Customer service stars working in hospitality revealed

8th July 2010, 8:55am

The strengths and weaknesses of the country's customer service two years out from the London Olympic Games have been laid bare in a new mystery shopper programme from the National Skills Academy for Hospitality.

More than 1,000 businesses in the hospitality sector were surveyed over the last 12 months, from fast food eateries to Michelin starred restaurants, from pubs to hotels as part of the Academy's hospitality Benchmark. Like in any sample group there were stars, the large middle scoring group and those with some way to go.

The "average" performance in hospitality was an impressive 74 out of 100, with 15 businesses scoring 100% and 69 scoring 95% or more. Those who didn't fare as well lost points when it came to warmth and hospitality. The clear facts are that we are better at process and systems than we are at warmth and hospitality.

In every sub sector and region, businesses scored higher on skills-based questions than on personality-based questions

In 60% of visits where a problem was experienced, staff did not take the opportunity to create a positive example

On 36 per cent of occasions a member of staff did something over and above expectations
When comparing sectors, restaurants with hosts performed best – a welcoming face at the entrance

David McHattie, chief executive of the National Skills Academy for Hospitality, said: "The 15 businesses that scored 100% clearly illustrate that world class service is not the sole domain of five star hotels or Michelin starred restaurants. What the top performers have in common is warmth and personality allied with excellent systems and processes that evidently translates into their customer loyalty and willingness to recommend scores.

"Not only do most mystery shopper schemes focus on checking service process but the set up costs put them out of reach of smaller businesses. Our aim was to develop a benchmark that was open to all. The benefit to those using the hospitality Benchmark is the valuable insight the collective information offers, which focuses on the customers' perceptions of the experience and their willingness to return and recommend. If you don't know how well or badly you are doing it's difficult to know what to or how to improve."

Developed and tested for over a year, companies already using the hospitality Benchmark are confident that it will impact on both staff morale and their bottom line.

The results demonstrate that trained, knowledgeable and engaged team members consistently provide competitive advantage to high performing businesses over their average competitors. The challenge of consistency is critical to brands preserving brand value and growing brand loyalty across geographic areas. Brands performed no better than the whole sample – one typical brand's scores ranged from 13% to 91%.

Two businesses were recognised yesterday at the British Hospitality Association awards – claiming the inaugural National Skills Academy, hospitality Benchmark Awards.

A McDonald's drive-thru restaurant in East Grinstead – which is owned and operated by McDonald's franchisee John O'Dwyer – and independent bar and restaurant Kings Lodge in Kings Langley both scored 100%, received outstanding comments and simply excelled in the service they provided.

McDonald's franchisee John O'Dwyer said: "I am thrilled that my drive-thru restaurant in East Grinstead has been recognised for the excellent customer service I know it delivers day in and day out. This recognition will further motivate our restaurant team to continue to deliver the top-class customer service we know our customers expect and value".

Jez Langhorn, HR director at McDonald's UK, added: "At McDonald's we have a long-standing commitment to ensuring that our people are happy in their work and are able to fulfil their potential by offering them a wide-ranging programme of training and development, including nationally recognised qualifications like Apprenticeship in Multi-Skilled Hospitality which around 6,000 employees have already taken up. It's great to see that this culture of excellence continues to deliver for our customers with outstanding customer service."

"There is always room for improvement though – the insight provided by the hospitality Benchmark across a number of our restaurants should give us some useful food for thought and help us better understand the experiences of our customers, helping us evolve our staff training in the future."

Related Articles:

• 28 Oct 2010 - Living Ventures and Wagamama among the best for customer service

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