1.2 Literature Review

This research topic concentrates on the area of customer service and serves the purpose to improve customer service in a Chinese take-away restaurant in Crewe, UK. Based on the topic features, the report gives literature review in the following aspects: customer service in the current Chinese take-away industry, the relationship between customer service and customer’s behavioral intention and the method to improve customer service.

1.2.1 Customer Service in the Current Chinese Take-away Industry

According to Turban et al. (2002), "Customer service is a series of activities designed to enhance the level of customer satisfaction – that is, the feeling that a product or service has met the customer expectation." The food quality and taste are of similar level for Chinese take-away restaurants in Crewe area and customers will be fickle in front of similar alternatives (Pearson, 2012). Customer service is especially important under this circumstance to build trust and later dependency relationship between existing customers and the restaurant. 

Take-away restaurants as a relatively new type of restaurants attract customers because they are cheaper than full-service restaurants thanks to no tip paid to waiting staff and relatively lower operation and labor costs of take-away restaurants. There are also problems associated with Chinese take-away restaurants. The interaction between Chinese take-away staff and customers are limited, because they just take order by phone or online and then deliver the order door-to-door. There is almost no other casual communication between staff and customers partially because of poor oral English and gap of culture. The great opportunities to build close relationship with customers are forgone. They would have been able to introduce other delicious dishes in their restaurants and advertise their restaurants to the existing customers if the customer service is emphasized. Solomon (2010) pointed out that to provide excellent customer service, the employee must “adjust themselves to the personality of the guest”. Chinese take-away restaurants introduce the delicious Chinese dishes to the western people (John, 2005); however, if the Chinese take-away restaurants want to expand in size and attract more customers, the quality of customer service has to be enhanced.

1.2.2 Customer Service and Customer’s Behavioral Intention

High customer satisfaction maintains a high customer retention rate. Customer satisfaction is described as “a measure of how products and services supplied by a company meet or surpass customer expectation” (Hayes, 2008). A warm greeting from the phone operator, a smile in the face of the driver and a coupon with beautiful prints impress most of the customers. Such friendly customer service shows the care about the customers from everyone in the restaurant. Excellent customer service improves customer satisfaction.

1.2.3 Method to Improve Customer Service

Any employee who has direct contact with the customer should be non-dismissive, responsive, empathetic, trustworthy, knowledgeable, and loyal to the corporate team. They should be well trained, self-reliant and enabled or empowered to act (Wellington, 2010). In this point of view, the employee management is kind of method to heighten the accomplishment and diathesis of employees that are the foundation of customer service, and better employee management will be helpful for customer service improvement of business (Falcone, 2009). 

1.3 Methodology

The methodology of the investigation includes an interview with Mr. Lin and keeping a record of all the conversations. From the interview, the daily operation of China Royal is recorded so that advantage and disadvantage of the restaurant’s daily management can be clearly seen.