1.4The Meal Experience 1.5Customer Service BHM 1203: INTRODUCTION TO FOOD & BEVERAGE SERVICE

1.4The Meal Experience (Customer Experience Variables)  Different kinds of food and beverage operations are designed to meet a wide range of demand  The different types of operations are designed to meet people’s needs at a particular time, rather than for the type of people they are (examples??)  The main aim of foodservice operations is to achieve customer satisfaction through the foodservice industry’s products – the set of satisfactions or dissatisfactions which a customer receives from a foodservice experience  The needs of the customers (or the reasons for eating out) may be defined as:

1.4The Meal Experience (Customer Experience Variables)  Physiological Needs:  To satisfy hunger and thirst, or to satisfy the need for special foods such as diabetic or vegetarian  Economic Needs:  To get good value; rapid, fast service; or a convenient location  Social Needs:  Going out with friends, business colleagues; or attending a special function (weeding) to meet others

1.4The Meal Experience (Customer Experience Variables)  Psychological Needs:  Responding to advertising and promotion, wanting to try something new, fulfilling life- style needs, or the need enhancement of self- esteem  Convenience Needs:  Being unable to return home (shoppers, workers); attending some other event (cinema, theatre); the desire for someone else to do the work; or the physical impossibility of catering at home (weddings, other events)

1.4The Meal Experience (Customer Experience Variables) Class Discussion:  Customers may want to satisfy some or all of these needs at any one time:  Physiological Needs  Economic Needs  Social Needs  Psychological Needs  Convenience Needs 1. Cite examples of instances/occasions when customers want to satisfy different needs 2. Discuss potential dissatisfactions – controllable & uncontrollable

1.4The Meal Experience (Customer Experience Variables) Discussion:  Customers may be wanting to satisfy some or all of the five needs at any one time. Some observations:  Types of foodservice operations that may be appropriate at any given time are as varied as the reasons for eating out  Different establishments offer different service in:  Extent of the menu – restricted or too wide  The price of the menu  Varying service levels

1.4The Meal Experience (Customer Experience Variables) Discussion:  The reason(s) for wanting or having to eat out contribute(s) more to the satisfaction (or dissatisfaction) with the meal experience, rather than the food and beverage service by itself.  A customer who is unable to satisfy his/her needs will be a dissatisfied customer. Dissatisfaction may fall into 2 categories:  Controllable factors by the establishment: unhelpful staff, cramped conditions, or lack of choice available

1.4The Meal Experience (Customer Experience Variables) Discussion:  Uncontrollable factors by the establishment: behaviour of other customers, the weather, location, or transport problems  In General (non-captive) markets, the customer has a choice of eating out opportunities in terms of food and drink, and the type of operation to visit.  The same customer can patronise 3 different operations for a quick office lunch, a graduation party, or a romantic night out

1.4The Meal Experience (Customer Experience Variables) Discussion:  In Restricted (semi-captive) markets, customers still have some level of choice – they can choose an airline, ship or hotel depending on what needs they wish to satisfy.  In Restricted (captive) markets, the customer has no choice but still needs to be satisfied, e.g. better fed employees work better and better fed patients recover faster – the whole meal experience counts, not just food & drink  Important to note: customers’ needs vary; F & B operators should be aware of factors that might affect the customer’s meal experience

1.4The Meal Experience Summary: Meal Experience Factors FactorDescription The food and beverage offer  Includes the range of food and beverages, choice, availability, flexibility for special orders and the quality of the food and beverages Level of service  The level of service sought depends on the needs people have at a particular time:  A romantic night out may call for a quiet table in a high-class restaurant;  A group of youngsters might be seeking more informal service  This factor takes into account of other services such as booking and account facilities, acceptance of credit cards, and reliability of the operation’s product

1.4The Meal Experience Summary: Meal Experience Factors FactorDescription Level of cleanliness and hygiene  Relates to the premises, equipment and staff. This factor has become increasingly important in customers’ minds.  Media focus on food production and the risks involved in buying food have increased awareness of health and hygiene aspects Atmosphere of the establishment  This factor takes into account issues like:  Design and décor;  Lighting, heating, and ventilation;  Furnishings, acoustics, and noise levels;  Other customers;  Smartness of the staff; and  The attitude of the staff

1.4The Meal Experience Summary: Meal Experience Factors FactorDescription Perceived value for money and price  Customers perceive the amount they are prepared to spend and relate this to different types of establishments  Value is the personal estimate of a product’s capability to satisfy a set of goals and also a perception of the balance between worth and cost  Good value for an F & B operation is where the worth is perceived as greater than the total cost.  ( Total cost comprises: the cash price, the cost of not going somewhere else, the cost of transport and time, the cost of potential embarrassment, the cost of having to look and behave in a required manner, and the cost in terms of effort at work to earn the money to pay the required price)  Poor value is where the costs involved are perceived as greater than the worth

1.5Customer Service  In order to meet the customers’ expectations and to enhance their meal experience, a foodservice operation will determine the level of customer service that the customer should expect within that operation  Customer service in foodservice operations is defined as a combination of five (5) characteristics: 1) Service Level: the intensity of or limitations in, the individual attention given to customers 2) Service Availability: e.g. the opening times and variations in the menu and beverages on offer

1.5Customer Service 3) Level of Standards: refers to the food and beverage quality, décor, standard of equipment being used and level of staffing professionalism 4) Service Reliability: indicates the extent to which the product is intended to be consistent and its consistency in practice 5) Service Flexibility: refers to the extent to which alternatives are available, and to which there can be variations in the standard products offered  Based on these five customer service factors, a foodservice operation will determine the customer service specification for the operation

1.5Customer Service Use of Resources  A foodservice operation is designed to provide customer service, and must use its resources efficiently. Three resources used in foodservice are: 1) Materials: food, beverages and other short use equipment (paper napkins, toothpicks, etc.) 2) Labour: staffing costs 3) Facilities: premises and plant and equipment  Important: management should note the effect the level of business has on the ability of the operation to maintain customer service requirements, while ensuring productivity in all the resources being used

1.5Customer Service Level of Customer Service  In foodservice operations the level of customer service in a specific operation may be defined in by two types of specification: 1) Technical Specification: this refers to the food and beverage items on offer, the portion size or measure, the cooking method, the degree of cooking, the method of presentation, the cover, accompaniments and the cleanliness of the items. 2) Service Specification: refers to two aspects: first, the procedures for service and second, how the procedures are carried out.

1.5Customer Service Level of Customer Service  Procedures include meeting and greeting, taking the order, seeking customer comment, dealing with complaints, payment and the special needs of customers.  The method in which they are carried out includes paying attention to the level of staff attentiveness, their tone of voice, and body language, etc.  It is usual for operations to have written statements of both technical and service specification referred to as a Customer Service Specification. They are also presented in staff manuals of expected standards of performance

1.5Customer Service Levels of Service and Standards of Service  There is need to clear any confusion between levels of service and standards of service:  The Level of Service in foodservice operations can range from being very limited to complex, with high levels of personal attention  The Standards of Service are a measure of the ability of the operation to deliver the service level it is offering  So an operation can offer low levels of service (fast food operation), but do it at a very high standard; or an operation may be offering a high level of service (full service restaurant), but doing so with very low standards.