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BML207: Managing CustomerService

VAQAS Auditing Guidelines

SEMALDr Andrew Clegg

Managing Custom

er Service

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Your Brief AspartofyourfieldworkreportyouwillassumetheroleofVAQASassessorsandprovideacriticalevaluationoftheoverallqualityofthevisitorexperienceforaspecifictouristattractionofyourownchoosing.YouwillbegivenaccesstoafullsuiteofVAQASresourcestohelpyouconductasuitablequalityaudit.Withinthisauditingprocessyouwillalsohavetheopportunitytoutiliseadditionaltoolsandtechniquescoveredinthemodule.

Auditing Guidelines Use the VAQAS self-assessment toolkit provided to assess the differentcomponentsofthevisitorexperience.MakesurethatyouhavereadtheVAQASassessorsmanualbeforeconductingyouraudit,soyouknowhowtoconducttheauditaccuratelyandthoroughly.TheVAQASauditisextremelythoroughandyouareaskedtocompleteafullaudit.However,foryourfinalpresentationyouwillbeexpectedtocalculateanaveragemarkforeachoftheprincipalauditingareaswhichare:

1. Pre-arrival• Telephoneenquiries• Leafletandbrochurecontent,accuracyandclarity• Websitecontent,accuracyandnavigation

2. Arrival• Initialsignage• Appearanceofinitialgroundsandbuildings• Carpark• Layoutandmaintenanceoffacilities• Welcome,efficiencyandappearanceofstaff• Visitorinformation• Cleanliness

3. Attraction• Layout• Rangeandqualityofgeneralsignage• Appearanceofgroundsandbuildings• Rangeofcontent• Qualityofpresentation• Qualityofinterpretation• Appearance,attitudeandknowledgeofstaff• Otherareas• Cleanliness

4. Toilets• Layoutanddesign• Fixturesandfittings• Maintenanceandcleanliness

5. Catering• Layoutanddesign• Range,presentationandqualityfood• Appearance,attitudeandefficiencyofstaff• Maintenanceandcleanliness

6. Retailing• Layoutanddesign• Rangeandpresentationofmerchandise• Appearance,attitudeandefficiencyofstaff• Maintenanceandcleanliness

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Hereareafewnotesinrelationtotheoverallscoringprocess.

First, toassistyouroverallevaluationablankVAQASscoringsheethasbeenprovidedforyouonMoodlewhichclearlyshowstheweightingsthataregiventothoseareaswhichimpactmostonthevisitorexperience.You only mark what is actually there, assessing quality in context, for example an attraction will not be penalised if they have no catering facility. Where a score is N/A you delete the figure from the `Max’ column, or set it to Zero. Therefore,forexample,qualitystandardsatasmallfamily-runfarmattractionwillobviouslydifferfromthosefoundatalargecorporateownedthemeattraction,it’sverymuchaboutassessingqualityincontextlookingatdoesthismeettheneedsandexpectationsofthevisitor.Youshouldtakeplentyofphotographstohelpdocumentaspectsoftheauditingprocessthatyoucanthenrefertoinyoursubsequentanalysisanddiscussion.InyoursupportingdiscussionIwouldexpecttoseethesedifferentelementsdiscussed,andyoumaywishtoincludeanadditionaltableshowingrelativescoresforeachcomponent,andhowtheoverallaveragewascalculated.Throughthisanalysis,youshouldbeabletocomparerelativebestpracticeon-siteandpotentialareasofimprovement.

Finally,intermsofoverallguidance,youshouldhopefullynotexpectanyaspectofthevisitorexperiencetoscorelowerthanathree,unlesstherewasanacceptableexplanation (thesewouldusuallybehighlightedatadebrief, suchaswork inprogress,stafftrainingetc).Theattractionwillfailtheassessmentifanyareathatisassessedscores‘0’oriftheoverallpercentageislessthan50%inanysection.VAQASassessorswoulddiscussanyattractionsfallingwithinthe55%–65%bandtoseehowtheycanworkwiththeattractiontoimprovetoanacceptablestandardinordertogainaccreditation.Guidelinesforscoringbetween1to5oneachelementareprovidedintheassessormanual.Lowerscoresprovidethebasisforidentifyingareasofqualityenhancement,whereashigherscorespotentiallyindicateareasofbestpractice.Bothareasofenhancementandbestpracticeshouldbeconsideredindetailinyourreport.

Report Structure Intermsoftheoverallformatandlayoutofthereport,emphasismustbeplacedonprovidingaclearandlogicalstructure.Iwillexpecttoseethefollowingelementsprovidedinthereport.

Introduction

Yourreportshouldstartbyprovidingaclearoverview/auditoftheattractionyouhavechosen,andthenatureoftheproduct/experiencethatisbeingprovided.Giveconsiderationtothedifferentelementsofthevisitorexperience,relatedareassuchaspricing,awards,accolades,andwhothemainmarketoftheattractionis.Youcanincludeanymaterialsthatmayhelpyouconveythenatureoftheexperienceonoffer - this could include for examplephotographs and visitorinformation,suchassitemaps. Youmayalsobeable tofind informationoncurrentapproachestocustomerservice- forexampledotheyhaveacurrentcustomerservicestrategy.Thisissomethingyoumightbeabletoenquireaboutafteryourvisit.Somereferencetotheoperationalprofileoftheattraction(for

This bit is important!

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examplevisitornumbers)couldalsobeincluded,withsomereferencetothekeypressuresinfluencingattractionsinyourchosensector.

Thisinitialdiscussioncouldalsomakereferencetoexistingcustomerfeedbackthat you could access via looking at visitor comments on TripAdvisor. Theunderstandingof theattractiondemonstrated in the introduction,andthekeyfactorsinfluencingthequalityofthevisitorexperienceprovidethebasisonwhichtodiscussareasofenhancementorbestpracticeinyourlaterdiscussion.Somereferencetotherationaleforthechoiceofattractionshouldalsobeincluded.

Clear Presentation of Auditing Results and Discussion

Iexpecttoseetheresultsoftheauditingprocessclearlydisplayedandanalysedinyourdiscussion,whichshouldinitiallybestructuredaroundeachcomponentpartoftheVAQASself-assessmenttoolkitandtheprincipalauditingareas(seepage2).

Youshouldcompletetheaudittemplatethoroughly,andusetheseresultstoprovidethebasisofyourdiscussion.Inadditiontotheinclusionofauditingresults,Ialsowanttoseeagraphshowingtheservicegapforeachindividualelementyouhaveassessed(youwillhavecoveredgapanalysisinthesessiononmeasuringandmonitoringcustomerservice).

Youmustthenalsoprovideacommentaryforeachsectionhighlightingwhattheresultsareshowing.Whilethisisanappliedpieceofwork,Iwillexpecttoseesomereferencebacktotheacademicliteratureinordertoplaceyourobservationsincontext.Alsoatthispointmakesureyouincludeanyphotosthatsupportanyaspectofyourdiscussion.Alsoincludemakeuseofanyadditionaltoolsandtechniquescoveredonthemodule.Forexamplewhenlookingattheattractionwebsiteyoucouldalsoscoreagainstthewebqualtemplatediscussedduringthemodule.

Conclusions - Best Practice and Recommendations for Enhancement

Yourreportshouldfinishbyincludingthecompletedscoringtemplatewithanoverallqualityscoreforyourattraction.Inadditiontothisyoushouldalsoidentifywhatyouconsidertobeareasofbestpracticeforeachsection,andalsoidentifyareasofenhancementandmakerecommendationsforimprovement.AtthispointIwouldexpecttoseewiderrecognitionofbestpracticeacrosstheattractionssector,andyoumaking reference tobestpractice fromotherattractions.Youmustultimatelyprovideacriticalcommentaryontheoverallqualityofthevisitorexperienceandhighlightareasofbestpractice(ifapplicable).Thefinalpartofyourreportmustoutlineaseriesofrecommendationsforserviceimprovementasthebasisofanewcustomerservicestrategyfortheattractionthatyouhavechosen. Failure to include the final recommendations section will result in a penalty mark of 20% being applied to your report.

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Some general notes:

• Rememebernottowriteinthefirstperson.Thereportshouldbeobjectiveandwritteninthethirdperson.

• WhileannotationwillbeallowedintheVAQAStemplates,avoidusinglonglistsinyourdiscussionandstructureyouranalysisaccordinglyusingparagraphs.Commentaryinanytablesincludedwillnotcounttoyourwordlimit.

• Subheadingsareallowedandarerecommendedtohelpstructureyourreportaccordingly. Ensure that the subheadingsarenumberedaccordingly andconsistentlythroughout.Acontentspageshouldbeincludedatthestart.

• Idoexpecttoseequiteavisualreport-thisisnecessarytohelparticulatethenatureofthevisitorexperiencetheattractionoffers.Lookateachsectionandconsidercarefullywhatinformationcanbeincluded.Forexamplewhenlookingattheattraction’swebsiteIwouldexpecttoseeascreenshotincludedinyourdiscussion.

• Allphotosandanyillustrationsshouldbeclearlylabelledandreferencedinthetext.Ifyouuseanimagemakereferencetoitdonotputitinassimplewindow-dressing.Photosshouldbenottext-wrapped.

• Idoexpect toseea levelof referencing to theacademic text,particularywhendiscussingyourobservationsandmakingreferencetobestpracticeandareasforenhancementfromacrosstheattractionssector.Someevidenceofbenchmarkingofgoodpractice fromcomparableattractionsshouldbeincluded.

• Pleaseensurethatyourstudentnumbersareclearly includedonthefrontpageofyourreport.

• In terms of the overall style of presentation I will leave that to you. However there is an opportunity here to present the information in a slightly different manner. You can look beyond a standard black and white document, and even think about changing the page orientation. Be creative but make sure you present the information in a structured and accessible way. Quite simply make sure the information is self-explanatory and suitably informed by your own investigation background reading, and best practice.

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• Remembertomakereferencetotheassessmentcriteria.Theseare:

• Clear rationale for the adopted tool/technique and choice of study area

[IwillexpectyoutoapplytheVAQASaudittoolaccuratelyandthoroughlyonagivenvisitorattraction,includingajustificationforyourchoiceofselection]

• Appropriate use and application of tools and techniques used to improve service quality

[I expect to see the auditing templates used appropriately and then analysedaccordingly,makingreferenceanduseofthekeytoolsandtechniquesusedduringthemodule]

• Clear and logical structure, including introduction, main body and conclusion

[Iexpecttoseeaclearstructure,reflectingtheguidelinespresentedinthisbrief]

• Ability to convey results of fieldwork accurately and succinctly using appropriate formats

[I expect to see the auditing templates completed,with clear evidence andcalculationofscoringfortheindividualcomponentsandacompletedscoresheetforthewholeattraction.Evidenceofgapanalysisshouldalsobeincluded]

• Reference to the academic literature and accurate referencing

[Whileanappliedexercisealevelofacademicreferencingisrequired,particularlytosupportyouranalysis].

Pleasenotethattheguidanceprovidedinthisdocumentandshouldbetreatedas a startingpoint for this assessment. The final presentationandhowyoupresentyour information isuptoyouandyouarefreetodevelop yourownstyle. Becreativewhilst at the same timeensuringyourdiscussionisbasedonathoroughandaccurateaudit,withevidentreferencetothebackgroundliterature.Ifyouhaveadditionalquestionsthenpleasecontactmedirectly.