Blue Dolphin Holiday Park – Guest Experience

This blog post will be different than previous ones I have written; as it will focus how I can provide the best possible experience to guests. I have worked for Haven Holidays for four years at Blue Dolphin Holiday Park is located near the seaside town of Scarborough which offers picturesque clifftop walks and panoramic sea views. My current role is working as a receptionist.

Haven Holidays owns and operates 36 award winning family holiday parks throughout England. Haven is one of Britain’s largest provider of domestic holidays, (Bourne Leisure, 2015) which provides comfortable accommodation and offers a wide range of activities which include, kids’ clubs, leisure activities and entertainment, Haven’s aim is to provide families with a fun-filled escape.

A guests experience starts as soon as they book a holiday with Haven. My role as a receptionist is to ensure guests receive information by email or post with details of their holiday. A few days before a guest is due to arrive to the park, I will contact the guest via telephone to check their booking details, this is to make sure guest arrivals run smoothly and guests have peace of mind knowing the correct arrangements have been put into place.

Once a guest arrives at the park, I greet each guest with a friendly welcome. When I start to check guests into their accommodation, it is my responsibility to go through a guest welcome pack which provides information which a guest may need while staying at the park.

If a guest has a problem, it is my responsibility to go through these step by step, giving the guest my full attention and find appropriate solutions. Then I explain to the guest what I will do next and ask them if they are happy with what I’ve explained; unfortunately some problems cannot be solved straight away, therefore it is my responsibility to go that extra mile to resolve the issue. Once a problem(s) has been resolved  it is my responsibility  to inform the guest  and check they do not require further assistance, this is to ensure guests receive the best possible experience.

A company's market offering can include both tangible goods and services. At one extreme, the market consists of a pure tangible good, such as soap, toothpaste, or salt; no services accompany the product. At the other extreme are pure services, for which the market consists primarily of a service. Between these two extremes, however, many goods-and-services combinations are possible. Today, as products and services become more commoditized, many companies are moving to a new level in creating value for their customers. To differentiate their offers, beyond simply making products and delivering services, they are creating and managing customer experiences with their brands or companies (Armstrong & Kotler, 2013a).

Since 2015, there has been many improvements at the reception to help make a guests experience unforgettable. This year Haven Holidays have introduced a new mobile app ‘What’s on?’ which guests can download for free, the app provides guest with information about what’s going on in the park. With technology developing constantly this new mobile app with help to make a guests experience easier and simpler.

New to 2016, guest are now able to have pets in Prestige and Deluxe caravans before guests who brought their pet(s) with them were only allowed to stay in standard caravans. Guest felt that because they brought their pet(s) they were being downgraded and given less luxury accommodation. In order to improve a guest’s experience, guests are able to have pets in Prestige and Deluxe caravans, making guests feel they are being treated equally and given a better experience.

Reception is the first place where a guest comes to check in to their accommodation. Therefore first impressions are extremely important, if a guest has a bad/poor first impression, it can make a guest feel apprehensive about the rest of their holiday. As a receptionist it is important to provide guests with a positive first experience. A good first impression can make a guest feel excited and relieved that they can get settled into their accommodation without having to worry about anything.

Experiences have always been an important part of marketing for some companies. Companies that market experiences realize that customers are really buying more than just products and services. They are buying what those offers will do for them (Armstrong & Kotler, 2013a).

References:

Armstrong, G., & Kotler, P. (2013a). Marketing: An introduction, global edition. United Kingdom: Pearson Education.

Bourne Leisure Ltd. (2015). About Us. Retrieved from http://www.haven.com/support/about-us.aspx. 

Classical conditioning

Classical conditioning is associated with learning which two stimuli are repeatedly paired, and behavioural responses are first elicited by the second stimulus (shock) are eventually associated with and are produced when the first stimulus (tone) is presented alone.

Physiologist, Ivan Pavlov (1849 – 1936) conducted a series of experiments on the digestive progress in dogs, he inadvertently observed one of the most important associative learning processes, known as classical (Pavlovian) conditioning. He noticed that when the dogs were presented with food they would salivate, a natural, reflexive, behavioural response to food. Over time, the dogs began to salivate before they had received the food; they would salivate at the lab assistants, who fed the dogs.

Pavlov noted that the dogs had learned that the lab assistants were a cue for food being presented and alone could induce the behavioural responses similar to those induced by food itself. Pavlov investigated further, in a series of follow-up studies in which he rang a tuning fork prior to presenting the dogs with meat powder. To start with, only the meat powder elicited salvation, the tuning fork did not, but after repeated pairings of the tuning fork followed by the meat powder, the dogs began to salivate at the sound of the tuning fork.

Pavlov studies identified four key concepts of classical conditioning. The unconditioned stimulus (US) is a cue that naturally and reflexively elicits a target behaviour, also known as the unconditioned response (UR). In his study, the US was the meat powder and the UR was salivation. The conditioned stimulus (CR) is initially a neutral cue, but after being paired with the US comes to elicit the target response. The timing between the CS and US is critical. The CS must come before the US, and the closer in time the two occur the faster and stronger learning will be (Milosevic & McCabe, 2015).

An example of classical conditioning in marketing is Coca – Cola Christmas advert. When people are asked the question ‘What comes to your mind when you think about Christmas?’ There is a likelihood of someone mentioning Coca – Cola. This is because of classical conditioning, which has allowed Coca – Cola to intentionally create a connection between the festive season and the brand.

Christmas (unconditioned stimulus) is likely to create positive emotions of excitement, joy and family (unconditioned response) however, before conditioning takes place, Coca – Cola (neutral stimulus) does not create any emotions since no brand associations yet exists. However, combining Christmas and Coca – Cola in famous TV adverts, the positive emotions and family re-merge, to the extent that when Coca – Cola is subsequently displayed alone (creating stimulus), these emotions persist (conditioned response), thus creating a brand association between Coca – Cola and Christmas.

Reference:

Milosevic, I. & McCabe, R. (2015). Phobias: The psychology of irrational fear. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO.