Lesson 2: managing consistency of product

Reading:

The key factor in the success of a hospitality business is consistency. In practical terms it means that customers receive the expected product without unwanted surprises. In the hotel business, this means that a wake-up call requested for 7 am will occur as planned and that coffee ordered for a 3 pm meeting break will be ready and waiting. In the restaurant business, consistency means that your favorite dish will taste the same way it tasted 2 weeks ago, towels will be always available in the rest room, and the brand of vodka you tasted there last week will be in stock next month.

Consistency seems like a logical and simple task to accomplish, but in reality it is elusive. Many factors work against consistency, and most of them are inherent in the specific features of hospitality services, such as, for example, the simple fact that both the service provider and the customer must be present for the hospitality transaction to occur. The fact that the service is produced and consumed simultaneously and cannot be separated from the situation in which it is produced is usually referred to as the principle of inseparability. It makes an employee a part of the products of hospitality industry. The food in a restaurant or the furniture of a hotel room may be outstanding, but if the waiter or the room attendant provides inattentive service, customers will be disappointed with their experience.

This principle also means that the customers are part of the product too. A couple may have chosen a restaurant because it is quiet and romantic, but if a group of loud tourists is seated next to their table, the couple will be disappointed. Managers must manage not only their employees, but their customers too, so that they do not create dissatisfaction for other customers.

Hospitality services are highly variable. Their quality depends not only on who provides them but also when and where they are provided. There are several causes of variability. Fluctuating demand makes it difficult to deliver consistent product during periods of peak demand. The quality of service also depends on the time of transaction. A guest may receive an excellent service one day and a poor service from the same employee the next day because he may feel unwell or perhaps had some emotional problems. Variability or lack of consistency in the product is a major cause of customer disappointment in the hospitality industry.

 

 

Exercises:

1. Find in the text the following topical words and phrases, make sure that you are able to explain in English what they mean, and add them to your working vocabulary:

a wake-up call, a rest room, a service provider, fluctuating demand, consistent product, peak demand.

 

2. Write out from the text the sentences or their parts which contain the words and phrases given below and translate them into Russian:

to be requested, to be in stock, to accomplish, elusive, inherent, to occur, simultaneously, outstanding.

 

3. Answer the following questions using the topical words and phrases:

1. What does consistency mean in hospitality industry, in practical terms?

2. Why is consistency so elusive in hospitality services?

3. In what sense can a waiter be called a part of the product he or she sells?

4. In what sense can customers be called a part of hospitality industry product?

5. Who is supposed to be managed by a manager in hospitality industry?

6. What are the causes of variability in hospitality industry product?

7. Why is it difficult to deliver consistent hospitality industry product during periods of peak demand?

 

LESSON 3: CONTACT PERSONNEL

Reading:

Efforts to control consistency in the hospitality industry are some­times unsuccessful because concentration is not placed on the right areas. In the book called You Can't Lose If the Customer Wins Ron Nykiel, a former vice-president for Stouffer Hotels discusses the areas in the hotel on which employee – customer contacts take place. He calls these areas "points-of-encounter". Here is an extract from this book which begins with an imaginary journey in which the readers are invited to stay at the imaginary hotel called King's Crown. "Our flight has just landed and you decide to call the hotel so that to inform the hotel that we are here and arrange for a pickup in their van. You find a phone booth and dial the number.

Encounter Point 1: The Voice on the Phone. The phone is ringing and ringing and ringing. After what seems like eternity a voice answers, "Hello!" You wonder if this is really King's Crown Hotel and not the hell. Before we can say more, the voice says, "Please hold on," and is gone. When it returns, you state the purpose of your call. "But you are booked for tomorrow, are you sure you're here?" After a considerable discussion, you are told that you can have a room, but all the nonsmoking ones are gone. Fortunately, there is one available since the previous guest just died of emphysema, leaving available space. Wait for a van near Terminal 2.

Encounter Point 2: Our Delightful Driver. After twenty-nine minutes of your waiting under cold drizzle, the van arrives. A no uniformed individual of questionable gender tells us that someone forgot to tell (him/her?) that passengers were waiting until just now, so (he / she?) cannot be blamed for being late. Mr or Ms driver got a bad disk out of joint yesterday, so we have to place our bags in the van. Arriving at the hotel we unload the bags, but find our driver waiting with palm up.

Encounter Point 3: The Invisible Bell Person. Thirty centimeters before dragging ourselves to the front desk, a uniformed porter emerges from thin air and attempts to "de-bag" us. Having dragged tonnage this far, we reject the offer only to be given that look of "miserable low-class skinflints".

Encounter Point 4: The Front Desk. The Bell Cap is not the only person to suddenly emerge as now a Convention of Royal Muskrats in front of us to the only desk clerk on duty. Forty-seven minutes later it is our turn. You guessed it; reservation did not relay the message that we were coming and the body still has not been removed from that single remaining smoke-filled vacant available room. Suddenly, the desk clerk asks if we don't love the appearance of the lobby, which was just renovated with pure gold at a cost of $ 365 million. Ten minutes later we are being escorted to the police station for attempted murder of a desk clerk."

 

 

Exercises:

1. Find in the text the following topical words and phrases, make sure that you are able to explain in English what they mean, and add them to your working vocabulary:

a point-of-encounter, a phone booth, to arrange for a pickup, to book smb, to unload the bags, a bell person, a front-desk clerk, to relay the message, to renovate the lobby.

 

2. Explain in English what is meant by the following phrases:

"Please hold on!", nonsmoking rooms are gone, a guest died leaving available space, a no uniformed individual of questionable gender, our driver is waiting with palm up, a porter attempts to "de-bag" us, a look of "miserable low-class skinflints", for attempted murder of a desk clerk.

 

3. Answer the following questions:

1. Who is the author of the book from which this extract is taken?

2. What can you say about the style his book is written in?

3. What does Ron Nykiel mean by a point-of-encounter?

4. What was the purpose of calling to the hotel?

5. Why did they have to wait so long before being answered on the phone?

6. What was their first surprise?

7. What solution was proposed by the reservation office?

8. Why did they have to wait so long before being picked up by the hotel van?

9. What was wrong with their driver?

10. What problem did they confront at their arrival at the hotel?

11. Why did they reject an offer of help from the porter?

12. How long did they stand in line before the reception desk? Why so long?

13. What did they learn from the desk clerk?

14. Why did they feel like murdering the desk clerk at the end?

 

LESSON 4: REVIEW EXERCISES

1. Discuss the following concepts and notions:

an organization image, internal marketing, fam trips, greening, managing the tangible evidence, points-of-encounter, room service.

 

2. Give your definitions of the following topical words and phrases:

consistency, to tangibles a service, a trade mark, intermediaries, travel writers, facilities, a meeting planner, a conventioneer, a door clerk, a desk clerk, a concierge, a fern bar, a trade dress, to bring a suit against smb, a resort hotel, reception, a hotel voucher, a rest room, a consistent product, peak demand, to arrange for a pickup, to relay a message, available space, "de-bagging", a return customer, a check-out counter, a positive attitude.

 

5. Choose a topic for an Essay from those given below:

1. The four characteristics of the hospitality industry and how they relate to the purchase of a meal at a fine restaurant.

2. Identify the physical evidence used by your favorite (or just one which you know) restaurant or a hotel to tangibilize their products.

3. The common management practices that restaurants use to provide a consistent product.

UNIT 4.

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR IN HOSPITALITY MARKET