Latest Technology Used Today s Customer Service...

Latest technology used in today’s customer service operations. 1. AnswerHub: AnswerHub provides the required portal community platform forms of self-service to its clients and the knowledge-based Q A. It allows customers to easily ask questions to experts, in the efficient way, and the only place to find the answer. Features like the quick resolution idea, individualisation and analysis of community involvement and help customers with the ability to improve. Company can use this software to improve its individual customer service experiences and reduce the business costs and expenses. 2. Helprace: Helprace is a software with an all-in-one solution for customer service, almost every company out there Helprace work on all operating systems and browsers, as a cloud-based web applications to add additional products or a team member easily. Customer ordering tickets, help desk, knowledge management and community module will be offered in a standalone system or integrated into any platform. 3. CloudCherry: CloudCherry is the product of collecting feedback and experience of customers’ analytics in real time to monitor and measure customer satisfaction. Cloudcherry is a customized product that is easy to use SaaS-based brands with measurable indicators, such as a promoter. Net customer and unique pleasure discover ideas for improving the quality of customer service and an amplifier; solving problems at any point of customer interaction. 4. Zoho Survey: To gather feedback fromShow MoreRelatedCompany Profile Of Ashok Iron Company1632 Words   |  7 Pagesemerged as a industrial conglomerate. Today it is being ranked as one of the top 5 foundries in India. The company has two large foundries and six machining. Division to support the activities. 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Are people from Northern Ireland loyal to Airlines Free Essays

string(175) " within Europe and its emergence in the market in the United States that the â€Å"traditional† airlines were forced to change their strategies in order to remain competitive\." Introduction Literature Review The Financial Times in 2007 reported that the worlds largest airline – American Airlines, was losing as much as $5m per day and was threating collapse under a huge $20bn of debt. Such a shocking statistic highlights the need for the airline industry to review their operations. Such a relevant topic for research requires a full review of current literature in order to recognise the current trends and identify an area for in-depth study. We will write a custom essay sample on Are people from Northern Ireland loyal to Airlines? or any similar topic only for you Order Now The current economic turbulence has provided many challenges across every industry and especially within the price sensitive industries competition has become significantly fiercer as firms compete to win the loyalty of the consumer and attempt to retain them. In an attempt to attract customers to their brand, organisations, particularly in the retail, travel and hospitality industries have developed customer loyalty schemes. Consumers have certain expectations about the products or services they purchase and about the suppliers of those products. Blackwell et al (2006) identifies the satisfaction that consumers experience when their expectations are met or exceeded often results in loyalty to a product or supplier. Consistent over exceeding expectations can often be difficult to achieve, however, by ensuring that those expectations are always met a company can instil its brand loyalty onto the consumer which can be extremely difficult to change. However, Hill et al (2003), indicate s that being a good supplier that merely satisfies its customers is no longer enough. Consumers today, in particular business customers are confident that they can decide themselves on the level of value received from an organisation, and whether or not they can receive better value elsewhere. Jones and Sasser (1995) found that customers who reported that they were very satisfied were six times more likely to repurchase products than those who said they were simply satisfied. Within the highly competitive airline industry it is important that services stand out from the competition. In order to achieve this Nardiri et al. (2008) indicates that managers must understand their customers’ needs and then set out to meet (or exceed) these needs. If service quality is to be improved, it must be reliably assessed and measured. The current economic crisis has saw some high profile businesses fall across all industries and the air-travel industry has been no exception. Dutch national carrier KLM, which prides itself as being the first scheduled airline operator in the world, in 2004, announced gigantic losses of over $473m, which in turn forced desperate survival talks with Air France yet another troubled national carrier. Although, KLM and Air France are not the only struggling airlines in the current recession, the Financial Times in July 2007 Singapore Airlines reported its first ever quarterly loss of $177m. Daniel et al 2003, identifies numerous reasons for the poor economic performance of some of the worlds biggest, and once most profitable airlines. They state that; all of this red ink has proved devastating to the airlines and many in the USA have been calling out for government intervention. Hayward 2004, suggests that a fallout in demand is one of the primary reasons for the problems within the airline industry. He states that the airline industry has been hit particularly hard by an unprecedented collapse in customer confidence, mainly due to War in Iraq, and continuing effects of the 2001 terrorist tragedies. Along with the continuing rising cost of oil prices and fuel, has lead to airlines reviewing their low-cost concepts. For many of the larger international, long haul carriers the introduction of fuel surcharges, in particular with long haul flights. British Airways and Virgin Atlantic use fuel surcharges as common practise on long haul flights much to the disagreement with the extra charge from the consumers. Reichheld (2001), suggests that loyal customers are more profitable, because the costs of sales are amortised over a longer period, they increase their purchases and percentage of spend with you, cost less to administer, refer others, and are willing to pay a premium. Therefore is it little wonder that companies seek to retain as many loyal customers as possible. Authors such as Hill et al (2003), Blackwell et al (2006), Smith and Wheeler (2002), have all identified that there is a significant relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. By offering the best value to the consumer and ensuring that they are satisfied organisations can be sure of retaining their loyalty. However, Blackwell et al (2006) indicate that although a satisfactory consumption experience does not guarantee loyalty, the likelihood that customers will remain loyal depends on their level of satisfaction. Fornell and Wernerfelt (1987) suggested that consumers holding negative evaluations of the product following consumption are unlikely to buy again; those holding positive evaluations are much more likely to repurchase the product. However, although a consumer may be satisfied today, due to the tempting incentives that other competitors may offer, customers can be convinced to swap brands. One of the most wide-reaching changes impacting on the supply of tourist transport provision is the low-cost airline. The development of the low-cost carriers has not only provided increased competition to the traditional airlines but has also increased competition within other modes of transport such as trains, ferries and buses, they have also impacted upon the way that many airports deal with these carriers. In 1991, before the emergence of the low-cost airline Elster and Roemer put forward the statement that; the airline business is a mass market with mostly standardised services. All customers used to be, and still mostly are, treated the same. Furthermore, there is little differentiation between airlines. (Elster and Roemer 1991) However, Tiernan (2008) highlights that the removal of restrictions on fares, as well as legislative and regulatory changes to encourage new entrant low-cost carriers, has changed the competitive landscape. Ryanair and easyJet in the E.U. and JetBlue and Spirit in the U.S.A. highlight a new breed of carrier. (Tiernan et al 2008) It is widely accepted that the success of the low-cost, no-frills airline concept within Europe and its emergence in the market in the United States that the â€Å"traditional† airlines were forced to change their strategies in order to remain competitive. You read "Are people from Northern Ireland loyal to Airlines?" in category "Essay examples" A Mintel report investigating loyalty schemes in tourism reveal that; Aer Lingus (EI) quit the One World alliance in June 2006, having joined in 2000, the airline cited a dramatic change in its strategic direction, namely its move towards recreating itself as a low-cost point-to-point carrier. (Mintel 2006) Gustafsson et al (1998), state that; many airline companies have lost track of the true needs of their passengers, and are trapped in out-dated views of what airline services are all about. They further go on to state that; the goal of service development is to attract and keep customers who are satisfied, loyal and speak well of the company, but perhaps most importantly to keep profitable customers. (Gustafsson 1998) Francis et al (2004) predicted that low-cost airlines in Europe would increase their market share of short haul traffic from 6 per cent in 2004 to 25 – 33 per cent by 2010. According to UBM Aviation (2011) the three main low-cost airlines, Ryanair, Flybe, and easyJet, all of which fly from airports across Northern Ireland, had a combined domestic market share in the UK of 55%, with Flybe taking 31% of the market share alone, beating British Airways, a traditional flag / national airline by 11%. Therefore, within the UK the predictions made by Francis (2004) were under estimated. Below shows the breakdown of the UK and domestic market share in terms of seat capacity for top 5 airlines within the UK. Carrier UK Domestic Weekly Seat Capacity UK Domestic Destinations Operated UK and Domestic Market Share (seat capacity) Flybe 197,542 35 31% British Airways 126,840 9 20% easyJet 101,485 13 16% BMI 66,455 9 11% Ryanair 52,731 11 8% (Source: Flightbase June 7 2010 – UBM Aviation) The most widely accepted definition of customer loyalty comes from Jacoby and Kyner (1973), who describe loyalty as the biased (i.e. non-random), behavioural response (i.e. purchase), expressed over time, by some decision making unit, with respect to one or more alternative brands out of a set of such brands, and is a function of psychological (i.e. decision making, evaluation) processes. However, Oliver (1999) disputes this definition, as he believes that loyalty is developed in a linear fashion, and places greater emphasis on situational influences. Oliver (1999) defines customer loyalty as; a deeply held commitment to rebuy or repatrionise a preferred product or service consistently in the future, causing repetitive same brand or same brand-set purchasing, despite situational influences and marketing efforts. Dean (2007) defines customer loyalty as; the degree to which a customer recommends, and expresses a preference for future use of a particular company. Gourdin and Kloppenborg (1991) indicate that; retaining passenger loyalty requires reducing or eliminating negative influences on service quality by ensuring customers high quality rate service. Additionally, Peppers, Rogers and Dorf (1999) suggest that companies must closely monitor customer characteristics to accurately target desirable customers, considering not merely demographics but also consumption behaviours, and preferences. Taiwanese airlines through the use of data mining have successfully and effectively obtained loyal passenger decision information, including personal information, consumption behaviour, and perceived service quality in order to retain passenger loyalty. (Wong et al. 2006) Yi (1990) defines customer satisfaction as; an emotional response to the experiences provided by, associated with particular products and services purchased, retail outlets, or even molar patterns of behaviour such as shopping and buyer behaviour, as well as the overall market place. Service quality promotes customer satisfaction, stimulates intention to return, and encourages recommendations, (Nadiri Hussain 2005), a point that Barsky and Labagh (1992) further develop by stating that; customer satisfaction increases profitability, market share, and return on investment. Davidow (2003) and Ekiz Arasli (2007) have highlighted that there is a strong relationship between the level of customer satisfaction and repeat business. The higher degree of customer satisfaction, the greater the likelihood of repurchase and spreading positive word of mouth communication. (Davidow (2003), Ekiz Arasli (2007)). Blackwell (2006) identifies that the discussion of a consumption experience with other people is a common activity. Negative consumption experiences not only reduce the odds of repeat buying, but also lead to consumers saying unflattering things when discussing their experiences with others. Dissatisfied customers can sometimes go to great lengths to express their negative experiences with others, including complete strangers. Holloway (2004) recognises that customer relationship management is already well established in the travel and tourism industries. He gives the example that regular customers of airlines are entitled to the award of frequent flyer benefits, which can include selective upgrading or the accumulation of free air miles according to the number of paid-for miles travelled. The original concept of the frequent flyer programme can be traced back to 1979, when American Airlines advertising agency proposed that it offer its best customers a so-called special loyalty fare. However, this new concept was short lived as just six days later one of American Airlines major competitors, United Airlines launched its own frequent flyer programme. The idea of frequent flyer programmes was one of the airlines first attempts to take advantage of both economies of scale and scope. In the 1980’s the rules and regulations associated with the frequent flyer programmes where simple, a passenger would collect miles and redeem them either against a free flight or an upgrade to the next higher available class of service. Today however frequent flyer programmes are complex in design and many passengers report that they cannot use their miles to book the flight that they want. InsideFlyer suggests that; on average, airlines currently sell 80% of seats to paying passenger s, which is 20 percentage points higher than the historic norm of 60%. (InsideFlyer – cited in Mintel Report 2006) Holloway (2004) however, highlights that not all organisations may benefit from such customer relationship marketing (CRM), and there are many examples within the travel and tourism industry that can be identified that will deliberately avoid CRM within their marketing mix. Airline operators which market themselves strongly on price, such as Ryanair, easyJet, and Flybe could be wasting their time and effort on loyalty schemes. Holloway identifies that if; companies like Ryanair with its total focus on price, would have to compromise this approach if CRM were to be introduced. (Holloway 2004 pg. 115) Such programs focused on loyalty and repeat business in a price competitive market like low cost airlines would most likely cause more damage to those organisations in terms of their pricing image than the amount of business that they could generate. The introduction of a loyalty scheme such as a frequent flyer program involves high initial investments to design, introduce and implement, however they also promise a high return if successful in the long run, therefore carriers such as Ryanair and easyJet would be forced to either cut additional costs elsewhere in an already low cost operation or most likely pass the additional costs onto the consumer. Nevertheless, not all low cost carriers have taken this stance, Flybe for example are able to offer their frequent flyers lounge access at certain airports and free priority boarding and check-in where available. The Flybe scheme is aimed mainly at those passengers that fly regularly for business with the airline, although it is availabl e to all customers. Morrison (2002) relates to a survey carried out in 1993 by Travel Weekly, of business travellers, that found approximately 78% of the respondents rated frequent flier programmes as either very important or somewhat important when making travel arrangements. Robinson and Andersen (2004) suggests that the perception of the troubles in Northern Ireland through literature by such writers as Joseph O’Connor, Roddy Doyle, and Mary Beckett to name a few has assisted in the discolouration of external and tourist perceptions of Northern Ireland and contributes to the negative imagery that keeps tourist numbers low, when economically it would help if they were high. Lennon and Titterington (1996) suggest that Northern Ireland as early as 1969 lost most if not all its attraction as a significant tourist destination as the troubles began. They also highlighted that there was a weakness of tourism in Northern Ireland prior to the 1994 cease fire, and predicted in 1996 that if the ceasefire held then Northern Ireland would experience significant increases in the tourism market, which would also be enhanced by the NITB (Northern Ireland Tourist Board), marketing efforts. Wing indicated in the 1990’s that; a critical factor for the development of Northern Ireland tourism was the availability of convenient and price competitive access transport. He continues to highlight that with two main airports and good ferry linkages to the UK mainland through Belfast and Larne access to Northern Ireland has always been relatively easy, although quite expensive. (Cited in Lennon and Titterington 1996) 2004 saw a significant turnaround for Northern Ireland tourism, with the introduction of nine daily flights from Belfast International Airport, Aldergrove, by easyJet which allowed the number of tourists entering Northern Ireland to rise above the two million mark for the first time. Further development of Belfast International Airport saw the addition of two other major airlines, Aer Lingus and Continential airlines which now operates under the United Airlines name. The capacity of Northern Ireland’s airports also plays a particularly important role in the number of airlines that choose to operate from the three main airports. Belfast city airport (George Best) has tight restrictions on the number of flights operated per year, along with operating times and runway restrictions due to the length. The row over expanding the airport has been dated back to 1999, and began by Belfast International Airport criticising the plans to develop the city airport at a cost of ?21m. In a high profile exit from the city airport Ryanair decided to close its hub there as a runway extension in October 2010 was further postponed due to further investigations and pending another report, mainly to address concerns with resident’s arguments against the increase in air traffic associated with the expansion of the airport. With the current runway length at Belfast city airport Ryanair aircraft, (Boeing 737-800), are restricted heavily due to safe take-off weights in relation to the length of the runway, as a result the airline was only able to operate short haul flights, mainly to the UK mainland. It would be unlikely for Ryanair to consider moving its hub to Belfast International Airport as two of its main competitors already operate from there, Aer Lingus and easyJet. Although, Ryanair took the decision to withdraw its operations from Belfast city airport, BMI (British Midlands International) saw the withdrawal as an opportunity and it resumed flights from Belfast city airport, and on April 13 2011 the airline announced seven new routes to begin operating from Belfast City airport in early 2012. However, BBC News reported that the Belfast City Airport Watch Steering Group, were angry at politicians claiming that they are allowing the airport to become an international airport. The addition of BMI into the network of airlines operating from Northern Ireland is significant, as it and Continental Airlines (now United) are the only airlines within Northern Ireland that are members of the STAR Alliance. Described as the largest and most awarded airline alliance in the world, the STAR alliance is able to offer 16,500 daily flights around the world to 912 destinations in 160 countries. (Mintel 2006) Belfast City Airport was also served a further blow in early April 2011 when easyJet announced that it planned to remove its twice daily flight to London Luton from Belfast City airport back to the International airport. EasyJet are quoted to have said that during the 15 month trial from the city airport it found that there were no tangible benefits for its passengers to fly from Belfast City Airport over the International airport. (source: www.easyjet.com [Accessed 04/04/2011]) Many airlines are in a race against time to turn things around. Rarely before have we borne witness to such a prolific strategic challenge with long term implications for us all. (Hayward 2003) A successful review of the literature has identified major themes such as the importance of customer loyalty pre and post the introduction of low cost airlines. Frequent flier programmes have been identified as being important during and up to the period late 1970’s until circa 2004. Since then airlines have diversified to meet the growing trend of a more price sensitive customer. This is particularly relevant within mainland UK due to a broader range of customer choice, along with a greater availability of cheaper travel options. Research was not available in terms of Northern Ireland, where there is less availablitly of choice for airline passengers. Therefore this research will attempt to fill this research gap by studying the relationship between consumer loyalty and the local airlines. Methodology: Qualitative research is used to explore the attitudes, behaviours and experiences of consumers mainly through the use of interviews or focus groups and is aimed at collecting as much in-depth opinionated information as possible from the participants. Dawson (2010, p.14) explains that, â€Å"as it is attitudes, behaviour and experiences which are important, fewer people take part in the research, but the contact with these people tends to last a lot longer.† Quantitative research on the other hand generates statistics through the use of large scale survey research, using methods such as questionnaires or structured interviews. Quantitative research reaches many more people, but the contact with those people is much quicker than it is in qualitative research. (Dawson 2010) Walliman (2004) suggests that the use of quantitate research often involves collecting primary data in the form of survey research. It is important to realise that within the great debate among academics about which is better, qualitative versus quantitative, that certain methodologies become popular depending on the situation they are to be applied to. Dawson (2010) highlights that all methodologies have their own specific strengths and weaknesses, and should be acknowledged and addressed by the researcher. Within social research the use of interviews is a useful tool if the researcher wants to find out in-depth information from respondents. However, there are three different types of interviews which need to be considered in order to identify which one will best suit the situation being researched. A researcher will be required to identify if unstructured, semi-structured, or structured interviews are most suited. Unstructured interviews are in depth and seek to achieve a holistic understanding of the interviewees’ situation and point of view. This type of interview relies on the participant guiding the direction of the conversation with little or no help from the researcher. Due to these limitations unstructured interviews can only be applied to qualitative research. In the investigation of establishing if the people of Northern Ireland are loyal to airlines, unstructured interviews would be useful in finding out specifically why people remain loyal, however due to time restraints and the difficulty of choosing suitable candidates this method will not be used. In attempting to establish which method of interviews would be most suitable it would appear that semi-structured interviews may be most suitable. By using this method the researcher can find out specific information which can be compared and contrasted with information gathered in other interviews. Each interview will require the same questions to be asked and answered but remain flexible enough for participants to express their views. An interview schedule will be produced which will contain the list of questions to be asked, and will provide the framework for the guidance of each interview. The researcher will aim to identify a mixture of suitable candidates from each of the bandwidths identified from the questionnaire, along with a mixture of genders as suitable interviewees. Therefore there will be six interviews in total with an aim of three males and three females, by ensuring a mixture of interviewees from each age band the research will then reflect a sound spread of demographical opinions. The interviews will be carried out in a private room within the University of Ulster Belfast library, and will last approximately between 45 minutes to 1 hour. Each interview will be recorded using a digital voice recorder, and then a transcript will be produced using the recordings and Microsoft Word. The second form of collecting primary data will be through the use of questionnaires. The questionnaire will consist of a mixture of open and closed questions. Open ended questions will be used in the areas of the questionnaires where additional information is sought to be collected and where answers maybe difficult to predict. Before distributing the questionnaire to the general public a pilot survey will be distributed in order to identify any problems with the wording of questions and to ensure that participants understand what is being asked of them. It will also be used to establish whether additional questions are required and to identify the nature of these. Once the pilot study is completed the questionnaires will be distributed using two different mediums. It will be available online and also as paper form. As most older people, in particular those that fall within the older age bands are not familiar with the use of the internet printed copies of the questionnaire will be a better way to capture information from those groups. By distributing the questionnaire online this will allow it to be exposed to a larger number of people across Northern Ireland, the researcher plans to use Survey Monkey (www.surveymonkey.com) which is a free online survey and questionnaire tool. Once the questionnaire is available to be completed by participants the link will be advertised on social networking media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, potential respondents will also be emailed the link. In order to process the data collected a mixture of the use of SPSS and NVivo will be used. Both programmes specialise in the analysis of data. NVivo allows the data to be easily transferred into other programmes such as Excel and Word which will be useful in the findings stage of the research. SPSS however will be used to input the main data collected, and will be used to establish cross tabulations of data. A time frame of one month to collect the data required from the questionnaires and one month to conduct interviews will be set. In order to meet the objectives of this study an analysis of potential methods was undertaken. Most research can draw on a mixed methods approach to gain enough information to make recommendations based on original objectives of the study. The aims of the chosen methods are that the objectives of the research are met and fulfil the necessary requirements to make sound recommendations that will be beneficial to the airline/travel industry. Findings Discussion: Through the use of questionnaires distributed both online and as paper form constructed the collection of data to be analysed in this investigation. Table 1 shows that of the 134 respondents 57.5% (77) were female and 42.5% (57) were male. Table 2 and Figure 1 shows the geographical spread of respondents across Northern Ireland, the majority of responses came from the eastern counties, were the biggest two airports in the region are located, not to mention Dublin International Airport which is also located on the east coast of Ireland, which may suggest that those people may have the ability to travel more due to easier access. An initial examination of the data shows that Belfast International Airport is the most used by the respondents at 45.5%, closely followed by Dublin International Airport at 40.2%, given that these airports offer the highest number of choices for destinations along with connecting flights it was expected to find that they would be used the most. Only 13.4% of the respondents chose to use Belfast City Airport and 0.7% used City of Derry Airport, limitations on the number of airlines that operate from these airports may give an explanation to why so few use them. Restrictions for larger aircraft in Belfast City Airport, due to take-off weights limit the range that these aircraft can travel, which was why in December 2010 Ryanair decided to close its hub there. It is believed that the announcement of seven new routes to be offered by BMI will increase the volume of passenger traffic in the City Airport, therefore placing it on an almost equal footing with Belfast International Airport. The reason why BMI is able to offer routes to mainland Europe is that it plans to operate smaller Airbus A319 aircraft which have a lower take-off weight to range ratio than the likes of Ryanair’s Boeing 737-800 series aircraft. The data also shows that over half of the respondents (51.5%) travel to mainland Europe therefore automatically reducing the choice of using Belfast City Airport. An important factor to also be considered is that City of Derry airport actually has a longer runway than Belfast City airport, therefore making it suitable as a departure airport for mainland Europe destinations. Looking further into the spread of the population against the airports used most the more southern counties such as Armagh and Fermanagh show that the majority of people use Dublin International Airport more than Belfast International or City. In Armagh 60.8% of respondents used Dublin International Airport while only 26% used Aldergrove. Strong infrastructure with the M1 running from Newry to Dublin, and the M3 and N3 running from Cavan to Dublin allow the population of Armagh, and Fermanagh easier access to Dublin than to Belfast. For North Down, Antrim and Derry, along with parts of Tyrone, there is a significant network of â€Å"A† roads connecting into the route of the two main Belfast airports, however none as significant as the motorway system that connects Dublin International Airport. The infrastructure connecting the southern counties of Northern Ireland with Belfast international airport for example is of a considerably reduced standard of that of the Republic of Ireland. To give an example to travel from Newry – which is one of Northern Irelands biggest towns to Belfast International Airport it is estimated to take 1 hour and 4 minutes to travel the 38.6mile journey, were as the 60.6mile journey from Newry to Dublin International airport is estimated to take only 57minutes. Therefore it would be expected that the easier access to Dublin would have an influence upon travellers in deciding which airport to travel from. (Source: Google Maps) An analysis of the most preferred airline to be used shows that the majority of the population prefer to use low-cost airlines such as easyJet and Ryanair, which together made up 55.2% of all choices. With the current economic crisis it is to be expected that people are more price conscience regarding their decisions and buying power, therefore it was to be expected that the low-cost, price sensitive airlines would be most popular, that low-cost group makes up 64% of the preferred airline choice. Frances et al (2004) predicted that low-cost airlines in Europe would increase their market share of short haul traffic from 6 per cent in 2004 to between 25 – 33 per cent by 2010, a high figure of 64 per cent of respondents choosing to use low cost carriers such as Flybe, Ryanair, and easyJet would appear to show that those predictions were correct. The majorty of the investigated population travel to mainland Europe (51.5%), followed by 37.3% travelling to the UK and Ireland. These destinations are served by the low cost carriers Over 65% of the respondents felt that price was the most important factor when choosing an airline, with the next highest most important factor being customer service at 9%, such a large gap in the perceptions indicates that the people of Northern Ireland are extremely price conscious when choosing an airline to travel with. Aircraft type (41.8%) and frequent flier schemes (35.1%) were ranked the lowest of importance in influencing peoples decisions to choose an airline. Holloway (2004), gives a possible explination for the reasons why people are not particularly concerned with frequent flier programmes which can apply to Northern Ireland, he states that operators which market themselves strongly upon price would be wasting their time and effort on loyalty schemes as low-cost carriers would have to compromise their pricing approach to be able to finance customer relationship marketing. A significant number of respondents (56.7%) stated that they believed having membership to an airlines frequent flyer programme would encourage them to be loyal to that airline brand. However, only 17.2% admitted having actual membership to frequent flyer programmes, the most popular programmes being Continental One Pass, Miles and More, and Aer Lingus Gold Circle. When the population was asked what they believed was the most important benefit of having membership to a frequent flyer scheme the majority of respondents stated that price and discounts were crucial, which brings into question peoples understanding of the programmes and the benefits they provide. Most programmes will offer upgrades, lounge access, status and even free flights when enough miles are spent against these, however, research has shown that the programmes do not offer discounts on fares. In conclusion it would appear that the idea or concept of passenger loyalty within Northern Ireland is non-existent and that emphasis on price appears to outweigh any other part of an airlines operations. It is difficult in such a price orientated industry to remain so competitive and to be able to fight off rival airlines in a battle of who can provide the lowest fares but still remain profitable. Although there is a huge on-going debate as to whether or not an expansion of Belfast City Airport should go ahead so that it would have the capabilities of operating full service flights to mainland Europe, it has been identified that the City of Derry Airport is an untapped resource with the capability of serving as an international airport with fewer restrictions than that found at Belfast City Airport. Recommendations: Within Northern Ireland there would appear to be little or no concept of loyalty within the airline industry. Those consumers that fly from Northern Ireland are more concerned with recieveing good deals and are currently very price conscious when it comes to the deciosn of which airline to choose for their travels. Therefore airlines should not waste their marketing efforts on frequent flier or loyalty schemes within Northern Ireland as there appears to be little understanding of what the benefits actually are. If airlines wish to engage with the Northern Irish public in terms of promoting loyalty then they should aim at the relationship between customer satisfaction and service provided. Many people claim that in the low-cost airline world that what you get is what you pay for, however, due to regulations under EU law all passengers regardless of the airline should receive the same levels of treatment, in particular when delays or cancellations occur. As the debate continues regarding the runway extension in Belfast City Airport, it would appear that the City of Derry airport has somewhat slipped under the radar of potential carriers for Northern Ireland. With its current facilities, and recently extended safety zones at each end of the runway City of Derry Airport has the ability to operate to international mainland Europe destinations. Development of infrastructure to support an increased volume of passengers would allow City of Derry airport to be a viable alternative to either of Belfast two airports. Currently within Northern Ireland there are only thirteen different carriers that operate from the three airports, which is significantly less than the thirty two airlines that operate within the Republic of Ireland (see Table 4). Therefore, it is important that the government realise that there is a need to continue to promote Northern Ireland as a tourist destination and in turn attempt to attract more airlines to the region. The local government needs to also examine the current infrastructure near the main airports in the region and attempt to improve access which at present is not as Government needs to look at a greater development of the Belfast area and attract more airlines, also intfrasturcture needs to be improved Airlines don’t need to focus marketing activates in northern Ireland on FFP’s as people dpnt use them and are more concerned with price and reputation. Most ppl think ffp’s are a good idea but there appears to be little understanding of the benefits. Future Research: If carrying out future research into the topic of loyalty within airlines in Northern Ireland the following points should be considered. The initial research did not give an accurate geographical spread of respondents over the six county area. Also due to the lack of research on this topic across the entire United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, it may be suggested that a larger scale piece of research be carried out. The actual questionnaire used could be lengthened to include more open ended questions so that the repondents could give more qualitative information and provide the researcher with a better view point on peoples perciptions and possibly experiences that either promote loyalty within airlines or in fact discourage the repeated use of a brand. Nevertheless the use of the questionnaire was a useful learning tool in the construction of questionnaires to be used with the general public. The use of the internet was a useful tool in exposing the questionnaire to an immediately large group of people, however, with the research carried out, and due to the parameters set out in the methodologies many of the respondents were instantly invalid due to the location of the willing respondent. A greater time frame for conducting both questionnaires and interviews would also be helpful in understanding the actual indepth reasons as to why people are loyal or even why they are not loyal to airlines. Due to the time restraints in carrying out this research it was decided that there would not be enough time to carry out interviews or analyse the data collected using NVivo. The use of in depth interviews would allow the researcher to aquire better qualitative information. Appendices: Fig 1: Geographical spread of respondents Table 3: Reference List: Blackwell, R., Miniard, P., Engel, J. (2006). Consumer Behaviour. 10th ed. Mason: Thomson South Western. Hill, N., Brierley, J., MacDougall, R. (2003). How to Measure Customer Satisfaction. 2nd ed. Hampshire: Gower Publishing Ltd. Peelen, E. (2005). Customer Relationship Management. Harlow: Prentice Hall Morrison, A. (2002). Hospitality and Travel Marketing. 3rd ed. Albany: Delmar Thomson Learning Smith, S., Wheeler, J. (2002). Managing the Customer Experience – Turning Customers into Advocates. Harlow: Pearson Education Ltd. Lovegrove, K. (2000). Airline – Identity, Design and Culture. London: Laurence King Publishing Holloway, C. (2004). Marketing for Tourism. 4th ed. Harlow: Prentice Hall Page, S. (2005). Transport and Tourism – Global Perspectives. 2nd ed. Harlow: Pearson Education Ltd. Jacoby, J., Kyner,D. (1973), Brand Loyalty Verses Repeat Purchasing Behaviour, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 10, p. 1-9 Oliver, R. (1999). Whence Consumer LoyaltyJournal of Marketing. Vol. 63, p. 33-34 Dean, A. (2007). The Impact of the Customer Orientation of Call Centre Employees on Customers Affective Commitment and Loyalty. Journal of Service Research. Vol. 10 Iss. 2 p. 161-173 Gourdin, K., Kloppenborg, T. (1991) Identifying Service Gaps in Commercial Air Travel: The First Step Toward Quality Improvement. Transportation Journal. Vol. 31, p. 22-30 Peppers, D., Rogers, M., Dorf, B. (1999). Is your Company Ready for One-to-One MarketingHarvard Business Review. Vol. 77, p. 151 – 160 Wong, J., Chang, T., Jeng, K., Chung, P., Lin, Y. (2006) Data Mining Techniques Applied in Airline Industry to Explore Segmentation of Repurchase Intentions and the Best Service Items Mix on Customer Satisfaction. Journal of Tourism Studies. Vol. 12, p. 139 – 154 Yi, Y. (1990). A Critical Review of Consumer Satisfaction – A Review of Marketing. Chicago: American Marketing Association Nardiri, H., Hussain, K. (2005) Diagnosing the Zone of Tolerance for Hotel Services. Managing Service Quality. Vol. 15, Iss. 3, P. 259-277 Nardiri, H., Hussain, K., Erdogan, H. (2008) An Investigation on the Factors Influencing Passengers’ Loyalty in the North Cyprus National Airline. TQM Journal. Vol. 20, Iss. 3, p. 265 -280 Barsky, J., Labagh, R. (1992). A Strategy for Customer Satisfaction. The Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quaterly. Vol. 35, Iss. 3, p. 32-40 Davidow, M. (2003). Have You Heard the WordThe Effect of Mouth on Perceived Justice, Satisfaction and Repurchase Intentions Following Complaint Handling. Journal of Consumer Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction and Complaining Behaviour. Vol. 16, Iss. 1, p. 67 – 80 Ekiz, H., Arasli, H. (2007). Measuring the Impacts of Organisational Responses: Case of Northern Cyprus Hotels. Managing Global Transitions: International Research Journal. Vol. 5, Iss. 3, p.271 – 287 Gustafsson, A., Ekdahl, F., Edvardsson, B. (1998). Customer focused service development in practise – A case study at Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS). International Journal of Service Industry Management. Vol. 10, Iss. 4, p. 344 – 358 Teirnan, S., Rhoades, D., Waguespack Jr, B. (2008). Airline service quality – Exploratory analysis of consumer perceptions and operational performance in the USA and EU. Managing Service Quality. Vol. 18, Iss. 3, p. 212 – 224 Lennon, R., Titterington, A. (1996). The prospects for tourism in Northern Ireland. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. Vol. 8, Iss. 3, p. 11 -17 Reichheld, F. (2001). The loyalty effect – The hidden force behind growth, profits and lasting value. Boston: Harvard Business School Press How to cite Are people from Northern Ireland loyal to Airlines?, Essay examples

Services Marketing Management Competitive Business Environment

Question: Discuss about the Services Marketing for Competitive Business Environment. Answer: Introduction: In the present competitive business environment, importance of services is growing at a rapid rate. For that reason, many organizations are looking to enhance their present level of services for improving the satisfaction level of the customers. Many studies have highlighted the fact that quality of services can actually help organization to retain their customers for a longer period of time. Therefore, it has become necessary for the organizations to analyze each step in such a way so that it can able to create desired level of impact on the success rate. In this report, the focus will be on the implemented strategies of McDonalds for enhancing the satisfaction level. The report will analyze all the factors related to implemented strategies of the McDonalds to provide best quality services to all the customers. Furthermore, as McDonalds is in an extremely competitive business sector, it has to face huge amount of competition to sustain its position in the market. Therefore, McDonald s has tried to utilize services in such a way so that it can able to add value to the organizations. In this report, blueprint of McDonaldss provided services will be analyzed to evaluate the positive and negative aspects of implemented strategies of the organization. Furthermore, the report will also provide suggestions that can create positive impact on the effectiveness of the service quality of the organization. McDonalds service blueprint: Figure 1: McDonalds service blueprint (Source: Rao Parekh, 2016) As per the article by Yunus et al. (2013), a service blueprint reflects a map or a picture that describes the service system accurately so that all the people who are involved in providing it can understand and deal with the process effectively regardless of roles from the individual point of view. Furthermore, blueprinting of the services can actually help organization to segregate the entire service processes into different parts that helps organization to evaluate the effectiveness of the service processes in an appropriate manner. McDonalds service blueprinting also has several segments that organization tries to fulfill in order to create desired amount of impact. The first segment of McDonalds service blueprinting highlights physical evidence that includes several factors. Now, physical evidence focuses on the external appearances that can increase the desire level of the potential customers to purchase products from the retail outlets of McDonalds. Many studies have highlighted the fact that physical evidence is important to increase the satisfaction level of the customers (Nadolny Ryan, 2015). McDonalds physical evidence includes a large display of menu from where customers can choose their meals according to their preferences. McDonalds also has included various display of food to increase the desire level of customer to avail the services. Furthermore, McDonalds retail stores include well-decorated table and chairs so that people can able to enjoy their meals with families and friends. Second stage of McDonalds service blueprinting focuses on customers actions so that it can improve the effectiveness of the customer services (Rao et al., 2013). McDonalds customer actions include steps from arrival at the retail stores to leave the retail stores of the customers. In the customer action steps, McDonalds tries to provide superior quality of the products within the limited timeframe so that they can feel satisfied with the provided services of the organization. McDonalds also tries to include technological implementation, on-stage employee action and back-stage employee action in order to create the desired level of impact on the organizational success. Technological intervention helps McDonalds to prepare the instant bills for the customers on the provided products and services. Furthermore, technological intervention also helps McDonalds to have access of different types of information, which helps to increase the effectiveness of the service processes. Back stage employees of McDonalds focuses on the preparation of the foods and maintenance of cleanliness atmosphere at the retail outlets. On the other hand, on stage employees focuses on greeting the customers in an appropriate way so that they can enjoy to their fullest (Raju, Singh Tariyal, 2015). Furthermore, McDonalds service blueprinting also include support process, which is responsible for effective utilization of the payment system as well as fore see the way of internal interact ion so that customers do not have to wait for long period of time in getting their ordered food products. McDonalds always focuses on the effective utilization of all the stages so that it can able to create desire amount of impact on the effectiveness of the service processes. McDonalds front stage and back stage functions: As per the article by Lim Loh (2014), front stage and back stage service functions do have a sharp distinction between the interactions among the providers and customers. Front stage functions ensure the kind of services that the customers will receive at the time of purchasing any products. On the other hand, back stage functions describe the value chain of the organization. Now, McDonalds front stage functions include interaction with the customers who are visiting the retail stores of the organization in an appropriate manner. As per the article by Koh et al. (2014) interactions with the customers is an extremely important factor that can enhance the sales volume to a different level. In McDonalds, it has been assessed that people have to wait for sometime in queue in order to place an order to the front stage employees. For that reason, McDonalds has tried to implement several strategies so that people it cannot affect the satisfaction level of the customers. For instance, McDon alds has introduced online order placement facilities for the customers so that they do not have to wait in the queue for a long period of time. Furthermore, front-end function of McDonalds includes the effective way of serving the products to the customers (Crawford, 2015). It ensures that customers do not have to worry about the provided quality of the products and services. Furthermore, front-end function of McDonalds also includes cash management activities of the retail stores in an effective manner. For that reason, McDonalds has implemented different types of payment methods so that front-end employees can manage the cash transaction process in an appropriate way. On the other hand, back-end functions of McDonalds include the production lines, which ensure that the quality of the provided products can able to meet the expectation of the customers (New, 2015). Therefore, McDonalds back-stage functions include purchasing process of raw materials to the inventory management syst em of the organization. McDonalds tries to utilize back-end process in such a way so that it can minimize the amount of wastage of raw materials in an appropriate manner. Moments of truth for the service organization: Behind the success of a business organization, both the employees and the customers leave equal contribution. An effective interaction between the organizational service providers and the customers is highly needed for maintaining organizational reputation and image. The overarching term moment of truth can be defined as the communication between the customers and the organization with the help of products and services (Allred Addams, 2013). The customers like to gather an impression on the organization based on the product quality and service procedure of a specific business organization. McDonald being one of the largest chain hamburger restaurants in US has spread a predominant place all over the World due to their effective service as well as product quality. McDonald has received immense positive responses from the customers based on which the organization has expanded the entire process of business in various multinational countries. As per the website of McDonald, the report says that the customer service department has received only 5% customer service complaint in the last year. The interaction that the service providers tend to maintain within the business organization is able to deal with the organization effectively (Cina, 2013). In order to provide an effective service to the customers McDonald has decided to take some of the major initiatives that are as follows: Employee training: In order to handle the complaints of different kinds of customers, McDonald likes to provide four steps training methods to the customers. At the training session, the experts suggest the organizational employees to identify the reason of customer dissatisfaction first. Customers become highly dissatisfied only when they fail to communicate effectively with the customer executive. Technology: The entire department of customer service system of McDonald is endowed with advancement of technology. Before using the products and services of this organization, the customers can get an in-depth knowledge and view with the help of internet (Frenk De Ferranti, 2012). The official website of McDonald is very much updated based on which customers can know a deep insight about organizational services, products, about the company, upcoming service facilities, ways of product promotion and so many. In addition, at the time of providing services to the customers, the organization likes to keep a constant data about the customers including their needs and demands. Keep a constant data on regional links: In order to reduce the range of issues on behalf of customers, the organization likes to make an effective market survey based on the particular regional (Hakanen Jaakkola, 2012). The primary responsibility of the regional head to gather necessary information about the most happening complaints rose on behalf of the customers. After identifying the issue, the managers should take an effective decision for resolving the problem. McDonald intends to short out those kinds of problems on the regional basis. As a result, the customers would automatically get an effective result from the service providers of McDonald. Figure 2: The implementation of Moments of truth for the service organization like McDonald (Source: Jaakkola Alexander, 2014) Determinants of the satisfaction and dissatisfaction of the service organization and the relevant theories regarding the service quality management The customer service process of McDonald has received immense positive responses based on which the business experts have expanded the widespread wings in different countries all over the World. As per the overall market survey conducted as per the region, it has been observed that most of the customers have appreciated the rush service procedure and same day service procedure highly. McDonald primarily likes to maintain some of the primary service procedures that are as follows: Rush Service: Rush process service has been used widely within the service process of McDonalds. Rush process service implies that customers should never wait for a long time in order to receive a quality service from the organization (Janssen, 2012). Based on a particular region, the servers tend to make a target group. After selecting the customers and their regional background, the service providers intend to provide ad maintain quality of products. For an example, the service procedure of McDonald USA should be different from the service procedure of McDonald Australia. In order to deliver an effective service to the customers of USA, this particular organization intends to maintain effective communication especially to draw customers attention. On the other hand, Australian customers are primarily concerned with the on time service procedure (Maister, 2012). Therefore, the service providers have to make a balance between supply and demand of the products. While maintaining the rush service procedure, business experts of McDonald keeps a major concern on some of the major factors. The factors include delivering the service procedure within time. The customers should not have to wait for a large time for getting effective service. Same Day Service: Same day service implies that the organization should deliver the entire service process within the date of receiving orders. McDonald being a fast food delivery center tends to use this particular service process effectively (Ramanathan, 2014). It has been observed in general that people tend to receive the service of a particular food only that day they have provided the order. Therefore, same day service policy is very much effective for this kind of food industry. Theory of service quality management: Dynamic service management theory has serious been followed within McDonald. As per this particular theory organization should never restricted to one particular service process. With the upgrading progress of civilization, the tastes and demands of the customers are changing day by day (Sharma Lambert, 2013). Therefore, the business managers should change the service procedure as per the upcoming needs and demands of the customers. For an instance, McDonald liked to follow high-touch customer service policy at the beginning of their journey. High-touch customer service policy is one of the most important service procedures with the help of which the service providers liked to wait to gain the interest of customers (Stadtler, 2015). At the very first stage, the providers intended to approach the customers for using the facilities and benefits of their services. If the customers showed their interest for using the service as well as the products, the service providers intended to proceed for the next step. However, in order to create a demand on the market in comparison to the other competitors such as Dominos, KFC and so on, McDonald decided to follow Low Touch customer Service. Low touch customer service implies that service providers are able to provide a large number of facilities in low price (Wandersman, Chien Katz, 2012). As a result, low cost customers can easily purchase the service and the products of McDonald. If the organization like McDonald can make the target group as both premium cost customer and low cost customers, the range of target group can automatically be enhanced (Wang et al., 2012). As a result, the business organization gets a major scope to enhance the revenue growth in the market. However, while discussing the service satisfactory factors regarding the business organization like McDonald, one specific gap in the service process has also been pointed out. Dominos is primarily famous for the quality of their services (Warren, 2012). After the entry of dominos, a large number of customers have showed their interest to change their consumer ship from McDonald to Dominos. Home delivery service process was primarily been rendered by the business experts of Dominos. People are able to enjoy the taste of food sitting at their home. As a result, consumers do not have to visit the organization for using the products and services. This particular service strategy had come as a major threat for McDonald. After that the concept of Rush service process had been effectively implement with the business process of McDonald. Figure 3: Service quality management of McDonald (Source: Yoon, Kim Rhee, 2012) Service recovery strategy plan: As already stated, this particular organization had to face a major threat from Dominos regarding the entire service process. The service gap has also been mentioned in this particular study. However, in order to make an effective service recovery plans and policies, some of the major steps can be implemented that are as follows: Service recovery plans Description Implementing home delivery service being available at twenty four hours McDonald should take an immediate initiative for implementing home delivery services to the customers. People from different geographical boundaries may not be able to visit the restaurant for using products and services. In this kind of situation, the business organization should deliver the order to the home of the customers so that the customers do not have to jump physically to the organization. They should get the facilities for enjoying the food sitting at their dining room. Maintaining an effective market survey in order to know the current needs and demands of the customers Business organizations have to change their service strategies and policies as per the current needs and demands of the customers. Therefore, before fixing the service strategies or tools, McDonald should conduct one effective market survey with the help of which market executives would be able to know which particular service procedure is currently suitable for them. Based on the needs of customers, the business experts should form organizational strategies and policies. McDonald is not exceptional to that. If the customers tend to show their reluctance on low touch customer service, the business experts can use some of the other business strategies and policies such as transparent customer service, clueless customer service and evil customer services. Being aware of the competitors market threat and taking an effective measure on it Competitors market threat should be the major concern for every business organization. If the competitors can defeat the organizational plans and polices, the reliable customers also tend to lose their confidence on the service process of particular organization. McDonald is not different from any perspective. Therefore, before forming the business strategy and policy, the business organization like McDonald should have an in-depth knowledge and experience about the strengths and weakness of the competitors. On one hand, the service quality of Dominos has already gained a market demand in the realm of fast food industry. On the other hand, McDonald has drawn the customers attention in terms of product reliability. Therefore, service procedure should be a major concern for the business organization like McDonald based on which the customers from various geographical boundaries tend to show their interest for using services. Table 1: Service recovery strategy plan (Source: Zhao et al., 2012) Conclusion: Service procedure plays a major role for rendering the success of a business organization. Maintaining the quality of products can never be the primary concern for a business organization. McDonald should focus on the service procedures so that people from various places can show their interest for purchasing the products. This particular study has provided an in-depth understanding regarding the service procedures of McDonald that have primary been used for many years. The customers reaction regarding the service quality of this particular organization has also been discussed here. In comparison to KFC and Dominos, the service quality of McDonald should be improved. Otherwise, the business experts may have to face a major threat from the competitors. Based on the service gap, an effective action plan has also been prepared in this specific study. Some of the effective measures have been planned and initiated for improving the service procedures of McDonald. References: Allred, A. T., Addams, H. L. (2013). Service quality at banks and credit unions: what do their customers say?.International Journal of Bank Marketing. Cina, C. (2013). 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