Importance of Personalised Butler Service in the Hospitality Industry

How Personalised Service Can Enhance Guest Satisfaction: A Case Study Of JW Marriott, Austin?

The hospitality industry is one of the fastest developing sectors of the world and the customer satisfaction is the prime importance of the organisations in this industry. The researcher aims to evaluate the role of adding value with the help of personalised butler service in enhancing guest satisfaction and in this regard, the study conducts review of existing literature as it would enrich an understanding of the concept of personalised butler service and guest satisfaction from the perspective of the hospitality industry. As the research topic is about personalised butler service and guest satisfaction, the researcher aspires to highlight the area of these two variables through relevant models and existing theories. At the end of this section, a literature gap has also been given.

There is no denying that consumers value the personal touch (feeling as if they are valued customer rather than just a source of income) while purchasing anything and hence, a personalised service will make the customer come back after having made another reservation. However, the competition is increasing among the hospitality industry players and in this cut-throat competition era, hotels tend to introduce butler services that extend the concept of personalised services.

Butler services enhance the customer satisfaction by making the guest’s arrival experience a memorable one. The butlers of the hotels are tending to offer their guests to unpack their luggage, complimentary pressing customers’ clothes, provide private resort tour, arrange tour bookings or serve lunch or dinner on the beach or pool (Sylvester 2018). For staying competitive, many of the hotels offer pre-arrival butler forms to the customers for heightening the guest satisfaction level by considering any dietary restrictions, babysitting needs or requirements of any special occasions.

The heart of satisfaction depends on the comparison between expected and perceived value of service performances. According to the viewpoint of Denning and Hunter (2017), when performance exceeds expectations, satisfactory level enhances. Customers are likely to be valued only by the type of service they get is from the hospitality industry. From the restaurants to the hotels and everything in between, the role of hospitality service provider is to sustain customer satisfaction and happiness. Thereby, the hospitality service providers keep the customers at the customers at the forefront of the operational plans in terms of customer expectations and customer loyalty to prolong the hospitality industry afloat.

Customer Expectations

Customer expectations:

Getting service simply by just ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ or getting service with a smile is not just enough for the today’s hospitality industry. Satisfied customers count for memorable experiences and dynamic services thereby, customers are tending to receive quick services and standard practices such as extended guest check out and customized menu item to feel as if their business is appreciated.

Customer loyalty:

It is worth mentioning that happy customers are the loyal customers. Thereby, it is the responsibility of the hotel service providers not only to provide stellar service but also awesome products to the customers. Thereby, as stated by (Neuhofer et al. 2015), it is the role and responsibility of the hotel service providers is to keep the customers loyal by building personal assistance services to the travelling customers or by making special concessions for avid repeat consumers as well.

Expectation Confirmation Theory (Oliver, 1970)

The expectation confirmation theory is a cognitive theory that explains post-adoption satisfaction of the customer as a function of expectations, disconfirmation of beliefs and perceived performance. Richard L. Oliver in the Expectation confirmation theory (1997) argues that satisfaction is associated with disconfirmation experience that results from comparing service performance against customer expectations. More specifically, it can be stated that satisfaction is the result which is based on the differences between expected and perceived services or performances. However, Bhattacharjee (2001) argued that the satisfaction occurs when the customers get the service or product better than the expected one. On the other hand, on some negative disconfirmation note, dissatisfaction comes into account when performance is worse than the expected result. Therefore, as stated by Oliver (19080), a relatively easy method to determine what services make customers satisfied is simply to ask them. In this scenario, Lin et al. (2005), advocated that guest common cards (GCCs) are used by most of the hotels to determine guest satisfaction. However, as per the expectation-confirmation theory, satisfaction is the key result of direct experiences that customers get from the provided services and it can be measured by comparing the perceptions against standards.

However, Lin et al. (2001), argued that how services are being delivered play a pivotal role in comparing to the outcome of the service process. Based on this statement, it is worth mentioning that, if the customer expectations of butler services are high, then it would be difficult for the hotels to escalate customer satisfaction. It is essential for the hotels to reduce the possible gap between expectation and perceived value.

Customer Loyalty

This particular theory develops concept over positive disconfirmation and negative disconfirmation and both lead to customer satisfaction. As per the positive disconfirmation, satisfaction comes into play when customers get services much higher than that of the expectation. Therefore, it is essential for the hotels to improved butler services to meet guest satisfaction. Further, the study enriched to the fact that, guests are going through the disconfirmation process for heightening satisfaction.

Customer Satisfaction Pyramid (Besedjnak, 2010)

Frank Besednjak’s presented this Customer Satisfaction pyramid model and this model tells about the decisions and actions that reach the management in the next level of customer satisfaction.

In the level one, it is the lowest stage in the customer satisfaction pyramid and it is the reliability, trust and value. Therefore, these are the key elements of business when someone makes selection to do the business with.

In the level two, it is included with the courtesy counts and this stage is about the knowledgeable, timeliness and responsible. This stage is about showing up the promise, giving intelligent choices to the guests and returning the phone calls to the customers and taking responsibility.

Level three is about emotion and it is concerned with helpful nature and caring mind. The representatives need to show emotions, not just the words (Hill and Alexander 2017). The guests need to sincerely believe the representatives that these actions show indeed care.

Level four is on the top of the pyramid where the staffs of the hospitality sector must be friendly, fun and enjoyable as well as entertaining to the guests. The management can do something rare and unusual so that the guests must be overwhelmed. 

Cognitive dissonance theory

Cognitive dissonance theory is used by the theorists to explain consumer behaviour to the service industry such as tourism and hospitality industry to evaluate the role of cognitive dissonance in influencing a range of marketing related variables such as trust and perceived value. According to the viewpoint of Benitez et al. (2017), the theory of cognitive dissonance stated that people entail a motivational drive for reducing dissonance by altering their attitudes, behaviours, beliefs and by rationalizing or justifying them.

The cognitive dissonance originally stated by Festinger’s in the year 1957 suggests that an individual has an inner drive to hold behaviour and attitude in harmony and to avoid disharmony as well. This is the principle of cognitive consistency. As per the model, when there is an inconsistency in between behaviour or attitude (dissonance), it is essential to change things to eliminate dissonance. However, Harmon-Jones and Harmon-Jones (2012) argued that though the theory is a well-established one in consumer behaviour research, there is scarce of application in recent marketing research. Further, the cognitive dissonance cannot be physically observed and therefore, it cannot be measured objectively by the hotel service providers to reach to the customer satisfaction.

Theories on Guest Satisfaction

SERVQUAL Model

Organisations measure customer satisfaction level by analysing various customer satisfaction models and SERVQUAL model can be applied in such situation for determining guest satisfaction in the hospitality industry. According to the viewpoint of Saleh and Ryan (1991), SERVQUAL addresses a range of parameters of service quality such as dimensions of tangibles, responsiveness, reliability, empathy and the other one is assurance. All the parameters are used to measure customer expectation level and the hotel employee quality as well. However, () criticised the statement by stating that, the expectation is dynamic in nature and therefore, it can change according to the guests’ consumption situation and experiences.

According to SERVQUAL model, quality of service can be measured by recognising the gaps between guests’ expectations and their perceptions of actual performances. Therefore, the main dimensions of service of this model include

Tangibility: Tangibility refers to the availability of physical characteristics and hence, physical surroundings can be represented by subjects (such as the appearance of the hotel service providers) and objects (such as interior design).

Reliability: It is the ability to provide proper services at right place on right time. However, () argued that SERVQUAL model has lack of a few elements such as reliability depends upon service customisation, care service and knowledge of service professionals rather than just proper services at the proper time. 

Responsiveness: It is all about the organisation’s willingness to provide assistance to the customers by giving fast and efficient service performances. Hence, employees need to show willingness to solve customer requests and problems promptly and efficiently. However, as criticised by Kumar et al. (2009), rather solving customer problem, it is essential for the hotel service providers to understand why people complain, when they complain, what they expect and how to develop effective strategies to deal with inevitable service failures.

Assurance: the diverse features that deliver customer confidence by providing trustworthy and polite behaviour from staffs. This particular evidence is criticised by Kouthouris and Alexandris (2005) by stating that, standard service performance is backed by proper resources such as system, employee and technology. Thus, even when standards reflect customer expectation accurately if the organisation fails to get support from resources, standards will not be good.

The increasing competition among the organisations within the hospitality industry escalates the introduction of personalised services as the only feature for surviving the hotels within this domain. In some other words, personalisation becomes a mandate characteristic of the hotels to maintain the brand image in the cut-throat competitive market. However, Charhoth et al. (2016) argued that most of the organisations are not able to introduce personalised services to the regular business practices because high cost is involved in the services. As for instance, Four Seasons Hotel spent near about 18 million dollars to offer personalised dynamic web pages to the potential customers. However, as argued by Piccoli et al. (2017), just because of the cost involved in personalising services, it does not mean hotels have to neglect to establish small changes in offering their services to the existing customers so that, the hotels can be able to earn customer loyalty.

Expectation Confirmation Theory

As stated by Lo et al. (2015), there are a few ways that hotels can adapt to personalise their services. One of the essential ways is to know the customers before their arrival. Before the arrival of the customers, the hotel service providers need to know the personal favourites of the customers in terms of food, activity preferences, facilities, details of their birthdays, job title. Anniversaries and other details those are easily available.

Another way to personalise the hospitality services is by welcoming regular customers in some special way for avid the repeat consumers. Hence, the hotels can facilitate a customer special rooms, welcome drink or special menu prepared for them to make customers feel special. However, as argued by (Crawford 2017), give personal services to the regular customers are more effective rather than that of special services. Hence, if the guests are on family vacation, then the service providers need to give special attention in providing some special benefits that can go a long course of time. They can inquire whether the hot water system is working properly or not or whether they have any special preferences for the dinner or breakfast.

Service quality and customer satisfaction are different concepts but are related closely. Customers can be satisfied through effective service quality. When the services provided by the hotel employees resonate with the quality, it emphasises the customer satisfaction. However, there are some of the factors that influence the service quality provided by the organisations within the hospitality industry. These factors include hotel image, location of the hotels and value for money, guests’ room facility, security, cleanliness and staff knowledge and skills. However, there are some other factors that influence the guest satisfaction can be provided in the following section.

The most crucial factor emphasises the availability of physical factors that comprises equipment, materials, personnel and communication. The condition of the physical surroundings refers to the tangible evidence of attention and care exhibited by the service providers. Apart from the physical facilities, the ability to provide dependable and accurate service holds another significant position in this scenario. This factor refers to the service that is accomplished in the same manner, on time and without any error. Therefore, it is essential for the service providers to entail the ability to provide promised services to reach the guest satisfaction significantly. As stated by Oyner and Korelina (2016), reliability relies on the willingness of employees to solve customer problem and request for creating positive perceptions on quality. Keeping customers waiting can create negative perception of the hospitality services provided by the hotel unnecessarily. In this scenario, Ramanathan et al. (2017) argued that reliability in terms of responsiveness is much more effective in satisfying guests compared to the reliability in terms of promised services. However, on some different note, Buhalis and Amaranggana (2015) argued that the hotels need to focus on the special factor that is polite and trustworthy behaviour. It refers to the knowledge courtesy of the service providers and their ability to escalate trust and confidence. When customers get the assurance regarding the hotel services from the service providers, then it is more likely to make the customers satisfied with getting any services. In this regard, it is worth mentioning that, reliability takes the buzzword readiness into account to make the process of guest satisfaction an effective one. Empathy includes approachability, the effort to understand the requirements of the guests and the sense of security. When all these factors resonate with one another, the process leads to the guest satisfaction.

Customer Satisfaction Pyramid

Hotels can foster customer loyalty by making authentic and memorable moments for their customers. On the other hand, Ford et al. (2015) argued that by treating the customers as the unique individuals rather than a paycheque can forge the positive brand image in the market to attract new businesses. A survey of 2016 states that more than half of the visitors claimed they are happy with the services of hotel service providers if it meant getting relevant discounts, deals and personalised services. However, Perel and Del Bosque (2015) argued that personalisation has extended far beyond message and email interactions and thereby, it is essential for the hotel service providers to have relevant information readily available for developing the two-fold interaction memorable. Personalised services have now been developed to butler services to heighten the customer satisfaction level to an extreme point.

For this purpose, it is not just enough for the hotels to train the workers to make the interaction personalised and thereby, the hotels need to go far beyond and generate plans for guests to make them feel valued. For instance, implementing sensors in the guests’ rooms for measuring natural light and dime the artificial lighting lock the windows when guests leave the room or start heating the room when guests arrive at the door will make the process of personalisation an effective one. The introduction of Internet of Things (IoT) and smart sensors are improving the way through which hotel service providers personalise the services.

Personalised services are more entertaining, memorable, engaging and inspiring for the customers that ultimately lead to the guest satisfaction and drive sales and loyalty.  The study Herstein et al. (2018) found that gathering and applying customer insights and data for delivering cross-channel and seamless experiences along with providing personal touches to the travellers especially to the millennial customers are key to meet the customer experiences and thereby it improves customer experience and fosters guest loyalty. As stated by Min et al. (2015), personalisation basically comes in the business process when hotels can be able to catch the customers own experiences and expectations and in the age of information technology, it is no longer difficult to know customers. As opined by Kasiri et al. (2017), personalised butler services do not depend on the gathered information and data rather it depends upon the knowledge and skills of the hospitality service providers. As argued by Kassinis and Soteriou (2016), an effective personalisation program revolved around just because of lack of gathered data and lack of technologies as well.

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Depending on the online tools and technologies, hotels send emails and invoice to the customers by giving them the opportunity to book their suite at a lower price. By extending the offerings and incentives, the companies are gaining customer loyalty that leads to the improved brand image in the market. At the present time, customers prefer value for money and hence hotels are offering the facility of booking hotel rooms at minimal cost for repeat customer will provide business profitability in terms of customer loyalty.

Further, it is worth mentioning that, customers are more likely to get special attention from the hotel service providers when they visit the same place twice or thrice. When customers would be able to receive special preferences and services rather than traditional services, they will like to visit the same hotel once and again (Seric et al. 2016). Hence, the personalised services push the customers to use the services provided by the organisations and help to enhance the marketing ROI for the companies as well.

Personalised services also refer to differentiated services or customer services emphasise the guest satisfaction to lead to the organisational goal in terms of heightening business growth and financial profitability. According to the viewpoint of Novelli et al. (2006), the organisations that prioritise the customer experience through the effective use of personalised services, have that potential to generate around 60% more profits than that of their competitors. Personalised services are the kind of services that provide some special offerings to the customers based on the preferences and the requirements of the customers. With the help of these personalised services, the hospitality service providers become able to show their customers that they are valued by the organisations. More specifically, by offering personalised services on a continuous basis, it establishes a standard of care among the customers and the customer appreciates such practices that lead to guest satisfaction.

Apart from this, personalisation in the customer services lead guests to feel engaged and connected with the organisation. These kinds of facilities reduce the chances of strife and customer churn. Rather, customers feel satisfied to be associated with the organisation and do their bit to let others aware of hospitality services provided by the company.

Not only service or product can be personalised rather, the form of distribution, promotion and pricing can be personalised to make repeat customers satisfied (Benitez et al. 2017). Such practices may lead to the positive word of mouth publicity for the organisation and hence, the company can be able to enhance their brand image within the existing and target market.

SERVQUAL Model

Through personalisation in the customer services, organisations within the hospitality industry can gain an in-depth and better understanding of the current customer base. By knowing the potential customer base and having a greater understanding of the needs and preferences of the customers, the more individualised service an organisation can create for its potential guests. The demand for such personalised services would definitely be leading to the higher sales and profitability for the company.

Organisations that rely on the efficacy of personalisation in customer service tend to invest in technologies that would enable the organisations to process and access the customer information more effectively and rapidly. Further, it is worth noting that, the feel of personalisation within the guest satisfaction has extended to the online experiences. Customers now have a plethora of means to have effective communication with the organisation to know about the services and they expect the services to be focused on them. Such personalisation in the customer services gives better chances for the organisations to get success in the competitive market of the hospitality industry.

This research aims to find out the recent research on the customer satisfaction on the luxury hotels. The personalised service is the new buzz word and the guests like the personalised services. The luxury hotels are using this to increase the guest satisfaction. Mainly corporate travellers use the personalised service. This study strived to do the secondary research on the guest satisfaction; however, in the literature review, it has not been possible to find out the changes in consumer behaviour. The facts and figures of the customer satisfaction have not been presented. The nature of the literature is experimental and hospitality sectors are mainly taking a technological and innovative approach to satisfying the needs of the guests. The recent development of the personalised services has been given; however, a gap has been found among the critiques is the soft data provided by the customers have become as valuable as big data. Hospitality organisations are struggling with the pool of big data and they cannot find out the emotive responses of the customers.  

It has been observed that personalised butler service can increase the customer satisfaction as it provides what exactly guests need. Personalised services can increase the guest engagement. The review of the existing literature would provide help in the data finding and data analysis section where the primary data will be compared and analyse with the secondary data sources. In the next chapter, data collection process of the research will be discussed.

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