Managing the Customer Experience

This report covers the comparative analysis between Hilton hotel and The Central Park hotel which will help in understanding what factors influence customer engagement. It explains the importance of understanding needs, demands and preferences of the targeted consumers. The report also focuses on how customer touch-points help in creating more business opportunities for Hilton hotel. Furthermore, it evaluates how digital technology has helped in organising customer experience through customer relationship management. Lastly, the report covers the analysis of how customer services strategies will help in creating and developing customer experience that could meet demands and needs of customers.

Managing the
Customer Experience

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1. The value and importance of understanding the needs, wants and preferences of target
customer groups..........................................................................................................................1
P2. The different factors that drive and influence customer engagement of different target
customer groups .........................................................................................................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
P3. Create a customer experience map.......................................................................................4
P4. How the customer touch-points throughout the customer experience create business
opportunities................................................................................................................................5
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................6
P5. How digital technology is employed in managing the customer experience........................6
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................8
P6. Illustrate customer service strategies....................................................................................8
P7. How customer service strategies create and develop the customer experience in a way that
meets the needs of the customer and required business standards..............................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Customer experience is defined as the opinion they create about certain brand or
business. It is the result of their interaction with organisations from navigating on their website to
talking with customer service agent along with buying product or services they offer to them.
Management of customer experience is a method of understanding and making strategies which
could enable cross functional attempts and customer centric culture to improve support, loyalty
and satisfaction (Veasey, Lawson and Kotera, 2021). The following report covers the
comparative analysis between Hilton hotel and The Central Park hotel which will help in
understanding what factors influence customer engagement. Hilton Hotel is a UK based hotel
chain which has many branches all across the country and The Central Park hotel is also situated
in London UK. The report also explains what is the importance of understanding needs, demands
and preferences of the targeted consumers. The next section of this report focus on how customer
touch-points helps in creating more business opportunities for Hilton hotel. Furthermore, it has
also been evaluated that how digital technology has helped in organising customer experience
through customer relationship management. Lastly, the report covers the analysis of how
customer services strategies will help in creating and developing customer experience that could
meet demands and needs of customers.
MAIN BODY
TASK 1
P1. The value and importance of understanding the needs, wants and preferences of target
customer groups
Customer needs are related to their physical, social and individual factors. The physical
need of customer includes food, clothing, water and safety whereas social requirements involves
belonging along with affection. As an individual the needs of customer include knowledge and
self-expression. Customer wants are described as desires which are not required to survive and
these are not considered essential (Mukerjee, 2018). Customer demands is explained as when a
consumer is willing to buy a need or want than it is considered as their demands by companies. It
is very important for hospitality industry to value the needs, demands and wants of their different
target customers. The importance of meeting the demands, needs and wants of customers are as
follows:
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Provide fast solutions
One of the reason of importance of fulfilling demands of customer includes that it
provides hotels an opportunity to improve their services more. The feedbacks or reviews given
by customers on various online platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and others help
organisations to understand needs as well as demands of consumers. By identifying these issues
of their customers, hotels could provide them fast and effective support.
Improve products or services:
Through understanding needs, demands and wants of customers hotels can improve their
services. These demands help them in identifying new trends in the market which are important
to execute in hotels in order to remain in market for long time (Wiedmann and et. al., 2018) . The
products or services according to customer demands or new trends help organisations in
enhancing more customer base.
The comparative analysis of how Hilton hotel and The Central Park have valued their
customer needs are explained below in detail:
Business travellers:
These travellers mainly visit to places for their meeting or to organise some official
events for their office staff members. Their needs include wellness, travel experience and
innovation whereas their wants involves reliability, private space, comfort as well as
convenience. The demands of these customer include large space or conference hall for their
business meeting, Wi-Fi connectivity and best services from hotels. In context to The Hilton
Hotel, it provides various facilities to its business travellers such as 24-hour business centre,
express check-in, conference space and town car service. While in case of The Central Park, the
hotel provides meeting and event space for its businesses travellers.
The
Leisure Travellers:
These type of travellers are categorized under those individuals who want to take a break
from everyday life and visit to place to enjoy their vacations. The needs of these travellers
include safe and clean rooms, cleanliness as well as comfortable beddings (Chen and et. al.,
2018). The wants of these travellers experience new things, explore new places and many more
whereas demands which they develop involves gym, kids activity room, library and many more.
In case of Hilton Hotel, it provides various amenities such as fitness centre, dry cleaning
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services, gift shop, family rooms and others. Whereas in context to The Central Park, the
amenities of hotel include choice of selecting rooms, television facilities, Wi-Fi connectivity and
many other.
P2. The different factors that drive and influence customer engagement of different target
customer groups
Customer engagement is defined as the process of interaction between companies and
consumers through various online and offline platforms. The customer engagement helps
organisations in strengthening their relationship with their clients and also assist them in
understanding their demands (Güzel, Ş ahin and Yetimoğlu, 2019) . For hospitality industry it is
very crucial to engage guests in order to accomplish success in this highly competitive market.
Factors that drive customer engagement
There are various factors which attract customers and enhance consumer engagement for
hotels, some of which are described below:
Loyalty schemes:
Loyalty schemes include various type of loyalty programmes which different hotels offer
to their guests. These loyalty programmes help in making people loyal towards hotel and
increase their visit which lead to enhancement in profitability of hotels (Lam and Law, 2019). In
case of Hilton hotel, it offers various loyalty programmes for its guests such as Spa to You,
Member tier benefits which includes silver, gold and diamond programmes. Whereas in context
to The Central Park, offers discount to its guest which includes 10% discounts on further
bookings.
Great service:
Customers also get attracted towards those hotels which provide best services and where
they could feel welcomed. The great services involves those facilities through which their guests
could feel valued and important. In case of Hilton hotel, it provides best services in the country
such as family suite, royal suite, twin rooms and many more facilities. It also provide its guests
facility to access 24-hour room service,free breakfast and other additional amenities. In context
to The Central Park, the hotel decorate its guests rooms individually and combine sumptuous
fabrics, electric mix of contemporary art and sleek furnishings.
Factors that influence customer engagement
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There are several components which impacts the customer engagement and decrease the
profitability of hospitality sector:
Non responsive staff:
Customer engagement decreases when the staff member of hotels become non responsive
which means that they are not paying any attention on customer’s issues. If staff does not behave
friendly with their guests or not solve their problems they are facing in hotel could also impact
their engagement. In case of Hilton hotel, from the online reviews it was observed that some of
travellers experienced disappointment from staff as they were not listening or provided rooms
which were over priced according to them. In context to The Central park, some reviews by
guests suggested that they faced issues while staying in hotel.
Poor services:
Poor services by hotels also influence customer engagement because bad service
experience will disconnect them and they will not prefer to visit again (Gurbaxani and Dunkle,
2019). In case of Hilton hotel, according to some online reviews few guests were not satisfied
with their facilities such as in one feedback it was mentioned that the customer booked king
sized room but received small room. In context to The Central Park, according to one online
review it was posted that the rooms allotted to them had unbearable heat which made impossible
for them to sleep.
TASK 2
P3. Create a customer experience map
A customer experience map is the representation of consumer journey which includes
what activities or actions were taken by them with specific organisations (Alvarez-Milán and et.
al., 2018). The stages which are included in customer mapping are as follows:
Awareness:
This stage of customer mapping helps hotel in understanding what issues or problems
guests are facing in their hotel. It makes hotel aware about troubles faced by its guests and what
steps it could take to solve it.
Consideration and decision:
The second stage is the decision stage where customers are offered extra services by hotel
which helps them in differentiating it from other competitors present in the market. The people at
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this stage consider the hotel by reviewing its feedbacks on online sites and after that they take
their decisions.
Conversion and retention:
At this stage of customer experience mapping, clients take decision to visit hotel and
spend their vacations there. After seeing positive reviews about hotel, customers convert their
consideration into decision and hold to their conclusion.
P4. How the customer touch-points throughout the customer experience create business
opportunities
Customer touch-points are strategies that companies utilize to make improvement within
themselves by evaluating needs of customers. Touch-points analysis helps them to uncover
consumer insights and provide them opportunities to analyse their performance in the eye to
consumers (Amann, Kihlander and Magnusson, 2021). These touch-points assist organisations to
make their organisational alignment better, enhance brand perception and tangible improvements
in acquiring, holding, up-sell and cross-sell attempts. The following are some customer touch-
points which helps Hilton hotel in creating more businesses opportunities:
Touch-points before purchase
Advertising:
This touch-points helps organisations to connect with customers through online and
offline platforms which results into more customer engagement. Offline advertising involves
giving advertisement through print media (newspaper), television and other sources. Whereas
digital advertising includes online platforms such as social media, website, travelling sites and
others (Schwertner, 2017). In case of Hilton hotel, it keep itself connected with its potential
customers through website, presence on social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram and
several other social sites.
Loyalty programmes:
These programmes offered by hospitality industry attract customers to visit and stay at
hotels as by this they will get points which they can use for calming their loyalty programmes.
These loyalty programmes also work as promotional strategy as people experienced the extra
service by hotel under these programmes will share their experience which will influence others
to visit. In context to the selected hotel, loyal programmes offered by it helps in connecting more
with their guests as well as increase their customer engagement.
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Touch-points during purchase
Reviews:
Before visiting any place every customer go through their reviews posted by former
travellers on travelling sites or on their social media pages. It helps them in understanding what
services certain hotel is good at and what it lacks. In case of Hilton Hotel, feedbacks posted on
several travelling sites such as Tripadvisor, Booking.com and others help in building a
connection between customer and the hotel.
Point of Sale:
It is that stage where customers transaction occurs which means that organisation
calculate the sum owned by them and indicate that amount as well as provide them option to pay.
In terms of Hilton Hotel, it provides guests options to pay their payment through offline and
online mode.
Touch-points after purchase
Billing:
This stage occur when customers have purchased products or services of specific
organisation. In case of Hilton Hotel, it does its billing process when guests present there are
ready to checkout.
Feedback surveys:
This touch-point helps organisations to get real feedbacks from their former customers
which assist them in improving their services or products (Trischler and et. al., 2018). In case of
Hilton Hotel, it takes feedbacks through its website and social media platforms where people are
asked to share their experience in hotel.
TASK 3
P5. How digital technology is employed in managing the customer experience
Customer experience plays an important role in digital transformation as most of the
digital transformation happens because of some innovation, needs, growth and initiatives
essential on the experience of consumers. Digital transformation increases pressure on
companies to update or adapt new market strategies according to expectations of customers.
There are various reasons about how digital technologies is employed in managing the customer
experience, some of which are explained below:
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Personal insights: With the help of digital technologies organisations could get personal
insight of their customers which means that they could evaluate which services were enjoyed by
their guests. For instance, in case of Hilton Hotel its guests who have already enjoyed services
offered by it in multiple environment will seek for relentless points throughout their journey.
Provide platform to express: Digital technologies help customers to post or share their
experience while enjoying services offered by organisations. On social media or on various
online platforms customers share their experience which helps organisations to identify their
needs and improve themselves accordingly. In case of Hilton hotel, people share their experience
on travelling sites and social media which assist the hotel in analysing its strengths and
weaknesses.
Identifying potential problems: During this stage of customer experience, organisations
identify which problems or issues are being faced by customers on regular basis (Ogilvie and et.
al., 2018). In context to Hilton hotel, regular online feedbacks help it in evaluating which issues
its guest are facing in their journey which the hotel should improve.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) :
CRM is a system which allows organisations to collect their contacts, develop reports,
send emails, automate their sales procedure and many other options. There are three different
types of CRMs which are explained below:
Operational CRM: It is a service which helps firms to maintain good relationship with their
customers. For instance, this factor helps the selected hotel in maintaining its daily services such
as sales, marketing and services.
Analytical CRM: It is a procedure which assist organisations in managing acquisition and
retention of customers as well as helps in keeping their information. For instance, in the selected
hotel it helps in turning prospects to clients and up-selling as well as tracking interaction of
customers which could help it in improving its services.
Collaborative CRM: This aspect of CRM is designed to improve customer experience. In
selected hotel this system helps in maintaining streamline communication.
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TASK 4
P6. Illustrate customer service strategies
Customer service strategies is defined as a process of planning schemes about how to
handle communication or interactions with potential customers. It helps organisations to provide
compatible customer experience throughout their journey. By improving customer services
companies could make their customers loyal towards their brand. There are various customer
service strategies which could be implemented by Hilton hotel:
Regular communication:
To become successful and to remain in market for long time it is very essential for
hospitality sector to have continuous communication with their customers. They can
communicate with their clients through various platforms and several means (Osterrieder, 2021).
In case of Hilton Hotel, it regularly takes feedbacks from its former guests which help it in
improving its services. It also organise surveys on social media platforms which assist it in
attracting more customers. The regular communication help the selected hotel in understanding
what trends and needs of customers are influencing market which it could apply to attract them.
Train Customer service team:
Hiring right or skilled candidates for handling customer services will help organisations
to build strong relationship with customers. A customer representative needs to possess qualities
like patience, effective communication skills and must deal with clients professionally. In
context to the selected hotel, if this strategy is applied which means that they could invest in
training employees about how to communicate with guests calmly and professionally.
P7. How customer service strategies create and develop the customer experience in a way that
meets the needs of the customer and required business standards
Customer services strategies helps organisation in building strong communication with
their potential customers which enhance their profitability and increase their demand in market.
By executing effective customer services hotel can create and develop customer experience
which could help it in fulfilling needs of customers (Robert and et. al., 2020). Given below are
some ways about how customer service strategies help in developing consumer experience:
Increase customer retention:
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By developing effective customer service strategies within organisation hotel could
enhance customer retention which will provide them best experience. Effective and clear
communication with people will help the organisation to understand what are the new demands
or needs of their potential clients which they have to improve or implement in order to stand out
in the market. Providing them instant solution for their problems or replying on their reviews and
showing concerns towards them will increase their interest in the hotel and they will prefer to
visit again.
Increase customer loyalty:
Efficient customer service strategies helps in building trust of customer which leads to
their loyalty towards brand. A good behaviour or extra efforts by staff members of hotel will
make customers fell valued and important which will add positive aspect in their experience
(Bijmolt and et. al., 2018). The loyalty programmes and good gestures by the selected hotel will
help it in making their guest's stay wonderful which they will share on different online platforms.
They will also refer this to other people which represent their loyalty towards the hotel. They
will post their outstanding experience on travelling sites also which will attract more customer
base.
CONCLUSION
From the above discussion it has been observed that it is very vital to manage customer
experience in hospitality industry as it helps it in improving its facilities. It has also been
evaluated from the above report that needs, wants and demands of customers help organisations
to develop fast and reliable solutions as well as make themselves active in the market through
following trends. There are various factors which could attract and repeal customers from
choosing a particular brand which would increase their profitability or decrease it respectively.
Digital technologies also play major role in enhancing customer base as it helps in reaching more
people because in present times people prefer to trust online sources. Customer touch-points also
assist hotels in interacting with their potential clients. It has also been observed from the above
analysis that hospitality sector must implement customer service strategies in order to improve
their services more.
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REFERENCES
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In Customer engagement marketing (pp. 119-139). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
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co-creation in online communities. European Journal of Marketing.
Gurbaxani, V. and Dunkle, D., 2019. Gearing Up For Successful Digital Transformation. MIS
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