The Chiquito’s brand are owned by The Restaurant Group PLC, who also own Frankie & Benny’s, Garfunkel’s and Coast to Coast. The Chiquito’s company have been operating in the UK for over 25 years, with their first restaurant opening in 1989.
Chiquito’s are a Mexican style restaurant “famous for the best fajitas and margaritas in a vibrant restaurant with passionate service” (trgplc, N.D.). This report was designed to assess whether or not the company meets their mission statement. This report will look at the level of customer service displayed at the restaurant Chiquito’s. The results were obtained using a group questionnaire (fig.1) undertaken on Monday 5th November 2018.
What is customer service? Hudson and Hudson (2013) have looked at many different sources to find this information. The simplest definition they found would be Zethlam et al. (2007) who define it simply as “the service provided in support of a company’s core product”. A more in-depth explanation of customer service would look at all of the different components to helping a customer. This may include showing empathy, this can be done by helping a customer when they have an issue. It may also be done through product knowledge, this way a customer service representative would be able to offer alternatives to their customers or be able to make changes for them.
First impression
The following questions and answers are taken from the questionnaire (fig 1) and come under the first impressions category.
The first question on the questionnaire (fig 1) is “how easy was it to find the restaurant?”. The answers given show that both fig 4 and fig 6 found it incredibly easy to find as they gave a perfect score of five. Fig 2 shows that the person filling out the questionnaire did not think it was as easy to find as the two previous mystery shoppers, however they did not find it difficult as they gave it a score of four. The feedback given said that once they put in the postcode it took them to the right area and it was signposted from there. Mealey (thebalancesmb, 2018) says that “food and service are important to the success of a restaurant, but the location can be just as crucial” which suggests that in order to keep your customers happy the location should be appropriate. The article goes on to comment on other important factors to do with location such as; parking, visibility, size, safety and neighbours.
The second question was “how would you rate your first impression of the building?”. All of the questionnaires were answered with a score of four, with one person commenting that there were some issues entering the building but overall it was good. The issues this person had when entering were unspecified within the comments of the questionnaire.
When meeting new people or going to a new place we automatically form opinions based on our first impressions, “the ‘first impression’ is actually only a seven second window upon first meeting someone” (business insider, 2013). This means that within the first seven seconds of arriving somewhere and meeting someone we have already decided whether or not we trust that person and want to be in those surroundings. Question three asks “how would you describe your greeting?”. Fig 2 states “our waiter addressed us in an Australian accent which threw me since we were in a Mexican restaurant but overall was friendly and welcoming”. Fig 4 commented “the guy was funny. He noticed our student badges and offered discount. He offered the 1pm lunch menu at 12:50pm”. Fig 6 wrote “the greeting was really good, he was friendly and quirky and to the point”. All of the above comments were positive meaning that the people undertaking the mystery shopper questionnaire received a good overall first impression from the person they first came into contact with in Chiquito’s. “Psychologists from universities of Glasgow, Scotland, and Princeton, US, have shown that a simple “Hello” is enough to allow most people to draw conclusions about personality type” (University of Glasgow, 2014). This research reinforces the comments I have made about the mystery shoppers receiving a positive first impression, when the server approached the group, he received only positive feedback for the greeting he used. Stevens (2010, p161) wrote “the personal touch is one of the easiest and quickest ways to create a reputation for wowing customers: however, it does need to be appropriate and right for the market, the customers and type of contact”. The feedback received shows that the waiter did provide a personal touch as he noticed their student badges and offered the group discount. It was also commented on that he took into account the time and offered them the lunch menu even though there was still 10 minutes before he should have been giving it out.
The fourth question was “how was the overall appearance of the staff?”. Fig 2 says that the staff were “all in the same dress code and clean”, this customer marked the appearance of the staff with five out of five meaning they thought it was excellent, as did the second person, and the third. “In business, it’s important to look good. It’s not just a vanity, it’s how your customers – or potential customers – see you” (hyken, N.D.). This point was reflected in the feedback from the questionnaires, the staff were rated full marks which implies that the customers received a good first impression from the business and staff.
The fifth question asks, “how clean was the restaurant?”. Fig 2 and fig 6 mark the restaurant with a four out of five but leaves no comments as to why they did not give the full mark. Fig 2 gave a score of five, stating that “our table and seating area was clean, as was the floor with no visible leftovers or crumbs”. Having a clean restaurant is incredibly important when it comes to customer service. What they see when they first enter reflects on you as a business, if the floor is dirty then you don’t care about your business which creates a negative impression. Whereas if the customer enters the business and sees that the tables are clean, and the floors are swept it creates the impression that care is taken and the business is well looked after.
Question six asks “how clean was the area you were sat in?” fig 2 gave it five out of five and states that “the table and chairs were clean, and the table wasn’t sticky”. Fig 4 gave it a four, they left no comments as to why the restaurant didn’t receive full marks. Fig 6 marked it as excellent, giving five out of five, but again no comments were offered as to why they thought this. As with the question before, when customers see a clean area it makes them feel that the business is looked after and one that cares about its customers.
Customer service
The following questions and answers are taken from the questionnaire (fig 1) and come under the customer service category.
Question seven on fig 1 asks “how knowledgeable were the staff about their products?” fig 2 and fig 4 answered this question with a score of five and fig 2 commented that “everything we asked about, they had a good knowledge of”. Fig 6 gave a score of four with no comments to advise why this was. Any business owner will stress to you the importance of product knowledge, “retailers understand intuitively that product knowledge and customer service combine to make a good sales associate and, by extension, create a positive customer experience” (Nagle, 2002). This suggests that if one of those elements were to be lacking then it could create a bad customer experience.
The eighth question asks, “how would you rate the speed of being seated and placing your order?”. Fig 6 gave a score of four but gave no additional comments to suggest why this would be. Both fig 2 and fig 4 gave a score of five, meaning it was excellent, with fig 2 adding “we were seated as soon as we got in and placed our order after the right amount of time to choose”. This comes under the individuality aspect of being a customer service representative, each customer is different and may need less or more time before taking their order, a server will have to adapt to this depending on their customers.
The ninth question was “how did you find the ordering process?”. Fig 2 answered “easy, we had a lot of changes to our meals and he managed them no problem”. Fig 4 also gave a positive review, commenting “easy. We ordered with the waiter. He knew his products and was happy to change Adams chips for rice and to remove the jalapenos for Jake. He also came back to double check about the jalapeno cheese sauce”. Fig 6 also said that “I found the ordering process easy, I was going to use the app but after further consideration I thought it would complicate things so didn’t do it that way”. All of the comments made on the waiter and his service were positive, this links in with the theory that good customer service makes customers content and increases their customer satisfaction. According to Holt “about 70 percent of people who take their business elsewhere do so because of poor customer service and lack of human interaction” (small business, 2018). With the waiter having shown good customer service and interaction the customers have given him a higher score on the mystery shopper questionnaire. Fig 6 mentions an app, this shows that Chiquito’s are integrating technology into their business in order to keep up with their target demographic of young students and couples.
Question ten asks “Did the price of the menu affect your choice?” fig 4 and fig 6 answered yes to this question, the reason fig 4 gave was that even though everything was reasonably priced the lunch menu was good value for money as it was only £6.99 for a chicken wrap. Fig 6 said “I am a student, so I have to stick to a budget”. Fig 2 said that the price did not affect their choice as “everything was reasonably priced, and they offered a lunch menu and student discount”. In an article written by Alex he states that “A 2004 study by the Solvay Brussels School found that customers are more likely to develop a loyal, satisfied relationship with a business when products are priced reasonably” (Retently, 2018). This implies that even though one of the mystery shoppers may have been influenced by the prices in making their choice, the majority of the group still considered the prices reasonable and are more likely to return than if the prices were higher or lower.
The eleventh question asks, “What was the overall atmosphere of the restaurant”, to which fig 7 states that it was “very good, slightly quiet but overall good”. In comparison fig 5 said that they were able to talk comfortably as the music wasn’t too loud and the restaurant had a calm atmosphere. Similarly, fig 3 commented on the fact that the restaurant was almost empty, but it felt fuller because if the way they seated people in one area.
Product
The following questions and answers are taken from the questionnaire (fig 1) and come under the customer service category.
Question twelve on the questionnaire asks, “how well were the drinks made?”, fig 3 gave a four out of five and made the comment that “my first drink tasted different to everyone else’s, but it was fine the second time”. Fig 5 gave a three out of five and said, “my lime wasn’t mixed with the soda and there was no straw”. Both comments give a bad impression of the product, even though they were marked average or above the customers still had problems with their drinks. However, fig 7 scored five out of five meaning their drink was excellent.
The thirteenth question was “How would you rate the speed of food service?”, one of the shoppers gave an excellent score of five and one commented that it was quick, and all of the food came together. Fig 5 gave a score of four but gave no reason why, fig 7 gave a score of three but also didn’t comment on why the score was not excellent. This question itself shows how different customers have different perceptions of situations, for one customer the wait time was excellent whereas another felt it was too long.
The fourteenth question was “what was your overall impression of the food?”. Everyone gave an impressive score of five out of five for this question. This shows that even though Chiquito’s may lack in areas such as customer service, their food product is excellent.
Question fifteen asks “how was the attitude of the staff?”. Fig 3 states that “they seemed happy to be there and served us with a smile” and gave five as their score. Fig 5 was not as impressed by their servers’ attitude, they gave a score of four and mentioned that their server “sarcastically said thankyou when Jake didn’t thank him for bringing his drink over” showing that he server didn’t act in the most professional manner. However, this could have been a joke as none of the other mystery shoppers seem to have felt it was worth mentioning. Fig 7 gave a score of five and made no comments on the attitude of the waiter.
The sixteenth question asked, “How would you rate the speed of paying?”. Fig 3 and 7 both gave scores of five, fig 3 made a comment that the waiter was patient whilst the table worked out how to split their bill between themselves. Fig 5 was less impressed and gave a score of four, commenting that “we had to work out the bill ourselves which slowed the process”. Once again this highlights the fact that these people have different perceptions, while one customer was happy to sort the bill themselves, another marked the waiter down for this.
Expectations
The seventeenth question was “were your expectations met?”. All three of the mystery shoppers answered yes. When asked for comments fig 3 said they had chosen yes because “the food was to a good standard and looked, smelled and tasted like Mexican. The interior was also in a Mexican theme which I wouldn’t have expected”. Fig 5 commented “the food was good value for money. I enjoyed it. The bill was less than I was expecting due to my drink being cheap”. Fig 7 answered “I didn’t have any, just that the food was good, and the plate was clean”. This shows that some customers are easier to please than others, the simplest of things, such as a clean plate, can impress some customers whilst others are looking for a more sophisticated service such as the bill being split for them.
Question eighteen asks “would you return to the restaurant?”. Fig 3 answered yes and stated that “My food was really good and I would eat it again”, Fig 5 also said yes, commenting “I enjoy going there and haven’t had a problem so far”, Fig 7 answered yes also, and said “it was a nice atmosphere, the food was good and the price wasn’t so bad”.
The final question was “would you recommend to Chiquito’s to another person?”. All three of the answers were yes, when asked why fig 7 left no comments. Fig 3 said it was because “the food was good, and people were friendly”, and fig 5 said “the people I have taken there seem to enjoy it”.
Conclusion
This was an individual report based on a group mystery customer exercise at Chiquito’s restaurant. Included in this report was the summary of findings from the questionnaire completed by the group. The questionnaire looked at areas such as; first impressions, customer service, product and expectations.
The answers from the questionnaire and findings within the report show how people have different perceptions of a service and product. Everyone received the same waiter and service but felt the service provided and products given differed, all pf the participants gave different scores throughout the questionnaire.
The introduction saw the quote “famous for the best fajitas and margaritas in a vibrant restaurant with passionate service” (trgplc, N.D.) from The Restaurant Group website, having read the report and its findings, would you say that he restaurant seems vibrant and the service passionate?
Recommendations
The person who wrote this report would recommend that Chiquito’s look at the consistency within their products, especially the drinks. This was the only area that the mystery shoppers marked down noticeably, all other areas scored four or more. However, the drinks received a mark of three from fig 5 and fig 3 mentioned that their first drink tasted funny.
There are no other recommendations to be made by the author of this report. It is clear that the company have a good product, are different from any other restaurant within the market and offer good customer service.
