| By :
Martin Hofschroer
Research has shown how restaurants can improve customer service and survive the current economic climate. While the hospitality sector is often badly hit during an economic downturn as people look to save money by reducing spending on luxuries such as dining out, restaurants which offer an enjoyable eating experience will continue to prosper. A study by The National Skills Academy Hospitality (NSAH) moved away from the traditional process of restaurant checks through mystery diner schemes for the first time and decided to gauge customer service by different categories. The NSAH graded restaurants on benchmark indicators like the welcome shown to each customer, the place's personality, staff product knowledge, value for money and whether the customer would recommend the eatery. Research revealed that Living Ventures delivered the best customer service with 90.78 per cent followed by John Lewis's cafes and restaurants, Wagamama, Premier Inn and Maison Blanc. David McHattie, CEO of the NSAH said that Living Ventures are being rewarded by their commitment to improve customer services as like for like sales are positive and growing even through the recession. He said: "We all know how important customer service is to company success but now, with this type of benchmarking data we can start to understand the top performers and provide industry with insight and support never before available." Pubs which focus on providing food are performing better for customer service delivery in the pubs and bars sector compared to those that only offer alcohol, according to the NSAH. The economy and growing bureaucracy has hampered pubs' ability to compete in recent years, claims the British Beer and Pub Association. Mr McHattie said that pubs must improve customer service if they are to encourage people to return and cope with the low alcohol prices offered by supermarkets. "While some factors are out of their hands, our research shows that there is more establishments can do to improve service provision. "They need to demonstrate personality in spades - pubs with personality are part of our heritage and bringing back this personality will be a key element in driving loyalty, recommendation and growing customers and sales," he said. The future may be bleak for pubs who do not improve customer service as NSAH research found that just 15 per cent of pub and bar visitors actively promote venues to friends and colleagues. In addition, customer service performance levels were at 73 per cent in community pubs and 72 per cent in high street pubs.
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