Business Message: Wyndham Hotel Customer Survey Message

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 of an online survey is useful given that it demands a low commitment of time and effort from the point-of-view of the customer, which increases the likelihood that the customer will respond. 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 show the hotel's concern about the customer's experience and to encourage a pleasant feeling about the company seems appropriate. To solicit information from a wide array of customers for a general survey, the message and demeanor seems welcoming. Phone interviews are becoming less and less popular for legitimate organizations, because of their association with telemarketing and the reader is less likely to be favorably disposed to this message. Additionally, for the reasons stated above, phone interviews can also bring hasty or dishonest answers, because customers are in a rush to get off of the phone. Focus groups of customers provide more detailed feedback but are less comprehensive in nature. An online survey seems to be the most appropriate method of generating feedback, despite the many problems regarding consistency of rating of different performance elements.

However, from the point-of-view of a dissatisfied customer, the tone of the online survey may seem overly optimistic and insensitive to their needs. But overall, the nonintrusive nature of the technology, the medium of a survey, and the upbeat message are good 'PR' for the company, even though Wyndham cannot entirely counteract the rage of a customer that has experienced genuinely substandard service.

Response

Dear Wyndham Hotels:

Thank you for the opportunity to provide feedback about my experience. Unfortunately, my experience at Wyndham was not the high-quality service I had expected from your hotel chain. When I arrived at the hotel, the reservation which I had confirmed had not been held for me. The hotel was overbooked and I was referred to another Wyndham in the area. When I arrived at this second location (which was not nearly as convenient to the attractions I wished to see in the city, and required the considerable inconvenience of traveling with my luggage across the town), I was informed that I would not be able to have a room with two twin beds, for my friend and myself, only a double bed.

On both mornings of our stay, my traveling companion and I were woken up early by the cleaning staff, despite putting the 'do not disturb' sign on the door. When we asked for information about finding our way around the city, we were left waiting at the front desk, until eventually we decided to give up and find our way on our own.