Hayashi Restaurant Marketing Plan - Case Study Example

The Primary Target Market The major target market for the Hayashi restaurant is basically people from the middle to upper class. Selecting this target group was mainly influenced by the fact that many of the people living in the Applecross suburb are mainly people from the upper class and the middle class populations. Consequently, having people from both the middle and the upper class the main target market for the restaurant is viable and also provides an opportunity for a huge market for the restaurant. Additionally, selecting the middle and the upper class is influenced by the fact that the objective of the restaurant is to obtain a customer base that in conversant with the cuisine that is offered by the restaurant. The main dishes that will be served by the restaurant are mainly appreciated by people from the upper and the middle class, as a result, they are bound to appreciate the products offered The targeted market for the restaurant is also based on people of all ages and gender, who are possibly children, adults, students, working and non-working people who are married and have family responsibilities. Targeting all age groups and people from different genders is therefore import as it ensures that all every member of the population is able to come to the restaurant. Geographic segmentation is another key approach of getting the target market. The restaurant mainly targets people living in the Applecross area. Also, in order to have a wide range of clients from different geographical areas the restaurant will also serve people from far distances such as tourists from other countries. Also, the restaurant will also cater for people from other areas in metropolitan and even rural areas. This also implies that the services and products offered by the restaurant will be for people from different geographical regions and not just the Applecross area. The existing customers in Applecross area will also be a crucial target group for the restaurant. The Applecross area has many potential customers who love to take their meals away from their homes. Such people will provide a potential customer base for the restaurant. Tiers for the customers Zeithaml et al (2001) highlight that different tiers have different characteristics and profiles. Profitability varies depending on the tiers of the most useful customers. As usual in customer segmentation, it is essential to find approaches in which customers that live in one tier become different from another tier.1 In the context of the Hayashi restaurant a customer pyramid is be applicable as the key tier. The customer pyramid is defined as follows; Platinum - For Loyal customers Gold – Applecross residents Iron – Customers from other suburbs Lead – Customers who are not interested in Japanese cuisines The top tier which is platinum is likely to have few members however is has the potential to provide opportunity for the development of the business. The lower tire on the other hand is likely to be less populated and can provide less value for the restaurant. Each tier will however be considered as important for the business. As a result, marketing targets will be set in all tiers. This is because targeting customer tiers leads to attaining certain marketing objectives.2 Differences between the decision maker, buyer and User for the service The differences between the decision maker, the buyer and the user of the services are paramount for the hotel business. This is because the hotel business is one of the key businesses with a huge market potential based on the fact that people have to eat and they also have to eat constantly. The decision maker in this context will technically be all the customer who make orders for products and services offered by the restaurant. The buyer on the other hand will be distinguished by those that are able to pay. In general adults and mostly parents have the potentiality of paying as result they function effectively as the buyers. The users of the products and services offered will literally be all customers based on the fact that people of all ages, class and gender have to consume food. Do service initiatives distinguish between new and existing customers? It can be stated that service client initiatives at Hayashi restaurant are able to distinguish between new and existing clients. The staff of the hotel stand at strategic points in order to effectively identify any new customer that come to the restaurant. The staff are then able to recognize the new client even if the client has just come to the restaurant for the first time and for a few minutes. A case in point is that when a new customers comes into the restaurant, the staff quickly identify them. They then move closer to them while giving them a pleasant smile. After making their orders and the clients are ready to go the staff thank the new customer and wish them well while making it clear to them that they are welcome again to the restaurant. The staff are also very responsive to the requests of the existing customers. The exiting customers are still welcomed with the same strategies applied to new customers. Verbal communication with the customers is considered important. This results to building social bonds with the customers. It can be stated that the service initiatives adopted by the restaurant are able to attract and maintain the existing customers. This is because they are able to create a lasting impression to the clients. As argued by Micah (2014) effective service initiatives should result to the creation of a lasting impression for the clients. 3 Customer Influencers Who May Sway the Decision A number of customer influencers exist in order to sway the decision of the customers. One of the key influencers in the staff in the hotel. The staff are well dressed and appealing and therefore attract the customer to the hotel. Additionally, the staff provide high quality services by serving the customers in a passionate and a caring way. Another influencer is the quality of dishes that are prepared by the chef. Most of the chefs employed by the restaurant are well qualified and have the ability to prepare high quality dishes even those that are complex in nature. In addition the ingredients used to prepare the dishes are usually of high quality. In most cases the chefs use a combination of ingredients that that match each other effectively. The price of the dishes is another fact that may influences the decision of the customers. Most dishes that are offered to the customer are of high prices. This may actually influence the decision of the customers to purchase the dishes offered or not to purchase the dishes depending on the amount of money they have. The price of the product is usually an essential marketing factor that can influences consumer behavior in terms of the decision to purchase the product or not to purchase.4 Parking for the clients is also limited. In most cases the clients have a limited parking space. This affects their potentiality to come to the restaurant. Expectations and Perceived Service quality from a customer’s point of view The expectation of the customers concerning the service quality is definitely high. Many customers do not want to go to a restaurant and get poor service quality. As a result, the restaurant manager always ascertains that the quality of services provided by the staff is high. It can also be stated that the perceived service quality by the customer in Hayashi restaurant is high. The existence of high service quality in the hotel has therefore influenced the customers to continue coming to the restaurant. Customers Role in Service Delivery Studies in management and marketing indicate that customers have a significant role to play when it comes to service delivery. (Booms and Mohr, 1994; Arnold and Price, 1993; Ostrom and Iacobucci, 1995). In most cases the studies have highlighted the roles of employees and the service process in offering quality services for clients. However, the studies have acknowledged the significant role that is to be played by the customers themselves in developing the service outcomes that they require. Some of the common roles played by the customers in service delivery include. The customer as a productive resource whereby customers are actually partial employees of the business. The inputs of the customers may impact on the productivity of the business whereby they contribute their time, resources and effort in the production process of the service.5 In Hayashi restaurant, the customers won’t contribute themselves as partial employees. In this case, there shouldn’t be any effort, time, or other resources that are contributed by customers to the production process. The restaurant’s productivity would not be affected if customers contributed. Customers may also act competitors whereby they compete with the service provider. The nature of competition may be in the form of internal exchange whereby the customer produce services and products for themselves. It can also take the external exchange where they have someone else offer the home services for them. 6 Based on the target market selected by Hayashi restaurant the selected customers cannot act as competitors. It is the lower class customer who mainly act as competitions. This is the basic reason why the restaurant did not target the lower class population. The findings disclosed the following; Time (Lower class customers have less leisure time for a better meal than middle and upper classes) Expertise (Lower class customers may have less knowledge on high quality ingredients) Economic rewards (The restaurant would not give out discounts easily as their cost of production is relatively high due to the high quality ingredients) The key customer contribution the restaurant is; The contribution to service quality and satisfaction. Contribution in satisfaction with the service is attained when the customer perform their function as customers by eating the dishes prepared by the restaurant for the purpose of satisfaction. The contribution in terms of quality is attained when they ask questions concerning the menu, request for other supplementary service, when the customers become responsible for their own satisfaction and also complain if service failure occurs. The potential role of a customer data base A customer data base is very significant in the sense that it assists in identifying the loyal customers or the existing customers. The existing customers can be useful providing compliments or complains identified in order to enhance the service delivery. The role of Demand It can be stated that demand does play a role in the service delivery and the quality of dishes provided by the restaurant. As a Japanese restaurant, most of their food ingredients are imported and the quality and quantity may vary according to different time periods or seasons. For example, Salmons from Norway and local prime Beefs. Analysis of the survey result about customers’ expectations and perceived service quality The findings of the survey provided crucial information concerning the state of customer expectations and perceived service quality. The survey contained 6 Questions in total and was distributed to 10 customers. Findings on the first Part In terms of customer expectation on the quality of food ingredients, the survey disclosed that there was an average score. An average score basically implies that the quality of ingredients did not meet the ideal or the most appropriate level. This basically implies that there is need for improvement in the quality of ingredients. The quality of service also obtained an average score of 4 which basically implies that there is need for improvement in the area of service quality although the quality of services offered was not bad. Finding on the Second Part The second part of the survey disclosed an average score on the dishes served .The customers viewed the dishes as delicious however more improvements should be made on the delicacies. The responsiveness of the waiters to the requests of the customers obtained the highest score implying that the service quality of the restaurant was good and there was need to maintain such quality of service. The conformability of the environment obtained a low score. This can basically be attributed to factors such as limited packing that exists outside the restaurant making the customers uncomfortable. The customers also acknowledged the fact that the dishes were served within a reasonable time. In fact the customers were provided with the survey question before their dishes were served. The results were therefore based on the current feeling of the customers. References Arnold, J and Price, L, 1993, “River Magic: extraordinary experience and the extended Service encounter”, Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 20, June, pp. 24-45. Bitner, M, Faranda, T, Hubbert , A, Zeithaml , V, Customer contributions and roles in service delivery, International Journal of Service Industry Management, 8 (3), 1997, pp. 193-205. Booms, H and Mohr, A, 1994, “Critical service encounters: the employee’s Viewpoint”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 58, October, pp. 95-106. Birke, D, 2013, How Pricing Strategy Influences Consumer Behaviour in Social Networks, Wily Publishing . Chetty, P, 2010, Role of customers in service delivery, PG. Micah, S, 2014, Customer Service Initiatives To Start Today, Fobez Magazine. Ostrom, A and Iacobucci, D, 1995, “Consumer trade-offs and the evaluation of services”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 59, January, pp. 17-28. Wilson, K, Speare, N, and Reese, S, 2002, Successful Global Account Management: Key Strategies and Tools for Managing Global Customers, Kogan Page Publishers. Zeithaml, V , Lemon, Rust, R , 2001, Driving Customer Equity: How Customer Lifetime Value Is Reshaping Corporate Strategy, Simon and Schuster. Read More