Addressing Staff Concerns
"We could get customers to register as ‘members’ on-line. This would enable the Club to collect marketing information and to provide customers with a ‘passport’ when making reservations for events and travel arrangements." The Club web site could have a registration page so customers can register on-line as "members". They could be informed (on the site itself) of the benefits of registering.
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"Ideally we would allow customers to browse forthcoming events on-line, from the comfort of their own homes, and to make reservations immediately." Besides providing information on current events and enabling customers to book tickets for them, the web site could also be designed to provide information on future events as well as give customers the opportunity to make immediate reservation (before the tickets actually go on sale). The same Visual Basic program that is used for booking seats at the booking counter could also be used for future reservations with a slight modification to distinguish between seats merely booked as opposed to seats already paid for.
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"Payment could be taken electronically; both at the point events are booked, and whilst the customer is actually at the Club. An on-line food and drink ordering facility, perhaps at each table, would avoid some of the customer irritation we see at particularly busy events." These concerns have already been addressed in the solutions proposed (see Proposed Solutions).
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"We would have the opportunity to collect extensive customer data for marketing purposes. This implies the need for a marketing role and a new set of marketing-related activities. We could ask customers to complete customer satisfaction surveys." This point has been covered in the proposed solution to the customer database problem (see Proposed Solutions). The surveys could be offered at the customer terminals in the Club’s premises as well as on the web site.
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"What will happen to the receptionists if/when they are replaced by a new system." Receptionists will still be needed to take care of customers who still choose to come to the Club personally to book and pick up their tickets as well as to assist those customers who are not familiar or comfortable using the terminals provided.
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"Our bar and catering staff will have to be trained in the use of the new computer system for retrieving orders. In fact, training will be essential for all staff who use the system." Most of the difficult work will be handled by the program itself. The use of a GUI (Graphical User Interface) would further enhance the ease of use of the systems, thereby limiting the interaction of the bar and food staff to merely acknowledging orders as being fulfilled.
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"If we introduce a new organisation into our world; i.e. the travel firm (indeed, it might be several operators), how can we develop a productive working relationship with them." Initiating a business relationship with a travel firm would be a wise move on the part of the Club. Not only would the travel firm offer a new source of potential customers but the acts (bands and DJs) that the Club invites to play could also be brought in through the same travel firm, perhaps at a discounted rate. Customers of the Club who live at a great distance from the premises could also be give special rates by the firm when they wish to travel to the concerts or events being held there. If the Club recommends the travel firm to it’s customers, the firm would also benefit and would be even more inclined to develop it’s relationship with the Club. This mutual benefit that the travel firm and the Club would derive from each other would also add a new dimension to the services provided by each of them.
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