Section 2: Starting a Rural Accommodation 2.4. Management of an Accommodation

2.4.7. Quality-Management of Services

Services are much more difficult to certify than products. Nevertheless, providing good services is also essential in the tourism industry. At the end of this chapter there are some remarks on the quality management of services .

Services which do not fit into a structure cannot be standardized or certified. The product quality of services may be determined by the interaction of the public and the performance of the service. Consequently, the quality of the product (e.g. animation) is not only the result of the performance, but also of the public’s reaction to it. The better you ‘sell’ your service, the more satisfied are your guests/clients (the public). Hence, improved marketing contributes significantly to increased product quality. In regard to marketing services, the traditional marketing instruments of product, place, price and promotion can be supplemented by three more “P’s”, participants, physical evidence and process described as follows:

• Physical evidence of quality of your company is for example certification: if the director has his obtained his management diploma with honor degrees or if the production process in the factory is certified by ISO standards may well convince people of the good properties of the company. However, if you are a guide, you will be judges only by your performance: do you wear the right clothes, do you speak clearly and understandable, your body language, etc. Be aware that it is not only the product that counts but also the way it is delivered! 
• Process is the complex interaction between the performer and the public. Using the right words, the correct body language etc. is important to make your massage come through. 
• Participants are the persons consuming the show. However, they also are part of the show, and they can ‘make or break’ it. Creating a tie among the consumers that makes them react like one is the ultimate goal of each performer. Members of such a public will feel comfortable knowing that they are among people like them. Stimulating processes which enable your messages to be well received, is something one can learn only after considerable experience. When travelling the participants are the travelers, the guides and the inhabitants of the place you visit. The relationships between those persons influence the quality of the experience and the judgments.

A common characteristic of many services, for example animation, is that the performance and the exploitation take place at the same moment. Once delivered, the product can not be taken back, so it must be right the first time. The quality management must be focused on a zero-faults-experience. As quality control of services can determine shortcomings but not repair them, the quality control system must be oriented to ‘problem prevention’ rather than to ‘problem solving’.

An independent judgments of services is many times very different to make. While some clients may consider the performance perfect, others will complain. Nevertheless, it is important to take any complaint seriously. First of all your client will complain only more and produce more negative promotion if you don’t take him seriously. Secondly, a careful analysis of complaints may also indicate you a way how to improve your service. For people having well founded complaints, you should have prepared an opportunity to compensate them. Compliments should also be take just as seriously as they are indicators of what you are doing right.

ISO 14000

2.4.8. Accommodation Evaluation