Introduction
New customers are often disoriented when they are in a new hotel and therefore need assistance to find their ways around the hotel or have their needs met. They usually do not know whom ask for a help or advise or where to begin from.
Taking an example of foreign tourists who often visit different countries all over the world, and have to deal with people with different cultural backgrounds and speaking different languages, they normally tend to shy talking to natives or ask them something due to the feeling of indifference.
The visitors, when they arrive to the hotel for the first time, may meekly look for ways to sort them out but to the contrary, some customers may act thoughtlessly in a manner that is impolite and end up disrupting the other ongoing activities. An understanding between the customer and the receptionist is therefore vital for each party to meet the desired goals.
Behaviors demonstrated by foreign tourists in a hotel reception
Foreign tourists tend to be curious or have the desire to acquire new knowledge about the hotel they are in. This is demonstrated in the way they look around for posters or pictures which would add to better know the place place. They gaze on everything seeking for new clues to make sense of their new surrounding.
They go forward to seek information about the new things by asking questions to the receptionists about the hotel offers, charges, norms and services. They prefer hanging out with big groups, often consulting each other about this or that thing or service and they often take flash photographs even of other customers. They also push their wais into queues and it takes them a long time to get consultations from hotel staff.
By seeking information, they reduce uncertainties about the hotel, which clarifies expectations and therefore gains them social acceptance. Feedback is also observed in the process of information seeking. This is seen in the customers’ efforts to gauge how to behave themselves in the new hotel.
They may in turn ask the receceptonists on what behavior is expected from them, what to bring or not to bring into the hotel, or rather how to behave in the hotel surrounding.
Another form of observable behavior is seen when the customers select among the different forms of alternatives on what they want to consume. The customers order various products for comparison before making the final decision. They may first consult by asking the receptionists or other visitors to be reassured that they get the best of what they want (Hallowell, 1996).
Considering a group of foreign tourists who get into a hotel seeking accommodation services within a defined time frame, they would first ask for a list of options on what kind of accommodations are available in terms of their space, charges and quality.
Some tourists like Italians are quite used to sophisticated services and would usually abide to hotel expensive tastes. Some would totally be annoying by disregarding and openly criticizing the services being offered (Dick & Basu, 1994).
Problems may occur when the receptionists and the tourists have a failure in communication. Most European tourists are used to European style full-service hotels and therefore, lack for a proper understanding may bring annoyance to the guest.
Some guests would comply with the agreements made at the reception, and totally agree to all terms made but later bring commotions in protest of the same as if they were not the contenders. According to Sugandhi (2002), she actually had a guest who wanted full refund because she did not like the carpet color and she did not sleep.
Others complain about breakfast and other miscellaneous things, making it a horrible experience for the hotel management. On the other hand, some guest interactions go on very smoothly, especially with the guests who value etiquette. Most tourists, even in a terrible situation would be reasonable and even apologize if their complaints are carefully handled with hospitality.
Literature Review
Modern hotels managements are rediscovering the ancient modes of success in a dynamic world and are blending them with the contemporary hotel services. A shift is taking place from servicing to anonymous masses of customers, to developing and managing relationships with more or less well known or at least some identified customers (Gronroos, 1994)
This section provides review on customer behavior management in a hotel reception; link it with customer satisfaction and loyalty of the hotel management to providing quality service.
Customer behavior management
Customer behavior management is a strategy to create and maintain long term relationships with customers with a keen observation of their behavior, to predict their wants and therefore provide quality services. A hotel’s survival largely depends on the customers and therefore, harmonious relationships have to be built regardless of their behavior.
Management should seek ways of coping with such behavior and in turn provide quality services for the profitability of their businesses. Having a sound base of satisfied customers enables the hotel to enhance profitably and fight out competition in a crowded market.
Hotels receptionists should view customers as people, who are prone to make mistakes and hence able to adjust to their altitudes and serve them appropriately without creating a big fuss about it.
Loyal satisfaction of customer needs
Customer satisfaction is defined as responding to fulfill the customer need. Satisfaction to a customer is a pleasurable experience while dissatisfaction is unpleasurable (Buttle, 2004). Customers are satisfied if the services meet their expectations.
A customer’s expectations may be satisfied yet the needs might not be met, this occurs when the expectations are low (Buttle, 2004). Loyal behavior including continued relationship with the consumers is expected from the hotel management to ensure quality service and satisfaction of customers’ needs.
Customers’ perception on quality Service
The quality of a certain service to customers is what they perceive it to be. It may differ from service quality delivered. What customers receive is actually important for their evaluation of quality.
The customer is also influenced by how he/she receives the service and therefore clicks back to withstanding their behavior to provide quality service. (Gronroos, 1994) found out that service quality was the highest quality determinant. Therefore, a customer’s experience with a service is the most important factor which influences his/her mind regarding the image.
Research
Aims and objectives
- To identify justification of customer’s behavior in a hotel reception.
- To identify customer’s expectations in a hotel reception.
Methods used in research
- Directs interviews
- Questionnaires
Research questions asked
- What traits do you consider attractive in a hotel receptionist?
- What traits do you dislike in a hotel receptionist?
- What things would you like changed at reception desk?
Verification and credibility
Perform the exercise in person and ensuring collecting data from the target group I.e. customers at a hotel reception.
Findings
- Most customers reported that, the receptionists they encountered at the desk were harsh and abusive and they reciprocated the same by being harsh and abusive.
- Most customers reported that the receptionists they encountered at the desk were uncooperative and slow to meet their needs.
Interpretation
It can therefore be seen that customer dysfunction behavior at a hotel reception originates from the unacceptable services they receive at the desk and further reinforced by lack of cooperation and loyalty of service by the receptionists.
Conclusion
There is a great need to reconsider the forms of hotel management, in terms of the customer’s expectations, and to reinforce good moral conduct, especially with receptionists at the service desk. Some of the best hotels in the world still have problems with their clients, not only with their foreign but also native customers.
It is important to note that, some of the cheapest hotels often display a lot more commitment to their customers, than the most expensive ones. Customer care services should be enhanced and customized to the needs of different groups of customers.
On the other hand, it is worth mentioning that foreign tourists, who visit third world countries get better services than the native clients, this is not to say that they are more important that the rest of the customers.
References
Buttle, F. (2004). Customer Relationship Management: concepts and tools. Oxford: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann
Dick, A. and Basu, K. (1994). Customer Loyalty: Toward an Integrated conceptual Framework, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 22(2), pp. 99-113.
Gronroos, C. (1994). From Marketing Mix to Relationship Marketing: Towards a Paradigm Shift in Marketing, Management Decision, 32 (2), pp. 4-20
Hallowell, R. (1996). The relationships of customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and profitability: an empirical study. International Journal of ServiceIndustry Management, 7(4), pp. 27-42
Smith, A.K. and Bolton, R.N. (1998). An experimental investigation of customer reactions to service failure and recovery encounters, Journal of Service Research, 1(1), p. 65-81
Sugandhi, R.K. (2002). Customer Relationship Management. New Delhi: New age International Publishers.