Case Study
Bournemouth Seafront
The value of employing myster y shoppers to enhance customer care levels
visit coastaltourismacademy.co.uk
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The Project The value of employing mystery shoppers after implementing a new recruitment and training process on a seafront operations team to enhance customer care levels
The Background Bournemouth is one of the UK’s premier tourist destinations, attracting more than 4.5 million visitors annually. Its trump card is its seven mile strand of sandy seafront across which it aims to provide outstanding levels of customer service. The seafront boasts four Blue Flag Awards, two Quality Coast Awards and a Green Tourism Business Scheme Silver Award; it is lined with more than 2,000 beach huts, scores of beachside restaurants, cafés and bars, water sports operators and games and play areas. Land trains link the beaches along the promenade, three cliff lifts are in operation, there are also two piers, an amusement arcade and children’s entertainment. The Seafront Rangers operate deck chair and beach hut hire and run a Kidzone safety scheme throughout July and August. The team also front six beach offices, offering advice and help to visitors, which is in addition to the town’s central Tourist Information Centre. The Seafront team is also responsible for the acclaimed Russell-Cotes Museum and Art Gallery on the clifftop, a tourist attraction in its own right.
The Client The seafront operation is run by the local authority, Bournemouth Borough Council, through its Tourism Services. It relies on a large number of seasonal staff (such as beach rangers, beach cleaners, land train guards, cliff lift operators and more) to keep the attraction running smoothly, not least at the height of the busy summer season. In 2013, the Council undertook an over-arching review of its seafront visitor experience. This coincided with physical improvements to the seafront itself, including the creation of a new Coastal Activity Park at Boscombe Pier, as part of major new long-term Seafront Strategy encompassing the entire seafront. The Seafront team wanted to enhance customer service across the seafront operation so introduced a more structured approach to recruitment and training procedures for seasonal staff with increased emphasis on excellence in customer service. More full time staff became involved in the recruitment of seasonal staff, role-play was introduced to assess employees’ ability to cope with different customer service scenarios. Body language, thought processes and confidence were also assessed. After this new induction process had been introduced for a year, the NCTA undertook a business consultation with the relevant managers of the seafront. The management was keen to seek external validation of the success of the new process and to assess where additional training might be necessary. It also wished to use the results to inform on-going seafront development and a study reviewing the provision of information to visitors across the town. 1
Case Study : Bournemouth Seafront
The Action The NCTA suggested a mystery shopping exercise as a tool to test excellence in several different locations across its operation. With the Seafront Operation’s agreement, the NCTA commissioned a suitable professional mystery shopping organisation and liaised between both parties. It was agreed that the company would undertake 16 mystery shops in total, in eight locations over two time periods, July, then September. The eight locations were: • • • • • • • •
Bournemouth Beach Office Tourist Information Centre Russell-Cotes Museum and Art Gallery Pier Arcade Coastal Activity Park Office Prom Cafe Landtrain East Cliff Lift
Each of the mystery shops included standard questions alongside some specific to the location. Each location was assessed overall as Very Good, Good, Average, Poor or Very Poor. The objective was to gain feedback for every point of customer contact – arrival, information, level of service, evidence of upselling amongst others. The NCTA funded the first pre-high season session, with seafront operations funding the second in September. Staff was unaware of the project. 2
Case Study : Bournemouth Seafront
Results In each of the designated locations, the first round of mystery shopping in July assessed first impressions - signage, telephone and personal welcome – objectively from a customer’s perspective. While some locations were rated Good and one Very Good, the session emphasised the need for further training on customer service and product knowledge in the majority of cases along with health and safety training. Immediate changes were introduced for the high season and knowledge gaps were addressed. The second round, in September, showed a clear improvement in almost all cases, and it was clear that additional training had proved very beneficial. The results from this project will now be embedded into the recruitment process for subsequent seasons; and the mystery shopping exercise is likely to be repeated in subsequent years to ensure high levels of service are maintained.
Conclusion
There is a clear benefit in commissioning independent researchers to gain a genuinely objective understanding of levels of customer care and the visitor experience. The client appreciated the value of this and used the results of the mystery shopping to make improvements both in the short and long term. However, timing of mystery shopper assessment is key. By undertaking the first measurement immediately before the high season, pre-school holiday in July, there was limited time to address issues before the start of the high season. But this timing did allow plenty of time to develop the following year’s recruitment and induction processes. Nevertheless, assessment in July provided a clear picture of customer service during a hot, busy period, when service levels are under considerable pressure. Cultural changes take time and regular training updates (refreshers) will be required to ensure that both full time and seasonal staff are kept up to date with current thinking and expectations of employers. The seafront operations team plays a vital role to a coastal resort’s visitor experience, so ensuring they offer an outstanding service reaps benefit for the resort as a whole. This project will have a long-term impact on customer service and recruitment for the town’s most popular attraction. 3