Service Quality of Fine Dining Restaurant - Essay Example

Service Quality of a Fine Dining Restaurant Contents Contents 2 3 Introduction 3 Literature Review 4 Overview of Methods 7 Primary Findings 9 The services offered 10 Conclusion 12 Recommendations 13 References 13 Abstract The critical incident technique is applied in determining the quality of service of a fine dining restaurant. In this research, respondents were randomly identified and requested to fill in a brief questionnaire. The questions that they were required to fill prompted them to recall at least two incidents they ever experienced at the selected fine dining restaurant. They were to give one satisfying and another dissatisfying incident for the same restaurant. Responses were collected from 25 respondents, giving a total of 25 satisfying and 25 dissatisfying incidents. From the collected data, it was evident that the main factors considered by the customers in terms of service quality revolved around four subjects. These areas of concern are the physical appearance of the place, the kind of food offered, the variety of foods in the menu, the type of service provided by the staff, and the pricing of the food. Most of the respondents found something positive about the physical appearance, considering it was a fine dining restaurant. On the other hand, the service of the staff and the quality of the food served received a lot of criticism from the customers as they did not meet their expectations. As such, appropriate recommendations were made at the end of the research that would assist the restaurant in meeting customer expectations and retaining its economic competitiveness. Introduction A lot of research has been carried out in the field of hospitality (Lane, 2014). According to Rush (2008), it has been noted that many industry players are no longer concentrating on the speed at which they expand their hospitality companies and businesses, but at the rate at which they meet customer expectations. There has been a great need for maintaining customers in restaurants following the rapid increase of fine dining restaurants, and the key winner is the level of service quality. It is important to identify the fact that customers’ perception of the service quality of a business determines the level to which they are satisfied. Therefore, a business should be careful in setting the customer perceptions as they affect their expectations. The level to which these expectations are met determines the service quality of a place through either satisfaction or dissatisfaction of a customer. These two states are quantified from the experience of a client in the business through incidents that they undergo (Ford, Sturman, & Heaton, 2012). The critical incidents technique is used to identify these experiences for individual customers. It is essential in determining the levels of satisfaction, which can have an economic impact on the business involved. This research uses this technique to investigate whether customer needs and expectations are met, after which recommendations are presented (Nazarko, 2004). The recommendations can be used to improve the operations of the restaurant, and solve the problems related to customer satisfaction before they adversely affect the economic competitiveness of the business. Literature Review The hospitality industry is growing at a very rapid rate. Many hotel industries are undergoing globalization, expanding all over the world. This expansion is successful partly due to their strategies of concentrating on customer service and first class services. The international hospitality industry is globally competitive, with major industry players thriving to gain the biggest market share. This industry is projected to grow soon. The growth is predicted to be so due to increased tourism levels, with local tourists taking the time to go through the hotels available in various regions. Researchers have noted that the number of people visiting hotels and restaurants is internationally growing as populations grow and as the services in hotels become more attractive than before (Schneider & White, 2004). The growth in the hospitality industry has created a competitive business with a vast target market of customers. The strategies employed in the hospitality industry are similar to those of any other business in that they concentrate on attracting a big number of clients and retaining them at all costs (Martin, Calbom, & Davies, 2001). This target market has become more enlightened than before in terms of the hospitality industry and has high expectations when they visit high-ranking hotels. Such include those rated as 4-star or 5-star, with any other rating above these creating even higher expectations in customers. Thus, people taking their time in visiting hotels already have a mental picture of what to expect. Whether these expectations are met or not depends on the service quality of the said hotels. The fine dining restaurants have been on the increase in the recent past, with many people visiting them for good quality meals and drinks. These fine dining restaurants offer exclusive services to their clients, with awesome foods and drinks. The high-quality food and drinks related to these fine dining restaurants creates high expectations in customers who visit them. People who go to these restaurants for either a meal or a drink expect to find high quality in them from the point of entry. This high quality is in terms of the physical location of the restaurant, which should be related to the standard of the restaurant. Moreover, the décor of the restaurant should be beyond the typical furniture and decorations found in other restaurants and hotels. Fine dining restaurants are known to have antics as part of their furniture and are therefore attractive from the inside as well. The second part of a fine dining restaurant that customers look at is the service offered by the staff in the hotels. Most of these employees are waiters and interact directly with the customers. Some of the most important priorities for them should be to ensure that the customers are comfortably seated in the restaurant and receive their orders within the shortest time possible. They also have to serve the customers well in terms of the way they communicate and respond to them, avoiding any form of rudeness (Dodgshun, Peters, & O’Dea, 2011). Research has found that the biggest number of clients who fail to return to a restaurant do so because of incidents that they had with the staff at that restaurant (Barrows & Powers, 2009). A good fine dining restaurant should train its employees on how to deal with customers such that they will want to be back some other time. A good waiter would make a customer return to a restaurant even if their order were delayed the first time. It is expected that they should know how to deal with various situations as they come up (Martin, 2003). Fine dining restaurants have a particular high standard in terms of quality, and the same is expected in the food served in them (Hernon, & Whitman, 2000). Service quality in a restaurant is mostly based on the fulfillment of the purpose that brought the customer to the place. The main aim of a restaurant visit is to enjoy a good meal or drink, or both. The quality of the two, therefore, significantly determines the satisfaction of the customers. This aspect, according to Hernon and Altman (2010), goes hand in hand with the variety of the meals and drinks offered in fine dining restaurant. Some of these restaurants have their specialized meals and drinks and are, therefore, expected to go beyond customer expectations. Fine dining restaurants should satisfy the needs of their customers so as to remain relevant in the current competitive market. This satisfaction is based on the service quality parameters that the restaurants must meet, and that coincide with customer expectations. The biggest problem that can arise from poor service quality is the losing of clients (Dodds, 2003). The modern world is characterized by avenues that are useful for spreading news at a very fast rate. Thus, every negative aspect of a fine dining restaurant should be countered before it reaches these avenues (Reid & Bojanic, 2010). Some of them include blogs and social sites through which customers can post their satisfaction or dissatisfaction in real time. They can even take images of whatever they like or dislike and share it with friends. This form of sharing can either favor or defame a restaurant. Therefore, restaurant managers should be on the lookout to train their employees in delivering the best services to customers (Chen, 2010). They should also improve on the restaurant’s operations to ensure that they meet customer expectations. Overview of Methods This research utilizes the critical incidents technique to find out the factors that satisfy or disappoint customers of a restaurant, and specifically a fine dining restaurant. The data is collected by the use of a straightforward and brief questionnaire that is administered to random customers. The questionnaire has open-ended questions that require the customers to give one dissatisfying and one satisfying incident they have encountered at the restaurant. Twenty-five respondents were randomly picked and given the questionnaires, giving fifty responses in total. These responses are based on a single restaurant and are based on its service quality. The advantage of using the questionnaire with open-ended questions is that it gives the respondents the freedom to express themselves without any limitations. There is no fixed or guiding manner in which they should phrase their answers, and is, therefore, reliable in getting open responses from the respondents. The questionnaire is also brief, meaning that it does not exhaust the respondents when they are filling it. The critical incidents technique is essential in the study of companies operating in the service industries (Lamb, 2009). It has the advantages of analyzing the factors that annoy or please customers in the delivery of a certain service. As such, it is a useful tool in the formation of strategies in businesses dealing with service (Dahmer & Kahl, 2009). Such businesses include restaurants and hotels. The CIT enables managers identify points of weakness in their companies and areas that they should work on so as to maintain their economic profitability and customer base (Wentz, 2007). This method of carrying out research provides an insight into customer perceptions of a service by looking at the incidents they classify as either satisfying or dissatisfying. It can be used to evaluate the levels to which customers find satisfaction in the delivery of services and relate them to their expectations (Culinary Institute of America, 2009). This method, although highly reliable in the understanding of service quality, has its challenges and shortcomings (Brown, 2003). It can be clouded by biases on the side of the customers, who can claim an individual service is either satisfying or dissatisfying based on their feelings but not on the real quality of the service (Fullen, 2003). This biased view can lead to wrong analysis if not noted, but can be related to the perception of the customer to a particular service. They might have a negative attitude towards a particular service that is satisfactory to others (Brown, 2007). More information that is collected from the questionnaire is whether or not the incidents experienced by the customers would stop them from revisiting the restaurant. Whether or not one goes to a restaurant for a second time greatly depends on the level of satisfaction they received on their previous visit. The question required either a yes or no answer and did not need any further explanation as it would be directly related to the incident experienced. Primary Findings A total of 25 questionnaires were filled, giving a total of 50 responses in terms of incidents. There were 25 responses that depicted satisfying incidents and 25 of them representing dissatisfying ones from the data collected. This information was analyzed in Microsoft Excel and plotted in a graphical format. From the critical incidents technique, it was evident that the recorded incidents could fit into four major classifications based on the source of the incidents. These groupings are based on the kind of service offered by the staff, the quality of food served in the restaurant, the physical appearance of the restaurant, and the pricing of the food. The graph in figure 1 below shows a comparison of the satisfying and dissatisfying incidents in each of the four categories listed. Figure 1: Satisfying and dissatisfying incidents The services offered It was found that the most influential aspect in terms of satisfaction and dissatisfaction in the restaurant was the level of customer service provided. The way the staff dealt with clients had the highest number of incidents in both the satisfying and dissatisfying aspects (Lawler & Trotter, 2001). The high number of positive incidents indicates the presence of skilled and well-trained personnel in the restaurant. The large number of dissatisfying incidents indicates the presence of untrained employees, which could indicate recent employments in the restaurant. The incidents related to the behavior of employees in the restaurant can be listed as in the table 1 below: Satisfying Dissatisfying The staff are excellent and well trained and quickly engage with customers. The presentation of the food is second to nowhere and simply delicious. The service was friendly, professional and efficient, as for the food - magnificent - great presentation and fabulous flavor. Great hosts, lovely food, highly recommended. They put chopped up strawberries and cucumber in our jug of water - really nice touch. The service was very friendly and attentive. A wrong dish is given but very quickly rectified Food delivered on time. Well-presented and tasty. Staff were polite and good natured. Nice friendly staff , large menu , loads of choice and reasonably priced  The waiters are perfectly trained and the atmosphere is nice and comfortable. Is a good place to talk with friends. Friendly service but can be slow down. Outside area is okay for drink, but not for dining. Good atmosphere. Service was ace, efficient, polite. Food was lovely. Price was reasonable. No reservation made before arrival, the waiter did his best to give us the table even not the best position. Everyone was really friendly and polite and the food was great. Portions were a good size A return trip to this restaurant and there has been a change for the worse. The food is still exceptional quality, detailed, exquisitely presented with a fabulous French wine selection.  However, the staff were a degree less friendly and more aloof, sometimes unctuous. Waitress we had was very disinterested.  Staff not too friendly and at times made us feel a little unwelcome Booked a table at 8, but cant get the table on time. Staff seemed a bit inexperienced Service poor, free drink offered as apology for a mistake which shouldnt have happened but was an interesting reflection of what they think of their customers  Bad service - We asked how long if we ordered more food and were advised, it will come when it comes. waited so long for the food arrive Table 1: Satisfying and dissatisfying incidents in service delivery The quality of food is also a determining factor in the satisfaction of customers. The food is the main reason the customers visit the hotel and giving them anything below their expectation disappoints them. The incidents of satisfaction include those mentioning the good quality of food, the delicious nature, and its amazing variety. There are also several praises of its flavor and presentation. The dissatisfying incidents are some cases of undercooked or overcooked food, as well as poorly presented and delayed food. These incidents indicate the lack of understanding of the main purpose of the restaurant, which can be dangerous in terms of maintaining the restaurant’s financial position. The physical appearance of the restaurant also has a big impact on identifying the satisfaction of the customers. Most of them visit this restaurant expecting a great environment. At the end of their visit, some of the customers’ expectations are met through the temperature of the restaurant, the good music, and the comfortable seats. However, some of them complain of the heat, implying that they probably went in during a hot afternoon and the air conditioners were broken. Those who complained of uncomfortable seats probably found one that had broken and needed replacement. However, delays in sorting out these issues led to the dissatisfaction of customers. Food prices are not a big issue in the determination of service quality. They come into play when customers begin to compare the price they pay for the food to the quality of that food, or the service they get from the restaurant. This fine dining restaurant has few complaints on the value for money, with clients complaining of the poor food quality associated with highly priced food. Conclusion The research findings indicate that the delivery of service is important in determining the satisfaction of customers. The fine dining restaurants involve direct interaction with customers and require a lot of caution when it comes to achieving optimum service quality (McKinney, 2002). The way in which customers are treated in such a restaurant determines the level to which they are satisfied. Meeting customer expectations is critical in ensuring that the restaurant maintains its clients in the competitive hospitality industry. The nature of the operations of the fine dining restaurant creates determining factors in the achievement of satisfaction or dissatisfaction of clients (Lewis & Brown, 2003). These operations are mostly based on interactions, creating many opportunities for incidents within the restaurant. Understanding the incidents is vital in improving the restaurant services (Edelstein, 2007). Recommendations It is recommended that the restaurant management organizes for regular staff training exercises in the field of customer service. Dealing with customers requires a lot of patience, and the waiting team should be informed and trained on the appropriate ways of relating to them. Another recommendation is in the improvement of the quality of food. The restaurant should push its kitchen staff to prepare food worth the quality of a fine dining restaurant. They could also employ professional kitchen employees such as skilled chefs. Thirdly, there is a need to renovate the physical restaurant on a regular basis, and to check on the seats and air conditioner. The two should be carefully monitored to ensure they meet customer expectations. The pricing of food should be put in place considering the quality of food. For the restaurant to charge the prices it does, the quality of food should be improved such that the customers will realize the value for their money. References LANE, C. (2014). The cultivation of taste: chefs and the organization of fine dining. Oxford, Oxford University Press. RUSH, C. (2008). 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