Flight Centre Australia - Customer Satisfaction, Gap Analysis, and Market Prospects - Case Study Example

THE ENCOUNTER REPORT OF FLIGHT CENTER AUSTRALIA Abstract Customer service and customer satisfaction is one of the key elements of a company to be successful, and maintain their clientele. This goes a long way in also helping the company to enhance its reputation and economic status. Failure to do this, will lead to competition from other firms and one will miss out to the other, just because of customer dissatisfactions (Huang 2001). Key Words Customer satisfaction, gap analysis, marketing theory Background Flight Center Australia provides extensive travel options at the cheapest price available. It is an independent travel agency in Australia. It provides flyer points redemption and traveler’s cheque. Flight Center Australia helps to ensure that travelling. Among the services that it provides, flight air Australia provides cheap flights and holiday packages. It offers domestic becomes easier within the country. A variety of travel companies has listed their deals in the company. They offer a package deal and market for travel businesses to promote their deals to the customer (Web 2003). They have a team of consultants who are highly experienced, trained experts and dedicated to finding the travel deal for any destination and any budget that would fit anybody in the area. These consultants organize flights, holidays, hotels, rail passes, cruises, coach tours, travel insurance, visas, and frequent range of prices on domestic flights to all destinations around the country, as well as international flights that are cheap, to a wide range of destinations worldwide. The company also has put up a website online which enables clients to save time and book both international and domestic flights. The website also allows clients to compare airfares. The agency offers lots of holiday’s packages and deals for popular and exotic destinations throughout the world. The travel guides that the company offers has a wealth of information about various destinations that include where to stay, how to get around and what to see while someone is there. Most clients are able to book their flights, holidays and deals online. The company’s website has a form that one should fill in their personal details and requirements for what they are booking, and it searches if the requirement is available. It then provides the related searches, which allows comparing prices. The client then enquires about it and takes it up with the company (Web 2003). For those who are not technologically aware, they could still visit their offices and all the processes, just as the website, but it is done for them manually. Customer Satisfaction Report on the Flight Center There was when I was looking for a good deal on a holiday package in Australia. I searched through their travel guide and got the deal that I was looking for. The next step was to contact the travel specialists for booking the holiday, since it was on high demand. The call did not go through, or if it did, I was put on hold most of the times. The recipient on the other end was also rude to me for insisting on calling, and that I should just wait for my turn. Since I needed to go for the holiday, I decided to go to their office and find out what why they were not responding to my needs. At the office, no one was willing to help me, since apparently; I was not one of their ‘regular’ clients. I did not get the holiday deal, and swore not to use the same agency again. As a new client of the agency, I had high expectations for the company since I had heard so many positive things about the company. There were also many referrals by other people who had used the same services before. There were desired services that I was expecting to receive at the agency. I expected them to be at least courteous over the phone, and at the office, be helpful to a new client that they were hoping to impress so that they could establish a respectful relationship. One does not always get what they desire, so there is a level of service, adequate service that is acceptable. This was not even available, and it was extremely frustrating. The ‘regulars’ were served at their disposal, but I was not. Their performance was below my level of tolerance, which was dissatisfying. Owing to my narrow level on tolerance, I was highly sensitive to the negative service experience that I had. Expectations that exceed to a surprising degree make it more difficult to please the customer in the future or other customers at all. Lower expectations, like the one that I experienced, create dissatisfaction to a customer. Expectations also offer standards against which experiences are evaluated and measure pre and post consumption (Ziethmal 2002). The perceived performance of the company was not up to expectations, according to their advertisement of their services, and word of mouth. To verify the ‘good- word’ of others, I decided to check out the agency and find out if they are what everyone seemed to say about them. The customer service that they offered was not even close to my expectations; therefore, I chose to use another agency. A first timer client usually has high expectations of the services provided, especially from a number of positive feedbacks and referrals from other clients. Satisfaction is based on expectations, a dissatisfied customer will change suppliers, and the challenge of the company is to ensure that they always delight their customers if they want to keep them and their reputation. Based on the normative marketing theory and the positive marketing theory, the company, does not put this in consideration, especially when it comes to satisfying the customer’s needs and living up to their brand name (Hunt 2007). They should learn to treat all the customers equally, and give them personal attention. By doing so, they would have the customer loyalty and by so, boost their economic income. The Gap model views quality of service as the difference between the level of service expected and the actual perceptions of the customer service received. The gap model however, sees service quality as a disconfirmation between expectations and perceptions (Hunt 2007). The management of the company should improve their communication skills to their clients, foster upward communication and flatten hierarchical structure to open up the communication between clients and the management (Gap 1) (Franklin 2006). Even after the bad experience, my complaints were not dealt with and the management did nothing to apologize for their misconduct. Their service did not match up to my expectations. The management’s perceptions of expectations did not translate well into the perspectives of service quality specifications (Gap 2). In their brochure and website, the company claims that they offer quality service, but this is not the case. Their service is way below what they claim to be. There was the difference between the service delivered and external communications (Gap 4). Even after laying down my complaints, I was promised that they would follow up on the case, but nothing was done. Not even an apology was given. My expectations were not well managed as well (Franklin 2006). The difference between what consumers expect and what they receive (Gap 5). My expectations of the company’s services did not match up to the level of the service provided. This is because, according to positive referrals from other clients, I expected the same treatment as them, but what I got was very different. It was the least of my expectations. For the first gap, the company should improve their communication between the management and clients, and that they should foster it upward. The company should establish the right service quality standards; have the staff members and managers committed to quality and fair service to all of their clients. They should also determine and overcome service quality barriers; this applies to the second gap. In the fourth gap, the company should ensure that the delivery matches their promises, ensure that the advertising promises reflect the service quality priorities, explain or rectify the problems and avoid overpromising. For the fifth gap, the first four gaps should be closed, if the gap between customer’s expectations and their perceptions of the actual service provided is to be closed. Reliability is the ability to deliver the promised service dependably and accurately (Lee 2007). The company did not live up to its promise of providing quality service, and putting the needs of their customers first. Their communication with the client and customer care is certainly wanting. In my ratings, it is rated 1, because, I was so mad at not being given the service, even the slightest of courtesy lacked. Assurance is the courtesy and knowledge of the company staff that are able to inspire trust and confidence (Lee 2007). Probably my experience is one of the few unfortunate ones that happened in the company. A large percentage of the clients who have used their services before have pleasant things to say about it, so I rate it at 5, because of the good referrals about it. Tangible is the physical facilities, equipment and appearance of personnel (Lee 2007). The appearance of the office is tremendously appealing, and one does not have to inquire about what services are offered, or what it is about. Waiting clients are kept comfortable with things that keep them busy, and not become bored while waiting for their turn. I rate it at 6, since it ensures that the clients are comfortable while waiting in the lounge. Responsiveness is the service provider’s willingness to help customers and provide prompt service (Lee 2007). The company’s staff, especially the agents, does not have the courtesy to speak well to clients. The front office manager is not any different. My needs were not taken care of on time, or at all. Even after filing a complaint, I got no response from them. I give the company a 7, for their non-responsiveness abilities. Empathy is the giving individual attention to customers, understanding and caring for them. Clearly, empathy is a dimension that they lack (Lee 2007), the front office manager and the agent on the phone, did not listen to my concerns and anticipated needs; instead, they kept on passing me up for the ‘regular’ clients. I rate it at a 7, for their lack of empathy. Conclusions and Recommendations The travelling agency is an excellent company, which offers a variety of services to People in Australia and even internationally, and makes it easy for them to move around. My experience is just one of the few incidents, and if they want to live up to their status, they should try to implement some of the recommendations stated above in the report. Reference Hunt, Shelley, 2007, Marketing Theory: Foundations, Controversy, Strategy, Resource- Advantage Theory. New Jersey, Wiley. Franklin, Mereen, 2006, Performance Gap Analysis. Ney York, ASTD Press. Lee, Johnson 2007. ‘ServQual vs. ServPerf: Round 2 in a Multi Cultural Setting’, Journal of Academy of Business and Economics, vol. 7, no.3, pp. 65-77. Zeithmal, Valarie, 2002, Delivering Quality Service, Milwaukee, Free Press. Huang, Ming-Hui, 2001, ‘The Theory of Emotions in Marketing’, Journal of Business and Psychology, vol. 16, no.12. pp. 239-247. Flight Center Australia, 2003. Retrieved from http://www.flightcenter.com.au/ Read More