GAINING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE IN THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY THROUGH EFFICIENT CUSTOMER SERVICE

Abstract

This study was carried out to establish how service providers in the hospitality industry, which 
is highly characterized by service homogeneity and intense competition, can gain competitive 
advantage over rivals through the practice of excellent customer service. The theoretical 
framework adopted for the study was the Service-Dominant (S- D) logic theory. The study 
established that unlike products, which because of advances in technology, have assumed 
commodity status, it is not so with customer service, which is largely intangible and therefore 
difficult to imitate; implying that service differentiation based on it is a sure bet in gaining 
competitive advantage over rivals in the hospitality industry. Having established that excellent 
customer service influences customer perception in the industry and that “your perception by 
your customers is your reality”, the paper identified customer expectations in the industry and 
made specific recommendations on the customer service measures to take when interacting 
with customers; with being available, friendly, respectful, helpful and attentive as well as not 
only meeting but exceeding customer expectations by ensuring that value promised is value 
delivered as essentials. When this is the case, the resultant benefits would include but not 
limited to: repeat patronage, thus harvesting from the customer’s life –time value (CLV) ,  
positive word-of-mouth (W.O.M) from satisfied customers, which encourages trial patronage 
from  new customers and excellent reviews in the social media which are conditions necessary 
for the sustenance of operations, growth and profitability. As poor customer service has been 
credited with accounting for about 68% of the reasons why customers defect, to gain 
competitive advantage in the hospitality industry, a strong culture of customer service 
excellence should as a matter of necessity be adopted by hospitality services providers.