Services and Relationship Marketing

This essay introduces the concepts of services and relationship marketing managed by the business organization named Rockpool Bar & Grill in Australia. It covers front and back stages, service encounter, managerial implications, and service recovery.

Running head: SERVICES AND RELATIONSHIP MARKETING
Services and relationship marketing
Name of student
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Front and back stages...................................................................................................................4
Service encounter.............................................................................................................................6
Managerial implications..................................................................................................................7
Service recovery..............................................................................................................................9
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................10
References......................................................................................................................................11

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Introduction
The essay introduces the concepts of services and relationship marketing managed by the
business organization named Rockpool Bar & Grill in Australia. It is located in a core area of
Sydney, Australia and thus has managed to draw huge numbers of customers. Te beautiful
decoration based n the green marbled dinging space along with the American style Art deco
skyscraper has improved the dining experience for the guests and kept them satisfied with the
sumptuous meal provided (rockpoolbarandgrill.com.au 2018). The meals are produced through
meat and seafood sourced from the top producers of Australia and Rockpool Bar & Grill has
been one of the major restaurants with a wide range of wines and brewery items too. The menu
consists of a wide range of food items though the famous steak available at the restaurant has
been a popular delicacy among the customers that is sourced and then dry aged and wood fire
grilled to maintain perfection of the food in terms of quality and taste (Christopher, Payne and
Ballantyne 2013).
Every business origination, especially those within the food and hospitality sector
maintains front office and back office operations to ensure smooth business functioning along
with dealing with the issues faced while managing the business operations. The front and back
office operations are responsible for managing the restaurant and at the same time, facilitate the
management of services’ delivery and recovery with proper support by the managers of the
organization as well. Though there are signs of growth in economy, still the company owners
have faced major issues an challenges including the fluctuations in commodity prices, increased
prices of wholesale food items along with the pressure on bottom line of the restaurant, due to
which the consumers remain not knowledgeable about the growth in economy and other

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expenditures based on the survey conducted by the National Restaurant Association in Australia
(Peck et al. 2013). The front stage enables creating a platform for the business to interact or
communicate with the customers and understand the kind of service that they want while the
back stage enables a specific portion of the service value chain that are not known or watchable
to the customers.
Front and back stages
Front stage
The front stage comprises of the contact personnel or receptionist who manages the
service encounters and ensures that the physical components and assets are managed by the
business properly. The receptionist present at the front stage is responsible for illustrating the
services offered by the restaurant to the customers, furthermore make bookings for their
respective seats arranged to get the services delivered at the table during supper (Hohenthal,
Johanson and Johanson 2015). The front stage has direct link with the physical components of

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the facility that transfers the information about the items to be produced to the kitchen facility
where the food item, is made and a proper dining space is provided for the guests too. The
customers are linked with the availing of services through gaining a great dining experience
through the booking already made at the service encounter desk before entering the dining place.
The food items are delivered to them according to their needs that are already reported to the
chefs and waiters, who have made sure to maintain the food safety and health standards for
keeping the clients satisfied as a whole (Hennig-Thurau and Hansen 2013).
Back stage
According to Artto, Ahola and Vartiainen (2016), the back stage means the back
operations managed at the restaurant including the staffs at the kitchen, waiters, chefs and other
workers who are responsible for managing the operations at the back office. The technical core
manages the bookings made and orders placed, based on which, the necessary information about
the orders for food items are transferred to the kitchen management staffs (Artto, Ahola and

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Vartiainen 2016). They manages the orders by preparing the food items that are to be consumed
by the clients, furthermore make arrangements for the dining and allowing the guests to consume
the food items that they require. With the proper information transferred from the technical core
department to the kitchen facility, the products and services are delivered properly to the clients,
which has enhanced the dining experience and resulted in great customer satisfaction too (Artto,
Ahola and Vartiainen 2016).
Service encounter
The restaurant service encounter means the place where the receptionist and other
organizational staffs are present to assist the customers in getting the right services and even
make their sitting arrangements at the restaurant. The quality of service encounter has been
excellent for Rockpool Bar & Grill in Australia, which has helped the receptionist to welcome
the guests and made them, gain a positive mindset of the business prior to availing the services of
the restaurant (Hill and Hill 2017). The service encounter includes addressing the name of the
customer and provides him or her with the information regarding the seats arranged to have
supper. The service encounter is included as a major aspect of the service interaction where the
people and processes are considered by Rockpool Bar & Grill to work according to the need and
requirements of the clients and keep them satisfied as a whole. Lee and Sozen (2016) argued that
the quality of service encounter is effective and of good quality because most of the clients who
have made prior bookings before visiting the restaurant are provided with proper seating
arrangements (Lee and Sozen 2016). The other people who want immediate service and made
bookings that time have been allowed to sit in room and wait in case the seats are not found
empty.

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The service encounter also includes self service check in and checkout, which has
allowed the customers to use the automated check in service by booking the seat through
payments made via credit or debit cards. There are no hassles and need to wait in queue to
interact with the receptionists, which can reduce the work load of the restaurant authorities and
ensure that the services are delivered appropriately and in an organized manner (Wong 2013).
According to Dabholkar (2015), the service encounter has been further facilitated to improve the
customers’ interaction with the restaurant and it has been possible with the use of web based
services dedicated to achieve customer service excellence. The restaurant has managed a proper
website where all the information regarding the restaurant, its products and services offered and
other approaches managed to maintain sustainability are present, which are readily accessible to
the customers (Dabholkar 2015). This could also make them assess the various features of the
restaurant and its products, furthermore ensured that the customers could made purchases of the
restaurant services accurately and within quick time as well. Thus, the service encounter could
be believed as a repository for sharing and exchange of information between the business and its
clients and transforming the service to service systems, not only by implementing self service
systems through automation, but also by allowing the receptionists and other staffs present at the
back stage to help the clients who visit the place and make them avail the best possible services
that are suitable for them (Larivière et al. 2017).
Managerial implications
According to the manager, the front stage and back stage operations are linked with each
other for delivering the best quality customers’ services and focus on their satisfaction at the
utmost level possible. The back office manages proper control over the activities managed at the

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front stage of the business; furthermore prevent errors and mistakes that might be associated with
the front office operations. Based on the statements provided by Choi and La (2013), the controls
of the front office operations stay at the back stage and thus the front office operations are for the
generation of revenue whereas the support activities managed to help the front office are present
at the back office stage considering the admin operations, laws, rules and regulations compliance
(Choi and La 2013). As a manager of the organization, it is the responsibility to manage the
front and back stages properly at the same time to ensure successful business functioning
along with the creation of a link between these two departments. The manager is also
responsible for bridging the front and back stages of the organization in the service design for
ensuring smooth flow and exchange of information along with the focus on resolving the issues
associated with the front and back stage issues experienced within the restaurant (Xu et al. 2014).
The managerial implications are also associated with the encouragement of individuals
and influencing their buying behaviors to deliver services accordingly. Within the restaurant
industry, the support provided on the basis of a value model or tangible framework is dependent
on the analysis done. Due to this, the manager of Rockpool Bar & Grill, Australia must be aware
of the analysis data and information related to the purchasing intentions of the customers. The
actual behaviors of clients are understood, which further helps in determining the factors
associated with the managerial decisions made (rockpoolbarandgrill.com.au 2018). As stated by
Christopher, Payne and Ballantyne (2013), the HR managers are responsible for managing the
processes of recruitment, selection and arranging training sessions for them while the
departmental manages are associated with the ways the various departments are made functional
according to the needs, expectations and readiness to make purchases by the customers in
different market segments of Australia (Christopher, Payne and Ballantyne 2013).

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Considering the fact that there the restaurant aims to understand the orientation of
customers for enhancing the apparent services value chain and generate higher revenue in
business. The communication of service specifications is controlled by the manager who
assigns the line manager and makes sure that the employees of the organization are
knowledgeable and informed about the information related to the products and services delivered
by the restaurant. Based on the research and development outcomes, it was found that the
manager had followed the value structure of the individuals who possessed good buying
behaviors and can allocate resources based on the information obtained (Hohenthal, Johanson
and Johanson 2015). Their perceptions are basically positive towards the purchase of any
products and services and this will further assist in delivering a broader, better and effective
service performance. The manager conducts meetings with the other staffs to understand the
things that are present in the product or service to influence the clients to make purchases
(rockpoolbarandgrill.com.au 2018).
The manager should make the organizational policies and laws readily available and
acknowledgeable to the staffs for ensuring that the organizational and quality standards are
maintained properly. Larivière et al. (2017) stated that the roles and responsibilities of the
managers are also to promote effective communication along with management of training and
development needs of the staffs to strengthen their skills, knowledge and expertise. The service
delivery has been influenced and this has resulted in customers’ perceptions towards
management of value and other benefits offered to the customers (Larivière et al. 2017). The
managerial implications also included the research based knowledge and information related to
the value structure of the potential customers to whom the services have been already delivered
by the restaurant named Rockpool Bar & Grill in Australia (rockpoolbarandgrill.com.au 2018).

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Service recovery
The service recovery means the implementation of various laws, rules, regulations and
strategies required to provide benefits to the clients in case there have been any kinds of service
related disputes due to which the customers have suffered. There could be service failures when
any defect is found in the food item while the slow service delivery could also be considered as a
major service failure experienced by the restaurant. After the orders are placed, in case the items
are out of stock, then it could also be a service related failure whereas the inappropriate
behaviors of the staffs and incorrect temperature at which the food has been cooked might also
lead to bad food and unhealthy components present. There might also be billing error, wrong
orders placed and wrong invoice, which are considered as common service failures faced by the
restaurant (Artto, Ahola and Vartiainen 2016). According to Kincaid et al. (2010), the laws,
rules and guidelines set could make the restaurant face penalty due to service failures and this
might even cost a lot of money for the business in the form of compensation through free food
delivery, discounts offered and coupons provided for reducing the prices of items during the next
purchase. Replacement of food could also be possible while in case of no actions, the business
might be subjected to risks of negative word of mouth promotions and lack of ability to maintain
a proper brand name and image (Kincaid et al. 2010). This would slow down the business
functions, lead to customer dissatisfaction and finally result in decline of sales revenue too.
Conclusion
The topic introduced the various important components of a restaurant and how it has
helped in managing the service encounter and service recovery through management of both the
front stage and back stages. The front stage comprised of the area where the receptionists are

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present and the other staffs who had welcomed the guests while entering the restaurant while the
back stage included the kitchen facilities and the cooking department that were responsible for
taking the orders and arranging the food items accordingly. The service encounter and recovery
options in case of any service related faults were managed properly with the involvement of
manager to ensure that the service quality should be maintained along with maintenance of
consistency all throughout the services’ delivery.

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References
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operations: Managing projects for value creation throughout the system lifecycle. International
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Choi, B. and La, S., 2013. The impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and customer
trust on the restoration of loyalty after service failure and recovery. Journal of Services
Marketing, 27(3), pp.223-233.
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Dabholkar, P.A., 2015. How to improve perceived service quality by increasing customer
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Larivière, B., Bowen, D., Andreassen, T.W., Kunz, W., Sirianni, N.J., Voss, C., Wünderlich,
N.V. and De Keyser, A., 2017. “Service Encounter 2.0”: An investigation into the roles of
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Xu, Y., Marshall, R., Edvardsson, B. and Tronvoll, B., 2014. Show you care: initiating co-
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