CHAPTER 5

MEASURING AND CONTROLLING QUAITY IN TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY SERVICES

INTRODUCTION

MEASURING GUEST SERVICE EFFECTIVENESS IS CRITICAL

A critical of methods are available to measure the quality of the service experience. These methods
differ in cost, accuracy, and degree of guest inconvenience.

EMPLOYEE AWARENESS OF MANAGEMENT'S STRONG COMMITMENT TO SERVICE QUALITY

Confodence in employee judgement to correct service problems requires employee training and
management trust.

GUEST INPUT IS IMPORTANT SOURCE OF DATA

While observational methods for assessing service quality have their benefits, gathering guest reactions
to their service encounters is more appropriate in measuring the customer experience

EMPLOYEE GENERATED GUEST FEEDBACK

Employee feedback programs typically involve a structured interview or survey technique through which
employee gather customer's perception of the service delivery or product,

Comment Card. Comment cards are the least expensive and least complex service evaluation technique.
Widely used throughout the hospitality industry, comment cards rely on voluntary customer
participation

TOLL-FREE 800 CUSTOMER SERVICE NUMBERS

Another way of measuring the quality of service is the customer service 800 number. This coomon
technique invites quest comments and allows hotels to remedy complaints 24 hours a day.
SURVEYS MAILED TO GUESTS

Survey methods are available to obtain feedback about the quality o the service encounter. Surveying,
amore expensive technique than comment cards, can yield valid measures o customer opinion.

SERVQUAL has been extensively researched to validate its psychometrics properies. It measues the way
customers perceive the quality a service expelence in five categories

Reliability (the oranization's ability to perom the desired service dependaby, accuracy, and consistently)

• Responsiveness (its willingness to provide prompt service and help customers)

Assurance (employees knowledge, courtesy, and ability to convey trust)

Empathy (providing caring, individualized attention to customer

Tangibles (the physical facilities, equipment, and appearance of personnel)

USING GUESTS IN FOCUS GROUPS

Focus groupps gather in-depth information on how customers view the service encounter. For example,
a customer focus group contains six to 10 guest in one discussion session lasting for several hours.

CONDUCTING TELEPHONE SURVEYS WITH GUESTS

Telephone interviews are another useful method forr assessing the service encounter. 15 cars
dealerships, For example, frequently use telephone interview to measure cunstomer's satisfaction.

USING MYSTERY SHOPPERS TO EVALUATE SERVICE

Mystery shoppers provide management with an objective snapshot of the service experience. Shoppers
reports generally include numerical ratings of their observation so that the quality of the service
experiene can be compared over time.

MEASUREMENT THAT "FITS" MUST BE FOUND

Typically, what gets measured gets managed. Knowing quality assessment measures is essentia for
developing an organization strategy to determine the best "fit" between the need and value of
information.

Service is defined as: "any primary or complementary activity that doeas of directly produce a physical
product, that is, the non-goods part of the transaction between buyer (consumer) and seller (provider)

Quality in service is important in todays' business environment because poor service often leads to lost
customers (up to 35% per year) and therefore lost income.

Business support activities must aid in quality production in their own separate ways, but still remail
aligned with the organization urpose, objectives, goals, and plans.

Key businesss support activities play a roel in sustaining quality as follows:

1. Financial studies can help expose the costs of poor quality and ways of reducing it.

2. Human Resources Management-Human resurce managers must ensure that employees have the
proper skills, training, and motivation to do quality work.

3. Quality Assurance specialist in "quality assurance departments assist managers by performing tasks
such as statistical test or data analysis special statistical studies and anayles

4. Legal Services personnel in the legal department attempt to quarantee that the firm complies with
laws and regulations regarding such things as product labeling

A firm competitive advantage lies in its ability to achieve market superiority

a. Driven by customer wants and nneeds

b. Makes a significant contribution to the success of the organization

c. Malches the organization's unique resources with the opportunities in the environment

d. Is durable, lasting, annd difficult for competitors to copy

e. Provides a bbasis for further improvement

F. Provides direction and motivation to the entire organization