Contents

Introduction 1 2. The contents of CFS in Premier Inn 1 3. The gaps of CFS in Premier Inn 1
3.1 Collecting data 2 3.2 Reporting 3

4. Recommendations of CFS in Premier Inn3

4.1 Collecting data 3 4.2 Reporting 4

Conclusion4 References5

Introduction
Service quality is a growing concern for many service firms in the UK. Today service firms are paying more attention than ever to the needs and expectations of the customers by consistently improving the quality of service provided to their customers (Antony and Ghosh, 2004). The first law of service productivity and quality might be: Do it right the first time (Lovelock and Wirtz, 2004). But the fact cannot be ignored; the gaps between customer expectations and current situation still exist. How to identify these gaps and make right decisions to recover them is a serious problem to the hospitality industry at present. Some say that good customer service can be measured by complaints (Faulkner, 2003). Effective complaint management will be a necessary part of the hospitality industry.

The purpose of this business report is to identify potential gaps between current and best practice in Premier Inn. It also points out the shortcomings of process of the customer feedback system (CFS) in Premier Inn. Lastly, according to the result of analysis of CFS to make some recommendations to Premier Inn in order improve the customer driving learning via its CFS and understand customers expectations.

2. The contents of CFS in Premier Inn

As the biggest budget hotel chain in UK, Premier Inn has its complete Customer Feedback System. They chose the six feedback methods to improve their service. They are: employee feedback, comment cards, E-mail surveys, Mystery shoppers, trip advisor and message boards (source from Premier Inn at Preston). Most of them work well. However, some problems still exist in CFS of Premier Inn.

3. The gaps of CFS in Premier Inn

Customer complaints are one indication of customer satisfaction. Having listened to customer voice an organization should put in place appropriate strategy and actions for making the necessary changes and improvements (Dale, Wiele and Iwaarden,
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2007). So the key point of CFS is learning from the complaints and applying better service. There are two kinds of gaps in Premier Inn, external gap and internal gap. External gap is the gap between the customer and the organization (Lovelock and Wirtz, 2004), like the gaps in collecting data. Internal gap is the gap between different functions and departments within the organization (Lovelock and Wirtz, 2004), like the gaps in reporting.

3.1 Collecting data

The use of comment card is a very popular method for obtaining customer feedback in the hospitality industry (Wisner and Corney, 1997). The feedback sought should allow customers the chance to air their views (Johnston and Clark, 2008, p.440), to ask how the customer thinks the service could be improved. However, according to the research based on the Premier Inn at Preston, the hotel faced a serious challenge caused by two major problems with using comment card. One of the problems is most customers do not fill them out. Those that do are far from being a representative sample of customers (Kandampully, Mok and Sparks, 2001). Some customers are satisfied and they do not want to waste time filling the card. Others are very unhappy, so they prefer to complaint directly, for example, call the service desk or talk to the staff face to face. The other problem with comment card is that, even when customer filled them out and turned them in, it is often impossible to tell what they mean. One problem is bad handwriting; it is too difficult to identify what they really wrote. Another problem is the word they used, for example, the manager of Premier Inn at Preston said that some customers like to use words like fair or not bad. It does not reflect the customers real felling. This kind of comment card is really useless to the hotel if it wants to have some specific improvement.

Another familiar method that Premier Inn uses to collecting data is E-mail surveys. The problems with using E-mail surveys are similar with comment card. Low response rate is a key problem. According to the research by ORC International
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(2007), only about 1/3 customers replied to the E-mail. How to use feedback methods to collect more and useful data is a serious gap in CFS for Premier Inn.

3.2 Reporting
Frontline staffs are often the people who pick up the small comments or grumbles and are usually in a position to provide feedback to managers (Johnston and Clark, 2008, p.441). Simultaneously, problems are easily found by staffs who work in the hotel every day. Premier Inn has surveys for employees every 3 months (source from Premier Inn at Preston). To a hotel, 3 months is too long as a reporting time. If the staffs not report complaints to the manager immediately; the manager also cannot recover service at once. It will cause a small problem to a huge damage to the company. Premier Inn also uses message board as a communication tool between managers and employees. It is a very good way to transfer general information, but for the important decisions it is too informal.

4. Recommendations of CFS in Premier Inn

4.1 Collecting data
First of all, Premier can introduce new technology into CFS, for example, using touch screen comment cards system instead of normal comment card. This system not only effectively reduces bad handwriting, but also reduces the cost of paper and printing. Secondly, Premier Inn can give some discount or small gift to the customers who fill out the comment card, like 3 pounds off or one free bottle of drink. Lastly, the Hotel also can give electronic vouchers to those customers who reply the E-mail survey, for example 10% off when they book the Premier more than 3 nights next time. Customers will be encouraged take comment cards and E-mail surveys seriously by these discount and small gifts.

4.2 Reporting
The most effective way to reduce the reporting gap is to shorten the time of employee feedback by changing employee feedback time from 3 months to 1 month or even less if needed. More frequent communication between managers and staffs can make managers see what customers really want. It also can convey managers ideas and opinions to staff. Good service recovery can improve customers satisfaction and loyalty, and even gain a larger market share. Message board can be used as informal reporting tool. Managers can hold a short meeting weekly to report some important information or announce some big business decisions

Conclusion
The area of customer complaint behavior has received considerable attention from hotel managers as dissatisfied customers engage in a variety of complaint actions that could ruin the reputation of a hotel (Heung and Lam, 2003). Premier Inn used a lot of methods to solve the customer complaints. But some problems still exist in CFS in Premier Inn. This report is based on the analysis of actual cases presenting two major gaps, the gaps in collecting data and reporting. At the same time, this report also gives corresponding recommendations to the CFS in Premier Inn. Premier Inn should be more focused on long-term development. To achieve continue development by effective use of CFS.

References:
Antony, J. and Ghosh, S. (2004). Evaluating service quality in a UK hotel chain: a case study, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 16(6), pp.380-384.

Dale, B. G., Wiele, A. and Iwaarden, J. (2007). Managing quality. Malden, Mass.; Oxford: Blackwell.

Faulkner, M. (2003). Customer management excellence. Chichester: Wiley.

Heung, V. C. S. and Lam, T. (2003). Customer complaint behavior towards hotel restaurant services, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 15(5), pp.283-289.

Johnston, R. and Clark, G. (2008). Service operations management: improving service delivery. Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall.

Kandampully, J., Mok C. and Sparks, B. (2001). Service quality management in hospitality, tourism, and leisure. New York; London: Haworth Hospitality Press.

Lovelock, C. H. and Wirtz, J. (2004). Services marketing: people, technology, strategy. Upper Saddle River, N.J. : Pearson/Prentice Hall.

ORC International (2007). Guest Obsession: The success story of Premier Inn.

Wisner, J. D. and Corney, W. J. (1997). An empirical study of customer comment card quality and design characteristics, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 9(3), pp.110-115.
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