How to Manage the Customer Experience

This article discusses the importance of understanding customer needs and wants, managing customer behavior, and optimizing customer touchpoints to enhance the overall customer experience. It focuses on the case of Hilton London and provides insights into market segmentation, customer engagement, and the use of digital technology in managing customer experiences.

How To Manage The
Customer Experience.

Table of Contents
PROJECT 1.....................................................................................................................................3
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
Use of individual characteristics by Hilton London for the purpose of market segmentation....3
Importance of understanding the needs, wants, and preferences of the target customer groups.
.....................................................................................................................................................4
Using Customer behaviours and attitudes of different market segments to build brand loyalty
and trust.......................................................................................................................................4
Factors that drive and influence customer engagement of different target customer groups......5
Evaluation of needs and wants of target customers for customer engagement...........................6
Customer experience map...........................................................................................................6
How Hilton restaurant/hotel can optimize each of the customer touch points............................8
CONCLUSION ..............................................................................................................................9
PROJECT 2...................................................................................................................................10
Introduction...................................................................................................................................10
Meaning of Customer relationship management (CRM)..........................................................10
Digital technology is managing the customer experiences in Hilton London...........................11
Advantages and disadvantages of the CRM in Hilton London.................................................11
Customer service strategies.......................................................................................................11
Customer service strategies developing and enhancing customer experience..........................12
Valid recommendations for improvement for developing a quality customer experience........12
CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15

PROJECT 1
INTRODUCTION
Customer experience is concerned with customer's perceptions, both conscious and sub
conscious relationship they have with the brand of the company during the entire life cycle. It
basically includes the practice of exceeding customer expectations in order to increase their
satisfaction level and brand loyalty. Hilton London is a multi-national hospitality company that
was founded in the year 1919 by Conrad Hilton and it currently operates in more than 80
countries across six different continents. The hotel chain currently employs more than 160,000
individuals globally(Watson, Maxwell, and Farquharson, 2017). The current report will focus
on the importance of understanding customer needs and wants, their behaviour and managing the
overall experience effectively and efficiently.
MAIN BODY
Use of individual characteristics by Hilton London for the purpose of market segmentation.
Market segmentation is concerned with the process of dividing the market of target
customers into different groups or segments based on different characteristics. It further helps an
organization in understanding the needs and wants of particular set of consumers as they respond
similarly to marketing strategies and share similar traits like interests, needs and locations. The
market segmentation of Hilton London is based on demographic, geographic, psycho graphic
and benefit oriented
Luxurious services: Hilton hotel's demo graph includes customers that represent the middle- and
upper-class income level that are either business men or senior executives in a multi-national
company. The Hotel accordingly provides luxury and comfortable services to them and charge
premium prices for the products and services offered.
Worldwide chain: The hotel company targets its customers according to the geographical
location at both national and international levels. The company builds hotels by identifying its
target customers in the particular area. Hilton hotel operates in more than 78 countries. For
instance, the presence of Hilton group in London is mainly at premium business locations like
Aldwych, Canary Wharf, Bank side and Tower Bridge (Rather and Hollebeek, 2019).
Other services: Hilton hotels provide additional services like wedding and birthday party
booking facilities to the people that help the Hotel in adding new customer base and thus
increases their profitability and leads to growth.

Importance of understanding the needs, wants, and preferences of the target customer groups.
Customer is the king of the market and it is the fundamental duty of every business
whether big, small or medium scale to identify the needs and wants of their target customers as it
can help in ensuring maximum consumer satisfaction and further lead to increasing revenue of
the organization. Hilton London identify the needs and wants of its target customers as it helps
in improving the overall customer experience. It is important because:
 Understanding the needs and wants of customers has helped Hilton London in identifying
their target customers and target markets which has further helped them in providing the
products and services accordingly and thus ensuring maximum consumer satisfaction.
 The Hotel has also started taking strategic decisions like revenue management so that the
business can achieve competitive advantage and further increase their profits effectively
and efficiently (Reilly, 2018).
 Continuous market research in order to understand consumer needs and wants has helped
the Hospitality company to innovate their products and services timely as it would attract
the customers and help in managing their overall experience effectively and efficiently.
For instance, Hilton hotels introduced the concept of key less entry, wireless charging
and LED walls which attracted the customers towards them and increased their revenue.
Using Customer behaviours and attitudes of different market segments to build brand loyalty and
trust.
 Customer behaviour involves the study of how individual customers, groups or
organizations select, buy and use goods and services in order to satisfy their needs and
wants. Consumer behaviour includes factors like psychology, motivation and behaviour.
The target customers of Hilton London include both rich and upper medium class.
 Excellent customer service: The target customers of Hilton hotel are most upper middle
class people who wish to achieve maximum comfort and luxury therefore the company
prioritize their guest experience by reserving rooms for them in advance, interacting with
each guest personally and asking them whether they are having a comfortable stay or not
and do they require anything else (Dewnarain, Ramkissoon and Mavondo, 2019). Also,
the Hilton London provide them 24/7 access to room service, restaurants and bars which
makes the customers feel important thus increases the overall satisfaction level and
further builds brand loyalty. It improves the behaviour of customers as they feel

welcomed and it establishes a psychological relationship between the hotel and its
customers. It further leads to creation of brand loyalty and improves the image of the
hotel as well.
 Loyalty programs: The behaviour of target customers get influenced when they are
provided with unique offers, discounts and when they receive special treatements. Hilton
London provide various loyalty programs and other attractive offers to its customers that
allows them to enjoy various perks and benefits like free access to pool, gym and bar and
it also provides rebates and other attractive discounts that further attract them towards
Hilton London. This influences their behaviour and attract them towards the hotel. It
further helps in building brand loyalty and increases the profitability of the business in
the long run (Rather and Parray, 2018).
Factors that drive and influence customer engagement of different target customer groups
Customer engagement is the process through which an organization creates a relationship with
its customers to establish brand loyalty and awareness Various factors driving consumer
engagement for Hilton London are:
 Understanding customer expectations: It is important for every business to understand
customer expectations and then try to cross them if it wishes to be successful. Hilton
London perform market research systematically in order to identify the consumer needs
and wants and then develop a product or service accordingly. Hilton London identified
the need for latest technology in their property as it can help in providing better services
to the customers and also increase their level of satisfaction.(Diffley, McCole and
Carvajal-Trujillo, 2018).
 Excellent customer service: In order to engage customers, it is essential to provide them
with good customer experience. Hilton London provide excellent customer service to its
old and new customers and also listens to their problems and find an appropriate solution
for it. Furthermore, it creates a positive impression in the minds of the consumers and
thus increases the consumer engagement.
These are the key factors that drive and influence consumers of different target group towards
Hilton London and further leads to consumer engagement.

Evaluation of needs and wants of target customers for customer engagement.
There are certain needs and wants of target customers from the hotel property in order to
encourage customer engagement like:
Good value: The target customers expect to receive excellent service that makes them feel
comfortable and also satisfies there needs and wants. It is very important for a hotel to create
value for its guests and clients. The hotel property must provide its customers with good view
and service. Hilton London always give priority to the needs and wants of its customers in order
to maximize their satisfaction level and also to increase the profitability (Kandampully, Zhang
and Jaakkola, 2018).
Fast service: The consumers wish to receive fast and quick service related to valet, room service
and housekeeping. As a result, Hilton London use automation and digital technology in order to
provide quick services to its customers which helps in reducing the cost and also increases the
consumer engagement effectively and efficiently.
Customer experience map.
Customer experience map is a collaborative way of allowing businesses to represent complex
business problems related to consumer interaction. Hilton London use customer experience map
to highlight main points and ensure the best possible experience to the customers with their
products and services (Talón-Ballestero and et.al., 2018).
The maps show how effectively the consumers are using the products and services and further
breaks down the activities related to purchasing journey and listing relevant channels.

 Travel inspiration: The first step in the customer journey process is concerned with
travel inspiration. It involves the reason behind consumer searching for hotels. The
reason can be social or economic depending on the nature of the individual. It is the first
step in the mapping process. Here, the consumer identifies the problem/needs and then
start researching for the product or service.
 Research: The next step involves researching the hotel according to the choice of
consumers. There are various factors that lead to selection of a hotel like pricing, location
and socio-cultural factors (Joseph and Varghese, 2019). It involves searching for
alternative courses of action then finally selecting one.
 Booking: The next step involves consumers booking the hotels after doing the adequate
research. Booking is an important step as it leads to profit maximization for the company
and it looks forward to hosting its customers and providing them an overall great
experience. The alternatives are analysed on the basis of strengths and weakness and are
finally the appropriate one is booked.
 On property: The on-property step includes the duty of hotel company to provide
services to the consumers and to ensure that they have a great experience which may
further lead to profit maximization and also build customer loyalty. It is concerned with

providing the best product or service so that the consumers have a great experience and
also ensure maximum satisfaction.
 Post-stay: The post stay step includes customers providing feedbacks and reviews to the
hotels regarding their overall experience. It can be both positive and negative and it is the
duty of the company to take corrective actions and work on the negative reviews in order
to ensure maximum consumer satisfaction. The last step involves providing after sales
services and to make sure that the customers attract towards hotel and thus increases their
profitability.
How Hilton restaurant/hotel can optimize each of the customer touch points.
Hilton London can use the consumer experience map to optimize the consumer touch points and
enhance the overall experience of its guests as the company can provide attractive offers and
discounts that can further help in attracting the people and also inspire people to travel and book
a stay at the hotel. Furthermore, the Hilton London must provide accommodation at a
competitive price so that at the time of research, the customers can choose their property and
book their stay. Once, the stay is booked, the hotel must provide excellent services to the
consumers at the time of their visit as it will help in increasing their customer base and market
share. Also, it will lead to brand loyalty and after their visit Hilton London must take feedback
and reviews from the customers to improve their future services effectively and efficiently (Ma
and et.al., 2019).

CONCLUSION
From the above study, it can be concluded that Hilton London is a multi-national hospitality
chain and it is imperative for them to ensure that customers have a great experience when they
visit the hotel. Also, the report focused on providing a list of factors that affect customer
behaviour and the business must forecast them in order to achieve the organizational goals and
objectives. It also involved evaluation of needs and wants of target customers to ensure customer
engagement. Moreover, it also provided a description of customer experience map and the
process through which a consumer goes through before selecting a product or service. Thus, it
can be stated that it is important to understand customer needs and wants to in order to achieve
profitability in the long run.

PROJECT 2
Introduction
CRM refers to the interacting with customer personally to enhances the company
services in better way. CRM can be done through choosing various strategies and techniques
which is adapted by organisation regarding improving the relationship with the customer and
also resolving the issue which they faced at the time of attain any goal (Alexandridou, 2019).
Present report is based upon the Hilton hotel which is one of the renowned brand name in
hospitality sector. As the concept of Hilton London Is brought by Conrad Hilton in 1919 and
they are located at wider places carrying 586 hotels around the world. This report will includes
the concept of CRM and its relationship within the working of hotels. It also includes the role of
digital technology which is used to manage the customer experiences and retain their interest for
longer time period. It further results in evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of CRM
under the Hilton London and also results in acquisition and retaining the customer towards their
services for further perspective. It also examines the examples relating to customer services
strategies in respect of Hilton. This report further carries with evaluating the delivery of the
customer services strategies and also effective communication in respect of Hilton London.
Meaning of Customer relationship management (CRM)
CRM refer to such strategies which is adapted by company to improve the overall
performances of the company. The main purpose of preferring the CRM in company is related to
improving the business relationship with customer by fulfilling their needs and demand sun
better way. Through this aspects, they are dealing in marketing their products or services to
customer and also taking reviews regarding availing their services. In such perspective, they are
enhancing their interest towards their services for longer time period (Ku and et.al., 2019). The
main reason of choosing the CRM in company is that they can target the customer and also
through providing the innovative services can bring helpful for them in respect of retention.
Thus, in such perspective organisation can track the record of the customer through
various channels such as company online websites, by using the procedure through email, by
raising the live chat if the person visits the company websites by viewing the services or through
telephone, where they can interact with them directly. But in recent time, most of the companies
are using the social media platform to interact with them and also resolve their queries if they
faced any after availing the company services (CRM, 2019). In respect of Hilton London, they

target the customer through examining their preferences regarding availing the services which is
offered by hotels.
Digital technology is managing the customer experiences in Hilton London
In recent times, digital technology are playing the important role and attracting the customer
interest towards the services for longer way. Thus, in such perspective, AI plays the vital role in
respect of attracting the customer interest towards the services. As in this robots interact with
customer personally and also share their details regarding the rooms and other service which is
raised by customer. In respect of Hilton London, they puts the robots on the front desk to
provide proper judgement regarding any queries raised by customer (Aliperti, Rizzi and Frey,
2018). This results in attracting the customer needs and also they find this unique computerised
concept. Usually the queries of customer are raised regarding not getting proper judgement from
the front desk department regarding the queries raised. In such perspective, by appointing the
robots at the post resulting in attracting customer as they not only resolve the customer queries
but also guide through the local attraction or any other bars, restaurant which is famous in that
areas or country. For e.g., Sales forces is one of important example which build the strong
relationship between the Customer and hotels and thus robots is one of the innovative examples
which attract customer to avail the services of Hilton London for longer time period.
Advantages and disadvantages of the CRM in Hilton London
The main advantages of preferring the CRM in Hilton hotel is that it improved the
communication with the customer and also determined their taste regarding preferring the
particular services, As every customer had separate demand regarding availing the hotels
services thus in such perspective, by adapting the CRM in hotels results in grabbing the interest
of customer for longer period (Sah and Nadda, 2017). The disadvantage of preferring the CRM
under Hilton is related to cost. As the taste of customer are changing due to changes in time.
Thus it results in facing lot of issue in spending high cost to fulfil the customer needs at large
scale.
Customer service strategies
There are various customer service strategies that Hilton Hotel follows in order to maximize the
consumer satisfaction. The customer service strategies include:
 Providing good service: Hilton London provides excellent services to its customers be it
valet, room service, food servicing or house keeping. The hotel company provides

adequate services as it helps in building brand loyalty and also increases the customer
base of the hotel.
 Digital technology: Hilton London use digital technology in order to provide quick
services to its customers. The use of digital technology like artificial intelligence, room
booking softwares, key less entry, digital payments also help in avoiding the chaos and
confusion within the organization and saves cost for the business (Freund and et.al.,
2019). However, the company realizes the importance of human interaction therefore it
employs staff members to perform necessary duties.
 Value for Feedback: Hilton London value the feedback of its clients and always ask for
their suggestion and recommendations as it will help the Hotel to improve its services in
the near future. It is an important customer service strategy to increase the profits and
also to establish the brand image of their organization.
Customer service strategies developing and enhancing customer experience.
The customer service strategies can help in enhancing the customer experience because
the ultimate goal of the Hilton group is to increase its profits through maximum customer
satisfaction which can be done through providing good services. The customer services can be
improved through the development of customer service strategies as their main objective is to
maximize their wishes. Providing good products and services not only help an organization in
achieving competitive advantage but also creates value for the customers as they feel
comfortable and special which is the main objective of hospitality industry.
The digital technology is also beneficial for the customers because it provides quick
services when compared to a person which is beneficial because the guests feel prioritized and
also it reduces the cost for the business.
Feedback is the most important aspect for hotels and consumers because the feedbacks
and reviews help the consumers in future as they receive adequate services because the hotel has
improved its short comings and weaknesses (Rather, 2018).
Valid recommendations for improvement for developing a quality customer experience.
Hilton London needs to improve its customer experience services in order to achieve competitive
advantage and to increase their customer base. There are various recommendations for
improving the consumer experience like:

 Personalized customer service: The Hilton London must treat all its customers equally
and should provide personalized service to all the guests. The hotel company has
received criticism in the past regarding their bias attitude towards certain elite consumers
which is unethical because all the guests must be provided with services that they have
paid for in order to ensure their maximum satisfaction.
 Poor website: Hilton London need to improve its websites as many customers have
complained about its poor functioning, slow user interface and various other problems
faced by the consumers that hamper the image of the business. Thus, Hilton London need
to improve this if they wish to enhance the customer experience in the long run.
 Excessive use of technology: Hilton group uses excess technology in its daily operations
which sometimes has a psychological impact on consumers because they feel neglected
and it reduces the satisfaction level. Also, too much use of artificial intelligence is not
possible because the employees in the company lack technological knowledge and skills
that leads to mismanagement within the hotel property (McColl-Kennedy and et.al.,
2019).

CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be concluded that CRM is an important technique to
enhance the customer experiences through the use of technology and softwares. Hospitality
companies use it to maximize the satisfaction level of consumers and to enhance their overall
experience. Moreover, it also included various customer service strategies that can be used to
increase consumer engagement and to achieve competitive advantage. It included various
customer service strategies like providing good service, digital technology and feedbacks. These
strategies are used by Hilton London and it helps them in their survival and growth. It also
included some areas where the hotel needs improvements that included providing personalized
services to customers, improving the website as these factors hold back the Hilton PLC from
achieving profits but with improvement in these factors the company will become a market
leader in the near future. Hence, it can be stated that every hospitality company must identify the
needs and wants of consumers and then develop products or services to ensure maximum
consumer satisfaction.

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ONLINE
CRM. 2019. Online. Available through:
<https://searchcustomerexperience.techtarget.com/definition/CRM-customer-relationship-
management>.