Provide Advice To Mr. Smith On Different Aspects And Concepts Of Service Management

Service Blueprint

Discuss about the Provide Advice To Mr. Smith On Different Aspects And Concepts Of Service Management.

Service management is a significant managerial discipline that is totally focused on the customers and service (Scarborough, 2016). For any service organization, it is very important to manage the services by adopting effective strategies. The primary objective of this report is to provide advice to Mr. Smith on different aspects and concepts of service management. Recently, Mr. Smith has just acquired a 50 seat restaurant which offers a varied mix of bistro style food and a wide range of beverages. To advise Mr. Smith, this report focuses on different concepts of service management. Firstly, it discusses about the service blueprint that states on which position customers came into business’s contact. Further, there is the discussion about five customer relationship management strategies which Mr. Smith can implement to enhance customer satisfaction. Then, it includes a questionnaire which can assist to understand needs and perception of customers. At the end, it entails ten hard or soft service delivery standards which can help customers to measure the quality of service of Smith’s restaurant.

A Service blueprint is a diagram which presents all the associated parties in service delivery process of an organization. It is a major tool that is used to design a new service or to recreate current ones. It is recommended to Mr. Smith that to develop service development and innovation, a service organization must draw its service blueprint customer centric (Hossain, Enam & Farhana, 2017). The below-given diagram depicts the service blueprint diagram for the processes of a restaurant. This service blueprint has made of three horizontal lines i.e. line of interaction, line of visibility and line of internal interaction that separate different processes and activities. Among them, first line parts customer perspective from interaction of front desk employees. The place between horizontal and vertical line indicates where the front desk staff and customers interact with each other. For instance, when the employee serves the food or drink as per customer’s order and customer receive his/her ordered food or drink.

In this, the second horizontal line is the line of visibility that separates the front desk employees who can be looked and cannot be looked. Further, the third line draws when the waiter takes the order from kitchen and this is the activity that cannot be seen by the customers. It can be stated to Mr. Smith that service processes created as per the perspective of customers is the best because it fulfills the needs and demands of customers and satisfy them (Jauhari, Dutta & Jauhari, 2017).

Customer Relationship Management Strategies

In the service blueprint of restaurant, Mr. Smith needs to make emphasis on below-discussed components:

In the service blueprint, this part includes the activities of customers arriving at restaurant. As shown in above blueprint, first step is the arrival of the customer. The customer arrives to the restaurant’s outlet and places an order for food and drinks. The person on reception greets him/her and generates two bills i.e. one for delivery counter and one for customer. This aspect of blueprint is very important as satisfaction level and customer perception of Mr. Smith’s Café’s services and facilities measure the restaurant’s success. After receiving the order, the customer eats the food and leaves the restaurant after making the payment. Mr. Smith needs to manage the process according to actions of customers.

Physical evidence has a major influence on the service quality and productivity of organization. Under this, Mr. Smith needs to ensure that his restaurant is located in a strategic location where customer can reach easily. They need to decorate the restaurant and its ambience in a manner which attracts the customers (Joshua, 2015). Restaurant needs to make the customers feel better when they intake the food. Additionally, Mr. Smith needs to focus on other physical things like food menu, crockery, themed and comfortable seats etc.

This aspect is very important for effective service quality and performance of a service organization. In the service blueprint, this component shows both visible and invisible activities of employees. A welcoming and warm reception can give a quality impression to the customers. Also, there are various employees who engage with the guests but they are out of visibility line. Under this, it can be advised to Mr. Smith that management should aim to provide training to employees on etiquettes to attend customers.

This aspect of blueprint shows all non-contact staff that provides other support services to ensure the quality of services. Mr. Smith needs to emphasize of these supporting processes like billing, food processing, parking facilities, supply of raw materials, lodging facilities etc. It will assist the organization to provide quality food and fulfill the needs of customers.

Thus, Mr. Smith can develop a service blueprint that can track the customer interaction with its restaurant business.

In today’s competitive business environment, people prefer to choose the restaurant by considering different factors like good taste, attractive ambience, higher quality etc. This is also determined on the basis of some other factors like Assurance, Reliability, Tangibles, Responsiveness and Empathy. These are the major factors the service delivery. In the introduction of new restaurant, Mr. Smith needs to emphasize on managing effective relationships with their customers (Greve & Schlüschen, 2018). First, the management of restaurant needs to know about the demands of customers and take their feedback towards restaurant services. Mr. Smith has purchased a new restaurant in Courtney Place Wellington and there are various restaurants which are already operating their business in this area (van der Deen, Pearson, Petrovic & Collinson, 2014). It will be very threatening for Mr. Smith and there will be need of various efforts to get success in the market.

Collection of Customer Data

There are some specific strategies which can be used by Mr. Smith to develop good relationships with the customers. Five customer service relationship management strategies are discussed below:

For a restaurant organization, it is very important to develop effective customer relationship management strategies. One of the major strategies is to gather the external and internal data in the firm. Under this, internal data includes customer feedbacks, restaurant sales and details of employees. Apart from this, external data can be social media pages, profile of customers, complaints of customers and competitors’ actions. To develop relationships with the customer, Mr. Smith should identify the related data and use this in his organization. It will assist his restaurant to survive among competitors, gain profits and revenues and fulfill the needs of customers accordingly. Social media has become the major tool to gather interesting facts about the customers (Hillebrand, Nijholt & Nijssen, 2011). Mr. Smith can track their social page profiles and note their choices and preferences. Most significantly, the organization needs to get into two-way communication where customers can entail their opinions and views on the basis of real time. To understand the importance of this strategy, the example of Starbucks can be taken into consideration. Recently, this organization has implemented an offline and online platform that strengthens its relationship with clients by involving them in an exclusive manner.

Service marketing theory states how the customers use different types of information to select the most appropriate restaurant. The management of Mr. Smith’s restaurant should focus on all the factors and strategies which can assist in understanding the needs and wants of customers towards restaurants and food choices. Additionally, it can make changes in the food menu considering the customer reviews, reward program, competition and customer satisfaction survey. It will have positive impact on the perception of customers that restaurant values them (Wiid, Cant & Prinsloo, 2015).

It is one of the most important customer relationship management strategies that can be used by Mr. Smith in his restaurant. First, the organizations need to focus on employee satisfaction as a satisfied employee can lead to a satisfied customer. By focusing on the employees first, the restaurant can meet the promises made to its customers. Mr. Smith needs to understand that employees play an important role in providing satisfaction and loyalty among customers. Firstly, it should make efforts to satisfy its employees by providing them incentives and other benefits. Generally, customers respond how the employees behave with them. They are the major players who can create a comfortable environment in the restaurant. In this process, the first step should be to develop trust and loyalty between employees and managers. The organization needs to engage its staff in decision making process (Khodakarami & Chan, 2014). Mr. Smith can place its staff first by making changes in restaurant’s environment and developing policies for work-life balance. It can make efforts to handle the issues of employees. If employees will be satisfied with the organization then they will focus on satisfying the customers arriving at restaurant.

Service Delivery Standards

In this context, institutional approach states that when the staff of an organization is pressurized for its own profits, then its productivity will be affected. It can be overcome by combining its HRM and marketing strategies. While hiring the employees for his restaurant, Mr. Smith needs to recruit qualified employees so that they can develop better relationships with its customers. The employees should be trained in a manner that they put customer service on the first priority and behave with the customers in sophisticated way.

There are various factors like cost, taste, ambience, quality, food serving etc. which customers consider before choosing a food restaurant. Quality of service is major factor that have positive impact on customer perception and it supports the organization to boost its productivity. There are various service organizations which believe that quality of service lead them towards profit maximization. In his restaurant, Mr. Smith should emphasize on offering excellent quality of food ingredients and overall service to its customers. In any food outlet, the food is cooked and consumed at same place. So, chef and servers are also important part of service. Mr. Smith needs to ensure that quality of food and service is equal as overall service quality has impact on customer perception (Calabrese & Corbò, 2015).

Service marketing theory can be applied to emphasize on the quality of service. This theory assists the organization to understand the needs of customers towards service quality. Offering excellent quality of service can assist Mr. Smith to increase the repeat intention of customers. If it will provide higher quality, then customers will visit the outlet frequently. It will be profitable for Smith’s restaurant. Thus, it is very important for Mr. Smith to understand that offering good quality can lead it to develop better relationships with the customers (Kumar, 2016).

Marketing and promotion are the most appropriate strategies which can help an organization to develop and maintain the relationships with customers. Apart from above strategies, this strategy plays a significant role in establishing an effective CRM system. Considering the needs and demands of customers, Mr. Smith needs to focus on formulating and implementing effective marketing strategies so that it can approach and retain its targeted customers. This strategy can assist Mr. Smith to deliver its brand message among its customers. There are various modes of marketing like online media, offline media, broadcasting media etc. through which Mr. Smith can advertise its restaurant services to its customers (Cook, 2017). E-mail marketing is one of the major channels that can be used in promoting the restaurant. In order to manage relationships with customers, the employees of his restaurant can communicate with the customers via mail or text messages. They can send the messages related to the discounts and offers on food menu.

To survive and stay competitive in the market, Mr. Smith needs to apply marketing theory. He should place the service quality standards on the priority. By using different technologies and processes, his restaurant can connect with the customers and manage relationships with them. The restaurant can create a mobile application where people can share the images of food and post the comments regarding the services (Cross, 2018).

In addition to above CRM strategies, Mr. Smith can use this strategy to make better relationships with its customers. Personalized interaction with the customers can have a significant impact to not only but also to post-purchase relationship. Under this, it is necessary to approach the customers on a regular basis so that business can increase the value of its services. Mr. Smith needs to make personal communication with its customers (Kumar & Reinartz, 2018). It can contact with customers by sending text messages on their special days like birthdays, anniversaries. The restaurant can develop a CRM software so that they can store the required information about their regular customers like contact numbers and e-mail id’s. Additionally, Mr. Smith’s restaurant should take the feedback of some of its initial customers so that they can make changes in its food menu accordingly. Using this information, Mr. Smith can adjust its follow-up techniques accordingly.

Thus, these are the major strategies which Mr. Smith can adopt to manage service relationships with its restaurant’s customers.

Mr. Smith can form as template of questionnaires that can assist him to analyze the satisfaction among customers towards restaurant’s services (Palmer, 2014).

There are two types of service delivery standards i.e. hard and soft standards. Hard standards are the standards which can be calculated upon and measured via professional audits while the soft standards are documented by the use of perceptual measures (Havant Borough Council, 2018).  10 service delivery standards are discussed below:

It is very important for the restaurant staff to greet the customers at entrance and seat them at the desired table or at the waiting area if there is no space. Mr. Smith needs to hire the staff accordingly (Lusch & Vargo, 2014).

Serving food on time is very important for a successful service encounter at any restaurant. Generally, a food restaurant takes 15 to 20 minutes to serve the food that is ordered by customers. By reducing food serving time can assist the organization to entice more customers. Kitchen staff takes 10 to 15 minutes to prepare the food and front desk employees take 3 to 4 minutes to serve the food on customer table. Mr. Smith needs to ensure that their team is making efforts to serve the food on time (Gummesson, 2014).

This service standard needs to emphasize on responding to the telephones and mails of customers. It might be possible that customers are calling to know about the availability of seats or reserve their table in advance. The employees should answer the calls and mails of customers instantly otherwise they will get frustrated.

This service standard indicates that restaurant needs to develop an attractive and friendly atmosphere so that customers can feel very comfortable. Temperature should be according to the season (Lovelock & Wirtz, 2011).

Cleanliness of restaurant is a significant standard to attract more customers. Today’s people are very much concerned about the cleaning (Lee, Hallak & Sardeshmukh, 2016). So, restaurant needs to focus on cleaning of table, environment, crockery, toilets, wash base etc.

After some time, the waiter presents the guests with the food menu and they should wait for 5 minutes before receiving the order. They can suggest some special and best dishes of the restaurant.

Taking the order without time lag is a good service of restaurant. The employees of restaurant should approach the customers in next 5 to 10 minutes so that they can spend total half an hour to have the food (The Restaurant Times, 2018).

When the customers are free with the food, it is the responsibility of accountant or receptionist to generate the bill for the order. The staff will present the bill without any delay. If the accountant gives the wrong information in the bills then it can impact the brand image of restaurant.

Normally, all restaurants have the take away service. In any restaurant, if any customer order the food and tell to pack for take away service. The employees should make efforts to prepare the order within 15 minutes. The packing materials should be very clean and attractive.

Receiving the feedback of customers is one of the major standards that each and every restaurant needs to take. It will give a feedback form the customer while they are leaving. Then, it will make the changes in products and service offering accordingly (Lovelock, Patterson & Walker, 2015).

Conclusion 

In the limelight of above report, it can be concluded that Mr. Smith should use the above strategies and standards to offer the services effectively. The restaurant should implement the above customer relationship strategies so that it can retain the existing customers and create new customers. As mentioned above, training and teaching employees can assist the organization to offer quality services to the customers. Mr. Smith can improve the service quality by using different processes and technologies. There are some specific service standards which each and every restaurant should follow to attract more customers towards its services.

References 

Calabrese, A., & Corbò, M. (2015). Design and blueprinting for total quality management implementation in service organisations. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 26(7-8), 719-732.

Cook, S. (2017). Measuring customer service effectiveness. UK: Routledge.

Cross, A. (2018). What is Customer Relationship Marketing? Definition of Customer Relationship Marketing, Strategies, Benefits, and More. Retrieved from https://www.ngdata.com/what-is-customer-relationship-marketing/ 

Greve, G., & Schlüschen, A. (2018). From Customer Relationship Management to Influencer Relationship Management. In Diverse Methods in Customer Relationship Marketing and Management (pp. 80-91). IGI Global.

Gummesson, E. (2014). Productivity, quality and relationship marketing in service operations: A revisit in a new service paradigm. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 26(5), 656-662.

Havant Borough Council. (2018). Customer Service Excellence Standards. Retrieved from https://www.havant.gov.uk/sites/default/files/documents/Customer%20excellence%20standards.pdf

Hillebrand, B., Nijholt, J. J., & Nijssen, E. J. (2011). Exploring CRM effectiveness: An institutional theory perspective. Academy of Marketing Science.Journal, 39(4), 592-608.

Hossain, M.Z., Enam, F. & Farhana, S. (2017). Service Blueprint a Tool for Enhancing Service Quality in Restaurant Business. American Journal of Industrial and Business Management, 7, 919-926.

Jauhari, V., Dutta, K. & Jauhari, V. (2017). Services marketing: Text and cases. (2nd ed.). New Delhi, India: Oxford University Press.

Joshua, S. (2015). Service Blueprint Fine Dining Restaurant. Retrieved from https://creately.com/diagram/example/ici7cls0/Service%20Blueprint%20Fine%20Dining%20Restaurant

Khodakarami, F., & Chan, Y. E. (2014). Exploring the role of customer relationship management (CRM) systems in customer knowledge creation. Information & Management, 51(1), 27-42.

Kumar, R. (2016). CRM-Techniques and Strategies for Customer Retention. Retrieved from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/284650 

Kumar, V., & Reinartz, W. (2018). Customer relationship management: Concept, strategy, and tools. US: Springer.

Lee, C., Hallak, R., & Sardeshmukh, S. R. (2016). Innovation, entrepreneurship, and restaurant performance: A higher-order structural model. Tourism Management, 53, 215-228.

Lovelock & Wirtz. (2011). Services Marketing-People, Technology, and Strategy. 7th Edition, US: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Lovelock, C., Patterson, P. & Walker, R. (2015). Services marketing: An Asia-Pacific perspective. (6th ed.). Frenchs Forest, N.S.W., Australia: Pearson, Australia.

Lusch, R. F., & Vargo, S. L. (2014). The service-dominant logic of marketing: Dialog, debate, and directions. UK: Routledge.

Palmer, A. (2014). Principles of services marketing. (7th ed.). London: McGraw-Hill.

Scarborough, N. M. (2016). Essentials of entrepreneurship and small business management. US: Pearson.

The Restaurant Times. (2018). How to Maintain Restaurant Service Standards For An Impeccable Guest Experience. Retrieved from https://www.posist.com/restaurant-times/restro-gyaan/restaurant-service-standards.html

van der Deen, F. S., Pearson, A. L., Petrovic, D., & Collinson, L. (2014). Exploring the potential for the drift of secondhand smoke from outdoor to indoor dining areas of restaurants in New Zealand. The New Zealand Medical Journal (Online), 127(1396).

Wiid, J. A., Cant, M. C., & Prinsloo, C. (2015). Customer expectations and service delivery. Corporate Ownership and Control, 12(4CONT1), 175-184.

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