The effect of front office management on customer satisfaction

ABSTRACT

This research on the effect of front office management on customer satisfaction case of Musango beach hotel Limbe has the main objective which is to analyse the effect of front office management on customer satisfaction.

The study will seek to investigate the roles of front office management on customer satisfaction, to assess the influence of front office management on customer satisfaction and lastly to assess the challenges faced by customers at the front office of Musango beach hotel and proposed solutions.

A descriptive approach was used to establish a relationship between front office management and customer satisfaction, whereas the data was collected using questionnaires, interview guide and observation. The data collected was later on analysed using Statistical packages for social sciences (SPSS).

The results of the Pearson Chi-Square showed that front office management had no significant effect on customer/guest satisfaction. The study like every other had its own limitations which were;

Questionnaires had no absolute truth and some under assumptions, not all the variables that could affect customer satisfaction where tested to know which of them has a high significance on customer satisfaction.

This research recommends for a comparative study that can be carried out using all the other variables of the hotel which could impact customer satisfaction, to what extent and how to keep customers loyal to the hotel.

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

The front office has traditionally been thought of as a check-in, check-out point by the guest. Secondly it is seen as a source of infinite information and thirdly, a problem-solving centre. Working as a front line manager, situations developed which created a definite ‘gap’ between management’s expectations when defining the role of the front office personnel and how the front office employees perceived these expectations as they were related to their guest service responsibilities.

Among some of the aspects of evaluation that need to be explored and understood for successful services and marketing are the following: what type of expectation standards do customers hold about front-office services? What role do these factors play in providing good customer satisfaction? How is a hotel’s profitability impacted by the front desk? As Reisig & Chandek (2001) discussed those different customers have different expectations, based on their knowledge of a product or service.

The hospitality industry is striving to evolve itself and enhance the guest experience. The hotel front desk is a vital part of the front office operations because it creates the guest’s first impression. In this era of competition, the hotels have adopted new practices to improve their level of performance and at the same time delight the guest. It became necessary for the hotel to give the best services and to do something new for their guest to keep them happy.

The guests had more options to choose from and it was important to retain the guest and give them the lifetime experiences so that they became the loyal customers. The guest’s frank opinions helped the hotel to change a few of their practices and implement the new, cost-effective and innovative ones in the industry. Researches have stated guest satisfaction is a differentiator and a critical success factor for the hotel.

Research has shown that front office management and guest satisfaction have a relationship, and that the hotel performance is impacted because of the attitude and the motivational levels of the employees (Crompton et al, 1999).

As per Gerson (1993, p.5), guest satisfaction is the guest’s insight that their desires have been met or outperformed.  Therefore, it is in view of the above questions that the research intends to get its basics.

1.2 Problem Statement

Customer satisfaction plays such a critical role in the front office management of the hospitality industry. Customer evaluation of services, the management need and want to understand the factors that shape them.

The front office manager would also like to have control over these factors as well, but many of the forces that influence customer satisfaction and expectations are uncontrollable. When consumers are interested in purchasing services, they are likely to seek or take information from several different sources.

However, due to the increasing competition of service business and high demand of the customers, the front office need to render quality that will beat the customer expectations and grant a very high satisfaction for the customer. Service quality, hospitality of the service is all fundamental factors to measure customer’s satisfaction at the hotel.

Taking the case of Musango Beach Hotel Limbe, customers tend to be dissatisfied sometimes because of how a service or product was being delivered and how they the customers were being treated. For example a common problem about how Musango Hotel handles its services, they aren’t explicit enough, they don’t transfer information in detail to the customers, there are cases whereby a customer isn’t told the price of a service or product until after consumption and the customer is presented with a bill which might be very costly and unaffordable.

Not all customers at Musango Beach hotel are treated the same, some preferences are being given to some customers either in terms of their loyalty or familiarity to the hotel, and it leaves other customers who aren’t given such preferential treatment dissatisfied or neutral.

The hotel practices a scheme of price discrimination, whereby different customers are being told different prices about a particular product or service, and this sometimes I wonder if it’s professional to not stick with the price tags of a business. 

It’s quite noting that from the service quality of the front office personnel, it leaves a customer with a sense of belonging and loyal to the hotel next time, from the service quality of the front office employees, they can either retain a customer or displease the customer and make them not loyal to the hotel.

1.3 Research Questions

General question:

1. What is the effect of front office management on customer satisfaction?

Specific questions:

2. What are the roles of front office management on customer satisfaction at Musango beach hotel?

3. What is the influence of front office management on customer satisfaction?

4. What are some of the challenges faced by customers at the front office of Musango Beach Hotel?

1.4 Research Objectives

General objective:

1. To analyse the effect of front office management on customer satisfaction

Specific objectives:

1. To investigate the role of front office management on the satisfaction of customers in Musango Beach Hotel.
2. To assess the influence of front office management on customer satisfaction.
3. To assess the challenges faced by customers at the front office of Musango Beach Hotel and proposed measures to solve them.