Research Product

Research Product

Shannon Napples

Dani Loch

Jessica Bird

Claire Talley

3B

Table of Contents

Executive Summary...... 3

Introduction...... 4

Secondary Research: Yelp...... 5

Secondary Research: Twitter...... 6-7

Secondary Research: Yelp...... 7-9

Primary Research: Observation...... 9

Primary Research: Survey...... 9-10

Research Findings...... 10-14

Conclusion...... 15

Recommendations...... 15

References...... 15

Executive Summary

This research report was conducted to find issues within the Subway food chain. Subway has noticed a slight decline in customer satisfaction. We used both primary and secondary research to narrow down the main cause of the customer satisfaction drop.

We aimed to look at many aspects of Subway such as product quality, store cleanliness, promotion, etc. However, our main area of focus was customer service. We believe lower quality customer service may be a major factor in the drop of customer satisfaction.

We used two methods of primary research. The first method was to survey people who have been to Subway. This method was best for finding out specific information from customers. Our team also used the observation method at various Subway stores. This way, we could directly observe everyday protocol in various locations.

Social media was our secondary source of information. We used Yelp, an online customer review site, to see what Subway customers really think of the store. Twitter was our second social media device. Our social media sources were best for finding mass groups of Subway customers.

Introduction

Customer service is a key role when determining the outcome of a business. If their customer service is lacking then so must be their profit. For an example of a location that can be lacking in customer service resulting in a loss in profit is Subway Restaurant chains. Constant complaint of unfriendly service, mixed with the disappointment of getting a cheap, tasteless sandwich have all been complaints of subway restaurants in the past.

To assess whether a certain company is failing to give proper customer service we will look at two different areas. The first being the primary data and the second being the secondary data. Primary data is the observation and surveys while secondary data is the social media aspect. Observation took place when customers were observed by our primary data team and evaluated on what they said, what the employee said, and the overall satisfactory of the customer with the service they received, all from a visual standpoint. Survey took place when the same primary data team created a survey to give out to participants, that helped us see how many times people go to Subway and if they are ever satisfied with their service and meal.

Our secondary data team was in charge of finding what people said about Subway online, in the virtual world of Facebook, Twitter, and Yelp. Our findings were discouraging toward one such Subway location that will be touched on later in this project, in the detailed section of the primary and secondary data page.

Company History

*There is a website that has a timeline of Subway events that is really neat to check out. (“Subway.com”)

The company started in 1965 with Fred DeLuca and Dr. Peter Buck as partners. They later joined together to form Doctors Association Incorporated which is the company over all of the Subway restaurants in the world. Subway has grown exponentially since the very first day in Connecticut when they sold 300+ sandwiches in one night. They now have restaurants that are not only in America, but in international countries as well. Subway has been named america's favorite restaurant for a good reason, but all of that may soon be slipping away if the customer service of some of the locally owned franchises don’t tighten their reign on it.

Secondary Target Market: Yelp

First we need to look at a brief history of Yelp.

1Yelp was founded in 2004 to help people find great local businesses, such as, dentists, hair stylists and mechanics.

2Yelp had an average of approximately 84 million monthly unique visitors in Q3 2012.

3Yelpers have written over 33 million local reviews.

4In addition to reviews, you can use Yelp to find events, lists and to talk with other Yelpers.

5Every business owner (or manager) can set up a free account to post photos and message their customers.

6Yelp makes money by selling ads to local businesses-you’ll see these clearly labeled “Yelp Ads” around the site.

7Paying advertisers can never change or re-order their reviews.

8Yelp has an automated filter that suppresses a small portion of reviews - it targets those suspicious ones you see on other sites.

9You can access Yelp via iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, and more - see the full list of mobile apps here.

10The weekly Yelp brings locals updates on the latest and greatest business openings and other happenings.

(“Yelp”)

Yelp has given many businesses incentives to focus more on their customer service than just how fast they are making to product available. Yelp found three reviews for a Subway location that is near to Taylorsville High School. They are all listed below:

Review #1

Charles S.

Salt Lake City, Utah

Worst.Subway.Ever. I would elaborate, but this restaurant is so bad that it doesn’t warrant more than two sentences.

Review #2

L.L.

Sandy, Utah

This is a review I just sent to Subway Customer Service. Hopefully they do something about it. There’s so much to say about this store, I’m not sure where to start. First off, I should say that my family and I get Subway sandwiches at least three times a week. This Taylorsville store is consistently the WORST in service, quality, and worth. The girls who work there are snobbish, resentful, and rude; none of the girls ever greet you. Also, the amount of meat put on the sandwiches at this location is pathetic. I cringe every time I have to go to this location because I know i’m going to get horrible service, less food, and a horrible feeling as I leave the store. The sad part is,i’m paying for all this. Please pleaseplease fix this! The Downtown location on 400 South has always been a pleasant experience, as well as the Bountiful store right off the 2600 South freeway exit. Why can’t the Taylorsville store be more like them? I spend about $50 a week with your company, every week; I would expect a bit more courtesy and consistency. Don’t waste your time at this store. Please GO SOMEWHERE ELSE!

Review #3

Shem J.

Salt Lake City, Utah

It seems like whatever sandwich I get here it tastes the same...bland and unexciting...places like Subway make money from low food costs which equal lower prices for me the consumer...however it also means lower quality product...so even their specialty sandwiches lack depth in flavor and distinction...a loud resounding blah!

All of these reviews were written before 2012 and the company has indeed seen them and is making the necessary changes that will help fix these problems. The store now is required to greet every customer within 3 seconds of entering the store by saying, “Welcome to Subway. We will be will you in just a moment” or “You can order whenever you are ready.” Store policy indicates that you can only start with a certain amount of food and if the customer wants more, all they have to do is ask and they will be happy to add more to your sandwich.

Secondary Data Target Market: Twitter

Twitters mission statement is, “To instantly connect people everywhere to what's most important to them”. Twitter is an online social networking service and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based messages of up to 140 characters, known as "tweets" (“Wikipedia”). Here are the following results of the Twitter research.

Kelsey Rozak@helloitskr

Yes I did just use the #Subway drive thru and yes, I loved it. #eatfresh

White Harriet@mandaa seas

Getting Subway instead of McDonals’s>#eatfresh

Fat Problems@fatproblems

Just bought a deep fryer. I wonder what deep fried Subway tastes like.

#eatfresh

ThugWife@PrincessMeeky

#subway dontnoooobody like the cold cut or meatball!

#AppreciationMonth my butt

The majority of the Twitter comments that were found were for general Subway and all of them seemed to be pleased with Subway with no complaints. The main reason it is believed this data conflicts with the other data is that it is not for the specific Subway restaurant, it is for their local restaurant. In order to get a more accurate assessment, we need to suggest the creation of an individual Twitter.

Primary Data: Survey

We collected primary data in two ways, through observation and surveys. First, we passed out surveys to local high school students. Here is an example of the questions we asked survey takers:

1. Have you been to a Subway restaurant lately? If yes, which one?

2. How would you rate the customer service on a scale of 1 to 5? (1=terrible, 5=excellent)

3. Were you greeted when you arrived as the store?

Our goal of these surveys were do find what the majority thought of the customer service as well as the overall experience of going to Subway. We also hoped to find if the results were the same for all Subway locations, or to narrow down specific stores that have room for improvement.

One major thing we noticed from our surveys was that most customers were not greeted by Subway employees. Most people rated the service as average or slightly below average. While there were no major complaints, and no one ranked the customer service as a “1”, it is obvious that Subway’s customer service needs to be improved.

When asked if customers get greeted on a regular basis, this is what they had to say;

Yes / 6
No / 3
Sometimes / 5

We also asked if they are Thanked in anyway;

Yes / 4
No / 7
Sometimes / 3

We even asked if they could rate the customer service;

Rate 1 / 1
Rate 2 / 0
Rate 3 / 7
Rate 4 / 6
Rate 5 / 0

Primary Research: Observation

Our second method of gathering secondary data was through observation. Two project members went to three separate Subway locations. These stores were located on 4660 South Highland Drive, 2885 South Highland Drive, and 3900 South 2300 East.

During observation, we focused on many different aspects of customer service. This included whether an employee greeted and thanked the customers, how they handle difficult customers, and their overall interaction with customers. We also focused on cleanliness of the store, location, and overall impression that the store leaves on customers.

#1: 3900 South 2300 East / #2: 4600 South Highland Drive / #3: 2885 South Highland Drive
Con
- Lobby area not clean
- No employee in front
- No greeting from employee
- Not thanked by employee
Pro
- Friendly employees
- Not rushed
- Fast service / Con
- Small parking lot, hard to navigate
- Small, cramped building
Pro
- Very clean store
- Greeted by employees
- Friendly employees
- Fast service
- Thanked each customer / Con
- Only one person in store
- No greeting
- Little employee - customer interaction
- Not thanked by employee
- Very rude customer service
Pro
- Clean store
- Fast service

During our observation research, we noticed only a few factors that were consistent throughout each store. However, most stores varied greatly from location. Most inconsistencies were in the area of customer service, the quality of customer service was different for every location. There seemed to be no pattern or regulation that employees followed.

The consistent factors can be focused on to find the stores’ strengths and weakness. However, having very little consistency through the different locations is a big weakness for Subway.

Consistencies / Inconsistencies
- Speed of service
- All locations provided very fast service
- Organization
-Everything in both the lobby area and behind the counter was very well organized
- Rushing customers
- employees did not try to rush customers or pressure customers in any way / - Greeting customers
- not all employees greeted customers as they walked in the store
- Thanking customers
- about half of customers were thanked after their purchase
- Personal employee - customer interaction
- some employees tried to connect with customers, while most simply went through the motions
- Employees in front line
- usually, employees would only be in front of the store if there were many customers at one time
- Cleanliness
- behind the counter was very clean
- other parts of the store, specifically lobby, were sometimes dirty

Conclusion

After collecting and analyzing the research data, we have narrowed down what needs to be fixed in order to improve Subway’s customer satisfaction. The obvious problem is customer service quality.

The main thing leading to this issue is the inconsistencies of each store. Subway does not seem to have a strict customer service protocol, so the quality of customer service varies depending on which store a consumer goes to.

Recommendations

The first thing that Subway needs to do is to establish a specific customer service policy. Every current and new employee should be trained on this policy. Managers and supervisors also need to monitor employees to make sure they are providing customers with the best service.

One of the most important parts of this new policy is to make sure that employees greet every customer as they walk in the door. Being greeted my employees immediately leaves a great first impression on customers. Just as important as greeting the customers is also thanking them after they make a purchase. It reminds customers that Subway appreciates them. These two things alone will make a huge difference on how consumers view Subway and ensure more future visits to the store.

This new policy should also provide basic guidelines for building a relationship with the customer. Employees should go the extra mile to connect with customers. They should ask each customer how they are doing and show that they care about their customers. Having that employee - customer interaction is especially important for regular customers. If a customer comes to the store regularly, employees need to remember their name and their usual order if they have one. If not, regular customers will feel ignored and underappreciated.

References

.Subway.com.N.p..Web. 11 Jan 2013.

.Yelp.N.p..Web. 11 Jan 2013.

. “Twitter.”Wikipedia.N.p..Web. 11 Jan 2013.

.Youtube.com Just Your Everyday Subway Employee. N.p..Web. 11 Jan 2013.

.Prezi.com.Research Project.N.p..Web. 11 Jan 2013.

9h7zcz5&follow=59kgvmrqalgc>.

1