Analysis of Service Quality and Customer Service in Hilton Hotel

This report analyzes the service quality and customer service in Hilton Hotel, focusing on dimensions and gaps. It also discusses the four acid tests of service recovery within the hospitality organization. Additionally, a survey report with recommendations for better customer service is included.

Customer Service

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
1: Analysis of the service quality (SERVQUAL) with specific focus to dimensions and gaps. 1
2: Knowledge and understanding of the four acid tests of service recovery within the
hospitality organisation...............................................................................................................3
3: Survey report with recommendations for better customer service, after analysing tailor
made questionnaire the hotel has sent to their customers...........................................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Customer service can be referred to as the provision of services to the base of customers
before, during and post the actual execution of purchase of a product or service. The success of
customer service is mainly attributed to the way in which customers are looked upon as well as
treated by an organisation operating within any business sector (Guo, Fan and Zhang, 2020). In
this relation, it can be stated that the provision of effective customer services as per the needs as
well as demands of the people, underpins the growth and development of a company in the long
term.
The following report is based upon Hilton Hotel. This is a 5 star and luxury organisation
operating within the bounds of the hospitality sector. The purpose of this report is to analyse the
value of customer service and analyse the quality of an organisation's customer service. The
report consists of analysis of the service quality of Hilton Hotel by virtue of the usage of
SERVQUAL model while paying due emphasis on gaps and dimensions. Along with this, the
report includes the four acid tests of service recovery in the confines of hospitality firm. Lastly, a
survey report is included which encompasses recommendations devised for provision of better
customer service, post the analysis of tailor made questionnaire made by the respective hotel.
1: Analysis of the service quality (SERVQUAL) with specific focus to dimensions and gaps
Service quality can be said to be the way by way of which an organisation is able to
appeal to the customers and persuade them to make a purchase of the organisational offerings.
This stimulates the customers to stay connected with the brand for a considerably longer period
of time in future. In this relation, it is important for a firm to analyse the quality of its service so
as to identify, if present, scope of improvement within its services (Lee and Lee, 2020). In
response to this, SERVQUAL model is a framework of service quality which is used by the
companies with the motive of examining and evaluating the quality of services provided by it to
the public at large. This framework focusses upon the dimensions as well as the gaps lying
within the service quality in order to facilitate the development of a strong image of the brand in
global market place.
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The analysis of service quality of Hilton Hotel is done by way of usage of SERVQUAL
model that helps in determining the gap lying within the service quality. The analysis is thus
presented as follows:-
Tangibles
This refers to the physical equipments, facilities and other aspects of the organisation that
can be seen or touched by the human beings. In this relation, it has been determined that the
premises of Hilton Hotel is equipped with high quality physical equipments. Also, the
organisation is well staffed which allows the respective hotel to cater to the needs and
requirements of the customers in a timely manner (Shire, Holtgrewe and Kerst, 2017). This
demonstrates that the tangibility aspect of Hilton Hotel is illustrative of the stance that the hotel
is running successfully and meeting the customer demands.
Reliability
This put emphasis over the ability of an organisation to instil a sense of trust within the
customers upon the firm (Kim and Baker, 2020). This determines the extent to which a customer
believes that the products and services offered by an organisation are capable of meeting their
requirements and demands. With reference to Hilton Hotel, it has been determined that the 24*7
availability of the staff as well as the optimum quality of services provided, has enabled the firm
to develop a high extent of reliability within its guests towards the respective hotel.
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Illustration 1: SERVQUAL Model of analysing Service Quality

Responsiveness
This facet of the service quality analysis framework demonstrates the extent and
rapidness with which an organisation responds to the needs and demands of the customers in
market place (Cao, Ajjan and Hong, 2018). In this relation, it has been acknowledged that Hilton
Hotel conducts market research at regular intervals of time. This provides due assistance to the
respective hotel firm in being responsive to the market demands and consequently taking
measures which hold the potential of addressing those demands. Further, the reviews given by
the customers over online websites about the hotel act as an evidence of the responsiveness with
which Hilton Hotel operate.
Assurance
This facet of the service quality analysis framework reflects the ability of a firm to be
able to place trust as well as belief in the people so that they can trust the organisation for
fulfilment of their needs and wants in an effective and timely manner (Falter and Hadwich,
2020). Relating this to the services of Four Seasons London Hotel, it can be comprehensively
stated that the respective hotel offers high quality services to the people. This is why the people
are assured of the quality of the services before or while visiting the premises of the respective
hospitality organisation.
Empathy
This component demonstrates the extent of individualisation of services offered by a firm
to the customers in market place. Relating this to the hotel premises and services of Hilton Hotel,
it can be comprehensively said that the respective hospitality organisation surpasses the
expectations of the guests by creating a personalised and luxury experience. This helps the
organisation in catering to the customer demands and exhibiting empathy which is an important
facet of the overall service quality analysis framework (Gnewuch, Morana and Maedche, 2017).
2: Knowledge and understanding of the four acid tests of service recovery within the hospitality
organisation
There are mainly 4 acid tests of service recovery in the bounds of hospitality sector.
These tests are discussed in the context of Hilton Hotel as follows:-
Cost of Quality (Juran):
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This concept was coined by Juran who put emphasis over the quality cost that the firms
functioning within the confines of service sector have to deal with owing to poor quality of their
services as well as products. The costs such as defect cost, prevention cost and so forth, can be
decreased and even eliminated from the business operations in the entirety in case the service
quality has been enhanced. Hereby, the management of Hilton hotel can focus upon the
situations which leads the firm to make refunds to the customers and thereby undertake measures
through which such expenses can be duly avoided.
Service Process Control:
This is a kind of feedback control system which put forth the premise that the hospitality
organisation should have a comparative platform upon which they can compare the output
actually delivered with the target (Sutherland and et. al., 2020). In this relation, it can be said that
this system can be duly utilised by the management of Hilton Hotel to acknowledge the quality
of experience gained by the customers.
Statistical Process Control (Deming):
This is a system whereby certain tools are used for the purpose of making statistical
changes as well as development within the service package of the respective hotel (Ye, Lyu and
He, 2019). Hereby, the in-depth analysis of the output takes place along with the identification of
leakage to identify the scope of improvement within the bounds of Hilton Hotel. This will lead to
the overall reduction in number of defects.
Unconditional service guarantee:
It is an important aspect which highlights the value of customer services specifically to
add more value among products of respective hotel. This is also used by the customer service for
identifying statement that render and demonstrate about high value that make unconditional
guarantee to enhance and improve service chain. In this relation, the management of Hilton Hotel
guarantees that the trust and belief of the customers is not broken at any point of time and
thereby they derive high level of satisfaction by virtue of the provision of high quality offerings.
3: Survey report with recommendations for better customer service, after analysing tailor made
questionnaire the hotel has sent to their customers
Sr. No. QUESTIONNAIRE
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Q1. Your overall experiences about hotel Front Office operations, including Check-in
and Check- out and complaint handling procedures by the Guest Relations officer.
Q2. Your experiences about hotel’s Housekeeping performance.
Q3. Your overall dining experiences in the hotel’s Restaurants. (Breakfast, Lunch,
afternoon tea and Dinner).
Q4. What is your experiences about Hotel’s Maintenance department?
Presentation of survey report:
The above mentioned questionnaire was sent by Hilton Hotel to a total of 30 respondents.
The responses are thus recorded and analysed as follows:-
1. In response to the first question, it can be stated that 88% of the total respondents
demonstrated that they were satisfied and happy with the services received by them by the front
desk staff within Hilton Hotel premises. Additionally, it can be analysed that 12% of the
respondents were not satisfied as they thought that the waiting time and the response time of the
front office staff was more than required.
2. In response to the second question of the questionnaire, it is seen that 95% of the total
respondents were very happy about the services offered by the housekeeping staff. The
respondents said that the department was quick and effective in giving response to the customer
demands. As against this, 5% of the total respondents considered the services of the
housekeeping department to be of average level and thus said the services can be improved in the
long term.
3. In response to the third question of the questionnaire, it is recorded that 90% of the
customers derive a positive and cherishing experience within the restaurant of Hilton Hotel for
the 3 meals. This is so because food of different varieties and cuisines is available in the
restaurant. As against this, 10% of the respondents believed that the dining experience can be
improved by decreasing the waiting time before the arrival of food.
4. As against the last question, 85% of the respondents said that they were satisfied with
the maintenance department of the hotel while the remaining had issues with the same.
Recommendations
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Training and Development- It is recommended that the management of Hilton Hotel
should provide training to the employees of the hotel. This will provide due assistance in
enhancing their skill set and competence. In the long run, this will allow the respective hotel to
improve the responses gained from the customers in the form of feedback. The training sessions
will equip the employees with desired skills through which they can effectively comprehend the
customer demands and consequently undertake the course of action which can yield positive
results for the firm.
Recruitment of fresh talent- It is suggested that Hilton hotel should recruit and select
new candidates. This will bring unique and creative ideas to the organisational premises with the
help of which the respective hotel can enhance its market reach. The recruitment of fresh talent
will also allow the firm to create a diverse workforce, composed of the employees from different
national and cultural backgrounds. As a result of this, the entity will be able to brainstorm the
ideas and select the one which possesses the potential to best address an issue pertinent to Hilton
Hotel.
CONCLUSION
On the basis of discussion done in the above report, customer service is acknowledged to
be that concept which reflects the ability of an organisation to comprehend the needs and
demands of the customers and consequently provide the offerings which can cater to the same. In
addition to this, it has been determined that the aspect named customer service plays a crucial
role in developing a strong image of the brand in the eyes of the customers. This implies that the
people will be wiling to stay connected to the brand for a considerably longer period of time in
future context. Thus, the direct inference is that the provision of effective customer service helps
in augmenting the existing level of revenues as well as profits of the company in the long term.
This indicates the improvement of goodwill and market positioning of the firm also.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Cao, Y., Ajjan, H. and Hong, P., 2018. Post-purchase shipping and customer service experiences
in online shopping and their impact on customer satisfaction. Asia Pacific Journal of
Marketing and Logistics.
Falter, M. and Hadwich, K., 2020. Customer service well-being: scale development and
validation. The Service Industries Journal, 40(1-2), pp.181-202.
Gnewuch, U., Morana, S. and Maedche, A., 2017, December. Towards Designing Cooperative
and Social Conversational Agents for Customer Service. In ICIS.
Guo, Y., Fan, D. and Zhang, X., 2020. Social media–based customer service and firm
reputation. International Journal of Operations & Production Management.
Kim, K. and Baker, M.A., 2020. Paying it forward: The influence of other customer service
recovery on future co-creation. Journal of Business Research.
Lee, S.M. and Lee, D., 2020. “Untact”: a new customer service strategy in the digital
age. Service Business, 14(1), pp.1-22.
Shire, K., Holtgrewe, U. and Kerst, C., 2017. Re-organising customer service work: an
introduction. In Re-Organising Service Work: Call Centres in Germany and Britain (pp.
1-16). Routledge.
Sutherland, K., Freberg, K., Driver, C. and Khattab, U., 2020. Public relations and customer
service: Employer perspectives of social media proficiency. Public Relations
Review, 46(4), p.101954.
Ye, Y., Lyu, Y. and He, Y., 2019. Servant leadership and proactive customer service
performance. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.
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