Relationship Marketing and Services- Free-Samples for Students

Question: Explain the Significance of the Service Encounter, and its Managerial Implications. Answer: In the present business scenario, service industries are more profitable option than the manufacturing sector. It is due to the reason that majority of the development and innovations in the recent time are mainly service sector oriented. One of the key distinctive natures of the service industry compared to the manufacturing industry is the direct handling of the customers. Service sectors directly handle the customers and the satisfaction of the customers is an important determinant for the effectiveness of the service industry (Jasmand, Blazevic and de Ruyter 2012). Thus, providing customer service is one of the key criterions for the organizations in the service sector to stay ahead in the competition. The grace hotel in Australia is one of the leading and prominent players in the hotel industry in Australia. They serve mainly to the high end customers which is the most sensitive segment towards the service being provided to them. To determine the service effectiveness of this or ganization, it is important that the front and backstage department should be evaluated. This essay will further determine the managerial implications for the service industry in providing enhanced customer service. Figure: 1. Front stage flowchart Figure: 2. backstage flowchart One of the key criteria to be determined in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the service delivery is the service encounter (Teixeira et al. 2012). By service encounter, we mean to say that the situation or the environment when and where the service deliver being takes place. It is the time when service is being delivered by the provider to the customers. The grace hotel is o known for their high end customer service. As given in the figure 1 about the front stage department of the organization, it can be said that issues with the customers regarding the service being provided by them is the main determinant to identify the gap in the existing customer service (Mair and Hehenberger 2014). Thus, according to me, suggestion from the customers will be well evaluated in order to deliver them effective service which will meet the requirement of the customers. It is always being recommended that the service deliver should be according to the taste and preference pattern of the custome rs. It will help the organization in enhancing the effectiveness of the service being provided to the customers (Jahanshani et al. 2014). Thus, proper determination of the customer feedback will help to identify the customer requirement and the service can be delivered accordingly. As shown in the figure 1, it will help in generating positive word of mouth from the customers. Thus, the service encounter will be more enhanced and effective if the service is being delivered according to the figure 1. During the service encounter, the Grace hotel should also considers the various issues being found with the service being delivered to the customers. This is due to the reason that the service sectors have to fulfill the diversified requirement of the customers which sometimes pose challenge for the organizations (Wu and Wang 2012). However, in the case of the Grace hotel, they are having favorable environment in this case due to the reason that the target segment of them is a niche market and this market lacks in diversified customer requirement. As shown in the figure 2 regarding the backstage flowchart, allocation of resources and the raw materials from the suppliers are the main determinants for evaluating the effectiveness of the employees. Hotel industry where the Grace hotel is currently operating requires various raw materials which are being collected from the suppliers (Bon and Mustafa 2013). Thus, the more effective will be the suppliers and the supply chain of their own, the more effective will be the service encounter for the backstage employees. Allocation of resources is also important for them due to the reason that it determines the investment and development of various aspects such infrastructure and housekeeping. Thus, the more productive will be the allocation of the resources, the more will be their effective service encounter. Afterwards, training of the employees is the secondary determinant due to the reason that, the productivity of the employees will determine the extent to which the resources can be effectively used. The more efficient will be the front stage employees, the more will be the effective customer service being provided. As it is being known that the front stage employees are the key responsible to handle the customers directly. Thus, the image of the organization is much more dependent on them. The impression of the customers being created by having service from the front stage employees will be the key influencing factor to analyze the service encounter. Thus, these are the aspects which should be considered in having the effective service encounter. There are various managerial implications for the service delivery to the customers due to the reason that they are one who influence the employees in their workplace (Bateman and Snell 2013). The main responsibility of the managers in the service industry is to maintain the effective working environment for the employees. Employees will be more motivated and engaged in their workplace if the safety and security of them can be effectively taken care of. Various employee welfare schemes initiated by the managers will prove beneficial for organization due to the reason that it will enhance the productivity of the employees (Lamba and Choudhary 2013). Hotel industry is rapidly growing and changing with the change in the taste and preference pattern of the customers. Newer technologies are being introduced in the hotel industries to further enhance the customer service. Thus, it is important for the managers to train their employees according to the recent change in the industry. It will help the organization in coping up with the change in the market along with fulfilling the current trend of demand of the customers. Eventually it will enable the organization in staying ahead in the market by offering the innovative approaches in the customer service. Moreover the enhancement of the employee engagement is also one of the key responsibilities of the managers. It is due to the reason that, motivated employees will lead to more effective productivity in the organization. As it is being known that the front line employees will directly deal with the employees, thus, motivation of the employees will further enable them in delivering the effective customer service. Thus, it can be concluded that the managers have important role to play in driving the employee productivity in the organization. The more effective role will be played by the managers, the more effective will be the motivation of the employees which in turn will help in delivering effective customer service. References Bateman, T.S. and Snell, S., 2013.Management: Leading collaborating in a competitive world. McGraw-Hill Irwin. Bon, A.T. and Mustafa, E.M., 2013. Impact of total quality management on innovation in service organizations: Literature review and new conceptual framework.Procedia Engineering,53, pp.516-529. Jahanshani, A.A., Hajizadeh, G.M.A., Mirdhamadi, S.A., Nawaser, K. and Khaksar, S.M.S., 2014. Study the effects of customer service and product quality on customer satisfaction and loyalty. Jasmand, C., Blazevic, V. and de Ruyter, K., 2012. Generating sales while providing service: A study of customer service representatives' ambidextrous behavior.Journal of Marketing,76(1), pp.20-37. Lamba, S. and Choudhary, N., 2013. Impact of HRM practices on organizational commitment of employees.International Journal of Advancements in Research Technology,2(4), pp.407-423. Mair, J. and Hehenberger, L., 2014. Front-stage and backstage convening: The transition from opposition to mutualistic coexistence in organizational philanthropy.Academy of Management Journal,57(4), pp.1174-1200. Teixeira, J., Patrcio, L., Nunes, N.J., Nbrega, L., Fisk, R.P. and Constantine, L., 2012. Customer experience modeling: from customer experience to service design.Journal of Service Management,23(3), pp.362-376. Wu, M. and Wang, L., 2012. A continuous fuzzy Kanos model for customer requirements analysis in product development.Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part B: Journal of Engineering Manufacture,226(3), pp.535-546.