Minutes Session: Tutor: Absentees: Board writer: Observer: Secretary: Chair: 4, 26-04-2012 Brenda de Zwaan Mirjam, Jan Maxim

joshua Yfke Kate

Announcements: when you are ill or not coming to class, contact (text, call or mail) also someone of the group, with your reason of absent. Starting up problem 3. PS: what can a company do to meet and exceed the guest expectations in order to gain more profit? 1. What is the relationship between guest satisfaction and employees satisfaction and company profit? 2. How to measure, manage and minimize the gaps in a company (what is gap-model, apply one to text) 3. What can a company do to turn satisfied guests into loyal guests? 4. How can employment satisfaction be improved? (tools) 5. How to measure guest expectations? (servqual) 6. What is the moment of truth? (definition) Use service profit chain.

1. What is the relationship between guest satisfaction and employees satisfaction and company profit? Researchers have undertaken numerous studies to look at the connection between customer and employee satisfaction. A majority of these studies were able to uncover a correlation between employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction and profitability. In a study done by Betty Bailey, Ph.D. and Robert Dandrade for an international computer firm, the data reinforced the crucial link between customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction and profitability. Some of the key factors they found: Profit and growth are stimulated primarily by customer satisfaction and loyalty Employees who are satisfied in their jobs provide higher levels of customer service Employee satisfaction results primarily from internal high-quality support services and policies that enable employees to deliver results to customers

Putting employee and customer satisfaction in the spotlight when planning strategy is one of the top priorities for organizations committed to continuous improvement, both internally and externally. Maintaining a continuous flow of information from both employees and customers is how successful organizations are able to continually maintain their high rankings in the marketplace. At the heart of these endeavors is a strong belief that today's employee satisfaction, loyalty and commitment influence tomorrow's customer satisfaction, loyalty and commitment-and, ultimately, the organization's profit and growth. This belief in practical management is reinforced by a growing body of empirical research. These all-important "links" comprise what is generally termed the "value profit chain." A recent Gallup survey of 55,000 employees matched the following attitudes with higher profits: Employees felt they had an opportunity every day to do what they do best They believed their opinion counted They sensed that their co-workers were committed to quality There was a direct connection between their work and the company's mission statement

Source: Examining the Relationship Between Employee Satisfaction and Customer Satisfaction - http://www.alphameasure.com/employee_customer_satisfaction.html GUIDESTAR RESEARCH The literature offers several explanations as to why employee satisfaction affects customer satisfaction: 1. Employees that interact with customers are in a position to develop awareness of and respond to customer goals and needs.

2. Satisfied employees are motivated employees; that is, they have the motivational resources to deliver adequate effort and care. 3. Satisfied employees are empowered employees; in other words, they have the resources, training, and responsibilities to understand and serve customer needs and demands. 4. Satisfied employees have high energy and willingness to give good service: at a very minimum, they can deliver a more positive perception of the service/product provided. 5. Satisfiedemployeescanprovidecustomerswithinterpersonalsensibilityandsocialaccount (i.e., adequate explanations for undesirable outcomes). It has been suggested that these components of interactional justice (i.e., quality of interpersonal treatment provided in a negotiation/exchange) have a significant impact on customer satisfaction. According to this view, because satisfied employees experience interactional justice, they can deliver it; that is, satisfied employees have enough emotional resources to show empathy, understanding, respect, and concern. As found in the practices of Fortune 100 companies, employee satisfaction is the result of a holistic approach that involves strategic steps such as: 1. Identify root causes of dissatisfaction among employees 2. Conduct benchmark studies of best practices in selected other companies 3. Develop employee satisfaction measurement systems that can be used corporate wide and worldwide 4. Monitor employee satisfaction on a regular basis 5. View employees as the primary source of competitive advantage 6. Show concern for total employee well-being 7. Develop meaningful employee involvement and effective communication channels 8. Introduce managerial accountability for people management Source: Employee Satisfaction & Customer Satisfaction: Is There a Relationship? By Caterina C. Bulgarella, Ph.D, GuideStar Research Analyst - http://kimtech-unicc.tempserv4.clientnshosting.net/superior/MBA/5th %20Semester/Thesis/articles/whitepaper_cs_es_relationships.pdf 2. How to measure, manage and minimize the gaps in a company (what is gap-model, apply one to text) 3. What can a company do to turn satisfied guests into loyal guests? 10 ways: 1. Last impressions 2. Keep in touch 3. Reward their loyalty with exclusive deals 4. Understand your guests needs 5. Ask for feedback 6. Remember them

7. Get the basics right 8. Train your staff 9. Know your competition 10.Wow your guest 4. How can employment satisfaction be improved? (tools) Approach that involves strategic steps: 1. Identify root causes of dissatisfaction among employees 2. Conduct benchmark studies of best practices in selected other companies 3. Develop employee satisfaction measurement systems that can be used corporate wide and worldwide 4. Monitor employee satisfaction on a regular basis 5. View employees as the primary source of competitive advantage 6. Show concern for total employee well-being 7. Develop meaningful employee involvement and effective communication channels 8. Introduce managerial accountability for people management

5. How to measure guest expectations? (servqual) SERVQUAL (service-quality) is a multi-item scale developed to assess customer perceptions of service quality in service and retail businesses (Parasuraman et. al., 1988). The scale decomposes the notion of service quality into five constructs as follows: 6. What is the moment of truth? (definition) Moment of truth - In customer service, instance of contact or interaction between a customer and a firm (through a product, sales force, or visit) that gives the customer an opportunity to form (or change) an impression about the firm - www.businessdictionary.com Moment of truth - any moment when an employee and customer have contact in a service operation and the guest determines his or her impression of the service quality - Richard Normann, the Service Management Group The moments of truth defined for hotels: 1. Discovery/stimulus - Guest finds out about the hotel and gets interested. 2. Zero Moment of truth - Guest goes online to research the hotel and do his homework. 3. First Moment of truth - Guest finds the hotel website and finds out if this product is for him. 4. Second Moment of truth - Guest arrives and discovers the product and is either happy or disappointed, which then cycles to Stimulus (or lack thereof) for his friends and family. Source: article by Martin Soler, marketing director of World Independent Hotels Promotion (WIHP) - http://www.tnooz.com/2011/09/06/news/stimulus-and-the-moments-of-truth-in-hotelmarketing/