nd to provid high standards of customr srvic: Wlcom Host - th original cours dsignd to highlight th importanc of xcllnt customr srvic; Wlcom Host Plus - building on Wlcom Host, this cours covrs advancd customr srvic skills; Wlcom Intrnational - dsignd to giv popl working in travl and tourism gratr confidnc whn mting and grting intrnational visitors in anothr languag; Wlcom All - offrs practical advic on srvic to customrs with disabilitis and spcial nds (includs information on th Disability Discrimination Act); Wlcom Managmnt -dsignd toassist managrs and suprvisors who st th standards of customr srvic in thir businsss; Wlcom Lin - concntrats on improving tlphon-basd customr srvic skills and tchniqus; Wlcom E-businss - provids an insight into th world of lctronic commrc (-commrc) for customr srvic staff and managrs. In addition thr ar sctor-spcific customr srvic courss, which includ Wlcoming Walkrs and Cyclists, Wlcom to Halth and Wlcom Host for Transport.

7 G G G Arrang staff training sssions to hlp dal with th problms; Provid a supportiv nvironmnt in which staff can flourish; Involv all staff in customr srvic improvmnt. On of th most succssful customr srvic training schms in th UK is Wlcom to Excllnc (Formrly Wlcom Host). dirty accommodation facilitis in rsorts. Advrs publicity, such as an accidnt at a thm park, a food poisoning outbrak in a hotl or a sris of canclld flights, can affct a company's rputation in th short trm. Whatvr th causs of th poor rputation, managmnt must rspond quickly to lapss in customr srvic standards to nsur that customrs rciv an improvd srvic. It is also important to rais staff moral in ths circumstancs, prhaps by carrying out tam-building xrciss away from th offic and offring incntivs. Managrs nd to b awar that a continuation of poor lvls of customr srvic can lad to poor staff moral and oftn lads to a high turnovr of staff. All travl and tourism organisations work hard to maintain a good rputation with th public and othr organisations, and customr srvic staff hav a vital rol to play in this. A poor rputation with customrs can dvlop for any numbr of rasons, prhaps taking a long tim to answr 'phon calls or rspond to mail nquiris, constantly ovrbooking hotl rooms and flights, dlays in dparturs or Carry out som rsarch and idntify two occasions in th last 12 months whn a travl and tourism organisation has xprincd advrs publicity as a rsult of poor customr srvic that has affctd its rputation. Discuss with your tutor and othr studnts how th situation could hav bn handld bttr. This activity is dsignd to provid vidnc for P2. All travl and tourism organisations must work within th law of th land, by following standard businss rgulations and providing a saf and scur nvironmnt for staff to work in and visitors to njoy; customr srvic staff playa ky rol in this and must b traind accordingly. Organisations that fail to comply with th various halth and safty, consumr protction and company laws can fac srious consquncs whn problms aris. Thr ar a numbr of laws and rgulations that lay down how organisations must dal with customrs, including: G Th Data Protction Act (DPA) this important lgislation, originally introducd in

8 1984, aims to promot high standards in th handling of prsonal information by organisations and so protct a prson's right to privacy. Th DP A applis to firms holding information about individuals in lctronic format and, in som cass, on papr. Undr th trms of th Act, organisations holding information may nd to rgistr and comply with a sris of Data Protction Principls, covring such mattrs as accuracy and scurity of th information, and its us for lawful purposs; (9 Th Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) was dsignd to protct disabld popl from discrimination in mploymnt and to incras accss to goods, facilitis and srvics, including thos offrd by travl and tourism organisations (s pag 139 for mor information on th DDA); (9 Th Trads Dscription Act on of th original pics of consumr lgislation that aims to protct customrs against fals dscriptions, ithr vrbally or in writing, givn by supplirs of goods and srvics. In th cas of travl and tourism, any dscription of, for xampl, a hotl or tourist attraction, must b truthful at th tim it was writtn (if circumstancs subsquntly chang, th oprator must inform th customr); (9 Th Packag Travl Rgulations ths rgulations stm from a Europan Union Dirctiv whos main aim is to giv popl buying packag holidays gratr protction in law and accss to compnsation whn things go wrong. Th Rgulations plac a numbr of dutis on packag holiday organisrs to provid, for xampl, clar contract trms, mrgncy tlphon numbrs, compnsation options if th agrd srvics ar not supplid and proof of th organisr's scurity against insolvncy; (9 Halth and safty rgulations - ar applid to mak sur that customrs and staff hav accss to facilitis that ar saf and scur. Failur to abid by halth and safty rgulations can lad to travl and tourism organisations bing find and vn having thir prmiss closd down for priods of tim. Cntr Parcs is on of th succss storis of British tourism in rcnt yars. Th company rvolutionisd th holiday markt in Holland mor than 30 yars ago and did th sam in th UK whn it opnd its first villag hr at Shrwood Forst in 1987, by offring short brak holidays on a yar-round basis. Thr mor sits wr dvlopd up to th mid-1990s, at Longlat in Wiltshir, Elvdn Forst in Suffolk and Oasis Whinfll Forst in Cumbria. Cntr Parcs has plans to opn a fifth UK villag on th Bdford Estat nar Woburn. Th Cntr Parcs' concpt is basd around a high quality holiday that cannot b spoild by th wathr. All UK sits hav covrd lisur pools with controlld tmpratur and atmosphr. Accommodation is in fully-quippd villas, apartmnts and lodgs, which ar st in forst nvironmnts. Th villags offr a mix of bars, rstaurants and shops, plus a rang of indoor and outdoor sports and lisur facilitis.

9 Cntr Parcs is rnownd for its commitmnt to high standards of customr srvic. This commitmnt is built around its mission statmnt, which is: 'Evry day, th prfct brak naturally'. Th company considrs that 'th gust is king' and stats on its wbsit: W giv gusts a uniqu and positivly mmorabl xprinc; W ar obsssd with valu, gust satisfaction and quality; W ar commrcial, but not to th xtnt that w alinat valuabl gusts or compromis srvic and safty standards. Staff ar traind to rspct and car for gusts and trat thm individually. Training covrs intrprsonal skills dvlopmnt, writtn and oral communication, problm solving, tam building, managing popl and targt stting. Th Cntr Parcs' formula crtainly sms to b working as its villags njoy occupancy rats of ovr Dscrib how Cntr Parcs applis th principls of customr srvic. 2. How dos Cntr Parcs nsur th highst standards of customr srvic? 3. Why dos th company invst so much in training its staff in providing xcllnt customr srvic? 4. How dos Cntr Parcs adapt its customr srvic to mt th dmands of diffrnt customr typs? 5. What part dos xcllnc in customr srvic play in hlping th company to achiv its mission and objctivs? 6. Why has th Cntr Parcs' concpt bn so succssful in th UK? This cas study is dsignd to provid vidnc for PI, P2, P3 and MI.