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Chương 6: Customer Service - Coggle Diagram
Chương 6: Customer Service
Service Recovery
Many of the problem that do arise are unforseen and/ or uncontrolable
But for the customer, the problem needs to be resolved
Service recovery is critical to managing customer expectations and reducing negative WOM/ eWOM commentaries.
Prevent s small complaint becoming a larger issue
Essential that tour opertors deal with problems as quickly as possible
In the process handle complaint either face-to-face or online swiftly and effectively
Several key techniques
Ensure that clear procedures and timelines are provided
Adopt a patient and empathetic approach without apportioning blame and accept constructive criticism
Respond quickly to the customer, thanking them to for their contact
Complete the research requesting reports from resort representatives, tour managers, suppliers and other third parties
Maintain contact with the customer updating them in regular basis
Form of compensation has to be proportional and appropriate
Include free activity sessions or admission clubs, do not necessarily mean an additional cost, very acceptable to customers, positive feedback
Speed at which problems are resolved -> necessarily faster
Customer Satisfaction and Profitability
Ensuring customer satisfaction is the key strategic
The cost of keeping a customer is substantially less than trying to attract new customers
Several tools
The Service Profit Chain
Developing in the late 1990s
Assesses the sources of profitability and growth in service organizations.
Establishes relationships between profitability, customer loyalty and employee satisfaction, loyalty and productivity.
Profit and growth are stimulated bu customer loyalty
The value is created by satisfied, loyal and productive employees.
Main objective is to achieve customer loyalty by providing value.
Techniques
Feedback from customers
Input from employees
Implementation of interventions
The Balanced Score Card
Means of translating the operator's mission into more tangible measure goals, actions and performance measures
Helps managers to examine the business from many different perspectives based on the company's strategic objectives
Set strategic goals and objectives for an organization
Provides the answer to four basic question:
Customer measure
Financial measure
Internal processes measure
Knowledge, education and growth measure
For each of the measure, indentify key objectives, stipulate how the objecives will be measured decided on targets and identify introduce initatives necessary to make improvements.
Can be applied at different levels
Customer service and Satisfaction
Customer service is the ability to delivery products and services to their customers
Customer satisfaction is a feeling of pleasure coming from comparing perceived performance with expectations
Ultimately results in positive word-of-mouth publicity and return business
Factors affecting customer satisfaction:
Performance factors: such as reliability and friendliness
Excitement factors: Do not cause dissatisfaction if not fulfilled
Basic factors: minimum requirements that are expected of a product
Outstanding customer service has been seen to be one of the most effective and least expensive ways to promote a business
Service Quality
Main element: the customer's perception od service quality
Understand what expectations tourists have and how to tour operators can seek to ensure satisfation
Not only to satisfy the tourist's expectaion as a minimum but to exceed them
Managing Service Encounter
The interaction between the tourists and the representative of the tour operator
The outcomes of the service depend on the knowledge, personality, behavior and performance => Positive outcomes: satisfaction, loyalty and positive reviews.
Service quality is a nebulous concept, with each customer assessing the product or service from his/her own perspective
Operators must manage service quality based on the expectations of the tourist
Factors affect on tourist satisfaction
● Difficulties over money.
● Transport delays.
● Unfamiliar customs and food.
● Performance of service staff.
● Failure of accommodation services.
● Relationships with other tourists.
● Personal safety and health.
● Unforeseen incidents.
● Problems with foreign languages
Moments of Truth
‘Moments of Truth’ - interactions that the customer, or even potential customer, will have with an organization.
High levels of interaction at the pre-travel stage will vary depending on whether the customer visits a travel agent, engages in online negotiations with a tailor-made operator or simply visits the website
Lower levels of interaction may take place between the airline and the passenger
Unacceptable experiences on the outbound flight may negatively impact on the customer’s perception of the whole holiday
Measuring service quality
Information required: data collection - qualitative methods, quantitative methods
Qualitative Data Collection
Customer Interviews
Focus Groups
Complaint monitoring
Critical incident technique
Mystery shopper
Incident logs
Tour reports
Online reviews
Quantitative Methods of Data Collection
Most usual method: Customer service questionaires
Devised by each company with the aim of obtaining qualitative and quantitative data
Important Performance Analysis (IPA)
Shows the importance of various attributes and the performance of the company, identifying areas for service quality improvements
The four quadrants can be summarized
Keep up the good work
Concentrate here
Possible overkill
Low priority
SERVQUAL
Measure gap between customer's expectations and perceptions
Based on 5 dimensions: tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy
Improve Service Quality
Know what customer wants -> develop the right products and services
Many ways to manage service encounters
Emphasis on training is crucial
Provide service quality
Enhancing employee motivation
Provide the employees with the competence to do the job
Lead to job satisfaction
Improve productivity and ultimately profitability
Customer Loyalty
Create long-term relationships with customers, is key to an operator's growth and success
Loyalty is achieved when a customer
feels that the company best meets their
needs in comparison with the competition
Many ways to encourage loyalty
● Managing service encounters.
● Providing customer incentives.
● Offering enhanced services to loyal customers
● Developing pricing strategies to encourage repeat purchase, e.g. discounts.
● Maintaining up-to-date information about customer purchase history and preferences
● Communicating with customers individually.
Customer Loyalty Ladder model
Suspect -> Prospect -> Customer -> Client -> Advocate -> Partner
Maintaining Loyalty
Loyalty schemes
Involve discounts on subsequent
purchases, and/or a discount for referrals
Increase agent loyalty
By offering agents discounted travel, free travel and/or a points-based shopping catalogue of merchandise, gift cards and other prizes, operators