An Evaluative Study of the Role of Front Office Standards in the Delivery of Customer Service.

Abstract

This project aims to critically evaluate the impact of standards on the delivery of customer service from a hotel front office perspective. The project presents a critical review of the literature and uses interviews with front office managers as its data collection method, it then seeks to compare and contrast the findings.

The literature is the starting point for the project and is concerned with three key areas: Standards; customer service and customer satisfaction and finally front office. The literature review begins with a look at standards and its role over the past twenty years. This section focuses on how the role of standards has developed and changed, from being at the forefront during the 1990’s, through to today, where the focus is upon the management of the customer experience which ultimately requires the use of standards. Customer service and satisfaction is the next area for consideration:- providing a definition; discussing the role staff play; the impact staff have upon customer service; the role technology and training play in the managing and improving of customer satisfaction and the delivery of customer service. The final section discusses front office, defining the role it plays within a hotel and outlines the pivotal role the department plays in the management of the guest experience.

The project uses telephone interviews with front office managers from a sample organisation as its source of data collection. The organisation in question is Q hotels; the project uses a sample size of five front office managers from across the UK. The project then compares the literature review with the results from the research to ascertain whether there is an agreement between the two. Where there is no agreement between principles and practice, a discussion is undertaken as to why this is the case.

The conclusion re-addresses the initial aim of the project; it critically evaluates how standards impact upon the ability of front office to deliver excellent customer service. The conclusion offers recommendations for the advancement of delivering excellent customer service; it makes suggestions as to how research can be developed in the future.

Key Words

Standards

Customer service and satisfaction

Front office

Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s)