Managing the Customer Experience

This article discusses managing customer experience with a focus on Al Fresco Restaurant. It covers understanding the needs, wants and preferences of target customer groups, factors that drive and influence customer engagement, producing a customer experience map, how touch-points of consumer create business opportunities, and digital technology employed in customer experience management.

Managing Customer
Experience

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
TASK ..............................................................................................................................................3
Understanding the needs, wants and preferences of target customer groups..............................3
Various factors that drive and influence customer engagement.................................................5
Produce a customer experience map...........................................................................................6
How touch-points of consumer create business opportunities....................................................8
Digital technology is employed in customer experience management.......................................9
Illustrate various strategies for customer service......................................................................10
Customer service strategies can create and develop the customer experience.........................11
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................11
REFERNCES:................................................................................................................................12
Books and Journals:..................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Customer experience (CX) is very beneficial for the companies. Customer experience is
meant by those interactions that a consumer has with a brand as a whole throughout all aspects of
the journey of consumer. It involves everything associated to an organisation that affects a
buyer's feelings and perceptions about it. That is why having a good customer experience is the
top most priority of every business. Companies that focuses on the good experiences of customer
increase revenues and reduce churn (Carvalho and Fernandes, 2018). This assignment is based
on the Al Fresco Restaurant. It is a famous restaurant known for Italian cuisine and pizzas. It
delivers its services through various options such as Dine-in, No-contact delivery and Takeaway.
It is a London based company. This assignment will discuss the needs and wants of target
customer groups, factors that can drive and influence customer engagement. Creating a map for
customer experience. Moreover, it will cover touch points of consumer which helps business to
grab opportunities. The role of digital technology is also very important in customer experience
management. It will also define customer service strategies that can meet the demands and needs
of consumer.
TASK
Understanding the needs, wants and preferences of target customer groups.
Understanding consumers' needs, wants and preferences is very crucial to any business.
Perceptions of consumer whether it is conscious or subconscious after consuming goods and
services of an organisation, resulting from all the interactions with employees, staff members
(waiters, guards, chefs and many more) during his journey. It demonstrates the level customer
satisfaction level while building a healthy relationship with the particular brand. Customer
experience management is not only involve serving in an best way but it is all about understand
customers at their best level which includes their demands, wants and preferences. In context of
Al Fresco Restaurant, when they understand their consumers at best level, they can deliver their
best offerings to them with personalized experience (Duarte, e Silva and Ferreira, 2018). It will
keep them loyal to the company and enables a word of mouth publicity if they like the services,
which offers high value to the restaurant.

Needs demonstrates the physical requirement of an individual which is essential to
survive such as food, water, air, shelter or sleep. An individual may also have emotional and
social need which is necessary for mental peace and health such as belonging, self-fulfilment,
self-esteem, security and many more. With an addition to Al Fresco Restaurant, it is important
for them to understand the basic needs of their customers in order to influence their decisions
regarding purchasing with the brand (Flavián, Gurrea and Orus, 2020). For instance, a customer
entered in the restaurant demanding for hot and cold water which is essential for them as per
their requirement.
Consumer wants defines the desired choices and preferences for specific ways of
fulfilling the requirements. Buyers generally desires for certain goods, services and even go for
certain brands from which they can satisfy the wants in a specific way. Suppose, a consumer in
the restaurant is thirsty and looking for something sweet and refreshing drink which is specific in
nature such as “lemon mojito”.
Therefore, it is necessary for the companies to understand the needs and wants or
preferences of their customers in order to provide enhanced level satisfaction with the services or
products. It is important to understand that needs are usually few in nature but wants are
encouraged by the social variables such as an individual get influenced by other person i.e.
celebrity or ideal person. It is also significant to understand that different consumers have
different wants and preferences. With an addition to Al Fresco, by understanding these needs and
wants of their customers they can shed the light on the development of marketing strategies.

Therefore, social and marketing variables can influence and encourage the needs and wants of
consumers.
Target market-
It defines a specific group of consumers to be aimed by the company (Gil-Gomez and
et.al., 2020). The company categorize different groups of customers in which they can put their
efforts and energy with an an intent to develop and maintain the relationship with the target
customers. In context of Al Fresco, they segment markets intro different groups such as: Demographic: It involves income, age, marital status, gender, status, education, religion,
family life and so on. Behaviour: It involves benefits obtained from the product and services, loyalty of
consumers towards brand, usage factors and so on.
 Pschographics: It involves values, attitudes, opinions, activities, lifestyles and many
more.
Various factors that drive and influence customer engagement.
Customer engagement regards as an emotional bond between a consumer and a brand. It
is quite obvious that when a consumer is highly engaged with brand, they tend to buy more
products and services, promote more on their behalf as well and shows they customer loyalty
towards brand (González-Mansilla, Berenguer-Contrí and Serra-Cantallops, 2019). It is
important for the company to provide high-quality customer experience to the buyers.
In context of Al Fresco Restaurant, the more guests will interact with the company, the
more it will impact the customer loyalty in positive terms. The chosen organisation must involve

in various strategies to have enhanced customer engagement. The on-boarding strategy is an
effective strategy which is chosen by the brand-
On Boarding: It regards the process of consumer journey in which a consumer undergoes
from the beginning in order to use the offering and goes beyond that. It contains a lot of
customer interactions and engagement to boost their satisfaction level with an intent to
encourage ongoing relationship (Jocevski and et.al., 2019). With a reference to Al Fresco
Restaurant, there five effective strategies that can be used in customer engagement such as
asking queries, knowing the customer, uncover challenges, make sure smooth sales
handoff,establish long-term objectives.
The following are two main factors that can support in customer engagement for the
brand- Go beyond their expectations: With an intent to generate and create consumer
engagement in an organisation, the selected company focuses on the brand and consumer
loyalty. Consumers are eager to know what that particular brand serves and what are their
specialities from other brands. Organisations find out the products and services that can
deliver in their best way as well as those things which goes beyond expectations. For
example, if a restaurant deliver services on time or before time, then it create an
impression which goes beyond customer expectations.
 Give them the great customer experience: In this factor, a company like Al Fresco
Restaurant works on making and developing such an environment that are friendly with
customers, which touch their sentiments while having an best experiences in the
restaurant. Moreover, the common service of a restaurant is food and beverages (Lyu, Li
and Law, 2019). The brand works on employees' training and other staff members to
meet and greet the guests politely and makes them comfortable and satisfied with the
ambience of the restaurant. They also focuses on promptness in services such as give
resolutions to problems immediately while delivering best services with attractive offers,
and with identifying the needs and wants of customers they can also serve in best way.
Produce a customer experience map.
A customer experience map can be explained as a sum of customer journey touchpoints,
a consumer could or does have with the company and interactions that take place at every touch-

points. It is an essential tool that focuses on identifying and managing the encounters of each
consumer which they have with the company or brand. Generally, it outlines the consumer
experience to develop a long-term relationship (Mafael, Raithel, and Hock, 2021). Here,
experience is meant by the thoughts and opinions of consumers after consuming goods and
services.
In context of Al Fresco Restaurant, they can develop an consumer experience map so that
it can provide the restaurant an overview of their customers which will assist them to develop a
best experience for the guests. This will also support the restaurant to influence and encourage
consumer behaviour which in turn will be advantageous in utilizing the conversion process.
The consumer experience map includes 5 stages which will support the chosen
organisation in customer experience management effectively. These stages are mentioned below:
 Awareness: This stage defines that consumers are aware of their needs and wants and
now they are seeking options that can satisfy the demand. The selected organisation
utilize such information to satisfy the demands and wants of consumers in order to make
them happy and satisfied while availing services. Consideration: This is the second stage in which buyers are comparing the specific
goods and services to other brands in the marketplace. By considering the customer's
feedback and reviews, prices, offers and discounts, a consumer can compare various
brands in the market (Michopoulou and Melpignano, 2019). With an addition to Al
Fresco Restaurant, they will point the things at which they best to offer services, what are
their offers and discounts and so on. Therefore, a consumer will kept all the points in
mind which might deliver great experience.

 Decision: This is the most critical stage where customer is ready to make purchases.
They chooses the best option among all after considering all facts. Al Fresco Restaurant
must pay high attention on their services and products in order to make customers
convinced for the brand. Retention: Consumer retention is much easier than acquiring and convincing the new
buyers (Ram and et.al., 2018). At very first, it is not easy to gain customers' trust towards
brand but once it is gained, it is most important for the company to maintain the trust at
best level. In order to gain and maintain trust, the chosen organisation can timely work on
the customer's feedback and reviews. It is necessary to work on brand loyalty.
 Advocacy: It is the most imperative stage for the brand where consumers can become the
advocate for the company. They can refer the brand to their friends and relatives by
telling good things about services, products or ambience. Word of mouth publicity is the
best and effective marketing strategy for the company.
How touch-points of consumer create business opportunities.
Customer touch-points can be understood as any points of interaction between a brand
and customer. It can be direct or indirect contact with customers. These touch points can occur
within and outside the control of an organisation (Rösler, Osterrieder and Friedli, 2021). It may
also occur before, during and after making the purchase of a good and services. In context of Al
Fresco Restaurant, the following are some touch-points that can be optimized by the brand in
order to create growth opportunities for the business:

 Digital marketing content: This can be defined as the content which is delivered online
in order to tell about products and services or to promote company's offerings. For
example, engaging blog posts, promotional videos or infographics. Information on call: Now a days, it is very common that customers use their mobile
phones in order to search any information about the brand and its goods and services.
With the help of smartphones, they can also get quick resolutions to their problems or
queries. For the selected organisation, if the brand has effective customer services team
then they can notify their each and every offers to the customers. Thank you letter: “Thank you” letter is one of the most effective way which must be
adopted by the company after the consumer make a purchase. This could be done with an
email or hand-written notes in which the company will mentioned that how they are
happy to serve their customers (Rudkowski and et.al.,2020). It will also impact their
long-term relationships.
 Product feedback surveys: In order to know the experiences of customers, these surveys
are done after making a purchase or consuming products and services. For example, if the
consumer does not like the product at all, he delivers negative comment for the brand and
its offerings. It is important for the brand to work on the relevant areas where they are
lacking or customers face issues. The chosen company can ask their product development
team to improve their services if they are not working well in such sections.
Digital technology is employed in customer experience management.
Digital technology provides online platforms where a company and a customer can
contact each other. It is also helpful in delivering the best consumer experience. For instance, a
brand can easily convey its messages through digital platforms such as email, social-media
platforms and many more (Shoukry, Khader and Gani, 2021).
Digital technologies provide several benefits with an intent to improve the experiences of
consumers. These technologies facilitate speed and consistency through which a company can
offers its services and products. They can communicate with their customers in minimal time
even with a huge content. As it has features like consistency and speed, content can be delivered
with the original tone, voice and style. By employing digital technologies in the business, the
selected organisation can assure their buyers with consistency which create and develop the
customer loyalty, satisfaction and trust.

In context of Al Fresco Restaurant, they can use various social media platforms such as
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and many more in order to convey their message to the buyers. For
instance, the restaurant can use their photos, videos of their dining area, waiting area, reception
and so on, so that their customers can check and make a purchase decision. This will support to
develop an ultimate fan base and boost sales.
Al Fresco Restaurant may also use their official websites in order to interact with their
prospective customers. They can use emails for reviews and feedbacks or to inform latest offers
and discounts to enhance their customer satisfaction level. With the support of digital
technologies, they can obtain their goals very easily.
Customer relationship management (CRM) system in the company is utilizing to save the
content and data of all potential customers (Yrjölä and et.al., 2019). It eases company to track all
the interactions of their buyers. This system supports company to produce reports, send SMS or
emails, create automated sales, categorising the customers and so on. Analytical CRM will
facilitate the brand to increase the customer base. This will also help in managing the
information about customers as well as improve their experiences with the chosen company.
Illustrate various strategies for customer service.
Customer service strategy is meant by a plan that supports organisation to manage
interactions with customer in order to deliver best experiences throughout their journey. When an
organisation is having a good consumer experience then it will result in customer loyalty and
trust which is beneficiary for the brand to succeed in the market. The selected organisation can
focus on the discussed customer service strategies: Choosing the right tools: The company can facilitate their customers with help desk at its
outlets in order to receive complaints and feedbacks so that enhancements can be done in
the restaurant services. For example, a software of call center can support the chosen
organisation in satisfying the requirements of customers.
 Personalize the consumer experience: It can be beneficial for the chosen company to
adopt and work on different customer service strategies so that their customers best
experiences. By facilitating personalized experience to their consumers they can build a
long term bond with them. According to previous interactions between the guests and Al
Fresco Restaurant, they can support their request or demands. By giving whole attention
to them increase consumer satisfaction level.

Customer service strategies can create and develop the customer experience.
With a motive to produce best consumer experience, the company must concentrates on
their service strategies for the consumer which will affect their experiences. The Al Fresco
Restaurant shall optimize their consumer service strategy in such a manner that the outcomes
will be great for the company as well as consumer. These strategies of consumer service will
assist in facilitating wholesome attention to the needs and wants of customers.
The analysis of the consumer touch-points shall support the brand to weigh its
interactions with consumers in order to make small modifications or changes in their regular
services (Zhu, Lam and Lai, 2019). It unfolds the consumers' insight so that they can create
opportunities to improve the consumer experience.
With an intent to improve the consumer experience, the management of the chosen
company can focus on to track the interactions with their guests so that further strategies can be
made in order to meet the needs and wants of customer. Moreover, it can be also beneficiary for
the business standards by enhancing profitability and market share by offering great consumer
experiences.
CONCLUSION
It has been concluded from the above discussion is that managing consumer experience is
one the vital thing in any business. By focusing on delivering best consumer experience, a
company can maintain its relationship with buyers and develop the customer and brand loyalty
altogether. The Al Fresco Restaurant is completely focused on their consumers. They spend their
maximum time and energy in satisfying their customers at best level. The company know the
importance of understanding the needs, wants and preferences of their customers as it can
develop and maintain the relationship for a longer period of time. A journey map of the
consumers will facilitate company to provide best and personalized experience to them. The
report also considered different touch-points of consumers through which they could grab
opportunities for the business.

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