Business Message: Wyndham Hotel Customer Survey Message Almost every consumer is familiar with this type of form letter request for information from a business. The purpose (intention or goal) of such messages is twofold. First and foremost, it is designed to elicit information that may be useful to the company (the sender or transmitter) in terms of how it offers its services. If, for example, mothers with children complain that there are insufficient play facilities on the premises, Wyndham can add more child-friendly spaces in its hotels that attract a wide variety of families. Offering a place to air grievances also enables the hotel to 'make up' to a dissatisfied customer (the reader or receiver). It is rare that the average dissatisfied customer cannot be pacified with a free night at the hotel or a full or partial refund for the services he or she was dissatisfied with -- and good word-of-mouth is critical for a company to survive in today's competitive travel marketplace. Services between midmarket hotels are relatively undifferentiated, and gaining good informal press from customers, in terms of whether they recommend a hotel to their friends, is often just as invaluable as gaining positive press through conventional media channels.

The message or implied meaning the sender wants the receiver to glean is primarily that the hotel genuinely cares about the customer. Even for a discontented customer who cannot be pacified or whose complaint does not warrant additional attention, simply the act of being solicited for information can diffuse any sense of ill will. For the receiver, the purpose can likewise be multifaceted -- the receiver may genuinely want to inform the hotel of a good or bad experience; may want to get a sense of importance by giving the hotel 'tips' about how to improve service, or may want to get some sort of a 'free bonus' from complaining.

The technology used for the format...

Even so, usually dissatisfied customers are more likely to respond to queries about service than are satisfied customers. Using a non-human format from the point-of-view of the company also means that customers are more likely to be brutally honest, versus a face-to-face survey. But the downside of calling customers up for phone surveys is that they may not give a great deal of attention to the survey, and simply try to get off of the phone if otherwise occupied.
There is less 'static' or other, distracting stimuli in the environment (setting where message is received) with an online survey, since the customer is presumably online and choosing to take the survey at a time that is convenient for his or her schedule. However, when using the computer, there is still a great deal of possibly distracting external and internal stimuli (called noise) that can affect the customer's responses. For example, he or she may be tired, hungry, and cranky, which may affect his or her ratings. This is less of a problem with using focus groups, where customers are personally interviewed in controlled settings.

The disadvantage of focus groups, however, is that it is more difficult to get a wide array of customers with enough time to give such detailed feedback (responses) Surveys allow for a wide range of customers to respond. The downside is that because online surveys are often primarily numerical (such as asking the customer to rate his or her experiences of different components of the stay from 1-10), the customers may simply rush through the survey. And what is a '10' level of service for one customer may not be equally high a standard for another customer.

The pleasant, upbeat tone of the message, designed to…