Gathering Information about your Customers

1. Gathering Information about your Customers PG Diploma in Hospitality Management Customer Service and Quality Systems – Session 8

2. Objectives • Evaluate the use of different types of customer classification • Determine when questionnaires are the most appropriate tool for data collection • Create a questionnaire • Determine when focus groups are the most appropriate tool for data collection

3. Course Review • What is an internal customer and why is this concept important? • A guest at your hotel ordered a wake up call but did not get it. He has missed an important appointment and is very upset. How would you deal with this? • Why are computer systems increasingly important in the hospitality industry? (at least 3 reasons) • What is knowledge management and why has it become an issue for the hospitality industry? • Some writers have said that the employee is more important that the manager or the customer. How would you argue this case? • What are the characteristics of TQM? (at least 5 points)

4. Social Categorisation

5. Acorn • A tool to understand the UK population and the demand for products and services • http://www.caci.co.uk/acorn/whatis.asp

6. Acorn – Family Incomes 49: Large families, many children, poorly educated 27: Middle income, home owning areas 04: Affluent mature professionals, large houses An index of 100 represents the average in terms of either all adults or the average of all adults currently in the UK.

7. Acorn – Eating Out 49: Large families, many children, poorly educated 27: Middle income, home owning areas 01: Affluent mature professionals, large houses An index of 100 represents the average in terms of either all adults or the average of all adults currently in the UK.

8. Life Cycle Eg Guber and Wells: • Young singles no longer living with parents • Young married with no children • Married couple with children under 6 • Married couple with children over 6 • Older couples with children • Older couples without children, head of household working • Older couples without children, head of household retired • Older single working person • Older single retired person

9. Exercise • Design a guest feedback card – groups of 2

10. Types of Questionnaire • Self-administered • Mailed • Delivered personally • Interview • Telephone • Face-to-face filled-in at home filled-in on the spot

11. Often used with previous customers Completed questionnaires are mailed back Advantages cheaper to administer than interviews Quicker to administer – mailed out Absence of interviewer effects – it has been shown that bias may come from interviewer’s gender, ethnicity, or social background. No interviewer variability Convenience for respondents – privacy Questionnaire Survey • Disadvantages • Cannot prompt or probe • Respondent boredom • Questionnaire can be read as a whole - hence questions not independent of each other • Format has to be simple and straightforward • Limited number of questions possible • If not all questions completed • Low response rate

12. Types of Question • Closed questions • ordered alternative responses • E.g. under 1 year, 1 to 2 years, 2 to 4 years • unordered alternative responses • Partially closed questions • Does your child have any sleeping difficulty? • No • Yes, getting off to sleep • Yes, nightmares or night waking • Yes, waking early in the morning • Yes, other difficulty • Open ended questions • How do you feel about that?

13. Rules for Wording Questions • Use simple, conversational language • Usually seventh grade level is used. • Use simple words that do not need much time and effort for interpretation. • Avoid Leading and Loaded Questions • Leading questions suggest or imply certain answers • Loaded questions suggest social desirability, or are emotionally charged

14. Rules for Wording Questions 2 • Avoid ambiguity • Use words such as “often”, “occasionally”, “usually”, “regularly”, “frequently”, “many”, with caution. • If these words have to be used, explain their meaning • Avoid double barreled questions • Questions that refer to two or more issues within the same question. • Avoid making assumptions • Avoid burdensome questions • That may tax the respondent’s memory • That are long and tedious to read

15. Sequencing • Funnel Principle - general questions should be asked before more specific ones and demographic questions should come at the end • Opening questions should always be interesting, simple, and easy to answer • Use filter and pivot questions to direct flow:- • FILTER question - screens out respondents who are not qualified to answer a second question • PIVOT question - type of filter question that is used to determine what version of a second question to ask

16. Questionnaire Layout • Layout and physical attractiveness of a questionnaire are important • should appear as short as possible • should not appear overcrowded • booklet form is often most effective

17. Question Layout 1 • Closed question with horizontal/ vertical format • How would you rate the quality of service in this restaurant? (please tick the appropriate answer) Very Good oGood o Fair o Poor o Very Poor o • How would you rate the quality of service in this restaurant? (please tick the appropriate answer) Very Good o Good o Fair o Poor o Very Poor o

18. Dichotomous variable – two parts to the answer Please specify your Gender: MALE o FEMALE o Categorical variable with four categories and also “other” category – we can also ask them to specify if it is important that we know what other category is. How would you classify your employment status: Unemployed o Manual worker o   Tradesperson o   Professional o   Other o Please specify ………… …… Question Layout 2

19. Question Layout 3 Q. What is your age? 21- 25 o 25 – 30 o 30 - 35 o over 35 o  Notes:- • Where do you tick if you are 20? • Where do you tick if you are 25?

20. Question Layout 4 • How often in an average week would you drink wine? everyday o three to four times o only on the weekend o less than once o once or twice o Notes:- • Allows you to avoid ambiguous terms like ‘often’ and ‘rarely’

21. The following are a list of statements that some people say about drinking. Please tick the appropriate box. Agree Agree Neither Disagree Disagree strongly Slightly Slightly Strongly A drink makes many people more o o o o o sociable Life would be very dull without o o o o o a drink Drink usually brings out the worst o o o o o in people Having a drink is one of the o o o o o pleasures in life • This is an example of a Likert scale type question – important that instruction is given to tick one answer to each question.

22. Pivot Questions How often do you read newspapers? Tick category that is closest Never o (if never skip to q12) More than 1 day o (proceed to q11) 1 every day o (proceed to q11) 2 - 4 per week o (proceed to q11) 1 per week o (proceed to q11) less than 1 per week o (proceed to q11) Notes:- • Tells the respondent to skip to a particular nest of questions depending on their response to this one

23. Ways to Increase Response Rate on a Mail Questionnaire • Address the questionnaire to specific person, not “occupant” and send it first class. • Include a carefully written, dated cover letter on letterhead stationery - request respondent cooperation, guarantee confidentiality, explain the purpose of the survey and give the researcher’s name and survey. • Include a postage paid, addressed return envelope. • Questionnaire should have a neat, attractive layout, and reasonable page length. • Questionnaire should be professionally printed and easy to read, with clear instructions. • Send two follow up letters to those not responding. The first should arrive one week after the questionnaire being sent out, the second a week later. Gently ask for cooperation again and offer to send another questionnaire. • Do not send questionnaire during major holiday periods. • Do not put questions on the back page –instead a blank leave space and ask the respondent for general comments. • Sponsors that are local and are seen as legitimate (govt. bodies) get a better response. • Include some form of incentive – entry into a draw or monetary incentive (personal choice).

24. Focus Groups • An interview conducted by a trained moderator in a non-structured and natural manner with a small group of respondents

25. Use of Focus Groups • Generate new product or service ideas • Understand consumer vocabulary • Useful for judging effectiveness of ad campaigns • Reveal consumer needs, motives, perceptions and attitudes • Facilitate understanding of quantitative studies • Generate future research objectives

26. Major Advantages: Synergism Snowballing Stimulation Security Spontaneity Speed Cost savings Major Disadvantages: Lack of representativeness Misuse Misjudge Moderation problem Difficulty of analysis Advantages and Disadvantages

27. Exercise • Construct a questionnaire to find out what customers of your restaurant think of your customer service. (Groups of 2)