Implementing Quality Management Tools to Improve Customer’s Journey at Café

Abstract

Delivering high-quality service is critical to the café’s performance in order for it to survive and grow competitively. This paper aims to identify the impact of service quality on customer satisfaction in the context of cafés before customers enter the café, during the experience, and after leaving. The paper used a mixed-method approach using a qualitative method by applying two interviews with focus groups, and a quantitative method by conducting three online questionnaires. Further, several quality management tools, namely: Affinity diagram, Interrelationship diagram, Tree diagram, Process decision program chart (PDPC), Matrix diagram, Prioritization matrix, and Quality function deployment (QFD) were implemented to assess the problems that confront the café while serving customers and to figure out solutions to solve these problems. The issues regarding the café's service quality are categorized into seven main categories which are menu, place, communication with customers, B2C customers, B2B customers, suppliers, and employees. The house of quality (HFQ) represents 22 factors of customer needs, the highest percentage refers to hiring a third party whereas the lowest percentage describes the need for providing pre-prepared food. The paper revealed that to improve the customer journey and enhance the café’s performance, the café needs to always maintain a high level of quality, listen to employees’ concerns, use automation systems, and collect data and plan accordingly.