Addressing Customer Complaints: Spicy Hotpot Pty Limited Case Study

Introduction: Spicy Hotpot Pty Limited Case Study

Spicy Hotpot Pty Limited is a well-known Chinese restaurant situated in Melbourne; however, despite the company’s fame as the leading hotpot restaurant in Melbourne, it is faced with some complaints such as customer complaints about its products, staff and external service provider. As a result of the received complaints, Spicy Hotpot Pty Limited had to compile a customer service complaints by undertaking a twelve months survey. During the survey, the company grouped the customer complaints data into three main categories of complaints include staff, products, and external service provider respectively according to the complaint severity. 

In accordance to the customer complaints research, the total number of complaints for the twelve months period was found to be 181, which consisted of 94 (52%) complaisant about the staff, 52 (28.7%) concerning products and 35 (19.3%) about the external service provider. Additionally, the data findings show that the most severe complains came from staff particularly three staff members Basel, Kasyme, and Raquel. Basel registered the highest customer complaints with 54 (57.4%) complaints while Kasyme and Raquel had the same number of customer complaints with each receiving 20 (21.3%) complaints. These results show that Spicy Hotpot Pty Limited is faced with a challenge regarding employee handling of customers that need to be addressed with immediate effect to help save the company’s image.    

 According to these findings, it reveals that the main source of complaints about Spicy Hotpot Pty Limited emanated from its staff followed by its product and lastly but not least the company’s external service provider. Basing on the analyzed data the company staff is the leading source of complaint which means that there are somethings that the company employee are doing that is wrong regarding service delivery to the customers that need to be addressed to save the face of the Spicy Hotpot Pty Limited. Indeed, it is the expectation of customers to receive a warm treatment as a way to motivate them to come back for return sales in future. However, with the heightened number of complaints by Spicy Hotpot Pty Limited, it is beyond doubt that the company is likely to suffer a blow regarding return customers due to unwelcoming staff. Consequently, such an outcome is likely to hurt the business as it drives away both existing and prospective customers. Thus, the company stands at risk of experiencing a decline in sales since customers are not motivated by the company’s staff. On the same note, the company’s product has been found to be unsatisfactory by clients, which indicates that the company has failed to provide its clients with the best quality products. Consequently, the offering of unsatisfying products to customers may lead to customers leaving the company and seeking quality products and services elsewhere. It is very rare to find that customers will stick around with repeated experience of poor service, particularly in a competitive market setting like this. Thus, customers will be forced to seek for better service elsewhere. Consequently, the walking way of Spicy Hotpot Pty Limited customers will mean that the company will lose revenue as well as the potential word-of-mouth advertising which can only be offered by a satisfied customer.

Customer Complaints: Severity and Causes

As a result, Spicy Hotpot Pty Limited business reputation is likely to suffer when its customers walk away. Indeed, such cases begin when unsatisfied clients go around talking to people what they know regarding the poor service they received at the previous company (Spicy Hotpot Pty Limited), such feelings can escalate at a fast speed expressed online. Since Spicy Hotpot Pty Limited restaurant is operating in a digital era, the business can suffer a big blow for poor reputation especially when its customers express their feelings online through social media platforms such as Facebook posts, tweets as well as bad Yelp reviews which takes a short span to go viral. Certainly, such statements are likely to last even forever if no immediate action is taken by the company. When a business is known for offering unsatisfying service and products to customers, it can be hard to repair its reputation. Consequently, the outcome can go past the loss of customers to other business not being willing to associate with Spicy Hotpot Pty Limited since it is unable to retain its customers. As a result, over time Spicy Hotpot Pty Limited may find itself out of the market since investors will also find it difficult to invest in a business with a poor brand name.

In this context, Spicy Hotpot Pty Limited employed a quantitative data analysis method during the data gathering period. Spicy Hotpot Pty Limited used a quantitative method since it is a simple approach that helps to determine the connection between two variables in a business that is the independent variable and dependent variable. The quantitative method mainly focused on measuring objectives through statistical, and numerical analysis of data using surveys, questionnaires, and polls. Accordingly, Spicy Hotpot Pty Limited used the quantitative methodology in collecting numerical data about customer complaints concerning its service delivery. The reason for using quantitative research, particularly by the use of online email surveys and customer feedback surveys is because it is cost-effective and not time-consuming.  

Spicy Hotpot Pty Limited will have to employ two methods when it comes to measuring its customer satisfaction that is by use of direct methods and indirect methods.  

Direct methods: In this sense, Spicy Hotpot Pty Limited will have to directly contact its customers to enable its get customer’s feedback about its products and way of service delivery. Certainly, the direct method can involve various approached as follows:

• In-house call centers, direct marketing, and complaint handling department beings treated as the initial point of contact for receiving customer complaint. The feedback will then be compiled to analyze the perception of its clients.
• Collecting customer feedback using third-party agencies.
• Getting customer feedback through physical interaction through conversations and holding meetings.
• Direct customer feedback using questionnaires and surveys.   
• Getting customer feedback through appreciation or complaint letter.  

Impact of Customer Complaints on Business Reputation

On the other hand, Spicy Hotpot Pty Limited will also employ the indirect methods to get feedback about its customer satisfaction using the following approaches:

Customer loyalty: This is a primary necessity for Spicy Hotpot Pty Limited to interact and communicate with its consumers on a constant basis so that to heighten its customer loyalty.  Through interaction and communication, Spicy Hotpot Pty Limited will be in a better position to learn and determine all its distinct customer wants and needs and be able to respond accordingly.

Customer complaints: Customers’ problems and issues are supposed to be reported to the company regarding a particular product or related service. Therefore, Spicy Hotpot Pty Limited should categorize its complaints under different groups by the severity and department. In doing so, Spicy Hotpot Pty Limited will be in a good position to identify the complaints from each segment and be in a better position to act accordingly. Thus, this will help to put its staff on toes,  which in the long run will result in reduced complaints from customers regarding its product and service delivery.       

How Spicy Hotpot Pty Limited will Store Information for Future Reference

The best way for Spicy Hotpot Pty Limited to store its customer complaints information is through the use of an electronic spreadsheet and then storing it on a computer hard disk which is the simplest. Nevertheless, the best and most detailed information should be stored using a customer relationship manager (CRM) database.  A CRM will be more effective since it will play a big role in helping Spicy Hotpot Pty Limited in analyzing its customer information to identifying its customer’s buying trends and identification of its best customers. Nonetheless, because of future reference, it will be better if the same information can be stored in the clouds for back up reasons.

Spicy Hotpot Pty Limited is supposed to store its customer information in the most careful way that is in accordance to with the privacy laws. Indeed to be able to attain this, the company should first let its employees aware of the confidentiality of customer information. After then it can create a plan on how customer information shall be stored to avoid breaching of customer’s confidentiality.

Spicy Hotpot Pty Limited should first of all train its employee to learn to act as if the business is their own. Engaged workforce always arrives early and stay late while disengaged employee target to do less as much as they can for the most money. Therefore, the company should teach its employees to become engaged by showing them a new way of thinking so that they can view themselves as self-employed and work hard to make the business to succeed. Similarly, the best policy is being honest by owing the past mistakes. The company should then communicate the plan that it intends to undertake to change or prevent a similar mistake from recurring.  Moreover, the company should foster respect whereby all people within the company should show love to customers because, without them, there will be no business.   

“Collecting And Storing Customer Information | Business Queensland.” 2018. Business.Qld.Gov.Au. https://www.business.qld.gov.au/running-business/consumer-laws/customer-service/customer-information.

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Hill, Nigel, and Jim Alexander. The handbook of customer satisfaction and loyalty measurement. Routledge, 2017.

 Lyon, Barb. 2018. “How to Ensure Strong Customer Service and Customer Satisfaction.” Managementhelp.Org. https://managementhelp.org/customers/service.htm.

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