Ensuring delivery of quality products/services - Assignment Example

Although the peaks in business are seasonal and tourists pour in only for holidays, the locals never let the place get gloomy. The market focus of the hotel is on all; locals and those from abroad. The market segmentation divides the guests into categories: locals, tourists, long vacations, short trips, lunches, hi teas and dinners. This allows our marketing/sales programs to focus on the subset of prospects, so that they can be looked at individually. For instance, the marketing department introduces deals for guests, respective of what category they fall into.

For instance, for a guest who has in mind a short trip, there is a package which offers a 1 night stay complimentary if 2 nights have been purchased, or if you plan to stay with us for 10 days or more, the rent for every next day is a certain percentage lower than the previous. Segmentation makes it easy to cater differently for different groups of people. However, the hotel frames itself in a boundary set by the market determinants; cost quality and time. These are three factors in product development that remain in constant tension.

For the sake of this discussion, quality shall mean the services being provided to the guests, overall environment of the hotel, cleanliness, friendliness of employees to the guests etc. The cost of a given project is usually computed by enumerating its features, and the time it will take to implement them. Thus, these factors have a direct relationship and when we attempt to adjust one of them, the other two also get affected. So costs are increased over time, resulting from an increase in or presence of a new feature (quality).

For instance, the costs of luxury suites are higher than that of regular rooms because they require costly maintenance and a lot of time to be worked on. Likewise, in order to supply quality services more time is required and it increases the costs. For example, when a guest from the bistro orders a special dish, it requires more time and the cost of the dish goes up as the ingredients used in those dishes are more expensive. Our company tries to supply the best quality services while remaining as cost effective as possible.

The profit margins are lower, and perks and packages offer guests to consume better services (quality) at lower prices (cost). In order to find out customer satisfaction level, surveys are conducted regularly through questionnaires and comment cards where we welcome the customers to drop in any suggestion or complaints. We are open to opinions and we value our guests' comments. In order to provide better services for our guests, we have started a membership club for the local people, who can join in free of cost and receive points and wavers off meals (in limited menu only).

This has helped boost sales a lot and so has advertising in the local newsletter. The advertising has helped change the overall impression of the hotel on peoples' minds. It also helps keep them informed about any special packages that can be availed. For a project such as a hotel to be run, strong management skills must be required. In a hotel, much has to be looked after simultaneously. My hotel hires 20 people at a time, but the occupational agreements are seasonal. The employees are given special tutorials at the beginning of their careers with us, so as to provide the best possible