Customer Service in Travel and Tourism
Executive Summary
This report is about customer service in the travel and tourism industry, especially Emirates Airlines. The role of customer service is to ensure that the customer's needs are met, resulting in customer satisfaction, retention, and loyalty. The areas covered in this report are the types of customers attracted by Emirates Airlines, the needs of the customers, an analysis of the effectiveness of customer service, the use of quality systems in the Emirates, and solutions to customer complaints and queries. The report findings indicate that Emirates attracts both internal customers (suppliers, directors and owners, suppliers, staff, supervisors and managers, and colleagues) and external customers (couples, families, business people, existing and new customers, groups). The second finding is that the customer's needs include customer safety, satisfaction, and security. The third finding is that Emirates uses quality management to oversee quality service and realize the needed levels of excellence. In the future, the company is advised to have planes flying pure first class, pure economy class, or pure business class without the need to incorporate a mixture of flights. The fourth finding is that customer service could be measured via the level of satisfaction, the use of surveys and interviews, and mystery shopping. Lastly, the queries and complaints of the customers must be handled in a prompt, quick, and efficient manner. For example, it is advisable to listen to customers, not to argue with them, and acknowledge complaints and provide solutions. The conclusion is that Emirates Airlines has excellent customer service, and that is why the company has been ranked number one in the last twelve years.
Introduction
Customer service plays a critical role in the operations of any organization, especially those in the travel and tourism industry. When customers get excellent customer service based on their needs, they are satisfied and become loyal to the company. Therefore, a company that has outstanding service quality is useful to the business and it enhances profitability. Excellent customer service entails working to customer needs, being impartial, understanding the needs of the customer, being respectful to customers, providing alternative products and services, having good communication skills, dealing promptly with customer complaints, having a well-trained staff, and working as a team (Davahran & Yazdanifard, 2014). On the other hand, bad customer service could contribute to customer dissatisfaction. In addition, bad customer service entails being patronizing to internal and external customers, poorly trained staff, and ignoring the customers’ requirements and needs. When the customers’ needs are ignored via valid complaints, a negative attitude towards customers, provision of poor services, and poor delivery of products, customers are dissatisfied in return. Customers could be internal or external and customer service is required to ensure that they are satisfied. Thus, safety quality, customer service, and benchmarking are all significant elements that airports must take into consideration.
This report is based on the case study of Emirates Airlines, which is a Dubai-based airline operating both domestically and internationally. The airline is ranked the best in the world because of the quality of customer services provided. The purpose of this report is three-fold: (1) to define the types of customers in Emirates Airlines; (2) to provide an analysis of the effectiveness of customer service and the application of quality systems in the travel and tourism industry; and (3) to provide solutions of customer complaints and queries about the operations of Emirates Airlines.
Findings and Analysis
Types of Customers that Emirates Attracts in the Middle East
A customer can be described as an organization or a person who purchases goods or services from a seller or a service provider. The primary goal of any organization is to attract consumers and to be profitable. Customers can be divided into two types: external and internal customers (Fulton-Calkins, Shumack & Stulz, 2012). External customers are people who use and purchase the products and services of an organization they are not associated with. Examples of external customers are couples, families, business people, existing and new customers, groups, those from different cultures and ethnicities, and individual and single customers. On the other hand, internal customers are people working for the same organization and using the services or products provided (Fulton-Calkins et al., 2013). Unlike external customers, internal customers tend to be more aware of the services or products provided by the organization. Examples of internal customers include suppliers, directors and owners, suppliers, supervisors and managers, and colleagues and staff in departments or teams. Internal customers are coworkers, whereas external customers are the clients (Martinez & Hobb, 2008). In addition, external customers are the businesses, people, and organizations outside of the firm that provide goods and services.
In the case of Emirates, the company attracts both internal and external customers. The internal customers attracted by Emirates Airlines include pilots, air hostesses, cabin crew, supervisors, and other staff members working directly for the organization (Fulton-Calkins et al., 2013). For instance, most of the employees of Emirates Airlines do not hail from the Middle East, but from other countries such as the U.S., Africa, and Asia. Thus, these employees are attracted to the Middle East tourism industry, especially in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The provision of better services attracts internal customers to tour major tourist destinations in the Middle East. Excellent internal customer service results in employee satisfaction, employee retention, and employee loyalty as well as external customer service (Fulton-Calkins et al., 2013).
With external customers, Emirates Airlines being ranked the World’s Best Airline attracts couples and families visiting Dubai and other tourist destinations as tourists. Families and couples are set of consumers willing to spend time and money relaxing and having adventurous moments. In addition, Emirates Airlines attracts business people and groups that could be willing to invest in the Middle East. For example, Emirates SkyPharma, which is Emirates Airline SkyCargo was opened in 2016 at the Dubai International Airport to promote timely and secure transport of temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical shipments (WAM, 2016). Thus, Emirates Airlines attracts business people and groups because the airline travels to the hub of business in the Middle. In addition, pharmaceuticals are important products transported by Emirates Airlines across the world, and this could attract business people and groups to visit Dubai to look for new business opportunities. The Emirates SkyCargo’s Pharma handling capabilities have enhanced Dubai’s position as a leading destination for pharmaceuticals and healthcare logistics (WAM, 2016).
Thus, business people and groups with interests in pharmaceuticals and healthcare logistics would be attracted because the international airline operator can connect cargo customers (TradeArabia News Service, 2016). In the same context, business people interested in cargo and transportation would also travel with Emirates Airlines to Yangon, Hanoi, Yinchuan, Zhengzhou, Cebu, and Clark.
Use and Importance of a Quality System
The use of Quality Management (QM) in organizations is to ensure that all tasks and activities are overseen to promote a desired level of excellence. Emirates Airlines has implemented a quality system to enhance customer service. Emirates Airlines has been successful and ranked number one in terms of service provision. The company applies the QM approach which has ensured the provision of quality services pertinent to it’s the needs of the customers (Rehbein & Fierlings, 2006). The company pursues explosive and continuous growth that has seen the airline receive numerous awards for excellence in destinations, international cargo management, and customer service provision (Emirates, 2013). The incorporation and the use of quality systems by Emirates Airline needed to offer quality services to its loyal, existing, and new customers has increased its popularity and increased its operations in more than 130 destinations in more than 70 countries. Emirates Airlines is the leading airline in terms of operating both Airbus A380 and Boeing 777 aircraft.
Based on the Optimal Excellence Model, Emirates Airlines, the company has excellent leadership, involves its stakeholders in decision-making, focuses on customer needs and requirements, has a systematic management system, and has a continuous improvement program. Nonetheless, Emirates Airlines needs to improve its process approach to customer service. As a global operator that enjoys recognition from customers, Emirates Airlines must implement a quality system that classifies the needs of specific travelers or customers (Porter & Tanner, 2012). For example, it could have planes flying pure first class, pure economy class, or pure business class without the need to incorporate a mixture of flight classes. Subsequently, resource allocation would be streamlined and auditing of customer expectations, satisfaction, and service quality improved (Porter & Tanner, 2012).
Customer Needs
Customers, both external and internal have needs that have to be fulfilled for Emirates Airline to be successful. For instance, internal customers such as pilots and cabin crews require internal customer service, to promote external customer service (Davahran & Yazdanifard, 2014). This is realized via Service quality practices whereby customer satisfaction would be promoted at the organizational levels to ensure that customers are satisfied with the services provided by Emirates Airlines (Kien-Quoc,& Simpson, 2006). Service quality is achieved when the services provided align with the needs of most customers.
The expectations of consumers in the travel and tourism industry continue to increase. For both internal and external customers, the other need that must be met is catering to the needs of customers from different nationalities. For instance, the Middle East is characterized by cultural differences and its limited presence in Emirates Airlines affects the service quality. In general, the absence of cultural awareness by the company is reasonable for the alienation of the customer (Hussain, Al Nasser, & Hussain, 2014). Service representatives have to be trained to solve this customer need by meeting the customer’s service expectations and requirements. Emirates Airlines manages a multi-ethnic customer base and this could create communication issues linked to language barrier. Given that more than 90% of the U.A.E. population is composed of foreigners, both external and internal customers are faced with cultural issues that could affect customer service. Business people and groups traveling to the Middle East are non-Arabic speaking, and therefore, the Emirates could play a primary role in ensuring that language barrier and cultural problems are solved. Emirates Airlines could achieve this by having interpreters who could talk with the consumers in a language they understand best.
The other customer needs affect both internal and external customers in safety quality. According to Davahran and Yazdanifard (2014), the safety and security of airlines and airports is a customer need faced by customers and it relates to an increment in risk linked to maintenance and terrorism. Because of that, the management of Emirates Airlines is required to collaborate with other stakeholders such as airports in the Middle East as part of promoting safety. Internal customers such as pilots are faced with fatigue episodes related to long travel distances and lack of adequate sleep. Fly Emirates is thus required to ensure that internal customers adequately relax.
Techniques that Emirates can use to analyze the effectiveness of customer service
Level of Satisfaction
Customer service is the process of service provision to customers before, during, and after a purchase. Different elements define the quality of customer services provided to the current and loyal customers. The success of the interactions depends on employees and internal customer service. Thus, Customer service is equally an n important part of a business organization (Davahran & Yazdanifard, 2014). This is because the travel and tourism industry has become customer customer-orientated business. Quality customer services are required to ensure that both internal and external customers are satisfied (Rhoades, 2008). One of the approaches that can be used to measure the effectiveness of customer service within Emirates Airlines is via satisfaction levels. When a customer is satisfied with the level of customer service, then the number of complaints is minimal and the airline must be operating. For example, Emirates Airlines has for the last 12 years been named as the World’s Best Airline (WAM, 2016). Such recognition was the best of the survey, whereby factors such as customer service and customer satisfaction were considered. Emirates Airlines has been known for its ability to effectively resolve customers’ frustrations and concerns, and this defines the effectiveness of customer service.
Quantitative Metrics-Surveys
Maintaining new and existing customers and establishing associations with new customers is an important element of a business approach and it defines the level of services provided (Bamford, 2007). Thus, to establish the effectiveness of customer services, Emirates could survey to measure their perception of what customer service must be hence there are a variety of concerns that have to be taken into account when an organization is trying to manage its customer service. Such a survey could play an integral role in establishing whether the customer service of that company is effective or not. Emirates Airlines is a Dubai-established airline, and its customer service is based on the slogan of ‘‘Exploring outstanding service, Technology, and Comfort’. This shows their commitment to ensuring that their passengers both internal and external customers have an outstanding experience when travelling (Markillie, 2008). To establish the effectiveness of customer service offered by the Emirate airlines, a survey was carried out in 2010 to compare seven large-scale airlines in the world namely Air France, Emirates Airlines, British Airways, Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways, Virgin Atlantic Airways, and the Swiss Air (Sundaram, 2011). The findings established that Emirate Airlines was ranked the best in the provision of customer service.
Qualitative Measures-Focus Groups and Interviews
Other than carrying out surveys, Emirates Airlines could qualitative measures could be used to assess customer service performance and they include interviews with customers and mystery shopping techniques (Johnston, 2013). Personal interviews with customers could be used to provide an insightful and profound understanding of customers’ perceptions of service quality. In addition, focus groups and one-on-one interviews with existing and new customers periodically could be used to understand customers’ needs, complaints, and concerns. Qualitative metrics are effective tools that can be used to judge customer satisfaction levels (Johnston, 2013). Additionally, qualitative surveys with open-ended questions provide respondents with room required to provide insights into the reasons behind their ratings. Mystery shopping is another evaluation technique that can be used by Emirates to gauge customer service effectiveness performance.
Solutions to Customer Complaints and Queries
Handling customer complaints is necessary in the travel and tourism industries because it ensures that the needs of the customer are met. When there is a decline in the service followed by customer complaints, it is important to handle the complaints quickly, efficiently, and properly. This is necessary as it ensures the retention and satisfaction of customers to the company. In addition, addressing the complaints of the clients promotes customer loyalty. To solve complaints, the management of Emirates Airlines would require them to file with the customer service office and follow-ups made (Sasha, 2009). It is wrong to dismiss the complaints of the customers. After the acknowledgment of the complaints, warm attentions are given to the issue and necessary solutions are provided. Prompt solving of consumer complaints indicates the commitment of the company to customer service.
As the biggest airline in the Middle East, Emirates deals with difficult customers daily. To solve the issue of a difficult customer (demanding, talkative, indecisive, impatient, angry, and intimidating), the first phase is to keep calm and control yourself. The thumb rule is to never argue with a customer when angry, complaining, or displeased. The second step is to let the customer vent, while listening to them, and to never look for excuses or exits. Also, do not blame the customer, but instead try to solve the complaint, or seek the counsel of a supervisor.
When communicating over the telephone, pay attention and listen to the customer's demands. It is advisable to always answer promptly, and pay attention to what is said, and repeat some of what has been said. Never argue over the phone. Respond to customer queries in a formal manner, with the letterhead of the company present and signed by the supervisor.
Conclusion
The customers of Emirates are both internal and external. The specific needs of customers related to service quality, customer satisfaction, safety, and catering to the needs of customers from different nationalities. The company promotes customer service via the use of the QM system. However, the company needs to have a system whereby its airlines are classified based on customer needs. To measure the effectiveness of customer service, the most common approaches used include qualitative and quantitative metrics, and measuring the levels of customer satisfaction. The dos and don’ts of dealing with customer complaints have been addressed whereby it is advised to always listen to complaints of customers, never argue with them, but always solve the issues quickly and promptly.
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