CHAPTER 3 PRINCIPLES OF CUSTOMER SERVICE AICE TRAVEL & TOURISM CHAPTER 3 PRINCIPLES OF CUSTOMER SERVICE

KEY POINTS IN CHAPTER 3 WE WILL LEARN ABOUT THE FOLLOWING POINTS IN CH.3 KEY PRINCIPLES OF CUSTOMER SERVICE WAYS ORGANISATIONS PROVIDE EXCELLENT SERVICE HOW INTERNAL/EXTERNAL CUSTOMERS CONTRIBUTE IMPORTANCE IN RESPONDING TO CUSTOMER NEEDS VARIETY OF CUSTOMER SERVICE PRACTICES/PROCEDURES WAYS ORGANISATIONS CAN MEASURE EFFECTIVNESS

KEY DIMENSIONS OF CUSTOMER SERVICE (pg. 76) Reliability Responsiveness Assurance Empathy

Activity 1: Understanding the Key Dimensions of Service (pg. 77) Come up with an experience where you witnessed a service failure. Faulty product? Late or untimely service? A dispute over pricing? Discuss what did the person providing the service do that was so offensive? Was it their attitude? Words or phrases? Tone of voice or non-verbal communication? Might consider the effect of these experiences on you? Would you use organization again? Tell others of you experiences? What sort of customer service would you expect to receive?

Examples of Poor Customer Service (pg.77) Not getting information Customer Cancellations/Not returning Unhappy workforce Lack of customer loyalty Poor public image

Discuss Poor Service (pg. 77) Discuss with your neighbor a disappointing experience you might have had with a company/organisation. Service Failure? What was offensive? Effect on you as consumer?

Zones of Customer Experience Zone of Outrage Zone of Dissatisfaction Zone of Satisfaction Zone of Delight

Moment of Truth Every time a customer interacts with a travel and tourism organization and experiences any of its operational procedures.

Three aspects of service encounter (pg. 80) The nature of the service task being performed and what it involves The service standards expected, both by the customer and provider The service delivery system for the task at hand

Operational Standards & Competence Standards (pg. 81) Operational Standards – What is to be said or done. Competence Standards – How a particular service should be done.

Customer (pg. 81) Anyone who has the right to ask or expect an employee to provide a service as part of their job role. Most employee’s deal with two types of customers at work: Internal Customers External Customers

External Customer an organizations visitors or users. Individuals Groups (different age, cultural groups, special interest groups) People w/ children Foreign visitors People w/ specific needs Members/non-members of travel organizations

Internal Customer members of staff of organization who contribute towards the service provided towards external customers. Colleagues Management/supervisors Employees of other organizations (ex/ retail outlets at an airport are internal customers of the airport)

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs Self Actualization Esteem Needs Social Belonging Safety and Security Phsiological Needs (of traveler or employee)

Tourist Family Lifecycle (pg. 84) Stages Early childhood Early teenage Young person Partnership stage Family stage – early Family stage – late Empty nest Retired

Different Generations (pg. 84) Baby Boomers (1944 – 1960) – ‘getting older, thinking younger’ Generation Xs (1960 – 1980) – ‘technically competent, independent and flexible’ Generation Ys (1980 – 2000) – ‘sociable, goal-orientated and highly familiar with digital media’

Employee satisfaction affects Customer satisfaction (pg. 87) Employees that interact with customers develope awarness of goals/needs. Satisfied employees are: Motivated employees Empowered employees Have high energy/willingness to give good service Provide customers with adequate explanations for undesirable outcomes (empathy, understanding, respect, concern)

Delivery of Customer Service (pg. 89-93) Understanding types of staff role work within an organization and how each delivers quality service (study pages to better familiarize with roles/tasks) Example: Hotel waiting staff Hotel receptionist Housekeeping room attendant

Interpersonal Skills (pg. 90) Skills that promote relationships with other people also known as “soft skills”

Stages of Development (pg. 95) Stage 1 – Waits to be told Stage 2 – Asks what to do Stage 3 – Recommends what to do Stage 4 – Takes action, reports immediately Stage 5 – Takes action, reports routinely

Performance Standards (pg. 96) Each performance standard states three things about each aspect of the job: What the employee is to do. How it is to be done. To what extent it is to be done (how much, how well, how soon)

Assessment of the quality of customer service in travel and tourism (pg. 98) Commonly used strategies include: Monitoring customer feedback Maintaining staffing levels together with training programs and the monitoring of individual performances.

Benchmarking (pg. 98) Is the process of identifying best practice in relation to customer service delivery.

Benchmarking involves 4 key steps: (pg 99) Understanding all existing customers Analyzing customer service process of others Comparing own customer service performance w/ others Implementing the necessary steps to close performance gap

Collecting Customer Feedback (pg. 99) Customer comment cards, placed around building for visitors Feedback option through website Evaluation forms given out after specific events Responding to assessments by special external bodies & special interest groups

Key Terms Customer Reliability Responsiveness Internal Customers External Customers Maslow’s hierarchy of needs Interpersonal Skills Suggestion Box Observations Reliability Responsiveness Empathy Zones of customer service Operation Standards Competence Standards Assurance

Key Terms Informal Feedback Soft skills Surveys Moments of Truth Qualitative Data Quantitative Data Mystery Shopper Focus Groups Soft skills Moments of Truth Performance Standards Customer Service Procedures Assessment of Customer Service Benchmarking