University: Develop and Manage Quality Customer Service Practices

This report examines the development and management of quality customer service practices, using a case study involving a couple's unsatisfactory experience at a restaurant. The analysis covers key aspects such as initial greetings, handling customer expectations, addressing complaints, and the importance of employee training and responsiveness. The report emphasizes the negative impacts of poor customer service, including reputational damage and loss of business. It also provides a sample apology letter and discusses strategies for crisis management, including the role of public relations and the implementation of effective policies and procedures. The report highlights the need for businesses to prioritize customer satisfaction through proactive measures, employee training, and transparent communication to build and maintain customer loyalty.

Running head: DEVELOP AND MANAGE QUALITY CUSTOMER SERVICE
PRACTICES
Develop and Manage quality customer service practices
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

1DEVELOP AND MANAGE QUALITY CUSTOMER SERVICE PRACTICES
Answer 1:
Mr. and Mrs. Jones were celebrating their fifth anniversary and they had great
plans on that day. Due to some miscommunication among the hotel staffs, their
evening was ruined. Customers have certain expectations, when visiting an
establishment. It was an important evening for the couple. As the mistake was from
the restaurant’s side, it was their duty to arrange something better and special for
them, in order to compensate. Customers must be treated well so that they go back
to the establishment again and again. Firstly, the couple should have been greeted
with a warm welcome. They expected a better place to sit; therefore, keeping in mind
the importance of their evening, the staff members could have arranged a better
place for them with special treatment.
Customers love surprises; therefore the staff members should have given
some special discount or offer on the food they have ordered. Moreover, it was a
very bad gesture of keeping them waiting. The employees should always take care
that none of their customers are waiting too long for their services. This creates a
negative impact on the customers’ minds. It may happen that they will never visit that
place again. The services must be fast and satisfactory. If any diner orders
something which takes longer to cook, the staffs must let them know beforehand.
Being informative and forthcoming will help the employees save their establishment’s
reputation (Goetsch and Davis 2014).
If any mistake occurs, that must be fixed immediately. Delivering excellent
services to the customers also includes dealing with their complains and problems
very effectively. Supposedly, a customer’s order is misplaced; the staff members
must apologize for such situation and refund their money or replace their food. In

2DEVELOP AND MANAGE QUALITY CUSTOMER SERVICE PRACTICES
addition to this, the employees must own their mistake and apologize to the
customers. Fancy restaurants value their customer’s feedback. Therefore, comment
cards must be given to each and every diner, to let them feel that their opinion is
valuable. Whenever any customer is not happy with the service, the employee must
attend him/her personally, knowing in which area the establishment needs
improvement.
Developing and managing customer relationships are very important as it
works as an energizer among the staff members. Moreover, it benefits the
establishment to a huge extent. Customers have several expectations and demands.
Therefore, it is the duty of the employees to treat them, in accordance with their
desires. The employees must be able to understand the behavior of the customers
well. Once the customers are happy, they will recommend and share their
experiences with their family or friends. Thus, it will prove advantageous for the
company (Kim, Kumar and Kumar 2012).
Answer 2:
The customers who receive unsatisfactory services prove to be
disadvantageous for the business life. In the era of digital media, one can easily post
and upload their comments on terrible services, which may malign the reputation or
image of the establishment. There are various brands which have gone down only
because of low customer services. Angry customers can cause severe damage to
the company’s reputation. Moreover, it also hampers customer employee
relationship. Bad services can cause loss of profitability. Firstly, the reputation of the
establishment gets marred and secondly, the company starts facing huge losses.
Once an establishment lose its brand image, it is very difficult to get it back.

3DEVELOP AND MANAGE QUALITY CUSTOMER SERVICE PRACTICES
Promotional activities or marketing may also not save the business from
drowning. If the issues are not addressed properly, the business will face severe
issues. Bad customer services will not only affect the business, but also result in
losing of the best employees. At times, when any establishment faces consumer
related issue, due to bad employee behavior, the best employees leave the
organization. This leads to severe crisis for the organization, as they rely on their
best employees for best services. When the organization start losing its reputation,
the best employees tend to change their track and search for better opportunities
(Alexander 2013).
Bad customer services can destroy an establishment’s lifetime value. The
organization may also have to spend huge for promotional activities, in order to
regain its reputation. At times, the results may not be satisfactory. There is a chance
of losing everything. Poor services not only impact the current customers but also
the future ones. It will result in losing most of the customers. Inferior service levels
may cost the business and create a negative impact among the minds of the
customers. Moreover, this will also result in the loss of potential customers. This is
because the customers, who face bad services or treatment, have a tendency to
share their worst experiences with their friends or family. This in turn, will result in
something severe and loss of future customers.
If something happens like that to any establishment, the first and foremost job
is to hire a public relations practitioner. He/she will help the organization regain its
reputation, by suggesting new and innovative strategies. In addition to that,
employees must be trained and groomed on a regular basis, in order to serve their
customers well. Employees are the basis of any organization; therefore, it is
important to monitor their moves. If any employee is not performing up to the mark,

4DEVELOP AND MANAGE QUALITY CUSTOMER SERVICE PRACTICES
he/she must be given warning. Moreover, if a customer is unhappy with the services,
the manager of the organization must apologize to him/her. Such gestures will help
the organization to a huge extent (Mok, Sparks and Kadampully 2013).
Answer 3:
To Mr. and Mrs. Jones,
Subject: Apology for bad service.
Respected Sir/ Ma’am,
On behalf of Cape Lighthouse, I would like to extend my apologies for the bad
experience you had with our service. I am really very sorry for what has happened
on your special day. It was really unacceptable and I promise you that such a
situation will never happen. The representative to whom you spoke for booking your
date completely misunderstood you, which gave rise to such a situation. I feel really
bad that our bad service ruined your whole evening, which was really special for you.
I am really sorry for the inconvenience caused. We serve the best and we promise
you that such a situation will never happen.
I understand that your concern was not properly handled. We are going to
take necessary steps for that, in order to ensure that such an upsetting situation
doesn’t repeat. We are doing our best to train the employees for providing with the
best services. They are now well trained as well as experienced and will handle
customer issues more effectively and efficiently as well. I would like to invite you in
our restaurant and compensate for the whole situation. I promise that our employees
will serve you the best and make your evening a special one.

5DEVELOP AND MANAGE QUALITY CUSTOMER SERVICE PRACTICES
I would also like to say that if our employees repeat such things in future,
bring the issue to our attention. Do not hesitate to report such issues and concerns. I
personally would handle such situations. Moreover, if you need any kind of help in
future please do not hesitate. You can contact me directly and I will be very glad to
assist you in such situation. Again, I am really very sorry for the inconvenience
caused.
Yours sincerely,
XYZ
General Manager, Cape Lighthouse
Answer 4:
Considering the case of Mr. and Mrs. Jones, it is important to assess the
whole issue at the Cape Lighthouse. The manager of the company should apologize
for the occurrence of such a situation. The first and foremost job of the company is to
take help from their public relations practitioner. He/she can easily handle the crisis
in a different manner. Firstly, the public relations manager could have responded to
the couple’s incident quickly, by directly apologizing to them as well as the people
who got hugely affected due to this (Armstrong and Taylor 2014). The establishment
is highly responsible for such an upsetting situation, and, therefore it was their duty
to show empathy towards the couple.
Secondly, the public relations practitioner must get the facts cleared, related
to the whole incident. He/she must know the facts and get those cleared, before
drawing any conclusion. After gathering the details of the situation, the public
relations practitioner should take major decisions. He/she needs to decide whose

6DEVELOP AND MANAGE QUALITY CUSTOMER SERVICE PRACTICES
mistake it was, without any biasness and take necessary actions based on that
(Evans and Lindsay 2013). Thirdly, a public relations practitioner, at times, withholds
information from its internal as well as external publics. This is ethically not correct.
An organization’s publics have full right in knowing about the strategies or policies of
the company, their products, failure as well as success reports (Ashleigh, Higgs and
Dulewicz 2012).
Therefore, the public relations manager of Cape Lighthouse must be
transparent and honest in front of the media as well as its internal publics. In this era
of digital media, not a single issue remains hidden. Distortion of reality mars the
organization’s progress and reputation as well. In addition to that, he/she should
know how to maintain integrity as well as transparency, in order to avoid conflicts
among the workers (Austin and Pinkleton 2015). Fourthly, it is his/her duty to own
the mistake. In this scenario, it was fully the establishment’s mistake, therefore, the
public relations manager of the company must have the guts to own the
responsibility and apologize to the couple. He/she must have the capability of
addressing the issues clearly in front of the media, knowing what not to say and what
to say. He/she must put all the necessary public relations tools in place to avoid such
situations in future (Downs and Swailes 2013).
Some strategies can be implemented in order to regain the trust of the
customers and the media can help in such situations. In order to stick to the mission
of the company, the manager can talk about the good image of the company and the
noble initiatives it has taken in the past as well as what they are going to do in the
near future. This may assist the company in gaining some positive feedbacks as well
as publicity. It is completely the responsibility of the establishment to behave in a
humble way, in such crisis moments. The company should be highly empathetic

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towards its customers. If the staff members behave in an insensible way, it will
worsen the whole situation and even enrage their customers. Thus, it is the duty of
the public relations officer to open up and plan accordingly with the establishment’s
CEO. This will help in regaining the customers’ faith and trust as well. It may be
tough to manage such crisis and sensitive situations, however handling those in
more sensible way can benefit the organization to a huge extent (James Sunday
Kehinde 2012).
Answer 5:
The restaurant must have strict policies and procedures for each of their
segments, in order to provide the customers with best services.
Restaurant booking policy: The restaurant should shuffle their policies of
booking. If a reservation is made beforehand, then the whole table must be the
couple’s. None of the employees should ask them to vacate the table. However, the
couple should be asked to arrive thirty minutes before the booking hour. On arrival,
the customers should be greeted well. It is to be kept in mind that the first impression
is the last impression. Therefore, the employees must be well aware of all these
policies and procedures (Lamba and Choudhary 2013).
Staff Presentation/ Greeting/ Hosting: The restaurant’s staff presentation is
the most important thing, which is to be taken utmost care. The staff members must
be well dressed and presentable, in order to attract the customers. The employees
should always take care that none of their customers are waiting too long for their
services. This creates a negative impact on the customers’ minds. It may happen
that they will never visit that place again. The services must be fast and satisfactory.
If any diner orders something which takes longer to cook, the staffs must let them
know beforehand (Schuler 2015).

8DEVELOP AND MANAGE QUALITY CUSTOMER SERVICE PRACTICES
Reporting requirements/ Staff hierarchy: If any customer is facing any kind
of issue, it should be immediately reported to the higher authority. The manager of
the company should apologize to the customer if any upsetting situation occurs.
Moreover, he/she can also seek help from the company’s public relations
practitioner. The manager should be responsive towards the sensitive incidents and
apologize for their behavior. The company is responsible for the consumer’s
unsatisfactory behavior, and, thus they must show empathy in such situations (Stone
2013).
Consumer service procedures for service: Managing and developing
customer relationships are considered to be very important as it works as an
energizer among the staff members. It benefits the establishment to a huge extent.
Customers have several expectations and demands. Therefore, it is the duty of the
employees to treat them, in accordance with their desires. The employees must be
able to understand the behavior of the customers well. They hate waiting; therefore,
quick service is the ultimate solution. Employees must maintain timeliness, which will
prove advantageous for the company (Van den Brink, Fruytier and Thunnissen
2013).
Dealing with complaints: Restaurants must value their customer’s feedback.
Comment cards must be given to each and every customer, to let them feel that their
opinion is valuable. Whenever any customer is not happy with the service, the
employee must attend him/her personally, knowing in which area the organization
needs improvement (Alexander 2013).

9DEVELOP AND MANAGE QUALITY CUSTOMER SERVICE PRACTICES
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