Service Quality in Hospitality Industry: Meeting Customer Needs Effectively

1. Chapter 2Service: The Heart of Hospitality Principles of Hospitality & Tourism

2. Introduction • Service: activity done for another person • Hospitality is the business of satisfying people’s needs • CustomerService: total customer experience with that business • Includes performance of the staff, courtesy of the staff, the cleanliness of the property, and the way customers are treated • Empathy: ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and know how that person feels • Why might it be important to be empathetic to your customers and their needs?

3. Customers Customer: someone who purchases products or services from a business Guest: customer who purchases products or services from a hospitality business Guest and Customer are used interchangeably in hospitality

4. Customers • Customers are the main reason for hospitality industry • Without customers there would be no business • No business = no profits • No profits = no money • Success depends on returning customers • POOR SERVICE is the number one reason customers do not return to a business.

5. Customers’ Needs • Customers look for a place where they feel welcome • Hospitality businesses satisfy both the physical and psychological needs of customers • Maslow's Hierarchy (next slide)

6. Maslaw’s Hierarchy of Needs • Way to describe how human needs are met • Ranked needs in order from most basic to higher needs • Basic needs are at the bottom • Physical/Safety • Must be partially met to pursue higher needs • Higher needs are psychological needs • Selfactualization: expressing your true self through reaching personal goals or helping others

7. Maslaw’s Hierarchy (continued) • How can the hospitality industry help meet the needs in the pyramid?

10. Satisfying Customer Needs • CustomerSatisfaction: the positive feeling customers have about a business that meets their needs. • QualityService: Service that meets or exceeds customers’ expectations . • Quality service is the key to establishing and maintaining a successful business. • Service always depends on people, the employees who provide the service • Customers frequently compliment the following service elements: • Cleanliness and attractive appearance of facilities and grounds • Employees who respond quickly to requests • Employees who anticipate customer needs

11. Consistent Service • Quality service is necessary but more important is consistent quality service. • ConsistentQualityService: providing the same good and service each and every time they come to your business. • Think McDonalds, Olive Garden • Delivering quality service always involves people. • Depends on interactions that take place between customers and staff. • Serviceencounter: an interaction between a customer and a staff member.

12. Importance of Service Quality • People choose restaurants based on recommendations from friends and coworkers • WORD OF MOUTH PUBLICITY: informal conversation people have about their experiences with a business • In hospitality, word of mouth is one of the major ways people learn about your business • Can give a business good publicity or bad publicity

13. Hospitality Employees • People who provide quality service are the hospitality employees. (2 groups) • Front of the House: area in hospitality business that guests usually see. (entrance, dining room, lobby area) • Back of the House: area that guests usually do not get to see. Also called the heart of the house. (kitchen, receiving, storage, laundry, broiler room, storage, offices) • Front of the house employees work with customers and have direct contact with customers. (front desk staff, hostess, wait staff/servers, bell attendants • Back of the house employees are rarely involved with customers (cooks, chefs, dishwashers, housekeepers, engineers, etc.)

14. Customer Focused Employees • Customer focused employee: employee who can anticipate customer needs • Customer focused employees have the six following characteristics 1. Make immediate eye contact: Shows you have a willingness to serve and are giving the guest your complete attention. 2. Have good posture: relaxed but alert; do not stare at the ground or look off into space.

15. Customer Focused Employees 3. They smile warmly: communicates respect for the customer and readiness to help. 4. They respond quickly to requests: attitude should be positive and business like 5. They use the customer’s name whenever possible: when customers hear their own name, they feel important and welcome 6. They are clean and well groomed: Image is made from impression that staff gives; companies have strict regulations that employees must follow.

16. Critical Moments • Critical Moments: time when customer’s experience makes a bigger impact on customer satisfaction than at other times. • Phone Call: guests first impression • First View of the building entrance • Interaction with the greater • Wait for a table or a room • First moments at the table or in the hotel • First encounter with bussers and servers • Encounter with the manager • Arrival of the food • Visit to the restroom • Presentation of the check or the bill • The last interaction with the server or the office staff

17. Customer Relation Techniques • Customer relation skills are skills that are necessary to provide good customer service. • Communication Skills • Critical for every employee at every level • Managers must communicate the rules of the company, standards of customer service, and information about the business to their employees

18. Verbal Communication • Verbal communication: includes the tone of the voice you use and the way you speak. • Use proper grammar at all times, not slang • Never use profanity (shows a lack of manners, lack of respect)

19. Written Form • MUST communicate in written form • Write menu orders clearly • Write down specifics about different orders • Write publications, articles

20. Nonverbal Communication • Nonverbal communication is how you communicate with your body language. • Facial expressions, hand gestures, posture, and eye contact are ways that we communicate nonverbally

21. Handling Customer Complaints • There will ALWAYS be customer complaints! The key is ALWAYS to resolve the complaints with customer satisfaction. • Listen with empathy • Allow the customer to vent • Be supportive • Do NOT blame someone else • Have a positive attitude • Offer solutions • Follow through on the situation