Market Research

Customer Alignment Analysis (CAA) Information Package CAA Objective:

  • Determine gaps between guest expectations and delivery of hotel service
  • Examine the types and range of services that guests’ use when staying at a hotel
  • Identify what supplementary services are true satisfaction drivers
  • Define which services will increase guest satisfaction and engender guest loyalty
  • Create statistical research embodying an in depth analysis of :

    • Rate driven corporate traveller
    • Group/convention delegate
    • Independent transient corporate traveller
    • Ascertain the service delivery satisfaction level with guest expectations
    • Measure the gap between guest experience and guest needs
    • Develop a profile of the "Satisfied Customer".
    • Substantiate customer loyalty drivers and the variables of guest loyalty
    • Pinpoint customer experiences that could influence customer satisfaction
    • Provide an impact index for prioritising and allocating resources for improvement

Methodology: CAA Implementation

  • Consultation
  • Sampling
  • CAA questionnaire design and pilot
  • Interviewing
  • Data Analysis
  • Reporting

Consultation

Review of Existing Data

  • Review Canadian Pacific Hotel’s previous market research data
  • Confer with appointed officials to ensure that the scope of the CAA questionnaire encompasses the required areas of research

Sampling

CAA Size and Accuracy


A CAA estimate has been provided for a completed sample size of 300 and 400 surveys.

CAA Design


The sample size of a CAA depends very little on the total hotel bedrooms available. For example, a sample of 400 surveys drawn from a hotel with 360 rooms, experiencing an 83% yearly occupancy with the surveyed segment representing 87% of overall occupancy, compared to a hotel with 1500 rooms. Both would have a reliability of plus or minus 5% at a 95% confidence level.

Number of Interviews and Margin of Error (19 out of 20 times)


300 Plus/Minus 5.7%
400 Plus/Minus 4.9%

CAA Sample Frame


In order to design the sample frame, the hotel is required to supply Carlar Hospitality with a list containing contact names, phone numbers and group types of 1200 guests for a 400 survey sampling and 900 guests for a 300 survey sampling. The selected guest must be a recent visitor (timeline to be defined) and must agree via consent form to participate in the project.

Sub Groups

  • Rate driven corporate traveller
  • Group/convention delegate
  • Independent corporate travel

Sub Groups


Since the hotel will be pre-screening respondents into the above categories, it is a viable option to over sample each particular type of guest. If desired, research can be compiled to review each subgroup on an individual level. Over sampling would ensure a larger subgroup to reliably interpret the results and would be incorporated if one of the categories did not add up to one hundred percent. For example, if the corporate independent traveller outnumbered the group delegates, over sampling the group delegates would ensure a large enough sample to analyse reliably.

CAA Design

Carlar Hospitality will design a draft CAA, which will be submitted to Canadian Pacific Hotels for comments and changes. Necessary revisions will be made until final approval has been obtained.

Due to the depth of information, a fifteen or twenty minute CAA is recommended. It is estimated that a facilitator could complete three surveys per hour, including the time consumed in follow-up telephone calls to numbers that did not answer on first and second contact. Further analysis of the interview time estimation; will be sustained upon completion of the pilot project.
A fifteen-minute interview can typically accommodate approximately 45 closed-ended questions, while a twenty-minute interview could possibly accommodate 60 closed ended questions.
*Typically, three close-ended questions can be completed in one minute.
However, only one open-ended question can be completed in the same time.

Because a computer controls the questionnaire, skip patterns are executed exactly as intended, responses are within range, and there are no missing data. Data analysis can start when the CAA commences.

CAA Pre-Test


The CAA will be pre-tested, by conducting random telephone interviews on a limited number of participants. The pre-testing will verify the completion ratio. The pre-testing phase allows the opportunity to fine-tune the CAA, ensuring that the questions are easily understood and that the interview flows smoothly. Based on the pre-test, Carlar Hospitality will recommend any revisions. Once final approval has been obtained, interviewing will commence.

Interviewing

Facilitators will contact guests at the preferred time, indicated on the consent form. The facilitator will inform the interviewer that they are calling on behalf of the hotel and will inquire if the timing is convenient to complete the survey. If the timing is inconvenient, an alternate time will be arranged. The facilitators will call back any numbers that rang busy, nobody answered or a telephone which was answered by a machine on two supplementary occasions.
Once the interview is completed, it will be reviewed and approved by a supervisor. After completion of all interviews, the data will be analysed.

Data Analysis


The sampling will produce a total of either three or four hundred completed surveys providing research data to identify the variations between three guest segments and determine guest satisfaction.  

Question Frequencies

When interviewing is completed, a questionnaire will be provided to management displaying the frequencies obtained for each response category.

CAAs are comprehensive, customised and include the complete text of every question. In order to prevent duplication or undesired calls for future surveys, our computer system will record the participant’s name, telephone number, address and postal code.

Cross-Tabulations


The cross-tabulations allow data to be analysed on particular types of respondents, identifying whether their responses differ, and if so, how they differ. For example, data could be segregated by geographic location; type of guest or any other survey variable could be of value.

Cross-tabulations are accompanied by a comprehensive table of chi-square statistics which indicate whether the relationship observed within the data are statistically significant. Noteworthy findings are denoted by asterisks so that results can be easily interpreted.

Reporting

Canadian Pacific Hotels will be provided with ongoing verbal reports as various stages of the CAA proceed. Leslie Rochford, Managing Director, will ensure that the research is proceeding with the hotel’s complete understanding and approval.
The final report will contain:
  • An executive synopsis highlighting survey results
  • A summary indicating the results from each of the three guest segments with that of a generic average of similar components
  • A summary indicating the overall results compared to a generic average of all completed CAAs
  • A customised report specifically created for ongoing comparisons of Canadian Pacific Hotels
  • A summary displaying the frequencies obtained for each response category
  • Cross-tabulations tables
  • A Chi-square statistical summary of each question
  • A list of all guests who participated in the CAA
To ensure satisfaction with the presentation of the results, the report will initially be presented in draft format. After consultation, a bound report will be provided.

Projected Timelines

The estimated average timelines for each stage of the CAA are:

Stage of Research # Working Days
Initial consultation 2 days
Questionnaire design and consultation 5 days
Questionnaire pre-test 2 days
Interviewing and data entry 10 days
Frequencies 2 days
Cross-tabulations 2 days
Draft report 2 days
Final bound and unbound reports 5 days
   

 

 

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