Ten UK Travel System Quality Programs - Market Conditions and Competitive Environment - Case Study Example

Evaluation of ten UK, Customer driven Quality program in the travel service system and simple recommendation to improve the customer driven Quality program of ten UK The customer categories of ten UK and the very few and many customers of ten UK In the evaluation of Customer Quality program I have chosen ten UK and chosen to study the customer quality program of the travel business system. The ten UK is a global provider of services for many market segments in the Life Style management Industry. Its major categories of services are in travel services, motor services, entertainment services, retail services, body & mind services, home services, family services, finance and business services, home improvements. As I am going to evaluate and give simple recommendations of travel services business system customer quality program the travel services are categorized in to booking flights, booking trains, booking hotels, package tours, tailor made tours, ski services, car hire, travel extras to predict where a particular customer wants to travel based on the experience of a particular customer travel history and the knowledge of many countries tourist destinations of ten staff. The useful many customer groups of ten UK come from families of various demographic types, Individuals from various cultural backgrounds around the world, sports groups and clubs, corporate customers. The very few come from specific corporate relationship and contracts it has with corporate customers and the travel services provided to them. The very few customers for the ten UK come from corporate sector for employees such as Microsoft, DLA PIPER, UBS, Cadbury, Schweppes, PEPSICO, Simmons & Simmons and O2 and also can come from Luxury Band sector such as VERTU, BANYAN TREE and Mr and Mrs Smith. Identification of customer voice by ten UK within the travel system categories and the benefits package it offers to each travel customer group In ten UK the useful many customer voice come from their specific inquiries for various travel services and from past customer experience of staff of a particular customer they services in the past. For the corporate employees or the few customers in the corporate employee group it comes from their specific contracts they have with different corporate employee sector group of customers. For the many customer groups the travel services system it provides benefits packages that they prefer tailor made to their specific travel needs in terms of price, quality, time savings and negotiating power to get the best travel services possible to suit the travel services they prefer and can afford using their vast experience and their net work of suppliers around the world. That is the travel system of ten UK provides to useful many customers value for money, time saving and negotiating power and quality and price, which is suited for the customers specific travel needs and their budget. In effect the benefit package is aligned to the customers travel needs and aspirations and their affordability and the purpose of travel and accommodation needs and the travel product reflect the benefits expected by the customer and it is tailor made to satisfy the expected benefits in monetary and non monetary terms in terms of quality and service level in pre and post travel service. The benefits package offered by the travel system of ten UK varies from one corporate employee customer to the next depending on the nature of travel services they require from the ten UK travel service. It also depends on the contract they have with the corporate employee group customers. That is the benefits package in terms of value for money benefit, savings in time, benefit of offering best customer service in terms of price and quality, delivery of services in time, meet the customer needs leveraging their vast experience in travel and the quality of service provider net work they have around the world to get the best service within their budget and the travel experience they seek and their purpose of travel. It seems from the specific and general benefits package provided by the travel system by the ten UK reflects the benefits the customers expects. The benefits package is tailor made and the travel system is flexible enough to provide the level of customer service provided in a timely manner indicates that ten UK travel system is linked with the customer travel needs of customers and has processes in terms of having quality staff and reputable supplier net work in the world to provide the travel services best suited to the customer needs for travel and improves its quality by meeting customer needs pre and post in a timely manner it can be argued that its travel service system processes incorporate customer service requirements and service level and quality. In this respect it can be said that ten UK travel system to a greater extent reflects the customer needs in terms of price and quality and other benefits the customer seeks and their for its travel system is cost effective as well it is effective in meeting customer needs compared to its competitors. As well, ten UK travel system has grown consistently over recent time and it has met the customer needs more than satisfactorily as reflected by meeting most of the customer travel needs and complaints and also met the quality of services provided as expected by the customers and in time most often. Indicates the travel system has effective measures to improve customer service pre and post to be competitive and efficient in meeting the needs of customers cost effectively and efficiently. In addition, as discussed above the travel system of ten UK has also has a benefit system Which reflects the benefits expected by the corporate employee group and there fore it can be said that the customer requirements and service quality issues are incorporated in designing the travel system and customer requirements pay a crucial role in designing its products and continually update its product offering to meet emerging needs to satisfy these needs in a timely manner and first to satisfy to be a leader in meeting such needs than a follower particularly in a competitive and dynamic travel market around the world.. Actions taken to link travel system of ten UK with customer requirements and to offer quality pre and post sale service The ten UK travel system has all vital systems in all vital categories of the travel system to tailor made the product or service at appropriate price and quality depending on the travel needs of the customer. In the booking of flights for traveling overseas or within UK it can search using the Sabre system of the Travel Department in the date a customer wants and also get the best price checking Sabre, Cyberes and Globepost. In this manner the fight bookings system of the travel system is linked to the customer’s requirements and quality and price requirements and there fore tailor made to meet the travel needs of the customer’s specific flight schedule and book in time and deliver services as quickly as possible. If the customers require booking trains the travel system can book trained by Euro star or one of its reputable partnered suppliers who are thoroughly checked and verified for their expertise to provide such service. That is the train bookings of the travel system is linked with the train travel requirements and scheduling of the customer and the service is delivered on time by the travel system processes and organizational met working with reputable suppliers or partnered suppliers. In addition, the travel system can book hotels using the Sabre system in UK and around the world. If the customer tells the ten UK travel system staff about the price, location, standard of accommodation the travel system can book hotels and provide the information to the customer in time and save time for the customer searching for the relevant accommodation and also give value for money at negotiated prices, where the customer cannot obtain. In this manner the travel system of ten UK is linked with the customer requirements and quality within the customer’s budget and travel preferences. In addition, the system for hotel bookings also can resolve problems if the customer faces any problems and it can find alternative accommodation if the customer has any complaints and this way the ten UK travel system can give post sale services to the customer and resolve any unexpected problem the customer faces in his travel plan. Ten UK’s travel system’s relationship with its customers The ten UK have a lasting relationship by meeting the customer needs for its travel services tailor made for each customer group whether it is valuable many customers or with few customers. It also develop lasting relationship by ensuring the services are delivered promptly to the customers and the customer inquiries are answered personally by the travel system staff other than by a machine. In addition, it also uses its large scale of operations to deliver services at a competitive price compared with its major competitors. As well, it has professionally trained staff to deal with any inquiries about travel by the customers to provide quality pre sale and post sale issues raised by the customers and resolve complaints within a short period of time. In addition, to the above it has employee policies to retain the best staff so that it can create and innovating new products or travel packages on a continuous basis to satisfy emerging needs of the travel customer whether it is valuable many or few customers. This vital in a competitive industry and to attract new customers and maintain market share in profitable new market segments and also have an image in customers that the company is innovative and have the capacity to satisfy emerging needs. Ten UK also has a net work of reputable supplier chains which are specialized in one area of the travel service industry. By having a large pool of suppliers it can satisfy a variety of travel needs and also by ensuring the quality of suppliers in the network and vetting them on the basis of their quality of service to customers it develops a reputation that the company can meet the travel requirements at appropriate price and quality within the budget of the travel customers. In addition to the above, ten UK has vast experience and knowledge of countries and experience in the life style management industry and it gives them the ability to advise customers effectively to plan their travel and to give them advice about their preferred locations. It gives the ten UK company a reputation in the eyes of the travel customers that the company can assist them give credible advice and there by develop a lasting relationship. In addition the travel system of ten UK use appropriate technology to respond to customer needs and give the correct information in a timely manner and resolve issues Promptly and answer customer inquiries in a timely manner personally and uses the telecommunication systems to meet this vital objective. For example the ten UK uses Sabre system to flight bookings which is liked with customer requirements and give the appropriate information to customers in a timely manner develops a trusting relationship with customers. In summary the ten UK travel system have different service packages developed and satisfy the benefits they seek by identifying the benefits and providing the level of service needs and the quality requirements and the complexity of their travel aspirations. That is they have different types of relations with customers individually as possible and satisfy the benefits they seek in their travel plan whether they are valuable many customers or they are the few customer groups. That is they have the ability and capacity to tailor made their travel service to the needs of diverse customers within the many and few customers and continually asses the needs and modify the services quickly as possible to Resolve any post service issues and made alterations to the original travel plan. By the above processes and focusing and tailor made travel services it develops a trusting and a lasting relationship with the valuable many and few customer groups. In essence it provides travel services considering the price affordability of customers, their budget, their aspirations, location preferences, purpose of travel, accommodation needs, level of service pre and post and the quality levels and requirements to develop the service they are expecting and individually tailor made the travel service which satisfies their benefits they expected from the travel financial and non financial. Ten UK’s travel system and its complaint management and customer contact The complaint management is important for any organization because it gives an opportunity to understand the weaknesses in its current product or service offer and its quality of its customer service and like to improve its service package to meet customer needs in terms of delivery, service levels and quality. In addition, it also may reveal the level and quality of customer contact methods and the availability to seek remedies by the customers and raise concerns about the service and seek resolution for their problems in a timely manner. The travel system of ten UK has a customer contact mechanism where they can raise their issues to the appropriate staff and they get a resolution within acceptable time frame. In addition, the customers whether they are valuable many customer group or the few group category they can raise their issues personally with skillful and trained staff with more than adequate experience to resolve issues and solve problems creatively within an acceptable time frame. In this respect the ten UK travel system contact processes are personally dealt with and they are resolved within acceptable time frame with effective solutions to the problems of customers it is obvious its contact system within the travel system is an effective system as it has sufficient accessibility and availability so that the customers can raise customer issues and seek remedies for their problems in a timely manner. As ten UK travel system in the first place assess customer needs and deliver services so that satisfies the benefits the customer seeks and its staffs skill and abilities and experience is well verified and assessed it avoids minimize the possibility of complains arising in the first place and have more than adequate customer service levels pre and post and ensure it improves the level of service continually by adopting the correct technology and adequately motivates and train staff and reward them appropriately. In addition, the ten UK travel system has reputable specialized and verified quality supplier network that ensures best quality services in their respective areas of expertise. By having a process to verify the quality of suppliers it ensures best quality service and there fore reduce the possibility of complaints in the first place as well it also ensures post sale provision to resolve issues in a timely manner if the customers face problems unexpectedly. As well, the travel system is very flexible and adept to changes in the external environment and also initiate changes by innovative management practices. This enables the ability to identify emerging needs and develop travel services, which satisfy these emerging needs. This is also possible, by having more than adequate knowledge of countries and experiences the ten UK in the life style management industry. In addition, to the above ten UK has sufficient scale of operations and there fore have the resource base to provide more than adequate level of customer service at an appropriate competitive cost advantage compared to its competitors because of its economies of scale. In summary ten UK as discussed above it can be said with high level of confidence that it has an effective customer contact system within the travel system and also has the possibility of complaints in the first place by its more than adequate quality customer service and linking the travel system with customer requirements and satisfaction. IN addition it has internal quality human resource potential and systems to respond to complaints and resolve them in a timely manner due to its quality supplier base and technology and systems of communication to ensure personal contact with internal staff to resolve problems within an acceptable time frame. That is ten UK travel system minimizes complaints in the first place and has a customer contact system, which resolve customer issues within an acceptable time frame and with personal contact with its internal staff. Ten UK travel system’s measurement of Customer satisfaction against time and competition and measurement of performance level which is valued by the customer The ten UK has a comprehensive management reporting scheme for all of its businesses including travel. That means that it will have certainly would have measured customer satisfaction as a part of its comprehensive management reporting system because without it cannot delver customer valued services in a mature market and one of its strength according to its power point presentation shows the customers use their services because of scale and quality compared to its competitors. In addition, the power point presentation also shows that future-proofing in a sophisticated mature market is one of the reasons the ten UK recognizes that the customers use their services compared to the competitors and it differentiates them from their competitors. In addition, its customer satisfaction is measured by an independent organization when an award has to be issues for best customer service. For example The Sharp Edge has awarded ten UK in 2007 an award for best customer service in 2007. As well, Spear’s Wealth management has awarded an award for 2007 for ten UK for best concierge service. As these organizations are professionals in measuring customer service it is reasonable to assume that they would have used measurements against the criteria, which is valued by the customer. In effect these measurement methods and processes as discussed above shows the importance the management places in measuring customer satisfaction and there by measuring customer service and the indication of continually measure performance so that it to identify weaknesses. As well, improve its effectiveness and efficiency on a continuous basis. As well using experts to measure performance in this respect ensures it uses measures, which is valued by the customer. As discussed above it seems that ten travel system measures internally as well uses independent assessment of its customer service quality by professional organizations to monitor performance in customer satisfaction to review its processes and practices to improve performance compared to its competitors. . In addition, the ten UK in all its systems including travel system to use appropriate technology which is flexible to be adaptive and enable the staff to improve the delivery of service within time and value the customers concerns and requirement as paramount indicates that ten UK travel system uses criteria, which is valued by customers to measure customer satisfaction. For example in its power point presentation indicates that it has handled customer inquiries, which is more than adequate for a month and a person or staff handled these inquiries most of the time and customers not waiting to be responded demonstrate its quality of service to customers in general. It is certain that the measurement of performance in respect of customer satisfaction is valued by the customer as discussed above by the travel system and in general by all systems within the company. The ten UK’s quality program towards internal customers. Ten UK has a vast number of reputable supplier net works for all the important core business activities including travel system. The supplier net work is one of their internal customers. The quality of services they can provide depends on their internal capacity its human resource quality and whether they are motivated to perform to achieve their goals and their retention and reward policies of employees of the supplier net work. In ten UK they are rigorously monitored for their expertise experience and their quality of service to be a supplier in their net work. They are rewarded on the basis of their performance in delivering quality services to their own specialization within the travel industry. In essence ten UK has a measurement system and benefits program based on how the internal customers such as the suppliers perform to deliver quality service and customer service levels post and pre level services. That is their measurement system reflects the customer needs satisfaction and the use of performance measures that is valued by the customer so that it retains the best suppliers in their network and ensure competitive service more than adequate compared to its major competitors. The other important internal customers of ten UK in all business categories including the travel system is the employees and managers of separate business sectors. Ten UK according to its competitive edge power point document reveals that it retains skilled employees within the organization. effectively. This means the ten UK human resources policies satisfy the employee’s benefits by measuring what they value and what benefits can motivate the employees effectively and harness all their skills in improving their private benefits as well they can contribute to the efficient operation to meet corporate objectives of delivering quality services particularly in mature market, which is dynamic in nature. In other wards its rewards and benefits are valued by employees and they also motivate employees to satisfy their own private benefit in terms of salary, career opportunities, work organization and quality of work life issues and also their reward system motivates to achieve organizational goals. As discussed above the benefits programs of internal customers and their effectiveness in meeting the quality standards of ten is sound and it has a benefit system which is valued by employees, supplier network participants and the managers of the core business sections. As well, its benefits packages motivate the internal customers to improve their operations and systems and link their system to improve the quality of services delivered by all systems including the travel systems internal customers. Summary of the evaluation of customer driven Quality program of ten UK travel system Ten UK is a globally based company. Its market is a matured market and it has very few competitors in the market. However they are also very dynamic and they have adequate capacity to compete with ten UK for market share and also compete in terms of quality in a matured market as indicated by its own website. In this context ten UK must continually identify new profitable market segments where there is inadequate service level and quality and they also must develop their potential to service that market by increasing the capacity and efficiency and effectiveness to deliver service to that market and monitor any change to those new needs as quickly as possible. Its quality programs also must be continually reviewed for performance and must be refined so that customer dissatisfaction remains very low or to have preventive programs so that complaints are kept to a minimum. As in the current market environment skilled resources are very scarce and expensive they also must have a quality program directed towards to retain the skilled staff so that they can meet the emerging needs of customers and design and implement processes and technology to deliver quality services particularly in a matured market. In addition, its organizational structure and culture must be conducive to accept change as a norm and must promote creativity and team work to respond to market needs as quickly as possible and implement new systems effectively and they must link with the Customer’s needs and wants particularly in a dynamic and unpredictable market conditions. As ten UK has systems which are linked with customer needs and respond to their needs quickly as possible and they are flexible to adept to emerging issues and resolve these issues effectively including the travel system it can be said its travel system is linked adequately with the customers needs and flexible enough to adapt to emerging customer issues it can be said that ten UK travel system work effectively because it considers the customer as a crucial and important factor in determining its processes and policies to their survival and growth. As well, ten UK has a reputable network of suppliers in its supplier of specialized area of expertise and it meets varying degrees of quality, price and level of service to valuable customers and very few corporate customers. That is it has the capacity and comparable quality supplier network to deliver services effectively compared to its competitors and satisfy their needs which is valued by the customers in terms of quality, price, location and other important variables like purpose, time saving and value for money benefits. On the above basis it can be said that ten UK travel system quality program is an effective system to a greater degree as it meets the benefits expected and valued by its customers. In addition, according to its power point presentation its service quality is one of its competitive factors. That is ten UK values service quality is essential and it has effective measures to measure customer satisfaction which is valued by its customers. On the above basis it can be said ten UK travel system service quality is compared to its competitors are more than adequate and there fore on the above basis it can be said its customer measurement system is an effective system that monitors quality and have processes to improve quality on a continuous basis and there fore its travel system quality programs are more probably very effective and efficient. Ten UK as discussed above also has a responsive and trust building with customers within its supplier network and with its internal travel system to respond to inquiries personally as possible most of the time. That is ten UK values customer relationship as an important element of its quality programs or which is essential to retain valuable customers whether they are valued many customers or very few corporate customers. On this basis it can be argued that the travel system and the system in general within the ten UK and it suppler network quality program is effective as it values customer relationship as a vital factor in determining its viability and to retain important and valuable customers and also the quality of its services. . In addition, Ten UK travel system also retain valuable skilled work force as indicated by its power point presentation document as a factor why customers chose ten for services. This means it provides benefits to employees which are valued by them and measure employee benefit programs which retain these valuable resources to design and innovating new services and improve existing services to travel customers and there for it has a quality program which enhances its potential to deliver quality services compared with its competitors. On this basis it can be said that ten UK travel quality program is effective as well as efficient as it enhances the potential of the travel system to deliver quality services. As discussed above I am certain given its market conditions and competitive environment ten UK travel system quality programs evaluating all elements of its program in an overall sense is effective and efficient and it enables ten UK to improve its quality and link its systems on a continuous basis so that it can service and grow in matured market, which is dynamic and heterogeneous in its nature. In addition, ten UK measures customer satisfaction and its measures are valued by its customers and there fore in summary it can be said their travel system quality program and in general is effective and efficient as discussed above. Simple recommendations The UK travel system has many categories. As well, it deliver services to many countries other than UK and its travel system may not have focused each segment in a more specialized manner and group the categories to each geographical area then serving as a single global scale, which may recognize uniqueness of each country market differently than the existing system. In addition, it can have travel system categories to be merged so that it can have smaller number of categories and there fore more co-ordination and also can become more cost effective because too many categories increase the cost. That is it can have more restructured travel system so that it can further reduce cost by integrating its travel categories if they are compatible and improve co-ordination and also reduce cost of service. In addition it can also have suppliers who offer more than one service and reduce the number of suppliers in the same time can also have the same level and quality of service by having suppler network which is not too narrowly specialized in only one part of the travel system. In effect by restructuring its travel system and organizational structure and processes it may become more cost effective and there fore more competitive in that sense to reduce prices compared to its competitors. Appendix Ten Uk paper web.pdf (78 KB) What can ten do for you .doc (91 KB) Ten Brochure.pdf (224 KB) Corp Update.ppt (1093 KB) Read More