Manage Quality Customer Service

Part -1:

BANYAN TREE - DEVELOPING A POWERFUL SERVICE BRAND

Banyan Tree Hotels and Resorts had become a leading player in the luxury resorts and spa market in Asia. As part of its growth strategy, Banyan Tree had launched new brands and brand extensions that included resorts, spas, retail outlets, and even museum shops. Now, the company had to contemplate how to manage its brand portfolio and expand its business while preserving the distinctive identity and strong brand image of Banyan Tree, its flagship brand.

CASE SOLVING SUGGESTIONS

- This case illustrates how a powerful service brand can be built even with little advertising. It also exemplifies how pro-environmental business practices can co-exist with a firm's profit objectives.

- Set in a service context, the case may be used in discussions on services marketing, hotel management, branding, and promotion management.

- On promotion management, the case shows how various promotion strategies and tools of the promotion mix can be applied in practice. In particular, the case illustrates how a well designed marketing program can result in successful branding, even when little advertising is employed.

- In discussing brand management, the case provides practical examples of marketing concepts such as corporate branding, sub-brands, and brand extension strategies. As an exercise, students could be asked to apply what they have learnt to develop strategies and recommendations on managing the Banyan Tree portfolio of brands and products.

- Finally, the case could be used to illustrate the importance of branding and positioning in target marketing, as well as in discussions of services marketing.

ANSWER THE QUESTIONS BELOW FROM THE BANYAN TREE PERSPECTIVE

CASE QUESTIONS

1. What are the main factors that contributed to Banyan Tree's success?

2. Evaluate Banyan Tree's brand positioning and communications strategies. Can Banyan Tree maintain its unique positioning in an increasingly overcrowded resorts market?

3. Discuss whether the brand portfolio of Banyan Tree, Angsana, Colours of Angsana, and Allamanda, as well as the product portfolio of beach resorts and city hotels, spas, galleries, and museum shops, fit as a family. What are your recommendations to Banyan Tree for managing these brands and products in future?

4. What potential problems do you foresee in bringing Banyan Tree to America, Europe and the Middle East? How could Banyan Tree address those issues?

Part -2:

Project: Analysis of Customer Service Plans and Policies

To complete this project, you will need to carefully study the following documents so that you can answer the questions below:

Latrobe City Customer Service Plan

http://www.latrobe.vic.gov.au/About_Council/Media_and_Publications/Publications_Library Enter Customer Service Plan in Search field at this page

Wollongong CC Customer Service Charter and Wollongong CC Customer Service Policy

http://www.wollongong.nsw.gov.au/customerserviceonline/factsheet/Factsheets/Customer%20Service%20Charter.PDF

http://www.wollongong.nsw.gov.au/council/council/Documents/Attachment%20A6%20-%20Customer%20Service%20Policy.pdf

1) Describe how each Council tries to link their customer service standards to their organisational policies and values.

2) Both councils have sought to establish service standards in a number of areas. However, there are major differences between the two councils. What are the major differences in service standards you can identify from these documents?

3) Describe how each council proposes to maintain and improve the customer service performance of their staff.

4) Compare the ways in which the two Councils propose to monitor their customer service performance each year.

5) Compare the approach of each Council to customer complaints and complaint resolution

Part -3:

1.1

1a. Why is it important to convey credibility to your customer?

1b. Explain the process for exceeding customers expectations.

1c. What are three things that customers will expect from customer service providers as we progress through the 21st century?

1.2 Explain why it is necessary for customer service providers to maintain positive relationships with both internal and external customers.

2.1 List 5 examples of ways to provide customer service.

3.1 How is technology enhancing the provision of excellent customer service?

3.2 Why is customer satisfaction important? How can you measure customer satisfaction?

3.3. Review the steps to prepare to greet new technologies with an open mind and discuss positive ways to manage the introduction of new technologies.

3.4

a. Why are some customers challenging to one individual and not to another?
b. List and explain five characteristics of challenging customers.
c. What are some methods of responding to an angry customer who becomes verbally abusive?
d.. How can you end a discussion with overly talkative customers without offending them?

3.5 Relate customers' expectations about price to their expectations of service. Is the loss of current revenue the only concern when a customer is lost?