UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS
GRADUATE SCHOOL

SUBMITTED TO:

PROFESSOR ISMAEL C. PANGILINAN

SUBMITTED BY:

CHARISSE LIAO JOHN MALONZO GENE ALEC SUNGA Group 3

I. PROBLEM STATEMENT

➢ What can the company do to improve their service quality and improve customer satisfaction?

➢ Should the company focus on offering a service guarantee concept to its customers?

SPECIFIC PROBLEMS (Challenges that the company will meet according to Geurs)

a. How should Radisson word the guarantee? Should it be a “two-step” process?

b. How should hotel managers and employees be trained for the program?

c. Should the training be conducted by Radisson employees using a “train and trainer” approach or should Radisson employ a professional training firm to do the training?

d. How should they handle hotels that did not readily buy into the program?

e. Should Radisson’s corporate office pay for the invocations for the test hotels?

f. What role should the guarantee play in Radisson/s marketing communications?

II. OBJECTIVES

➢ To come up with strategies that will give more focus on the customer needs.

➢ To be able to provide individualized marketing and services for each of the branch of the hotel.

➢ To be able to expand the hotels in key locations.

➢ To be able to strengthen global brand presence.

➢ To be able to implement and execute properly the 100% guest satisfaction guarantee program by the company.

➢ The company should be able to enhance the “yes, I can” program to help employees understand more the great importance of the service guarantee concept.

III. STATEMENT OF FACTS

a. Founded in 1938 by Curtis L. Carlson by Carlson Companies, Inc. b. One of America’s largest privately owned corporations with total system sales of $13.4 billion in 1996 and $20 billion in 1997. c. Carlson companies employed 130,000 people worldwide. d. It is headquartered in a suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota (USA). e. The company was organized into four operating groups: (1) Carlson Hospitality Worldwide, (2) Carlson Wagonlit Travel, (3) Carlson Marketing Group, and (4) Carlson Leisure Group. f. Radisson Hotel was named after the French explorer, Pierre Esprit Radisson. g. In 1975, Radisson had only 10 hotels, mostly located at the Midwestern part of the United States. h. Radisson had grown to 360 locations with over 100,000 rooms in 47 countries by the year 1998.

IV. ALTERNATIVE COURSE OF ACTION

a) Employees should undergo a continuous employee training program through seminars.

Advantage: Undergoing continuous employee training would help employees gain more knowledge about their job and also improve their customer service capabilities.

Disadvantage: Some topics given by the speaker in the seminar may not be related to the actual training needs of the employees of the hotel.

b) The management should always ensure that their employees are always motivated.

Advantage: Motivated employees tend to excel more in their work thus, increasing their work output.

Disadvantage: A variety of approach may be needed to motivate an employee with his/her work.

c) Update reservation information system to improve service quality.

Advantage: Updating the reservation information system will help increase customer satisfaction.

Disadvantage: System upgrade may cost the company a lot of money.

V. RECOMMENDATIONS

1. The management of Radisson Hotels should give more emphasis on customer satisfaction thus, they should focus more on the needs of their customers.

2. Radisson Hotel should always ensure their customer with their 100% guest satisfaction program to maintain customer loyalty.

3. The hotel should be able to provide an individualized marketing plan and services to each of its branches.

4. The company should also enhance the “Yes, I can” program of the company to help all the new employees understand better the concept of service guarantee program.

5. Radisson Hotel should provide training to the hotel management teams on the philosophy and payback of the service guarantee.

6. District directors should also be knowledgeable about the service guarantee program to provide the necessary leadership to their hotels.

7. The programs for measuring guest and employee satisfaction should be given more attention so that customer loyalty is achieved due to the satisfactory service provided by the employees.

VI. CONCLUSION

Radisson Hotel had developed five strategies to be able to maintain customer loyalty.

1. Putting guest first

The hotel’s first priority is focused on customer satisfaction to make sure that each of their guests receives consistent, reliable fault-free service. This program was done through the 100% guest satisfaction that includes the “Yes, I Can” training that focuses on service quality and service recovery. The company also practice the “Second Effort Program” which attempts to recover customers who called to complain.

2. Provide individualized marketing and services

The hotel is moving forward to use state-of-the-art technology to custom tailor services for each of their guests to meet their needs during the service process. Radisson hotel will also soon begin to customize some of the company’s global marketing programs to further meets the needs of their customers or guests.

3. Develop Key Hotels in Prime Locations

This plan was implemented to establish the Radisson brand in several key markets or locations. The hotel is dedicated in practicing continuous product improvements. Radisson is also focused on developing more hotels and resorts in major cities and leisure destinations with hotels and resorts that helps define the brand to meet quality standards.

4. Leverage the Carlson Companies Advantage

The company continues to develop their global presence by maintaining the integrity of their brand. By doing this, the company will continue to seek further opportunities to further capitalize on their four operating groups.

5. Strengthen Global Brand Presence

To strengthen their global brand presence, the company had initiated programs such as the 100% guest satisfaction program, fully integrated guest information (1. Curtis-C System for worldwide product distribution, 2. Customer-KARE System- for knowledge and relationship enabling and 3. Harmony Product Suite- for local service delivery), guest satisfaction measurement program and employee satisfaction program, guest recognition and rewards program and genuine hospitality program.

Discussion Questions:

1. How should Radisson define and implement their service guarantee?

➢ For Radisson to fully implement their service guarantee, there is a need for their employees to undergo extensive training programs. The training can either be conducted by the Radisson human resource department or outside consultant firms. During the training seminar, service guarantee should be carefully discussed. Continuous training for the employees should also be implemented to ensure 100% service guarantee.

2. What role should information technology play in accelerating the drive to improve service quality?

➢ The information system at Radisson should be designed as a learning process to provide a clearer understanding about the customer needs and wants. Their information department should also maintain a guest profile based on every touch point encountered by the system that can be used to measure customer preference. Both the Harmony Product Suite and Customer KARE Systems will be used to measure local service delivery parameters and it will be the one responsible on transmitting the information to the hotel management.

3. How should Radisson measure and improve customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction?

➢ The use of guest comment cards alone is not enough because it tends to be biased and the responses coming from the hotel guests are often low. Radisson Hotel may hire an outside firm to collect the data on customer satisfaction. All complaints should be collected by Radisson. A service recovery can be done to satisfy the customers. Collecting the customer feedback would give them the chance to correct the complaints and lessen it. Employee satisfaction can be improved by removing the obstacles that affects the services that they offer. Employees can also be motivated by giving them positive feedbacks regarding their job performance.

4. How should Radisson drive commitment to service quality through their franchise organization?

➢ Radisson Hotels should provide their franchisees with the best practices and workshop in accordance with the services that they provide. They can also provide management with means of improvements through consultation and other program improvements.

5. How should Radisson align the goals of the hotel management team, hotel workers, owners, corporate management, and corporate staff with their new brand strategy?

➢ The management can use training programs and set up meetings to insure that goals are clearly understood from top management down to the ordinary workers. Open communication among the whole organization must also be practiced to reduce conflicts among the employees.
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Customer-Driven Learning at Radisson Hotels Worldwide