TH1802

PRINCIPLES OF CUSTOMER SERVICE

Customer service is the assistance and advice provided by an organization to those people who buy or use its
products or services (Stewart, 2016).
Customer refers to anyone who has the right to ask or expect an employee to provide a service as part of
his/her job role (Stewart, 2016).
The Three (3) Principles of Customer Service in Travel and Tourism
1. Identifying the needs of external and internal customers
External customers – These are an organization’s visitors or users and can be classified as:
o Individuals
o Groups, including different age or cultural groups and special interest groups
o People with children
o Foreign visitors with language and cultural differences
o People with specific needs, e.g., wheelchair users, people with sensory disabilities, and visitors
with special dietary requirements
o Members and non-members of travel organizations.
Internal customers – These are members of staff within an organization or an organization’s suppliers
who contribute towards the service provided to external customers. They are:
o Colleagues
o Managers and supervisors
o Employees of other organizations, e.g., retail outlets at an airport that are considered as the
internal customers of the establishment.
The tourism industry utilizes Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as a model for describing the needs of
external customers in which there are particular range of needs to be met for people to live and
prosper, namely:
o Physiological (i.e., breathing, food, water, shelter, clothing, sleep)
o Safety (i.e., health, employment, property, family, social stability)
o Love and Belongingness (i.e., friendship, family, intimacy, sense of belongingness)
o Self-Esteem (i.e., confidence, achievement, respect of others)
o Self-Actualization (i.e., morality, creativity, spontaneity, acceptance).
Effective customer service to internal customers establishes good working relationships between
colleagues, managers, and staff and will result into:
o Delivery of high levels of customer service to external customers
o Good levels of communication between departments
o Smooth operation of the organization
o A happy and efficient workforce
o Employee loyalty.
Starbucks, for example, call their employees “partners”. They believe that the satisfaction of their
partners would lead into customer satisfaction. Actions, such as the company having a generous policy
for health insurance and stock options given to entry-level partners, resulted into a low employee
turnover rate (70%) compared to the average (300%) of fast-food industries and the rate was even

02 Handout 1 *Property of STI

 student.feedback@sti.edu Page 1 of 4
 TH1802

lower for managers. It enabled them to do a much better job in recognizing regular customers and
providing a personalized customer service.
2. Identifying the impacts of quality customer service
Defining Quality in Customer Service
In a general sense, quality is often defined when people say “I need some quality equipment” or “The
staff of this hotel does a quality job every time.” What people actually mean with these definitions is
high or exceptional quality.
Quality is simply defined as the value that is perceived in the innate characteristics of a product or
attributes of a service (Kenyon & Sen, 2017). To define great quality, a point of reference is needed in
which the term “standards” comes in. Standard refers to the requirements, specifications, guidelines,
or characteristics established for customer service (International Organization for Standardization
[ISO]). It reflects and provides guidance on what needs to be done in customer interaction. The basis
of setting the standards comes from what the customers expect regarding the quality of service they
choose to avail.
Service Quality is “a measure of how well the service level delivered matches customer expectations”
(Lewis & Booms, 1983).
Providing good quality customer service involves everyone in the organization as the attitude and
commitment of the staff reflect those of the management. A manager showing good enthusiasm with
his/her job will result into the staff likely following suit.
Quality customer service will impact the entire organization—the customer, employees, and the
organization itself. This can be detailed as follows:
- Positive customer experience
For the customer - Satisfied with the organization
- Sense of gaining value for money
- Increased job satisfaction
For the employee - Increased skill development and enhancement
- Works as part of an effective team
- More efficient workforce
- Increased levels of customer satisfaction
- Customer loyalty
For the organization
- More likelihood of repeat business
- Increase in income
- Positive reputation of the organization

3. Assessing the quality of customer service in travel and tourism organizations

The following are the techniques used to assess the quality of customer service in travel and tourism
organizations:
o Setting an organizational, functional area and individual customer service standards
 Organizational customer service standards tend to specify what is to be done or said
with any given scenario.

02 Handout 1 *Property of STI

 student.feedback@sti.edu Page 2 of 4
 TH1802

 Functional area customer service standards specify how a particular service task
should be done.
 Individual customer service standards describe the “what”, “how-to”, and “how-well”
of a particular job role.
o Performance management and appraisal procedures involving managers, supervisors, and
employees
o General customer feedback including response ratings on social media, suggestion boxes, and
customer comment cards
o Specific market research, including surveys, customers acting as mystery shoppers, focus
groups, and observation of interactions between customer service staff and customers.
PERSONALIZED CUSTOMER SERVICE
Personalized Customer Service is when a service surpasses customer expectations and lures customers back
for return visits to repeat the experience (Middleton, 2016).
Implications of a Personalized Customer Service
The following are the results of a personalized customer service (Hyken, 2017):
• Personalization drives impulse purchases. People tend to buy items they do not intend to by personal
recommendations made from the brand they are making the purchase with.
• Personalization leads to increased revenue. The willingness to personalize a service will, oftentimes,
reap rewards. For example, forty percent of consumers in the United States say that they have
purchased something more expensive than they planned to because of personalized service.
• Personalization leads to fewer returns. Impulse purchases or simply purchases made by people even
if they didn’t intend to are rarely returned and the people are happy with the purchase.
• Personalization leads to loyalty. The “holy grail” of personalization, a lot of people say that they will
repeat a personalized purchase.
In Starbucks’ training manual, they teach their “partners” to connect with customers to make their service ore
personalized as explained below:
In our training manual, we explicitly teach partners to connect with customers—to enthusiastically
welcome them to the store, to establish eye contact, to smile, and to try to remember their names
and orders if they’re regulars. We also encourage partners to create conversations with customers
using questions that require more than a yes or no answer. So for example, “I noticed you were
looking at the menu board—what types of beverages do you typically enjoy?” is a good question
for a partner to ask.
The Ritz-Carlton Bali story is another example of a personalized customer service that resulted in an
exceptional customer experience:
A family that was staying in Ritz-Carlton, Bali, was carrying specialized eggs and milk for their son
who suffered from food allergy. Unfortunately, upon reaching the hotel, the eggs had broken and
the milk was spoilt. I am sure you can imagine the state of the family. It is natural to feel dismayed
in such a situation. Well, guess what Ritz-Carlton did to make it all right? The manager and the
dining staff searched the whole town for the specific kind of egg and milk. Regrettably, they

02 Handout 1 *Property of STI

 student.feedback@sti.edu Page 3 of 4
 TH1802

couldn’t find those items anywhere. But that did not stop Ritz-Carlton staff from doing everything
it takes to deliver customer happiness. The hotel’s executive chef knew where they could find
them—in Singapore, approximately 1,680 kilometers away! The chef contacted his mother-in-law
(wait a minute, she is not even a part of the company!) and requested her to fly down with the
eggs and milk. She had no obligation to agree to it, but she did just to put a wide smile on the
family’s face.
The following are four (4) ways to create a personalized customer service experience:
• Collect and organize relevant customer information. It involves acquiring relevant information from
customer interactions and considering the details that can help improve their experiences (i.e.,
preferences, likes, dislikes, etc.).
• Streamline interactions across channels. It involves keeping track of all communications with the
customer.
• Avoid automation. It refers to directly answering customer inquiries and complaints.
• Go the extra mile. It pertains to providing services to customers that are outside of what is expected
(i.e., reaching out to clients to check if orders are processed well, reminding clients of important due
dates, etc.).
TRENDS IN CUSTOMER EXPECTATION IN TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY
21st Century Customers
• Compared to the customers during the mid-20th century, customers today are sophisticated, well-
traveled, and demanding.
• They expect to create value through experience as today’s consumer is an active participant in the
service delivery process. Gone are the days when they are considered as passive audience.
• They see beyond the economical and functional usage of service and are now considering social,
emotional, ethical, and environmental aspects.
Experience refers to the series of events that one lives through, which is evaluated in totality.
Types of Experiences
• Sensory/Physical Pleasure – These are experiences that involve the five (5) senses (sight, smell,
sound, taste, touch).
• Social Pleasure – This is when customers get the opportunity to spend quality time with each
other’s company.
• Emotional Pleasure – This is when the quality of a product or service appeals to the emotions of
human beings.
• Intellectual Pleasure – This is an experience in which a customer gains new knowledge and/or
insights.
References:
Stewart, S. (2016). Cambridge International AS and A level travel and tourism coursebook. Place of publication not identified: Cambridge Univ Press.
Hyken, S. (2017). Personalized Customer Experience Increases Revenue and Loyalty. Retrieved March 09, 2018, from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/shephyken/2017/10/29/personalized-customer-experience-increases-revenue-and-loyalty/#6a614a3a4bd6
Customer Guru (2017). Amazingly SHOCKING customer experience story: Ritz-Carlton does it again!. Retrieved from http://www.customerguru.in/amazingly-shocking-
customer-experience-story-ritz-carlton-does-it-again/ on March 09, 2018
Moon, Y., & Quelch, J. (2006). Starbucks: Delivering customer service. Services Marketing, pp. 713-727. doi:10.1142/9781944659028_0031
Sams, K. (2016, October 3). 4 ways to create a personalized customer service experience. Retrieved from NFIB’s website: https://www.nfib.com/content/resources/staffing/4-
ways-to-create-a-personalized-customer-service-experience-75534/ on March 09, 2018
Jauhari, V. (2017). Hospitality marketing and consumer behavior: Creating memorable experiences. Oakville: Apple Academic Press.
Middleton, K. L. (2017). Yes! on demand: How to create winning, customized library service. Santa Barbara (California): Libraries Unlimited/ABC-CLIO.
Cleveland, B. (2017). Defining quality in customer service. Retrieved from https://www.icmi.com/Resources/Customer-Experience/2016/11/Defining-Quality-in-Customer-
Service

02 Handout 1 *Property of STI

 student.feedback@sti.edu Page 4 of 4