Customer Service Management for Tourism and Hospitality

This report examines customer service management in the tourism and hospitality industry, using a case study on DUKES LONDON. It discusses the on-stage and backstage interactions, physical evidence, and social distancing measures implemented. The report concludes with recommendations for the hotel to maintain hygiene and food safety.

Customer Service Management
for Tourism and Hospitality
Case Study on DUKES LONDON

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The following report is based on a case study based on DUKES LONDON. The situation
of global lockdown led to the temporal closure of this hotel for the first time on 20th March 2020.
The report has highlighted the onstage operations taking place between the team members along
with the backstage interactions. Further, the support processes have demonstrated that they play
a vital role in helping the primary operations of the business to take place. Lastly, it is
recommended that the restaurant should follow the social distancing measures and maintain
hygiene & food safety at all times to gain growth.

Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................2
Examine a DUKES LONDON customer’s service journey for arrival at the hotel and
breakfast the next morning..........................................................................................................2
Describe the physical evidence of the service journey...............................................................3
Identify the “On Stage” interactions (touchpoints) with team members ...................................4
Identify the “Back Stage” interactions........................................................................................4
Apply the knowledge to a service blueprint diagram and include customer emotions, the line
of interaction, the line of visibility and the line of internal interaction.......................................5
Identify where the social distancing measures are implemented................................................7
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS............................................................................8
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Customer service management can be comprehensively referred to as the accumulation of
the strategies, practices and technologies which can provide due assistance to a company in
management as well as analysis of customer interactions along with customer data all throughout
the life cycle of customers. This process is carried out within the bounds of an organisation for
the purpose of improvement of the relationship existing between the business and its base of
customers. It allows an entity to retain the customers for a considerably longer period of time in
future context of time and thereby drive the sales substantially. The report is conducted upon
DUKES LONDON to examine the process of customer service management as applied to it.
DUKES LONDON is a luxury hospitality organisation situated at the epicentre of St
James Mayfair within London. This hotel provides sophisticated as well as luxury services to the
customers in the form of bar, accommodation, food & beverages, health club, gymnasium, events
and so forth. This hotel creates a high quality experience for the customers by ensuring their
comfort, ease and convenience at all times. This organisation is run and owned by Seven Tides
International. The offerings of this hotel for the population include modern and classic style
bedrooms along with the luxury suites. In addition to this, DUKES LONDON also provides the
services of DUKES BAR and a restaurant for the provision of impeccable services to its array of
guests.
Demographic profile refers to a certain type of customer, inclusive of their age, sex,
marital status, income and so forth. Through the development of demographic profile of the ideal
customer, a business can align its marketing efforts towards effective persuasion of the target
customer segment. The demographic profile of the customers of DUKES LONDON can be
comprehended to be business class people or elite sections of society, who stay at the hotel
premises for leisure or commercial purpose.
Consumer trends can be comprehended as the demands of the customers, their behaviour
patterns & attitudes and their lookout upon the world. Changes are inseparable from the
commercial world and are as apparent in businesses as within the consumer demands. In this
relation, it has been analysed that DUKES LONDON leverage several global consumer trends
such as contactless payment, automatic check-in & check-out, hygiene & safety, personalisation,
sustainability, customisation and so forth. By virtue of capitalisation on these global consumer
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trends, DUKES LONDON is able to capture the attention of a wide customer base and retain
them for a longer period of time in future context.
A typical customer of DUKES LONDON (as aligned with the demographic profile)
likely expects high quality customer services from the hotel. The hotel allows the entry and stay
of dogs, however, the customers expect the respective hotel to incorporate the authority to enter
and accommodate other kinds of pet also. Further, the loyal customer of the hotel likely expects
the hotel to provide them with special services or offers as against the exhibition of their loyalty
towards the brand. This hospitality organisation has created benchmarks for its services in
domains like housekeeping, food & beverage, maintenance, and so on. This inflates the
expectation of the typical customer of DUKES LONDON while making a stay at the hotel
premises.
MAIN BODY
Examine a DUKES LONDON customer’s service journey for arrival at the hotel and breakfast
the next morning
The customer service can be referred to as those services that a customer is entitled to
received after making the payment for it. In simple others, it can be comprehended to be the
support extended on the part of the company to its customers. In this relation, DUKES
LONDON renders luxury services to its wide based of customers. In the wake of coronavirus
outspread across the globe, the management of this hotel promotes contactless check in. This
makes the beginning of the journey easier for the customers allowing them to maintain social
distancing measures while gaining access to the hotel premises. In this way, the hotel is able to
make sure that it abides by the protocols and regulations of COVID-19.
The journey can be traced in a way such that the front desk officers welcome the guests
in a pleasant and greeting tone. This is aimed at making the guests feel at home since the very
entrance in the premises of DUKES LONDON. The hotel does thermal temperature check of the
guests to make sure that their body temperature is under control. This is aimed at making sure
that the health conditions of all the guests staying in the hotel premises is relevant. In case of
prepayments at the time of booking, contactless payment is promoted at the reception, while
abiding by the rules as well as regulations of the social distancing measures.
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When the customer check in to their room, the staff equips the guest with knowledge of
the room and the facilities available in it. Also, the staff informs the guest about the additional
services that are provided by the hotel such as food and beverage, housekeeping, laundry, and so
forth. Further, the staff also acquaints the guests with knowledge of the availability of technology
based facilities such as Bluetooth speaker, WIFI, TV, and more. Then, the sanitisation of the
room is done at intervals of every 6 hours. At the time of the meal, the receptionist makes a call
in the room of the guest and asks them if they require snacks or food. The guest may deny or
accept the food and beverage service in accordance with their choice. They may even reject the
food order in case they feel that proper hygiene and safety measures are not followed at the time
of food preparation and serving. The breakfast service of DUKES LONDON is available
between 7am and 11am. The guest may choose to take the food order within their respective
room or opt to visit the premises of the restaurant. Either ways, the prime consideration in the
mind of the customer is regarding the safety, security and hygiene of the food and beverage
items. Hereby, the staff available in the restaurant follows the rules of social distancing and
makes sure that the order is served while maintaining proper distance from the customer. The
buffet setup is being avoided in the wake of coronavirus.
Describe the physical evidence of the service journey
Physical evidence can be comprehensively referred to as that part of the organisation
which is visible to the customers. With respect to the hospitality industry, it can be said that this
encompasses all those facets which can be seen or touched by the guests in order to derive
maximum satisfaction. Especially in context of hotels, the physical evidence can be seen in the
form of physical assets, infrastructure, safety equipments, interiors, décor, and so forth. These
components of an organisation seek to gain the attention of public at large and retain them for a
considerably longer period of time in future context.
With reference to DUKES LONDON, it can be identified that this hotel has a luxury
décor. The interiors of the lobby, hall and the room are designed in an aesthetic way to appeal to
the visitors. Further, the furniture in the premises of the respective hotel is designed in a way that
it gives a luxury look. This provides DUKES LONDON an edge over the other firms prevailing
within the bounds of the same sector. In the wake of coronavirus outspread, the hotel has taken
special measures to carry out sanitisation of the premises at regular intervals of 6 hours. In
addition to this, the website of DUKES LONDON acts as another physical evidence of this firm.
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Further, exterior parking, cart for the bags, and employee uniform are also effective forms of
physical evidence that account to that part of the entity which is visible to the guests.
Identify the “On Stage” interactions (touchpoints) with team members
On stage interactions tend to take place in an instance whereby the front line staff gets
engaged in a direct communication with the customers in a face to face way. With respect to the
hotel, the front line staff can be seen in areas such as room service, housekeeping, managerial,
waiters in restaurant and bar, and reception. Thus, it can be comprehensively stated that on stage
operations are extremely crucial in terms of setting a direct interaction between the customers
and the hotel staff.
With reference to the case of DUKES LONDON, it has been examined that the first on
stage operation for this hotel is the Guest Register whereby the name of each and every guest is
entered at the time of entry as well as exit into and from the hotel premises. The next on stage
operation is the security person of the hotel to be greeting the guest and taking their luggage
from them so as to ensure comfort and convenience for the customers. The third on stage
operation within the bounds of DUKES LONDON has been acknowledged to be the delivery of
luggage of the customers to their respective rooms. In the present time of COVID-19 outspread,
the management and staff of this hotel makes sure that there is absolute social distancing
between the staff members of DUKES LONDON and the guests. This is aimed at avoidance of
proximity or physical closeness, to avoid the dissemination of infection.
Identify the “Back Stage” interactions
Back stage interactions happens when a part of the total staff of an organisation does not
come into direct contact with the customers but contribution in providing high level of
satisfaction to them. With reference to hotels, it has been determined that back stage includes the
personnel employed in kitchen, accounts department, engineering department, linen and so on. It
is an essential part of each organisation and contributes as much as the on stage staff in the
success and growth of the firm.
In relation to DUKES LONDON, it has been determined that the back stage operation of
this hotel include the reservation of rooms for the guests over the call or via online media.
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Apply the knowledge to a service blueprint diagram and include customer emotions, the line of
interaction, the line of visibility and the line of internal interaction
Service blueprint is defined as the tool which is used by the hospitality companies for
managing the rate of customer satisfaction. They are very time consuming and expensive
methods for planning out any kind of customer related problem.
With reference to DUKES LONDON, it has been identified that the emotions of the
customers keep on altering. They experience nervousness while making online booking as they
are apprehensive if the physical facilities will be as good as the description given over the
internet. Then once the customer enters the premises of the hotel, they are excited to get access
to their room and experience the services being offered there. In addition to this, when the
customer leaves the hotel premises, they feel sad as the experience derived by them in the hotel
makes them undergo such emotion.
Identify where the social distancing measures are implemented
The social distancing measures are implemented in several domains of the business.
These domains are enlisted as follows:-
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 Taking luggage from the guest at the check in
 Delivery of luggage to the rooms of the guests
 Check in and Check out
 Restaurant and bar premises
 Front desk operations
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
On the basis of the discussion done in the report above, it can be stated that customer
service management is an important facet for each and every organisation operating as a part of
the national economy. This is mainly because this is a process which allows the firm to cater to
the needs and demands of the customers and thereby offer services that can lead to the fulfilment
of the same. In addition to this, it has been determined that DUKES LONDON has been a well
renowned and successful organisation operating within the bounds of hospitality sector for the
purpose of satisfying the customer wants. Besides this, it is acknowledged that the demographic
profile of this hotel depicts the customers of this firm to be mainly including the elite class and
business class individuals who stay in the hotel premises for either leisure or corporate purposes.
The global consumer trends mainly being leveraged by this hospitality firm consist of contactless
payment, hygiene & safety, personalisation, automatic check in & check out, and customisation.
These provide assistance to the respective hospitality organisation in gaining the attention of a
large number of customers and thereby augmenting the revenues and profits of the firm.
In the wake of coronavirus outspread and the situation of lockdown across the globe, it is
important for businesses to take social distancing measures. Especially, the hospitality firms are
required to strict measures as this industry involves the correspondence of large number of
individuals on a daily basis, that too, face to face. The norms of social distancing have had a
significant impact upon the operations of businesses along with several other domains of the
organisations. With regards to DUKES LONDON, the temporal closure of the premises and
lately, the restricted services of the hotel has had cascading impacts on the financial performance
of the hotel.
The consequences of social distancing measures upon DUKES LONDON can be
analysed in terms of 3 facets named timings, metrics and regulations.
The consequences in terms of timing can be acknowledged to be provision of customer
services to lesser number of individuals. Further, the overall cost of business operations has also
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increased owing to the compliance with measures and practices like temperature check,
sanitisation, hygiene and food safety maintenance, etc.
With respect to metrics, it can be analysed that the consequences of social distancing
measures within the premises of DUKES LONDON comprise of contactless payments which are
promoted by the governments across the globe, delayed deliveries due to lesser number of
employees in the organisational premises, and so forth.
In relation to regulations, the consequences of social distancing measures within DUKES
LONDON have been acknowledged to be strict terms that have been imposed in the hotel
premises in relation to regular sanitisation, hygiene maintenance, safety maintenance, social
distancing at the payment counters and so forth.
Now, in accordance with the analysis done above, certain recommendations have been
provided to the management of DUKES LONDON in relation to the implementation of social
distancing measures. The first recommendation in this relation is acknowledged to be decrement
in the count of staff in the hotel premises to comply with social distancing and avoid a state of
overcrowding. Another recommendation devised to the management is that only contactless or
digital payments should be promoted. Yet another recommendation for DUKES LONDON is the
elevators should only allow 2 persons at one time or even promote the usage of staircase. In
addition to this, the hotel management should make alternative seating arrangement in the
waiting space for abidance with the social distancing measures. Digital customer touchpoints
should be used for communication with the customers. Apart from this, it has been suggested
that the organisation should sanitise the premises at regular intervals of time within a day.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
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