Premier Inn: Enhancing Customer Service Through Policy & Training

This report provides an in-depth analysis of customer service at Premier Inn, a leading hotel chain in the UK. It examines the motives for using customer service policies, assessing their impact on staff training and development. The report evaluates communication methods and their influence on customer-focused culture, along with the impact of customer service provision on consumer perception. Furthermore, it explores information sources for understanding customer requirements and satisfaction levels, suggesting improvements based on customer feedback. The report also covers the planning and delivery of customer service initiatives within Premier Inn, including a review of individual performance and recommendations for enhancement. The analysis covers both theoretical aspects of customer service and practical applications within the hospitality industry, highlighting the importance of effective communication, policy implementation, and continuous improvement in customer service practices to maintain a competitive edge.

Customer service
Premier Inn

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................... 1
OVERVIEW OF PREMIER INN..............................................................................................2
REPORT 1............................................................................................................................. 3
TASK 1................................................................................................................................... 3
1.1 DISCUSSION ON MOTIVE FOR USING CUSTOMER SERVICE POLICIES...............3
1.2 MOTIVE OF ASSESSMENT OF CUSTOMER SERVICE POLICY INDICATING HOW
IT CAN ASSIST IN FUTURE STAFF TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT............................5
TASK 2................................................................................................................................... 7
2.1 ASSESSMENT OF THE METHODS OF COMMUNICATION AND HOW THEY HAVE
AN IMPACT ON THE CUSTOMER FOCUSED CULTURE................................................7
2.2 EXAMINATION OF HOW THE PERSPECTIVE OF CONSUMERS IS AFFECTED BY
THE CUSTOMER SERVICE PROVISION..........................................................................9
REPORT 2........................................................................................................................... 10
TASK 3................................................................................................................................. 10
3.1 EVALUATION OF INFORMATION SOURCES ON CUSTOMER REQUIREMENT AND
THEIR SATISFACTION LEVELS......................................................................................10
3.2 RESEARCH ON THE REQUIREMENTS OF CUSTOMERS AND SATISFACTION
LEVEL OF PREMIER INN CUSTOMERS AND SUGGESTING IMPROVEMENTS..........12
TASK 4................................................................................................................................. 14
4.1 PLANNING AND DELIVERY OF THE CUSTOMER SERVICE INITIATIVES IN THE
PREMIER INN.................................................................................................................. 14
4.2 REVIEW OWN PERFORMANCE IN DELIVERY OF CUSTOMER SERVICE AND
MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS..........................................................................................16
CONCLUSION..................................................................................................................... 17
REFERENCES..................................................................................................................... 18
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INTRODUCTION
The study of hospitality industry covers the major aspect of hospitality management. Taking
a deep insight into this, hospitality can be understood as the relation between the guests and
their hosts in which the hosts are liable for welcoming the guests and taking care of their
comfort and services provided to the guests. The customers in the hospitality sector have a
major contribution that leads to either success or failure of the hospitality firm. It must be
made sure that the customers are content with the services given by the hospitality firm. In
the assignment, Premier Inn hotel, one of the largest hotel chain in the UK is taken into
consideration. A report will be made in which the customer service manager of the hotel has
the accountability of conducting a training session and in that review the customer service
policies firstly and then discuss the purpose of the same. Moreover, the methods of
communication will be assessed accompanied by an analysis of how the perspective of the
customers is being influenced by the customer service provision. In the other report, the
requirements of the customers and their expectations will be scrutinised along with the
provisioning of customer service in the business context with an example.
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OVERVIEW OF PREMIER INN
The hotel chain, Premier Inn was established in the year 1987 and is recognised as the
largest hotel brand in the United Kingdom. The hotel chain operates in 5 countries
specifically the UK itself, Ireland, India, Germany and the UAE (United Arab Emirates). It has
a total of 750 hotels in the above-mentioned countries and is a subsidiary of the firm
Whitbread with headquarters in Dunstable, United Kingdom. The key person associated
with Premier Inn is Alison Brittain, the CEO of the organisation. The hotel chain provides
70% of the earnings of the total share of the Whitbread business (Premier Inn, 2018).
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REPORT 1
The customer service manager at Premier Inn will prepare a report for providing training to
the employees in a training session held on studying the consumer service policies of the
hotel so as to promote the culture focused towards customer benefit. The policies of
customer service will be described in business and service perspective along with describing
the purpose of encouraging a customer focused culture.
TASK 1
1.1 DISCUSSION ON MOTIVE FOR USING CUSTOMER
SERVICE POLICIES
Customer service in the context of hospitality operations can be explained as the services
that are given to the consumers or the clients so as to retain them and generate the new
potential consumers for the future that will in direct and indirect manner provide advantage to
the firm and assist it in facing the challenges that will emerge in the business environment
(Chand, 2010). With an aim to provide great service to the customers, there are some
predefined policies for each of the hospitality organisations so that the team representing the
firm can provide their services in a better and organised manner. These policies ensure that
the staff of the hospitality firm are well familiar with the importance of serving their clients
with the good quality of services in a consistent manner irrespective of which division of the
firm the staff member belongs to.
The reason behind the development and the use of the policies for customer service in hotel
Premier Inn are as follows-
Expectations of customers- As the expectations and the perception of the customers
change, there is a need for the hotel management to conduct an appraisal of its policies and
modify them at regular time intervals. For example- the customers are not happy with the
greeting and room services and want some innovation for the same (Grissemann, et al.
2013).
Information- The hotel management makes sure that the consumers are well informed
regarding the do’s and don’ts to ensure that a harmony is maintained between both the
parties in relation to the policies and procedures of the firm. The same applies to the
employees and management as well.
Feedback- The policies defined for the customer service are a powerful tool for directing the
staff members in a way to beseech information so as to improve the services. The clients on
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the other end are independent to share their feedbacks and experience so that the hotel
management can make the recommended modifications for improving its quality of services.
Clarity- The policies of the hotel that are clearly and accurately defined to the staff
members ensure that the objectives and the goals of the firm are clear to the employees and
thus this ensures that the employees will be successful in maintaining the brand image of the
firm. The effectiveness of the employees must be reviewed at regular time intervals to
ensure whether they are following the guidelines or not (Kam Fung So and King, 2010).
Training- The policies for the consumer service are helpful in the formation of the service
guidelines for the staff members of the hotel Premier Inn so that they receive proper training
for showcasing better performance in the firm. This aids much is providing information about
the idea of great service to the employees.
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1.2 MOTIVE OF ASSESSMENT OF CUSTOMER SERVICE
POLICY INDICATING HOW IT CAN ASSIST IN FUTURE
STAFF TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT
The main motive behind the formation of the customer policies in the hotel lays in the fact
that the consumers and other clients are properly informed about the guidelines and rules
set by the firm and the staff members follow and perform their duties according to the
guidelines. The assessment of the policies is conducted so that department of management
of the hotel can analyse whether the policies made by them are successfully implemented or
not. There are innumerable methods and ways of evaluation of the effectiveness of the
policies made for the customer service (CG Davidson, et al. 2011). Some of the methods
comprise asking for reviews and feedback from the clients, organising opinion polls and
various surveys with the help of questionnaire and interviews etc. With the help of these
kinds of methods, the hotel management can understand the viewpoint of the customers
towards the services they provide to them and therefore the organisation can analyse its
weaknesses and the limitations that can be improved in the future.
The hotel also has adopted the service of evaluation of the policies made for customers by
saving the data of the customers and keeping the track of all the regular customers who visit
in frequent intervals that is an integral part of the customer relationship management. The
legitimacy of data collected from the clienteles through surveys and forums must be
reviewed along with ensuring that the method of data collection follows the standards and
rules set by the hospitality firm (Úbeda-García, et al. 2013).
The process of examination of the customer service standards and policies provides
assistance in training of the future staff for catering their overall development process. The
better services provided to the customers, the better will be the performance of the staff
members and their professional growth and development. The process of evaluation will
help in identification of the weakness in the regulated policies and make sure that the same
limitations are overcome as soon as possible and are not repeated again and again. The
reviews given from the clients can provide aid in the development of the training sessions
and programs thus helping them to improve their method of working and the quality of
service they provide (Chen, et al. 2012). Also, this will help in identification of the loopholes
in the activities performed by the staff members. The employees of the hotels being the
representatives interacting directly with the clients have to receive proper training along with
respecting the customer service policies, thus implementing them in their job routine.
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The newly recruited employee in the hotel must be given more attention so that they become
well familiar with the standards and policies. In on job training, the employees must be
provided with special provisions so that they can discuss the set of standards and the
consumer policies to have a clear insight into the formation of the rules.
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TASK 2
2.1 ASSESSMENT OF THE METHODS OF COMMUNICATION
AND HOW THEY HAVE AN IMPACT ON THE CUSTOMER
FOCUSED CULTURE
In the hospitality industry, it is important to implement the practices of effective
communication. The communication process may take either of the two levels namely the
formal format management or the informal communication between the employees and the
clients or the staff members. The communication methods are divided into the following
categories-
Oral communication
This type of communication involves the verbal interaction and the process of listening and
responding. The individual who is initiating the communication must make sure that the
respondent is able to get his language and the meaning of the interaction so that there is no
hindrance in conveying of information (Byrne, et al. 2012). The oral communication must
ensure one to one communication between two individuals. This can also take 2 forms-
Face to face interaction- This method involves only communication between two
individuals that guarantees that the information conveyed most appropriately. It gives a
personal context to the communication process that is a crucial part of the hotels and
broadly the hospitality industry.
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Communication
Oral
Communication
Face to face
Meeting,
Training or
Presentation
Written
communication
Email, memo or
letters
Non Verbal
Communication

Presentations, training and the meetings- This type of communication comprises a group
of individuals communicating with each other. In the group meetings and the presentations,
each and every person gets chance to express their thoughts but it does not ensure that
their information is being attentively perceived by the other members (Bofill, et al. 2014). The
same concept follows in the training sessions besides the difference that only one individual
addresses a crowd. The individuals attending the training session can present their opinion
request. In all the types of communication whether presentation or a meeting or training, only
one-way communication is effectively executed and does not guarantee the
acknowledgement from the other end.
Written communication
This process of communication involves documentation of the information that is either typed
or handwritten. This is effective when there is a need for future reference. The written
documents may be the emails, training materials and documents, the letters or memos or
the reminders etc. more attention and carefulness must be given in this form of
communication because it acts as a piece of proof of whatever information is conveyed in
the written form by an individual or the hotel (Whiteman, 2013). The digitized communication
between the staff members and the clients and staff is also a part of the written
communication such as chat through messenger etc.
Nonverbal communication
The nonverbal interaction involves the communication through body language. In the hotel
environment, the staff members are trained to communicate through signs and symbols for
conveying indicative information to each other without interrupting the work of others. The
experience of the customers whether good or bad can be well understood by the staff by
their body language and behaviour that may be their gestures, facial expressions or their
hand movements.
In the hotel chain, Premier Inn all the modes of communication are used in an efficient
manner for improving the services provided and thud enrich the customer experience at the
best. This can be done by establishing good communication practices among the staff
members so that they can interact with others in an effectual manner without hurting the
emotions of others (Mehrabian, 2017). The effect of the verbal communication holds more
significance in the hotel. On the other hand, the written communication is only important for
the management and employees to work in a well-organised manner as well as the
customers to keep evidence of their billings and the customer service policies in the written
form. On behalf of the customers, the management must ensure that the policies are being
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well understood by the clients and no situation of conflict occurs when communicating in the
written or verbal form.
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2.2 EXAMINATION OF HOW THE PERSPECTIVE OF
CONSUMERS IS AFFECTED BY THE CUSTOMER SERVICE
PROVISION
The quality of services and hospitality provisions provided to the customers plays a
significant role in the success of the hospitality industry. Thus, it is crucial to understand the
perspective of the customer, their outlook and the sentiments in relation to the hospitality
services in order to attain sustainable growth and gain a competitive edge over the other
firms in the market. There are numerous factors that have an impact on the perception of the
customers but also the fact cannot be neglected that the perspectives of customers keep on
changing with the change in trends and technology. For instance, for booking hotels, the
people browse a number of websites and conduct deep research through the offline
methods as well (Lin, 2010). The research is based on the information available on the
hotel's website or the review sites of the hotels and other hospitality firms. After conducting
a thorough research, the people get a sense of information bat the services provided by the
hotel and the expenses involved which develops a sense of perception among them about
the hotel and further they understand the customer service policies. After their check in the
hotel selected, if their perceptions do not go with the expectations, then it negatively impacts
and ruins the reputation of the hotel. From this, it can be inferred that the perception of the
customers is highly impacted by the customer service provision.
It is required by the hospitality organisations to present truthful and legitimate information
about the policies they provide for the customer service and other provisions so that the trust
of the customers is not broken and their expectations are not shattered. If the customer
service provision is met with the perspective of the customers then it will add many more
loyal customers and migration of new customers from other hospitality firms (Kang, et al.
2012). The loyal customers will then recommend to others the hotel due to its great services
and amenities which will help in increasing the profits and growth in the reputation of the
firm. Thus it will ultimately increase the customer satisfaction level, that acts as key to the
success of the hospitality industry.
CONCLUSION
In the report, the customer service policies have been analysed and discussed along with
the explanation of the reason behind the evaluation of the policies of customer service.
Moreover, the modes of communication have been explained followed by the analysis of the
influence of perspective of the customers on the customer service provision.
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