Case_Study_of_Customer_Service_at_a_Leisure_Centre

The first part of this assignment is based on a case study of ‘Customer Care at Halo Leisure’. Halo Leisure is a not for profit organisation and a registered charity and deliver a fitness and recreation service to its members. It is run by and for the people of the local area and has a board made up of people from the community. In order to define the customer service that this enterprise provides the following headings have been applied: - Market Research and Feedback It is apparent that Halo Leisure place customer service very high on their agenda. They have developed many methods of gaining feedback from their customers. They operate a system called ‘TELL’ which enables all their customers to give feedback, be that negative or positive, customers can talk to staff, write, email, text and leave voicemail messages with their feedback. They have a quarterly customer review called ‘Smile’, this is where people are invited to sessions to give general feedback on the service. An annual customer survey is conducted via an ‘Opinion Meter’ an onscreen automated questionnaire on a portable device. With all of these ways of collating data Halo are able to measure and evaluate the product/service they provide and set themselves targets. Halo also use an external leisure database company, the local council’s sports development plan and EPOS – the front of house till. All of these system/reports aid the organisation in identifying their demographic for the area and will aid in targeting and retaining customers. The EPOS system reports the trends which in turn outlines the peak times, popular activities, individual customer usage, length of membership. By attaining all of this data an organisation can measure how effective they are at delivering the 4 P’s; promotion, product, price and place/distribution, although a widely known concept it is no longer considered thorough enough to be applicable in particularly to intangible goods/services and another marketing mix framework is now widely used and is commonly referred to as the 4 C’s; Customer needs and wants, cost, convenience, communication. Zethaml and Bitner (2003) felt that the 4 C’s did not cover the service sector products thoroughly and added a further 3 C’s to the framework (actually was P’s but this has been adapted), the additional C’s are contact, context and conducting the process. Halo know that it is important to continually monitor customer opinions and are proactive in rectifying any issues no matter how small and insignificant they may seem, by adapting their service through listening to their customers they are not only giving the customer what they want but are also making the customer feel like an integral part of the leisure centre and that their custom is of the utmost importance to the establishment. Customer Expectations and Experience Using the feedback and market research attained from the various sources outlined above Halo have identified their primary market segment is retired people. Using this data Halo need to ensure that product-service continuum meets the requirements of their target group as well as servicing all other market segments. Halo need to ensure that the exchange process between them and their customer is maintained. The management at Halo know it is impossible to get everything right for customers and regard complaints as the following ‘A complaint is a second chance to get it right’. Utilising complaints to their advantage to remedy situations, this organisation believes that a complaint should be dealt with effectively and efficiently, rather than leaving it to fester and getting people to document their issues via written means. They encourage all of their staff, no matter what level, to be trained and prepared to alleviate such problems and have various policies in place such as ‘Ooops Cards’ which entitle the aggrieved to free sessions at the facility as way of a goodwill gesture and to encourage repeat business. All members of staff carry these cards and can issue them at their discretion. This is a perfect example of customer orientation (Oakley and Rhys 2010, pg 197) “responding promptly to customers to ensure their satisfaction”. The response can be immediate as in this case where a complaint has been made or it can be a gradual change that is applied, all in all customer orientation is when an organisation strives to meet customers needs and expectations by providing the best product and service they possibly can. Halo Leisure is an excellent example of this practice. With any leisure facility the service provided is classed as an intangible good and there are various ways that customers and potential customers can gain an insight to the product/service that they are going to potentially buy. With the fitness industry a potential customer’s pre purchase expectations are of paramount importance i.e. word of mouth recommendations and external communications apply, this is why it is essential to listen to current customers and to supply existing users the best quality service possible. Each customers perceptions and expectations are unique to them, Parasuraman et al (1991) (Oakley and Rhys 2010, pg 200) “showed that customers have two levels of expectation adequate and desired”, adequate is the lowest possible level of service acceptable and desired is the level where an organisations provides something extra in terms of what a customer had anticipated. The area of expectation between the level of adequate and desired is classed as the ‘zone of tolerance’ – so at any point service levels can dip below adequate and indeed exceed the desired expectations of customers. This can apply to any aspect of a service and is a variable, for example feedback at Halo one of the customers commented that there are no Yoga classes so in terms of that customers expectation the service being provided is not sufficient and would be below her expectations, therefore would be below that customers ‘zone of tolerance’, but once the establishment begin to provide the yoga classes this could take the customers expectation levels to a desired level of satisfaction at the top end of the ‘zone of tolerance’. However, it may be that the yoga class is at an inconvenient time for this customer, therefore leaving the customer satisfied that her request has been honoured, this may put the customers’ expectations in the mid range of the ‘zone of tolerance’. All of this is heavily dependent on individual’s personalities and expectations. The table below taken from (Oakley and Rhys 2010, pg 198) demonstrates the various levels of customer expectations and is self explanatory. It summarises all of the links between customer’s expectations and service levels attained. Expectations not met = Unacceptable quality Expectations met Perceived output quality Perceived process quality Pre-purchase expectations X X = Satisfactory quality Expectations exceeded = Ideal quality The roots of customer satisfaction (Oakley and Rhys – 2010) Contact – Staffing Issues An integral part of service industries is having motivated, enthusiastic, well presented and knowledgeable staff. These employees need to be good communicators and poses the ability to deal with situations in a professional, friendly and diplomatic manner. It is necessary for managers to make their staff feel valued in an organisation, this can be achieved in a variety of different ways at Halo they operate several in-house schemes that not only motivate their staff to perform well but also are methods of ensuring that their knowledge is kept up-to-date. As well as on site monthly training of core basics such as; employment law, industry standards and health and safety the trust also ensure that their staff have the minimum professional qualification applicable for their role, if they do not have these qualifications when recruited then Halo will ensure that they are attained. Halo have clear guidelines ‘Halo Fit’ on the type of person that they require, specifications include; a ‘can do’ attitude, passionate about the industry, wants to make a difference, enjoys working with likeminded people. Halo also have a customer chart called ‘Promise’ this is a clear set of achievable targets in relation to the customer service that they want staff to provide to their customers, these guidelines are displayed throughout the building. Other initiatives include; star performer award, inspire (staff suggestion scheme) and a quarterly star employee. By utilising all of the schemes above Halo are practicing ‘socialisation’, this process is a means of extending “beyond induction and involves the transition from being an ‘outsider’ to becoming an ‘insider’ within the organisation” (Oakley and Rhys Pg 254). In summary the following quote demonstrates the importance of treating staff with respect and valuing them, it in turn leads to happier staff who are happy in their work place and aim to please not only their management but the customers that use the facility. “Staff who feel valued and fairly treated will be motivated to do their best for the organisation and deliver good levels of service to customers.” (Oakley and Rhys 2010 Pg 216) Part 2 – Improvement of Member Satisfaction at the University of Warwick Sports Facilities The University of Warwick sporting facilities are vast and have a wide range of cliental, from staff and students, retired staff, external individual users and internal and external groups such as schools and professional organisations. For the purpose of this study topic the main concentration will be on the main users of the main sports centre facility; Students and staff. Warwick is a contained campus that has over 20,000 students and 5,000 staff it has a sitting target market. When looking at the 7 C’s marketing mix it, the majority of customers opt to use the sports centre facilities due to cost, convenience and context. There is a definite need for improvement in the remaining 4 C’s customer needs and wants, communication, contact and conducting the process, especially when we compare it to an organisation such as Halo. When applying the ‘zone of tolerance’ model it would be fare to estimate that the service provided would be on the lower end of the spectrum and leaning towards adequate rather than desired levels of customer expectation. The facility has become complacent and does not strive to be the best, there is little desire to attract additional custom as the facility has already reached saturation point in terms of usage especially during term. Although some of the sporting facilities at Warwick are impressive especially compared to other universities there is still vast room for improvement. A formal customer care policy is needed at these facilities and the five rules of customer care need to be implemented as per (Oakley and Rhys 2010, pg 214-218). Give the customer what they want – as per Halo feedback and market research is required to enable the establishment to identify current customer perceptions of the facility and what improvements need to be made to attract potential customers and retain existing ones. Value Staff – a greater level of importance needs to be placed on this regulation, currently there are no staff reward schemes, staff opinion is not sought on new initiatives on service or facility development, no team building events and very little training apart from the essential health and safety training. Feedback has been obtained which states that frontline staff are not always friendly, with a lacklustre attitude. By treating staff with more respect, listening to them, valuing their opinions and offering training and team building initiatives would ensure that they feel like an important integral part of the establishment and convert them from an ‘outsider’ to an ‘insider’ making them happier in their work place and therefore enable them to provide a more enthusiastic, professional and friendly service. Give good service every time – consistency can be achieved by having clear guidelines on a customer care policy which should be regularly reviewed and discussed by all involved. Know how good the organisation is – it is important that all employees have an in-depth knowledge of what services the sports package offers at Warwick and how it compares to other institutes throughout the country, its competitors. A knowledge of what the whole campus provides as a package is essential, particularly when prospective students and their parents are visiting. Feedback and complaints are a learning opportunity – important to teach employees not to take a complaint personally but to listen to what is being said and assess why it is being said and to rectify the problem not only for that person but for any other customers that it may affect in the future. Although customer loyalty is important it is not as important as it is for a local leisure club as the turnover of students is quite rapid. Complaints should still be rectified and the organisation should strive to provide an optimum service for personal gratification as an employee and because as with all service type industries it is the reputation via word of mouth that has a major influence on future customers, that coupled with an exceptional interaction with a member of staff on an open day could be the difference between a student opting to study at Warwick or elsewhere. Once all of the above are in place this should help close the gap between customer expectations and establishment expectations and in turn lead to a happier employee and management team and a customer that is satisfied to ‘desired’ level rather than an ‘adequate’ level, with all expectations exceeded for both parties.