Joses Mexican Restaurant Case Study free essay sample

From the customer’s perspective, quality at Jose’s should be defined by location and ease of access to the restaurant, ambiance, sense of arrival, service, food quality, and price. To better understand quality, 83 customers who dined at the restaurant last Friday and Saturday night were asked to answer yes or no to five survey questions: 1. Were you seated promptly? 2. Was your waiter satisfactory? 3. Were you served in a reasonable time? 4. Was your food enjoyable? 5. Was your dining experience worth the cost? Of the five questions, perhaps the most important question is â€Å"Was your dining experience worth the cost?. † This can be an indicator of overall customer satisfaction with the complete dining experience (ambiance, food quality, service, value, etc. ) in relation to cost. Approximately 81% of customers surveyed responded yes, with about 19% of the customers surveyed indicating they did not receive good value. The other questions can provide more insight into the specific issues around the customer’s perception of quality. We will write a custom essay sample on Joses Mexican Restaurant Case Study or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Were you seated promptly? About 84% of the respondents answered yes to this question. While this does not appear to be the major issue, there is room for improvement. With process reengineering, the restaurant could achieve more even flow of customers during peak times. Given the importance of first impressions on customers, the restaurant should consider options for creating a comfortable area for waiting. This may include rearranging the tables to optimize efficiency, or a more expensive remodel. The restaurant could analyze the cost/benefit of taking reservations or increasing restaurant capacity and facilities to allow take? out orders. The restaurant should also consider the cost of a remodel and also increasing seating capacity from the current 58. If the restaurant is consistently busy on Friday and Saturday nights, with 45 minute waits, they are undoubtedly losing customers who have nowhere to wait comfortably, particularly in New England in inclement weather. Was your waiter satisfactory? Among the five questions, this one received the highest satisfaction score at 88%. The waiter, as the primary customer contact, is the face of the restaurant operation. On these nights, the waiter was leaving a positive impression with customers. However, if the other quality indicators are achieved, it’s likely the satisfaction with the waiter will also increase, and therefore gratuities. Were you served in a reasonable time? At 70%, this question received the lowest satisfaction score, indicating the most significant challenge for the restaurant. A typical time for completing a meal once it has been ordered is 12 minutes. During peak times, it can take 20 minutes to get good meals delivered to the table. The eight minute difference can have a significant impact on the customer’s perception of their overall experience. Given the waiter satisfaction is much higher, customers don’t appear to blame the wait staff. This could mean that the delivery of menus, water, beverages and ordering is accomplished in a reasonable time, but the actual time between ordering and delivery of food is the real issue with customer satisfaction and should be the focus of process reengineering. Among the potential solutions could be process engineering to optimize efficiency. Further, additional staff could be added on Friday and Saturday nights. A prep cook could be added to do more advance work. A food expediter could check the quality of the food from the kitchen and deliver it to the tables, allowing the waiters more time with customers. A busboy could clear dishes from the tables and take them back to the kitchen. This addition of staff during peak times could allow the restaurant to turn more tables faster, thereby increasing revenue. Was your food enjoyable? After satisfaction with the waiter, this question received the highest response at 87%. While the cook has been complaining about the poor quality of some of the ingredients recently, it did not prove to be a significant issue for the customers in this survey. However, customers come to restaurants to eat and quality has to be consistent. The restaurant should monitor this closely, including its suppliers. 2. What are the restaurant’s costs of process failures? A process failure is any performance shortfall such as error, delay, environmental waste, or rework. This can affect both the expense and revenue side of the business. In terms of expenses, customers could send food back that is not prepared to their expectation (taste, temperature, appearance, preparation, etc. ) which results in extra material (food waste) and labor costs from both