The Managers Role
in Customer Service
Chapter 1.2
Pro-Start 2
Key Points
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Service Encounter
Front-of-the-House
Important Factors in Customer Mind
Excellent Costumer Service: Leads
Excellent Costumer Service: Results
Ultimate Goal of Business
Mission Statement
Basic Types of Resources
Once a plan has been designed…
Comment Cards
Service Guarantees
Service Encounter
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…or a contact with an operation’s workers’ occurs
every time a guest comes in contact with an
employee.
Customers opinions and overall impressions of a
foodservice operation are formed by their service
encounters with employees.
Managers and employees come across hundreds
of customers services opportunities every day.
Front-of-the-house
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…employees meet and talk directly to guests.
Those who work in the back-of-the-house impress
customers with the cleanliness of the operation
and the quality of the food.
Production employees don’t see customers on a
reg. basis; instead they aim to serve internal
customers.
Internal Costumers: refers to employees and
coworkers who depend on one another to so a
good job.
Important factors in customer mind
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…is the quality of service provided by a foodservice
operation.
One bad experience can mean the loss of a customer
forever.
Only 4% of dissatisfied customers let management know
that they are unhappy.
Dissatisfied customers tell an average of 10 people
about their bad experience.
More than 80% that don’t return, say that they were
unhappy with employees attitude
Word-of-Mouth: advertising lets a lot of potential
customers know what kind of service an operation
provides.
Excellent costumer service leads
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…to increase revenue for a foodservice
operation.
As a direct result, employees also benefit
by enjoying higher tips, job security, and
career advancement opportunities.
Excellent costumer service results
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…from sound planning.
A good service plan is an organized, systematic
method of handling customer services.
Planning involves analyzing a goal, situation,
assignment, or problem and then developing a
step-by-step method for addressing it.
The process requires identifying problems and
their causes, setting goals, considering available
resources, developing resources, polices, and
procedures, and obtaining feedback and
monitoring results.
Ultimate goal of business
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…is to make a profit.
With increase profits, managers can expand
an operation, increase employee wages,
and continually enhance customer service.
Short-term-Goals: Usually cover periods of
one day, one week, one month, up to one
year.
Long-term-Goals: Ordinarily cover 2-5
years plus.
Mission Statement
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…should highlight and identify and
establishment’s food, define the operation’s
service policies and standards, describe the
atmosphere, identify prices, and state how the
operation differs from the competition.
Managers continually use the mission statement
to help them plan and manage daily operations.
Managers should also gather information from
customers, employees, trade publications,
educational resources, and other realated
operations.
Basic Types of Resources
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Human Resources- The people who work
for and operation and help it achieve its
service goals.
Material Resources-The equipment and
materials used to operate the business.
Once a plan has been designed…
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… managers and employees must do whatever is
necessary to put the plan in action.
To implement plans an achieve operational goals,
managers must:
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Identify what has to be done and who will be responsible;
Communicate information to employees and train them
properly;
Develop a tool for monitoring employees’ performance;
And monitor the entire plan continuously over the long
run.
Comment Cards
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Comment cards should be kept short and simple. General
results should be tabulated and circulated so that all
employees are aware of them.
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Mystery shoppers are hired to visit an operation and report on
their experiences and impressions of the operation. Their
feedback can be especially useful if they have been trained to
know about an establishment’s systems and procedures.
Written and telephone surveys should focus specifically on how
service can be improved.
A focus group consists of customers that meet together
regularly to brainstorm with managers on how service can be
improved
Employees are a source of many practical ideas. Managers may
want to hold focus groups with employees selected from each
area of the foodservice operation.
Service Guarantees
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Service guarantees improve an operation’s
image as an excellent business and often
encourage people to try a restaurant for
the first time.
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Establishing a service guarantee is one of the
last steps in the customer service planning
process.