PART B

Introduction:
The experience that customers have of services can be explored in various ways. Qualitative research techniques can be used to better understand a service through the customers eyes, and to explore in depth their experiences and expectations. Quantitative research can provide numerical measures of customer satisfaction and statistically representative findings to assess the performance of a service and provide information to drive improved service quality. This is referred to as Customer Satisfaction Measurement and is my focus area in Jungle Lodges and Resorts Ltd. Customer satisfaction measurement involves the collection of data that provides information about how satisfied or dissatisfied customers are with a service. As well as providing an organisation with scores, the data can be used to understand the reasons for the level of satisfaction that has been recorded. This information can be collected and analysed in many different ways. This project aims to explore, analyse and report the levels of customer satisfaction using traditional statistical techniques. Customer satisfaction measurement is a questionnaire-based research approach. However, for quantitative measurement to be effective, it will generally need to be preceded by qualitative research to explore the key features of a service from the perspective of the customer.

PROBLEM STATEMENT:
To measure the satisfaction levels of customers, regarding the service provided by Jungle Lodges and Resorts ltd. at 5 among 16 of their eco-tourism facilities in the region of Karnataka.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

To determine overall customer satisfaction with service provided at Jungle Lodges and Resorts. To identify customer perceptions of key areas of strength and key areas of weakness. To measure and prioritize areas where improvement will most affect customer satisfaction. To identify customer service representatives who had a positive effect in the minds of the customer, through customer feedback forms. To develop a means to measure over time, the effect that increased customer satisfaction has on repeat customer sales.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY:

Need For Customer Satisfaction Research: While good research can be used for performance management and/or to meet statutory requirements, the most successful customer measurement programmes are motivated by the desire to put customer focus at the heart of an organisation. Customer-focused organisations view customer satisfaction measurement as a means rather than an end as part of a cycle of continuous improvement in service delivery, and as part of the wider toolkit of customer insight techniques.

Customer satisfaction measurement allows an organisation to understand the issues, or key drivers, that cause satisfaction or dissatisfaction with a service experience. When an organisation is able to understand how satisfied its customers are, and why, it can focus its time and resources more effectively. Customer satisfaction measurement may also enable an organisation to understand the extent to which satisfaction with a service is influenced by factors outside of its control (such as the media) and to differentiate between what people say

influences how satisfied they are, and what is really driving their satisfaction during a service experience. Customer satisfaction measurement can help an organisation understand what it can and cannot control. Most importantly, customer satisfaction measurement helps an organisation focus on its customers, and should galvanise service owners, customer-facing staff, policy, strategy and research staff, as well as senior management, around the aim of improving the customer experience.

Who should be involved

The most important stakeholders in customer satisfaction measurement are, of course, the service customers themselves. From an internal perspective, however, there are a number of professional groups whose involvement in the research will ultimately determine whether or not it is effective. The customer measurement programme itself may be executed by the research community within an organisation, but for implementation to be effective it needs to be owned by the organisation: Senior management can make the difference between good research that remains unused and genuine service transformation. The involvement of senior management not only signals that the work is viewed as strategically important, it also means that those who have the power to act on the findings are more likely to do so. Policy and Strategic staff should use the findings to support strategic decision making. Research and Insight staff will need to analyse the data and share findings effectively. Communications staff should be involved in communicating the research findings and resulting actions to internal and external audiences, including customers. Operational management need to understand how the findings can be applied to their area of responsibility. Customer satisfaction measurement will give a sense at a very tactical level - of how customers feel about the service they are providing and the performance of staff involved in delivery of the service. Service directors need to understand why they are obtaining these results and how they can be used to drive forward improvements in delivery.

 Customer-facing staff are incredibly valuable in customer research programmes for many reasons. From their day to day work, customer-facing staff will have ideas about how customers view the experience of a service and the reasons why experiences are satisfactory or not. When preparing the way for customer research, it is important to tap into this insight as it can guide the focus of the work and provide valuable material for questionnaire development. Customer-facing staff are also critical stakeholders when it comes to implementing the results of customer satisfaction measurement: it will often be their job to deliver the changes which can bring improvements in the customer experience. Their commitment and buy-in is essential.

Continuous Programme of Service Transformation

Measuring customer satisfaction is just one stage in a continuous programme of service transformation. For organisations new to this process, the first stages require a review of what the service provides, where it sits in context with other related services in customers minds, who its customers are and what information about the customer experience is already available. After this, qualitative research should be conducted with customers and staff to highlight key issues that the survey will need to capture. At this point decisions will need to be made about which customers should be interviewed and what methods should be used. Once the survey has been conducted the data will need to be interpreted to provide actionable insights for the organisation. Finally, the results will need to be communicated across the organisation in such a way that the findings are taken on board and action taken as a result. For many organisations this process will form a continuous cycle of improvement.

Methodology
The Primary research detailed discussions with internal staff and a small group of customers to get a fair perspective on the way to go about the customer satisfaction survey. Then, Primary Data was collected through 3 channels of survey namely, Face-To-Face interaction Telephonic interview Online Questionnaire

The information required to contact the customers for telephonic survey and Online survey was available with the internal customer database of JLR.

Some of the tools used in the measurement of satisfaction levels are Net Promoters Scale Data Mining, in paragraph text responses Rating Scale Customer Loyalty Measurement

The information gathered was studied and analyzed. It revealed certain issues in critical attributes which need further attention. Some suggestions have been given to make the Customer Experience more gratifying and effective, thus unleashing its full potential and making it mutually beneficial for the customer as well as the organization.

Limitations of the study

There are a few limitations which are innate in the survey and statistical tools used in this research: The survey conducted is on a sample size of the entire population and is assumed to be reflective of the opinion of the population for a period of one month. The statistical tool used is Correlation Coefficient Measurement in the derivation of Key Drivers. It consists of a Confidence level which indicates the range of percentage in which the analysed result is true. In this study, the confidence interval is 95% A Margin of Error has to be considered in arriving at the sample size to consider for the given population. In this study, the margin of error is +/-6.05.

Designing the Survey and Questionnaire

Introduction:
Being an intern who is new to customer satisfaction measurement, getting started can seem a daunting task in itself. The following steps and methodology have been used after extensive research related to the methods of effective customer satisfaction measurement As a first step, it involves understanding what customer satisfaction measurement can do for the organisation. After this, there are a series of (quite straightforward) issues to consider on the road to designing or commissioning a research programme. All organisations, whether they are already carrying out customer satisfaction measurement or are relatively new to it, should consider these points to ensure that they are the spending taxpayers money wisely.

Broadly speaking there are four questions to address, and each of these in turn will be explained further in more detail: How does the organization define its service? Who are its target customers? What else can it find out?

How does the organization define its service? Defining the service that the organisation (or relevant part of it) provides will help inform everything else. The most fundamental things that an organisation should consider are what its service is and what vision it has for it. Among the more specific issues to consider when measuring customer satisfaction are: 1. How do customers come to use the service? 2. Does the service involve an outcome that is likely to affect satisfaction? 3. Do customers pay for the service or is it free at the point of delivery? 4. Are the customers involved in simple or complex interactions with the service? 5. How do customers interact with the service? 6. Do customers define the service in the same way that the organization does?

The answers to these questions can influence both customer perceptions of the service and the way in which the customer satisfaction measurement programme is designed, conducted and

analysed. It is therefore important to think through these issues before designing or commissioning customer satisfaction measurement.

Choice and competition are almost always present in private sector product and service provision, but often not in public sector provision, and this is one of the key features that distinguishes the two in relation to measuring customer perceptions.

Are the customers involved in simple or complex interactions with the service? Whether a service involves one or two simple one-off transactions or a complex set of ongoing interactions between the customer and service provider, it will have a strong bearing on how customer satisfaction measurement should be conducted. Before designing a customer research programme, consider whether it is better to conduct a single survey for all customers or separate surveys for different customer groups. If service experiences are likely to differ radically for different customer groups, a more customised approach may yield a greater depth of understanding at the analysis stage. Considering JLR, the interactions of customers with the service is a complex network which maybe broken down into several simple interactions. The customers can be classified into sub groups of adventure enthusiasts, honeymooners, family vacation, etc. Hence the Face-to-Face customer survey form includes a question asking the customer to classify the nature of their trip, to help JLR assess the demographic diversity in its customer base and helps them target each sub group in a customized strategy beneficial to both the service provider and the receiver. Do customers pay for the service or is it free at the point of delivery? Customers may have different expectations of a service which they pay for directly and one which is paid for through general taxation (but may be perceived as free). This affects the way in which the findings need to be viewed; it also impacts on the type of research techniques that can be used. JLR provides paid service, which can be categorized as Premium Pricing.

Does the service involve an outcome that is likely to affect satisfaction? Outcome can influence satisfaction. For many services, the effect of the outcome on the customers perceptions of the service needs to be taken into account when measuring customer satisfaction. The service offered at JLR affects satisfaction of customers on several levels. A rating scale is used in the Online and Personal Interaction Questionnaire for the

customer to rate his/her level of satisfaction with each of the considered factor. These factors are: Accommodation Cuisine (Food) Activities ( Safari, Trekking, Boating, Nature Walks, Campfire, etc) Educational Insights provided by the Naturalist/Guide during guided tours. Hospitality Value for Money

How do customers interact with the service? The way in which customers interact with a service varies (e.g. face to face in a local office, over the telephone or by submitting forms online or in the post) and customers may each use a variety of channels. A question in the form asks the customer to select their mode of booking. This helps JLR analyse the effectiveness of each mode and to implement suggestive improvements thereby enhancing the customer service experience. Another question included in the survey asks the customer if a staff member, in the resort visited, made an impression on them. This is an initiative taken to recognize the dedication and effectiveness of an employee in that facility (resort) and motivate their performance through appraisal.

Do customers define the service in the same way that the organization does? When assessing what needs to be measured it is important to understand whether the customer defines the service in the same way as the service provider. The best way to explore how customers define the service is through qualitative interviews with customers. In JLR, the customer define the service in the same way the organization does except for one factor which affects the satisfaction levels of the customer but this factor cannot controlled by the JLR management. That factor is Wildlife Sighting in a guided Safari. Although the term Safari is defined to be an overland drive into the jungle, the customers expectation of it is to see several and the rarest of the animals in the jungle. The sighting experience varies due to seasonal changes and the unpredictability of life in the wild. These factors cannot be controlled and hence it is not considered in the Questionnaire developed to study the level of satisfaction of customers.

Who are the Target Customers? Definitions of customers for the purpose of customer satisfaction measurement may range from all residents in a local authority area to people who have had recent involvement with a specific service.

Customer segmentation Segmentation involves grouping customers based on who they are and how they interact with an organisations services. Once customer segments have been established within an organisation they can then be used to better target operational resources. In addition to this they can also provide a common framework and language for referring to customer within an organisation. A segmentation is an approximation a tool that can allow an organisation to use internal short hand when talking about their customers. Customers can be segmented in a multitude of ways. At its simplest level, a segmentation may be based on service usage. In JLR, the customers can be segmented as: Family vacationers Adventure Enthusiasts Honeymooners Wildlife Photography Enthusiasts Tourists Others

What else can I find out? A due diligence approach to customer satisfaction measurement requires some preliminary qualitative research. A small investment in exploratory qualitative research helped define the key areas that seem to relate to customers satisfaction or otherwise, so that the quantitative research focuses on the right questions. This exploratory work included:

Qualitative research with customers helped define the service and to segment customers on the basis of their expectations from their visit to one among the JLR destinations. The explorative interview with a group of customers helped identify critical areas of satisfaction measurement which maybe specifically classified for any recommendations or suggestive implementations.

Qualitative research with customer-facing staff helped enhance the understanding of how the service works in practice. My internal guide Ms. Archana was be able to highlight the areas that she saw to be primary issues which must be considered for customers on a regular basis. She also provided critical information on the working of the organization and its policies.

After the Preliminary Stage, I decided upon 3 main Questions required to design a Survey for measuring the satisfaction of customers of JLR.

There are three major decisions to be made, which are: What should I ask? Who should I interview? How should I collect the information?

What should I ask? The steps that you will already have taken to define your service and work out what you already know should have begun to shape your questionnaire. The next step is to think more in detail about the questions you should ask.

What types of question should be included? There are four broad types of question that make up the majority of most customer satisfaction questionnaires.

Overall rating measures Service-specific questions Customer characteristics

Overall rating measures Overall rating measures are questions where customers are asked to rate various aspects of the service (e.g. accommodation, hospitality, etc) and their experience of the service as a whole.

These questions generally use a rating scale of one type or other to summarise the customers perceptions or feelings about a service or aspects of it. While there has been much debate within the research community about which scales work best in customer satisfaction measurement, there is no universally accepted wisdom in this area. Overall rating questions in public sector research typically use satisfaction or performance scales, such as those used in the Questionnaire.

Service-specific measures Overall rating measures provide a snapshot of how customers perceive the service as a whole and specific components of it, but do not explain why customers feel the way they do. While these measures might grab the headlines, what I have called service specific measures are needed to fill in the gaps and ultimately will be more valuable in providing the insights that can lead to service transformation. These questions focus on the details of the customers experiences such as did they experience any problems in the booking process or any trouble in locating or arriving at the preferred resort, and suggestions that they have which would enrich the customer service, etc. The actual measures that an individual service should focus on will vary but can be identified in the exploratory stage of the research process. These service-specific questions can then be used as diagnostic measures to identify which elements of the service are responsible for problems from the customers point of view.

Customer characteristics Recording customers characteristics provides important context for understanding their service experience. The types of questions asked were depending on the services provided by JLR,and also included basic demographics such as sex and age. Using a consistent set of personal characteristics will enabled to bring together information from different types of surveys within the organisation and across the organisation.

How long should the questionnaire be? Not very long, because the time and energy required from the respondent must be taken into account. The optimal questionnaire length will depend largely on the method of data collection and the complexity of the service

Online 5 minutes Telephone 5 minutes Face to face 10 minutes

When surveys are longer than this, it can be hard to convince customers to complete them and levels of response can be low. Also, the quality of information that customers give declines dramatically if questionnaires are too long: customers may give little thought to their answers towards the end of the survey or simply not complete it. If customers perceive the service to be particularly important, the effect of questionnaire length is reduced and longer surveys are possible.

Which customers must the Sample Size include?

For the sake of analysis, the satisfaction levels of customers over a period of one month (Jan 27th to Feb 27th 2012) were considered. The customers were sent online forms through the information present in the companys database, and telephone calls were made to customers for a telephonic survey using the information in the database. Face-to-Face interaction was conducted on-site in the JLR facility at Bannerghatta camp, Bandipur and Kabini. The sample size will include a random selection of the total number of respondents. The number of random selections is based on a statistical calculation on the average monthly occupancy in 5 among 16 JLR properties.

How should the Information be collected?

The information is collected using 3 channels, namely Face-To-Face interaction Telephonic Survey Online Questionnaire

Each of these formats have a predetermined set of questions assessing the same attributes. The information once collected is analysed separately using statistical tools and later combined to get a consolidated result from which interpretations and conclusions can be derived.

Level of participation and avoiding bias Certain types of customer are more likely to take part in a survey than others. For example, customers who are very dissatisfied (or very satisfied) may be more likely to respond to a survey than those in the middle. When this happens the survey findings can be misleading and, as a result, specific actions taken in response to the survey could actually make the overall customer experience worse. Decisions about the data collection method need to be taken to reduce any such bias in the data, for example, by increasing the level of participation or by setting interviewing quotas to make sure the research accurately represents customer views. In general, data collection methods that involve an interviewer, such as face to face and telephone interviewing, tend to have higher levels of participation. This is because the interviewer is able to persuade the customer to take part there and then, whereas an online questionnaire can be more easily ignored. There are, however, some cases where online surveys can achieve high levels of response, such as when the service is seen as particularly salient or important.

Length and complexity of the questionnaire When the questionnaire is particularly long or complex, the presence of an interviewer can encourage respondents to persevere. Respondents can easily abandon online questionnaires if they feel the questionnaire is too long, although the salience or importance of the service will again have a bearing on whether or not people are prepared to complete long interviews. In addition to the length of the questionnaire, the type of questions that will be asked can also have an impact on which data collection method should be used. For example, for obvious reasons, it is difficult to use visual prompts in a telephone survey, while online questionnaires have to be kept very simple in their structure if people are to be expected to fill them in correctly.

Length of fieldwork Different methods of data collection will tend to take different lengths of time. Generally speaking, telephone fieldwork can be turned around in the shortest period of time while Face to face interactions tend to take the longest because iy involves travelling to the destination and individually reach out to respondents. However, there may be instances where internet

surveys are actually quicker than a telephone survey. This is because the fieldwork period that is needed for 10000 web questionnaires is the same as that required for 100 questionnaires, while, with telephone or face to face surveys, an increase in the number of interviews may result in a proportionate increase in the length of the fieldwork period.

Cost Whilst there is always an optimal way to collect the data, this needs to be balanced against the budget available for the research. The most expensive data collection methods are face to face and telephone interviewing because of the need to pay interviewer fees. Of these two methods, face to face interviewing is significantly more expensive than telephone. Online questionnaires are the least expensive data collection methods, with online generally being the cheapest. One of the main benefits of using online data collection is that the marginal costs of increasing the sample size are negligible.

Practical issues One of the most important considerations when choosing a data collection method is what would be appropriate for the services customers. This can involve assessing both the resources that customers can access and the difficulties that they may have in responding in certain modes. Obviously, an online survey will only be appropriate if a significant majority of customers have access to the internet and can complete an online survey relatively easily. Whilst most customers will have access to a telephone, certain groups (particularly younger people with low incomes) are less likely to have a landline, so unless mobile phone numbers are available, these customers will be excluded. Choice of method becomes even more important if part of the research focuses on channel preference.

Analysis and Interpretation of the Survey

Collecting the data in the right way and asking the right questions are critical steps along the way to successful customer satisfaction measurement. But the research will only be valuable if it delivers insight that can be used as a basis for service transformation.

In order to conduct the survey, a sample size which reflected the average opinion of the entire customer base over a period of one month, needed to be calculated.

The total number of respondents were : Face-To-Face Interaction: Telephonic Interview: Online Questionnaire 52 24 155

Total:

231

To determine the sample size, a few other parameters need to be specified. These are Confidence interval (Margin of Error), Confidence Level and Population size.

Population:

1866 (Number of customers at 5 JLR properties over a period of 1 month)

Confidence Level:

95%

Confidence Interval: @ 6.05% the sample size required will be 231.

Using these elements in a Sample Size Calculator, we get the minimum sample size that is representative of the population to be 231.

Sample Size:

231

This Sample size is used to determine the result of the survey which will be 95% accurate with a margin of error upto +/- 6.05%.

A snapshot of the graphs generated, from the data accumulated, in each of the 3 forms of survey conducted are presented as below. A brief explanation is given for the understanding of the procedure of interpreting the results which is derived from the aggregation of all three forms of data collection.

1. Selecting the Mode of Booking

The above graph reveals information on the number of bookings made in each of the 5 modes of booking provided at JLR. Each mode has 3 bar graphs which are indicative of the type of survey instrument used. These are colour coded and depicted next to the graph in the above diagram.

Interpretation: In the diagram below, a consolidated view of the bookings made is given. According to this graph, the highest used mode of booking by customers in the ONLINE mode. This is followed by: #2. In Person #3. Through Travel Agent #4. Telephone

#5. Other

Thus the Online mode of booking is the most commonly preferred mode of booking in JLR.

Key Driver Analysis:

In this section, the various attributes contributing to the customer service/experience provided at Jungle Lodges and Resorts compared to the Overall satisfaction levels. This helps us rank the importance of each attribute, thereby providing critical information to the management on the areas that needs to be their primary focus in making their service more effective. Also, the individual attributes rating on satisfaction is a result offered by the survey. Correlation, a statistical tool, is used in the analysis to identify the correlation between the individual factor and the overall satisfaction level. This helps in the identification of Key Drivers and later helps in making the Gap analysis matrix.

1. Accommodation

Combined Value compared with Overall Satisfaction Level:

X-axis:

5 point rating scale, 1- Very Dissatisfied 2- Somewhat Dissatisfied 3- Neutral 4- Somewhat Satisfied 5- Very Satisfied

Y-axis:

Number of respondents.

Correlation Coefficient Calculation:

1 Accommodation 19 Overall Satisfaction 19

2 30 28

3 39 35

4 68 62

5 98 87

The correlation Coefficient of the 2 set of variables in the above table is 0.999657

Interpretation: The 2 factors considered have a high degree of positive correlation. This indicates that Accommodation is an important factor to be considered when it comes to influencing the Overall Satisfaction Levels of the customers.

Importance of the factor: It assesses the importance given by JLR to each of the considered factors. This is calculated by adding the 4th and 5th column responses of accommodation and subtracting it with the overall satisfaction responses in the same 4th and 5th column. (NOTE: 4th and 5th column indicate the somewhat satisfied and very satisfied rating in the survey) Here, Accommodation = 166 Overall Satisfaction = 149

Difference = 17

Hence, Accommodation is given high importance.

2. Cuisine:

Combined Value compared with Overall Satisfaction Level:

1 Cuisine Overall Satisfaction 28 17

2 35 28

3 41 35

4 77 62

5 50 87

The correlation Coefficient of the 2 set of variables in the above table is 0.664648

Interpretation: The 2 factors considered have a low degree of positive correlation. This indicates that Cuisine is a relatively less important factor to be considered when it comes to influencing the Overall Satisfaction Levels of the customers.

Importance of the factor: It assesses the importance given by JLR to each of the considered factors. This is calculated by adding the 4th and 5th column responses of cuisine and subtracting it with the overall satisfaction responses in the same 4th and 5th column. (NOTE: 4th and 5th column indicate the somewhat satisfied and very satisfied rating in the survey) Here, Cuisine = 127 Overall Satisfaction = 149

Difference = -22

Hence, Cuisine is given low importance.

3. Activities (Safari, Trekking, Boating, Nature Walks, Campfire, etc)

Combined Value compared with Overall Satisfaction Level:

Activities Overall Satisfaction

16 17

42 28

44 35

59 62

69 87

The correlation Coefficient of the 2 set of variables in the above table is 0.926199

Interpretation: The 2 factors considered have a moderately high degree of positive correlation. This indicates that Outdoor Activities are an important factor to be considered when it comes to influencing the Overall Satisfaction Levels of the customers.

Importance of the factor: It assesses the importance given by JLR to each of the considered factors. This is calculated by adding the 4th and 5th column responses of Outdoor Activities and subtracting it with the overall satisfaction responses in the same 4th and 5th column. (NOTE: 4th and 5th column indicate the somewhat satisfied and very satisfied rating in the survey) Here, Outdoor Activities = 128 Overall Satisfaction = 149

Difference = -21

Hence, Outdoor Activities is given low importance.

4. Educational Insights provided by the Naturalist during guided tours

Combined Value compared with Overall Satisfaction Level:

1 Naturalist Overall Satisfaction 19 17

2 37 28

3 53 35

4 60 62

5 62 87

The correlation Coefficient of the 2 set of variables in the above table is 0.850562

Interpretation: The 2 factors considered have a moderate degree of positive correlation. This indicates that Naturalists skill is one of the factors to be considered when it comes to influencing the Overall Satisfaction Levels of the customers.

Importance of the factor: It assesses the importance given by JLR to each of the considered factors. This is calculated by adding the 4th and 5th column responses of Educational Insights and subtracting it with the overall satisfaction responses in the same 4th and 5th column. (NOTE: 4th and 5th column indicate the somewhat satisfied and very satisfied rating in the survey) Here, Naturalist skill and educational insights = 122 Overall Satisfaction = 149

Difference = -27

Hence, Naturalist skills and Educational Insights is given low importance.

5. Hospitality:

Combined Value compared with Overall Satisfaction Level:

1 Hospitality Overall Satisfaction 20 17

2 22 28

3 22 35

4 63 62

5 102 87

The correlation Coefficient of the 2 set of variables in the above table is 0.976509 Interpretation: The 2 factors considered have a very high degree of positive correlation. This indicates that Hospitality is a very important factor to be considered when it comes to influencing the Overall Satisfaction Levels of the customers.

Importance of the factor: It assesses the importance given by JLR to each of the considered factors. This is calculated by adding the 4th and 5th column responses of Hospitality and subtracting it with the overall satisfaction responses in the same 4th and 5th column. (NOTE: 4th and 5th column indicate the somewhat satisfied and very satisfied rating in the survey) Here, Hospitality = 165 Overall Satisfaction = 149

Difference = 16

Hence, Hospitality is given high importance.

6. Value For Money:

Combined Value compared with Overall Satisfaction Level:

1 Value for money Overall Satisfaction 17 35

2 28

3 45

4 79

5 44

28

35

62

87

The correlation Coefficient of the 2 set of variables in the above table is 0.494042

Interpretation: The 2 factors considered have a very low degree of positive correlation. This indicates that Value For Money is not an essential factor to be considered when it comes to influencing the Overall Satisfaction Levels of the customers.

Importance of the factor:

It assesses the importance given by JLR to each of the considered factors. This is calculated by adding the 4th and 5th column responses of value for money and subtracting it with the overall satisfaction responses in the same 4th and 5th column. (NOTE: 4th and 5th column indicate the somewhat satisfied and very satisfied rating in the survey) Here, Value for Money = 123 Overall Satisfaction = 149

Difference = -26

Hence, Value for Money is given low importance.

Findings and Observations:

Now, the above results can be tabulated and the rank of the key drivers can be derived by arranging the factors on the basis of their correlation coefficients.

ATTRIBUTE
Accommodation Hospitality Outdoor Activities Naturalist skill and Educational insights Cuisine (Food) Value for Money

Correlation with Overall Satisfaction

0.999657 0.976509 0.926199 0.850562 0.664648 0.494042

Hence the Key Drivers of Customer Satisfaction are Accommodation, Hospitality, Outdoor Activities and Educational Insights by Naturalist.

HIGH IMPORTANCE
Accommodation Hospitality

LOW IMPORTANCE
Cuisine Outdoor Activities Educational Insights by Naturalist Value for Money

GAP ANALYSIS
In business and economics, gap analysis is a tool that helps companies compare actual performance with potential performance. At its core are two questions: "Where are we?" and "Where do we want to be?" If a company or organization does not make the best use of current resources, or foregoes investment in capital or technology, it may produce or perform below its potential. This concept is similar to the base case of being below the production possibilities frontier. Gap analysis identifies gaps between the optimized allocation and integration of the inputs (resources), and the current allocation level. This reveals areas that can be improved. Gap analysis involves determining, documenting, and approving the variance between business requirements and current capabilities. Gap analysis naturally flows from benchmarking and other assessments. Once the general expectation of performance in the industry is understood, it is possible to compare that expectation with the company's current level of performance. This comparison becomes the gap analysis. Such analysis can be performed at the strategic or operational level of an organization.

The below table represents the Importance-Satisfaction matrix. It categorizes the key drivers of an organization into 4 categories:

Based on the Key Driver analysis and the measurement of Satisfaction levels and importance of each of the factors, the JLR result can be represented as in the below table Low Importance High Satisfaction Outdoor Activities Educational Insights by Naturalist Low Satisfaction Cuisine Value for Money Hence the following conclusions maybe derived from the above analysis: High Importance Accommodation Hospitality

Business Strengths: (Accommodation, Hospitality)

A method for classifying a business unit's potential based on the business's market position and strengths relative to the competition

Overkill: (Outdoor Activities, Educational Insights by Naturalist)

Any effort that seems to go farther than would be necessary to achieve its goal

Area To Watch: (Cuisine, Value For money)

CUSTOMER LOYALTY ANALYSIS:

"Customer loyalty is when an organization receives the ultimate reward for the way it interacts with its customers. Loyal customers buy more, buy longer and tell more people - that's true customer loyalty." Competitive advantage can be achieved through customer loyalty. This is the way to gain the best kind of customers, repeat customers. Repeat customers tend to spend more money and provide the best word-of-mouth advertising.

The attitudinal definition of loyalty implies that loyalty is a state of mind. By this definition, a customer is "loyal" to a brand or a company if they have a positive, preferential attitude toward it. They like the company, its services, and they therefore prefer to buy from it, rather than from the company's competitors. In purely economic terms, the attitudinal definition of customer loyalty would mean that someone who is willing to pay a premium for Brand A over Brand B, even when the products they represent are virtually equivalent, is "loyal" to Brand A. But the emphasis is on "willingness," rather than on actual behavior, per se. In terms of attitudes, then, increasing a customer's loyalty is virtually equivalent to increasing the customer's preference for the brand. It is closely tied to customer satisfaction, and any company wanting to increase loyalty, in attitudinal terms, will concentrate on improving its product, its image, or other elements of the customer experience, relative to its competitors.

In the below question, the intent is to find out the number of customers who intend to visit the same or any of the other resorts of JLR.

In 6-12 months, how likely are you to be visiting one of the 17 exotic locations of Jungle Lodges and Resorts?

In my view the concept of customer loyalty should have as direct a connection as possible to a company's financial results. That is, we must be able to "connect the dots" between

whatever strategies and tactics a company employs to increase its customers' loyalty, and the actual economic outcomes of those actions. An enterprise should be able to see a clear and direct economic benefit of some kind, as the result of a customer's loyalty. If, on the other hand, loyalty is just an attitude, then it has no immediate economic result. Internally held attitudes have no intrinsic value to a firm, because there is no financial result to measure until and unless these attitudes are somehow manifested into actions.

Interpretation: There were 3 response options given to the customers to answer the above mentioned question. They were: Definitely Would Probably Would Unlikely = 43% = 33% = 23%

The responses for each option and a pie chart indicating the percentage of response for each option given by the customers is as indicated in the above picture. JLR has a high level of customer loyalty which is indicated by 43% of the customers choosing the Definitely Would option.

NET PROMOTERS SCORE:

Net Promoter is a customer loyalty metric developed by (and a registered trademark of) Fred Reichheld, Bain & Company, and Satmetrix. It was introduced by Reichheld in his 2003 Harvard Business Review article "One Number You Need to Grow". The most important proposed benefits of this method derive from simplifying and communicating the objective of creating more "Promoters" and fewer "Detractors" a concept claimed to be far simpler for employees to understand and act on than more complicated, obscure or hard-tounderstand satisfaction metrics or indices. In addition, proponents claim the Net Promoter

method can reduce the complexity of implementation and analysis frequently associated with measures of customer satisfaction, providing a stable measure of business performance that can be compared across business units and even across industries, and increasing interpretability of changes in customer satisfaction trends over time. The Net Promoter Score is obtained by asking customers a single question on a 0 to 10 rating scale, where 10 is "extremely likely" and 0 is "not at all likely": "How likely is it that you would recommend our company to a friend or colleague?" Based on their responses, customers are categorized into one of three groups: Promoters (910 rating), Passives (78 rating), and Detractors (06 rating). The percentage of Detractors is then subtracted from the percentage of Promoters to obtain a Net Promoter score (NPS). NPS can be as low as -100 (everybody is a detractor) or as high as +100 (everybody is a promoter). An NPS that is positive (i.e., higher than zero) is felt to be good, and an NPS of +50 is excellent. Companies are encouraged to follow this question with an open-ended request for elaboration, soliciting the reasons for a customer's rating of that company or product. These reasons can then be provided to front-line employees and management teams for follow-up action.

"Promoters" are loyal enthusiasts who keep buying from a company and urge their friends to do the same. "Passives" are satisfied but unenthusiastic customers who can be easily wooed by the competition. And "detractors" are unhappy customers trapped in a bad relationship. Customers can be categorized based on their answer to the ultimate question. The best way to gauge the efficiency of a company's growth engine is to take the percentage of customers who are promoters (P) and subtract the percentage who are detractors (D). This equation is how we calculate a Net Promoter Score for a company:

P D = NPS
Interpretation: The Combined Responses of all 3 forms of Survey are: RATING SCORE

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

5 10 14 7 13 20 17 53 45 47

Promoters = 92 Passives = 70

Percentage of Promoters = 39.82 % Percentage of Passives = 30.3 %

Detractors = 69

Percentage of Detractors = 29.87 %

Hence, NPS = 39.82 29.87 = 9.95

Thus, JLR has a positive NPS score of 9.95, which indicates that the WORD OF MOUTH advertising is good. However, JLR must strive to make their NPS get higher scores in the future to be on par with some of the companies renowned for their Quality of Customer Service. However, it must be considered that some of the uncontrollable factors such as , wildlife sighting and infrastructural constraints such as roads leading to the resort, also affect the level of customer satisfaction and the customer experience of a holiday at JLR. In the next segment of Qualitative Analysis we can see that some of the complaints or suggestions are mostly on these extrinsic factors which have an effect on the overall satisfaction of these customers. Some effort or initiatives must be taken by JLRs authorities to make these factors satisfactory to the customers so that it doesnt hinder the opinions of the customers about their experience. Such an initiative will also have a resulting effect in the overall satisfaction levels of the customer. Another factor is the complaint on the cuisine offered at some resorts. The dishes prepared are not specific to the taste of each customer. While most customers really enjoy the food, some customers have complaints about its taste and the need for a variety of cuisine. The customers must be reminded that JLR being in a minimum impact zone must function in a way as to sustain natural setting and not humanize the environment. Hence 5 star facilities do not take precedence over maintenance of the natural ambience. Having said the above things JLR must find a way to keep customers satisfied even with such constraints in order to achieve and maintain a high NPS rating.

QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS
"Content analysis is summarising, quantitative analysis of messages that relies on the scientific method (including attention to objectivity, inter-subjectivity, a priori design, reliability, validity, generalisability, replicability and hypothesis testing) and is not limited as to the types of variables that may be measured or the context in which the messages are created or presented."

There were 3 Questions asked in the Questionnaire to customers which required a textual/paragraph response. These responses collected were analysed using data mining and Qualitative techniques such as content analysis to derive conclusions and interpretations. The textual Questions provide more flexibility to the customers to state their opinions and hence it forms an effective mode of survey and analysis which reveals intimate details ad issues concerning the service provided and also provides good insight into the customers experience of the service provided.

The following 3 Questions were asked and some of the sample responses to each question is depicted below:

Did you face any problem during the booking process? If YES, please mention the nature of the problem experienced. Some of the customer testimonials were:

Yes, for paying the money the server used to struck, had to try for 3 hrs to pay the money, otherwise i got fast response to my calls and mails and suggestions of alternatives. Check if you can improve your server.

The travel agency took care of all bookings very efficiently.

Did you face any trouble in locating or arriving at the desired destination? If YES, please mention the nature of the problem experienced. Some of the customer testimonials were: The drive is quite ordinary. The last 15 odd kms are bad roads while rest is excellent but no great scenery.

when we arrived we were very hungry and rushed to the dining hall to have break fast,the breakfast was too worse and they had prepared UPPIT and Kharabath, we were totally disappointed and when we raised the query with the manager .,the rooms were not in good condition, not given to us @12pm,instead we accommodated @ 1.30pm,till then we were sitting in dining hall watching TV

The road to doddemakali is quiet good, almost around 100-120 KM is highway after that the road is very rough... and bit bumpy. About 8-10 KM before reaching the camp the dirt road began, it was a downhill and the road is pretty steep and stony. There is about 7-9 hairpin bends. As the road is too much stony it hard to stop the bike at the turns, cause its get skidded to the steep

Do you have any special comments or suggestions for JLR? If YES, please mention the same in the below given space Some customer testimonials are: (+) great location, natural / rustic setting..; good safari experience ; asthetically designed cottages & tents (-) the rooms shd have a direct view of the water body if it is a water side resort. sometimes you have to come out of the cottage and walk to get to see the water - e.g. Kabini, Devbagh, B R Hills.

We strongly felt that it is a good place to spend time and the quality of rooms and everything is fine. But it is not worth the money we are paying at all.. We were a group of five people and we took 2 rooms at Devbagh resort for which I paid Rs.18000/- .Which turns out to Rs.10800/- for one room and Rs.7200/- for another because the charge is per person. I could stay in a 5 star facility when I'm paying that kind of money and if they are charging so much, they should at least have the courtesy to provide the facilities and activities included into the cost. I appreciate very much the fact that even being a govt. firm it is so well maintained. But if they try to

give value for the customer's money, then JLR would be a great success story than what it is now. Right now they are doing well and are having great number of bookings ONLY because people have nowhere else to go and they are people in Karnataka who are providing some kind of activities apart from the normal boring sight-seeing. They should not mis-interpret that the revenues they are making is because of the quality of accommodations or the hospitality or the food. THE only reason is ACTIVITIES at their resorts.

No wild cats spotted. I wish if the rangers are well aware where the cats would be. Could have given additional toilet items like toothbrush,paste. Also could cross verify refreshment of items for second day (as I stayed longer) are in place at the right time. "Please include the following items in the cottages/log huts in Devbagh: 1. Small cupboards/wardrobe 2. A bell/ringer to call housekeeping staff/request for water etc.

All JLR properties have a place for a bonfire in the evening & I guess its the best place to chit chat & spend a nice evening. At kabini, I had to plead to the staff to start the fire & spread a few chairs for us. The staff put down the request citing the rains, though the sky was very clear. They all seemed to be in a mood to hurry up the evening. Theres a massage center which is too small & is always full & inadequate to handle a full weekend crowd.

All around, the trip was really cool and refreshing. It was a perfect one day trip and you can go there with your family or friends. I really impressed by the hospitality, the staff is polite and non-interfering. "the resort can have its own camera accessible to specific persons apart from the manager alone and they could catch some good snapshots of the place, flora and fauna, whenever Dolphin jumps, etc and decorate the dining hall and common areas with these snaps to give an intro of the uniqueness of the place

secondly more training on information related to birds, flora and fauna, sea patterns,etc must be given to guides. They have only basic information thirdly the days menu can be planned creatively with focus on local cuisines and a feminine touch is needed to the cooking. The resort is very much masculine in its ways and beauracratic in its running. I love all jungle lodges for their superb location. That is what attracts me to the JLR"

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS:

Jungle Lodges and Resorts Limited (JLR) is a responsible wildlife & eco tourism company with a strong commitment to use tourism as a genuine tool for conserving the environment & wildlife. JLR also strives IT Implementation for Jungle Lodges and Resorts Limited. It is hard to educate its guests by letting them experience wildlife and fragile habitats firsthand. All of JLR's resorts and camps are located in some of Karnataka's ecologically sensitive yet amazing natural destinations. A unit of Government of Karnataka's Department Of Tourism, JLR is currently managed by Indian Forest Service Officers. Jungle Lodges and Resorts with a history that goes back 30 years, is a pioneer of eco-tourism in India.

Jungle Lodges is a nice place to stay. Depending on what you look for in a holiday (calm and leisurely relaxation or birding and animal sighting or adventurous activities or fun with family etc), the satisfaction or delight may vary.

For the recommendations part I would like to list out some of the points I collected during the customer survey which are not as appreciated by customers as some of

JLRs strengths. The following are some of the customer complaints which needs to be looked into by the JLR authorities.

Not so good aspects:

Take it or leave it policy: Non negotiable terms. Anything that is not part of the package will promptly be charged extra, but no refund/compensation when an activity part of the package is not offered (no trek if it is raining, no elephant ride if elephant is sick, no coracle ride if water current is too strong and so on) At times one may not be able to get full value for the money paid.

No concept of extra bed at discounted rates. Additional person will be charged full price, even if no extra cottage is provided

Credit cards not accepted, only cash dealings. (could be because the location doesnt have proper telephone lines. Since payment is done 100% in advance this is not an issue unless you plan to take extra people/buy JLR merchandize at the campus or indulge in lots of activities not part of the package)

Most of the destinations will be sold out during weekends, weeks in advance. Partially because JLR is quite popular among international tourists and also corporate, who give JLR most of its business vis-a-vis domestic travellers. Many agents block JLR rooms in advance with anticipated business.

No discount for longer stays/large groups etc (except for a bus full of corporate clients)

Rates (About Rs 3000 to 5000 per person per day, depending on location) are a bit heavy on pocket for middle class. Regular home stays accommodate 2-3 people for similar amount, but of course youll miss the JLR experience

JLR blog could have been little more professional.

No separate kitchen, serving for veg and non-veg items. A few may not be comfortable with this.

Drivers who accompany the guests are supposed to get basic accommodation free. However our driver was denied accommodation saying the place is occupied by construction workers... A bit of unprofessional-ism there

However, JLR is strong in many Customer Service aspects which is the reason for which it has a strong customer-base and customer loyalty. These aspects are:

Good things about Jungle Lodges and Resorts:

All JLR facilities are located in scenic and calm locations of Karnataka, away from human habitat, far inside forests. In most of the destinations, theres no alternative option to stay had there been no JLR (Most of the facilities are inside reserve forests, where private operators are just not allowed to set up hotels/resorts)

Staff are courteous, well trained and uniformed. Most of them are from forest department and are well experienced. Im told most of the resorts are run with skeleton staff during weekdays. Rest of the staff arrive on Thursday evening and

return on Monday (to the nearby city where their home is). Adventurous activities are outsourced

Much different experience compared to typical hotels or other resorts

Part of your payment goes towards conservation of forest, well being of forest animals and tribal people.

Day Visit Package is an ideal option if youre not planning to stay overnight. At 1000 Rs per person, Day visit package is also affordable if you feel overnight stay is expensive. Day visit covers most of the activities (Arrive at 10AM, checkout by 5PMincludes lunch, coffee/tea, snacks, a few activities and entry fees etc), but is available only in select resorts (no day visits in JLR facilities located inside reserve forests)

Discounts of about 5-7% can be secured if you bargain with the agent/booking staff

Cottages and other facilities are decent. Not so luxurious and 5-star-ish, neither down to earth. construction work was on in K Gudi to build more cottages