Over 40 industry partners attended the Forum at Wisma Atria’s Picnic Singapore, a communal, garden-themed dining hall.
Both sectors improved from last year, registering statistically significant increases in customer satisfaction scores. The Tourism sector scored 74.2 points while the F&B sector scored 71.7 points.
The F&B sector is made up of four sub-sectors including Snack Bars & Food Kiosks, Cafes & Coffee Houses, Fast Food Restaurants, and Restaurants. This year, the study introduced two new sub-sectors ‘Snack Bars & Food Kiosks’ and ‘Cafes & Coffee Houses’. Prior to 2017, ‘Cafes & Coffee Houses’ and ‘Snack Bars & Food Kiosks’ were measured as one sub-sector ‘Cafes & Snack Bars’.
A statistically significant increase was seen in the Restaurants sub-sector, which was driven mainly by higher satisfaction among locals. Locals also gave statistically higher satisfaction ratings for attributes such as ‘ease of making reservations’, ‘menu options to suit your needs’, and ‘quality of food’.
The Tourism sector is made up of Attractions and Hotels sub-sectors. The Hotels sub-sector registered a statistically significant increase in customer satisfaction score, achieving a score of 74.4 points (+1.88 points/ +2.6% year-on-year) this year.
When it came to Luxury and Upscale Hotels specifically, while product-related attributes were important, service attributes such as ‘ability of the hotel to accommodate to your needs or requests’, and ‘efficiency of the check-in process’ emerged as key drivers of perceived quality.
“While customers expect hotels to do well in ensuring comfortable rooms, excellent service and having well-designed processes remain as key differentiators in the hotel industry. This is especially so for luxury and upscale hotels,” said Ms Neeta Lachmandas, Executive Director of ISE.
The CSISG 2017 Q3 study was conducted between July and October 2017. A total of 6,900 respondents comprising 3,035 locals and 3,865 tourists were surveyed. Please refer to Annex A for a background on the CSISG and Annex B for the detailed scores.
For a full breakdown of the results, please click here.
Keynote Presentation
As part of the Industry Forum, ISE also invited Dr Thomas Goh, Chief Client Officer and Managing Director APAC of the Center for Creative Leadership to share his views on how leaders can prepare ahead of the industry as disruption happens in the tourism sector. Referring to being “future-ready”, Dr Goh stressed that at the fundamental level, robots can never replace humans because the human element is required at the base of every interaction. You may view his presentation here.
Create fulfilling experiences both in leadership and at work
In order to deliver a superior customer experience, employees need to be engaged. Today, millennials consider the societal component of a job. It’s no longer just about the salary, or the career advancement opportunities. Instead, job-seekers and employees alike are looking to work for organisations that can provide a positive work experience.
Providing opportunities for employees to learn from multiple sources such as on the job, social media and formal training is also a form of workplace experience. “Helping employees to learn will enable them to adapt in different situations more quickly and effectively,” said Dr Goh.
At UOB, the Branch Manager conducts a 15-minute briefing with his staff every morning where he shares a service encounter from the weekend to motivate and inspire his staff. It is also an opportunity for them to seek advice on issues or clarify any queries they might have. Each morning briefing ends with a UOB cheer before the branch opens at 10.00am.
Employees also have just as much to unlearn as they have to learn, when bringing in habits and learned behaviours from previous roles that may not align with the new organisations’ values.
According to Dr Goh, in order to make work more enjoyable, the culture has to come from the organisation’s leaders. The “Command+Ctrl” top-down leadership style should take a backseat to a “leadership experience”, where the relationship between employee and manager is more transparent and collaborative.
Leader as a coach
Using an example of how housekeeping staff at hotels may often come from villages where they don’t understand certain 5-star concepts, or reasons for why things are done a certain way such as arranging towels a certain way, or ensuring the toilet paper is folded into a triangle, Dr Goh stressed the importance of having a flexible management style. “Leaders needs to know when to use a coaching approach, and when to use a top-down approach,” he said.
Empowerment is also vital to having an engaged team. “If you want employees to cross boundaries in their job scope, it is necessary for managers to give some leeway so that employees can deliver superior customer experience.” Using the example of Ritz-Carlton giving every employee $50 to spend in any way for a customer, this builds a sense of responsibility that every employee will have in shaping the experience and delivering a superior service.
The concept of customer experience means different thigs to different people. In Japan it means efficiency, reliability and cleanliness. Businesses will need to figure out what their key selling point is and structure their business model around it. View the diagram here.
Leaders as effective influencers
Leaders influence employees, employees influence customers, and customers influence the wider community. Dr Goh noted four primary influence tactics that are used in decision-making, sourcing opinions and taking action.
Inspirational:
Social enterprises that benefit communities or groups of people are an example of how inspirational influence can work successfully, attracting a certain profile of customers and employees, who will have a certain personality profile steered towards social responsibility.
Rational:
Employees tend to be influenced by rationality if the processes, or business decisions of an organisation appear to be transactional. This tactic features heavily in the F&B industry with its clear marketing tactics such as 2 for 1 discount offers or special meal promotions which are transparent and transactional.
Consultative:
During the A380 airbus design, SIA had consulted with its cabin crew when building the galley. They discussed requirements and needs of the cabin crew in order to ensure their comfort, whilst not compromising on the commercial use of the space. Taking on a consultative approach to engage employees helps to build a positive and all-round customer experience.
Collaborative:
Dr Goh used the example of medical tourism, where hospitals have partnered with spas and restaurants to provide a complete patient experience. After a medical checkup, patients would be ushered to a spa or restaurant, which ensures the experience ends on a high note.
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