Customer Experience Management: A Literature Review

The provided assignment is a literature review on customer experience management, which includes an exploratory study of branded social content and consumer engagement. It also covers market opportunities for animal-friendly milk in different consumer segments, the importance of customer orientation for firm performance, and enhancing customer engagement through consciousness. The assignment discusses customer experience management in hospitality, understanding customer experience throughout the customer journey, interactive brand experience pathways to customer-brand engagement, managing customer experience and relationships, and strategic frameworks for customer experience management. It also includes a summary of research on customer experience management in different industries, such as retailing and manufacturing technology management.

MANAGING CUSTOMER
EXPERIENCE

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1 ...........................................................................................................................................1
1. Explain the expectations and needs of market segments....................................................1
2. Customer engagement and factors that influence them......................................................2
LO2..................................................................................................................................................3
1. Customer Experience Map for Thomas Cook Group.........................................................3
................................................................................................................................................6
2. Consumer Touch Points to create business opportunities..................................................6
LO3..................................................................................................................................................7
1. Evaluating how digital technologies employed in managing customer experience in Thomas
Cook.......................................................................................................................................7
2. Advantages and Disadvantages of CRM system................................................................8
LO4..................................................................................................................................................9
1. Effective customer experience management for maximizing customer engagement........9
2. Importance of customer service strategies.......................................................................10
RECOMMENDATION.................................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Consumer is an essential element to the success of company. It is essential for the
organisation to manage consumer experience. Consumers experience management defined as the
process an organisation uses to oversee, track and organise every interaction between a customer
and industry. The chosen service industry in this study is Thomas Cook group, that is one of the
leading leisure travel and tourism industry in the world. The company was before named as
Thomas Cook AG that merged in MyTravel Group Plc and renamed the organisation as Thomas
Cook Group Plc.
The study will analyse expectations and needs of the market segment for Thomas Cook
and explore consumer experience map to create business opportunities by evaluating the touch
points. Along with it, the report will investigate impact of digital technology in managing
consumer relationship and lastly, it will end up with the application of effective client experience
management to maximise customer engagement.
LO1
1. Explain the expectations and needs of market segments
Market segmentation is the best strategy and process of dividing a market and potential
customers into a group based on their characteristics and needs. The main aim of market
segmentation is to focus on particular group at a time in order to achieve ad attract them towards
the company and its services and products. For example, customer service manager of Thomas
Cook tours and travels industry wants to satisfy its customers and attract a large number of
customers and for that it is not possible to attract different type of people at a time so according
to needs, income, gender, characteristics it divides its customers and then focus on each segment
(Peppers and Rogers, 2016).
It is very important for customer service manager to understand the needs and preference
of target customers because it helps them in increasing sales and satisfaction of customer’s
needs. There is some importance for understanding needs of target customers of Thomas cook:
 Managing expectations: The main importance for customer service manager is to satisfy
their customers’ needs and keep managing their expectations. After identifying needs and
preferences of customers it becomes easy for manager to manage them and their loyalty
for the company’s services.
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 Maximizing profitability: It is the main purpose of every type of business that they want
to make money by creating and developing a positive image of their brand and services.
Business success and profitability is depends upon the sales and sales depends upon
customers. For selling products and services in a large numbers customer service
manager of Thomas cook company need to understand preferences and wants of their
target and potential customer (Merrilees, 2016).
2. Customer engagement and factors that influence them
Customer engagement can be defined and referred the connection between customers and
a brand or company. Customer engagement plays a vital role in Thomas Cook tours and travels
company because they provide a range of travel services to its customers so for that it is
important to managing a strong relationship with their customers in order to maximize sales. For
customer engagement it makes the best customer engagement strategy that encourage customers
to interact & share their experience about the services that the company provides them.
There are various factors that influence and affect customer engagement that are as follows:
 Pricing; Pricing of products and services that the company provides them influence
customer purchasing behaviour and engagement. Customers prefer to purchase those
services and products which are high quality with affordable prices (De Graaf and et.al.,
2016.).
 Reputation: Reputation and image of the company is other main factor that influences
customer engagement. Customers prefer to go in those companies that have good and
positive brand image. Reputation shows them the quality of their products and services.
Thomas cook tours and travels can make a positive image by providing good and unique
services to its customers.
 Service quality: There are most of the customers who prefer better quality as compare to
price. Now a day they have become brand and quality conscious. So it is also important
for customer service manager to provide an effective quality of services and products in
order to attract them and increasing customer engagement.
 Business ethics: Business ethics of a company shows the way of behaving and treating
with their customers. When the company misbehave and do not treat with ethics then
customers do not not prefer to go at that company. Unethical behaviour becomes the
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reason of decreasing sales and bad image of a company. So it is important for Thomas
cook company to have the knowledge and importance of ethical behaviour.
LO2
1. Customer Experience Map for Thomas Cook Group
Mapping consumer experience is essential for the tour and travel industry. It is beneficial
for marketers of company to visualise their services and the kind of experience they are
providing to the potential guests (Customer Journey Maps, 2019). Mapping the experience of
guests is a process strategically and visually mapping consumer experience and interaction with
the brand.
Stages Research Decision
making
Booking
and
payment
Pre-
Purchase
service
and
channels
In-room
or In-
flight
Post-
Purchase
services
and
channels
Consume
r
engageme
nt
Activities
of
Consumer
By
hearing
about the
industry
through
relatives,
friends
and
families
Online
advertise
ments
Read
about the
company
from
In this step
,
consumers
are
looking
for all the
best option
that fit
into their
expectatio
ns and for
that they
compare
various
tour and
travel
After
selecting
the best
fitted
option,
consumer
book
flight,
rooms or
cabs that
fit in the
price
range and
expectatio
ns and
make
Ask and
FAQs or
queries
related to
their
booking or
destination
service
(Lemon
and
Verhoef,
2016).
Evaluate
that the
services
and
Experienc
e and
Enjoy the
services
The
behaviour
of
consumer
and all
their
activities
after
experienci
ng the
products
and
services. If
consumers
are
satisfied
In this,
consumers
are
engaged
with the
industry
by
providing
reviews
and
feedbacks.
They also
being
engaged
through
social
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magazines
and
newspaper
industries
and
evaluate
all the
alternative
s and
select the
best option
that meet
their need
and
expectatio
ns.
payment
either
online or
offline.
products
offer by
the
industry
are up-to
their
expectatio
ns
Finding all
the
necessary
details for
the booked
services.
with the
services
they are
being
loyal to
the
industry
and book
the
services
again.
media and
other
digital
media
platform.
Touch
Points
Social
media
Word of
mouth
Emails
Traditiona
l media
Websites
Word of
Mouth
Traditiona
l or offline
booking
and
payment
mode
Modern or
online
booking
system
and
payment
mode;
mobile
applicatio
n of the
company
Tour and
Ticket
detail page
Website
Call
Tour guide
Agency
and staff
Website
Visiting
again
Social
media
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or tour
booking
page (So
and et. al.,
2016).
Experienc
e
Satisfy Somewhat
satisfy
Not
Satisfy
Somewhat
satisfy
Satisfied Not so
satisfy
Satisfy
Feeling
and point
of view of
consumer
I heard
good
reviews
for the
industry.
The
website of
the
company
is very
presentabl
e. The
layout of
the
website
attracts
me.
There is
no proper
tool
provided
to
compare
various
websites
and word
of mouth
The
process of
booking is
easy but I
face some
difficulties
in booking
from the
smart
device
The
booking
staff in the
office are
cooperativ
e and the
payment
mode
provided
by
company
is also fine
The
service
departmen
t does not
respond
kindly and
they are
not
cooperativ
e
Rooms are
clean and
comfortabl
e.
Other
services of
the
company
are not too
bad but
they are
not up-to
my
expectatio
n
Overall
the
experience
of mix
feeling
some
services
are fine,
some good
and some
are too
bad.
I am very
surprised
with their
impressive
presence
on social
media.
Doing The They They They Training Improvise They
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industry
can
improve
their
customer
service
staff and
also some
of the
services
need to be
improve
should
allow
compariso
n tools and
increase
the
informatio
n on
official
website
should
support
booking
from smart
devices
Simplify
the page
flow for
booking
and further
payments
(Venkates
an, 2017).
should
offer
planning
checklist
Provide
training to
consumer
experience
departmen
t
should
give to the
tour guide
for
effective
communic
ation
the
services
should
treat
existing
consumer
as good as
new
consumers
Illustration 1: Customer Journey Map
(Source: Customer Journey Maps, 2019)
2. Consumer Touch Points to create business opportunities
Consumer touch points refers to the way from which guests are being in touch with the
industry. Following are the touch points that create opportunity;
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Website- It is one of the essential touch points for guests and for the company that
reflects the image of brand (Homburg, Jozić and Kuehnl, 2017). The major research of consumer
is done through company's website from which they get all the necessary information about
Thomas Cook. This should be attractive and presentable that can attract consumers mind and all
the information should mention on the website regarding services, prices, etc. Website with all
the information, attractive layout, satisfy presentation attract consumers to try services of
industry and enhance business opportunities.
Word of Mouth- Word of mouth refers to reviews that can be bad or good about the
services experienced by the consumer of the brand. Most of the consumer trust only word of
mouth from their friends and relatives. If the guest of Thomas cook are satisfy with the services
given by industry, they promote the brand that raise opportunity for the company (Kandampully,
Zhang and Jaakkola, 2018).
Staff and sales team- Consumers are being in touch with the staff from the point they
finalise to book from Thomas Cook. It is essential for the industry to hire effective team or train
them that enhance the experience of consumer and increase opportunities for business.
Social Media- Social media is one of the repeatable and trendiest touch point in the
experience map. This is the best touch point to create business opportunities by using this as
marketing tool that can enable company to attract consumers.
Email- Thomas Cook use emails to stay in touch with the consumers. The process of
touch point is starts from marketing email, from pre-booking to transactional; mail. It helps the
company to enhance business opportunities by being in touch personally to the consumer and can
effectively influence their behaviour towards the company.
LO3
1. Evaluating how digital technologies employed in managing customer experience in Thomas
Cook
Service sectors especially travel and tourism industries are focusing on providing
satisfactory experience through digitalization. The technologies help industry to;
 Consumer engagement
 Enhance consumer loyalty
 Able to provide easy and customised services through business intelligence technology.
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 Provide reliable platform for transactions
Consumer relationship management refers to the practice, strategies and knowledge that industry
utilise to evaluate and manage information of guests interaction through consumer life-cycle.
There are a range of CRM such as; Operative, Collaborative and Analytical. All the type of CRM
contribute to the management of customer relationship.
Thomas Cook adopt various advance and efficient platform to leverage experience of its
guests. The plan regarding e-commerce of the industry uses some general tool such as; CRM,
BPM, mobility, CMS, etc. On the website they provided various reports that able to resolve
issues of consumers.
Along with it, various CRM system utilise by Thomas Cook are; SOFT, INET,
Interactive Intelligence. The 'Holiday App' of Thomas Cook is an effective digital technology
that creates easy booking option for consumers and 'Choose Your Room' is one of the strategic
digital contribution to facilitate and retain its consumers.
Thomas Cook are active on the social media and there is a trained staff for interacting
with online consumers to resolve their issues. This service runs 24*7 and promise to resolve
issues of consumers within 1-7 hours depending on the type of problem they have.
2. Advantages and Disadvantages of CRM system
Advantages of CRM system
 The CRM system employed in Thomas Cook enable the industry to manage all the data
of customers in one place and enable employees to be more productive and efficient by
tracking history of consumers and that results in enhancing employees productivity.
 It also helps the industry to build long term relationship.
 The CRM system enable company to understand the taste, interest and their buying
behaviour and from that they can able to serve the consumer what they want that raise
their experience level high.
 It helps Thomas Cook to identify profitable and unprofitable consumers and also help in
centralised data.
 The software is essential to build long term relation with the potential consumers
(Customer Relationship Management, 2018).
Disadvantages of CRM system
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 The major disadvantage of the CRM system is that industry does not have any control
over the data and the chances are high to lose the information of consumers.
 The maintenance and purchase cost of the software is high (Cook, 2017).
 It can affect consumers mind, if they get to know that they are being hacked and the
information are been gathered by the company. It can break the loyalty.
LO4
1. Effective customer experience management for maximizing customer engagement
Effective customer experience management can be defined and it is a practice of reacting
to customer interactions in a way which increase customers’ satisfaction and loyalty.
Customer service strategies: For managing customer experience and for increasing their
loyalty towards the products and services, customer service manager of Thomas Cook tours and
travels adopts and makes various strategies which help and guide them in this aspect.
Product knowledge: Customers buy products and services after knowing the benefits
and have proper knowledge about them. Thomas cook provide them proper knowledge and every
details of the services and products by which customers know the importance and make sure
about purchasing that products (Frambach, Fiss and Ingenbleek, 2016.).
Train employees: It is not possible for manager to give whole details to their all
customers individually. So they give training to their all employees about the way of treating and
details about services and products. When employees make their customers feel listened then
customer satisfaction rise. It increases their morale which directly helps them in increasing
engagement.
Resolve customers issues: Customers have some problems and issues related products
so customers service manager try to solve them at their first point of contact. It makes customers
sure that employees and manager understand them and handle their responsibilities in effective
manner.
Feedbacks: It is another important customer service strategy of Thomas cook tours and
travels as they take feedback fr5om their customers. The main aim of this strategy is to take
suggestions and know the views and opinion of their customers’ about their given services and
products (Plouffe and et.al., 2016.). When the company give this opportunity to their customers
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then customers feel respected and involved with the company. They also think that their views
and opinions does matter for them.
2. Importance of customer service strategies
Customer’s service strategies play a significant role in the company in order to meet their
determined goals and objectives.
Indicator to customer repurchases: When same customer repurchase the products and
services of the same company then it is the best indicator which shows their satisfaction. So
when the company focus on making effective strategies then it directly helps them in increasing
their sales and retains their potential customers.
Market leader: When the organisation provides the best quality products and adopts the
best customers service strategies then increase the chances of becoming the market leader and
also being in the competition. When customers do not satisfy with services of a company then
they prefer to go another competitor shops. So it is very important to make and develop customer
service strategies.
Increases the CLV: Customer lifetime value (CLV) is the key element for the company.
This value shows their importance and success. The company can achieve customer lifetime
value only when it makes and focus on developing different strategies from their competitors.
Satisfaction plays a vital role regarding revenue which customers contribute towards the
business. It also leads to an increase in return on turnover.
Decrease negative mouth publicity: It is the fact that unhappy customers tell 10-15
persons about the company and experience of using their services and products. Mouth publicity
has impact on the business operations in negative manner and in positive manner. Negative
publicity impact on the goodwill of a company so it is very important for customer service
manager of Thomas cooks tours and travels to concentrates on solving all the problems of
customers and satisfies them. It can eliminate this type of problems by providing unique
facilities and also can rebuild its image (Saunila, Ukko and Rantala, 2018).
Increases customers loyalty: The best customers service strategies increases loyalty of
customers toward its brand and company. Loyal and happy customers tend to retain in the
company for long time. They also have the positive impact on the firm and also help in doing
mouth publicity.
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RECOMMENDATION
From the above study it can be recommended that the company should focus on
providing their services on time. It should also involve their employees in their decision making
process in order to make this process easy. When it involves their employees then employees
feels respected and tries to provide different suggestions. It should also focus on improving their
marketing strategies which can also help them in customer engagement. For better marketing it
should take helps advanced technologies (Grewal and et.al., 2017).
CONCLUSION
From the above study it has been concluded that customer engagement played an
important role in the hospitality sectors businesses. Customer engagement helped customer
service manager of Tours and travels company to increase their sales and maximize productivity.
For focusing on potential customers target and market segmentation also play a significant role.
It has various factors that affected and influenced customer engagement towards the services and
products of the company. It has been also concluded from the report that customer experience
map supported service sector organisation in order to create business opportunities. Digital
technology has changed the way of business operations and this technology has made a drastic
change in order to manage customer relationship with the company. With the help of new and
digital technologies a firm manage and retain their potential customers which helped them in
achieving their determined goals.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Ashley, C. and Tuten, T., 2015. Creative strategies in social media marketing: An exploratory
study of branded social content and consumer engagement. Psychology &
Marketing. 32(1). pp.15-27.
Cook, S., 2017. Measuring customer service effectiveness. Routledge.
De Graaf, S. and et.al., 2016. Market opportunities for animal-friendly milk in different
consumer segments. Sustainability. 8(12). p.1302.
Frambach, R.T., Fiss, P.C. and Ingenbleek, P.T., 2016. How important is customer orientation
for firm performance? A fuzzy set analysis of orientations, strategies, and
environments. Journal of Business Research. 69(4). pp.1428-1436.
Grewal, D. and et.al., 2017. Enhancing customer engagement through consciousness. Journal of
Retailing. 93(1). pp.55-64.
Homburg, C., Jozić, D. and Kuehnl, C., 2017. Customer experience management: toward
implementing an evolving marketing concept. Journal of the Academy of Marketing
Science. 45(3). pp.377-401.
Kandampully, J., Zhang, T. and Jaakkola, E., 2018. Customer experience management in
hospitality: A literature synthesis, new understanding and research agenda. International
Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. 30(1). pp.21-56.
Lemon, K. N. and Verhoef, P. C., 2016. Understanding customer experience throughout the
customer journey. Journal of Marketing. 80(6). pp.69-96.
Merrilees, B., 2016. Interactive brand experience pathways to customer-brand engagement and
value co-creation. Journal of Product & Brand Management. 25(5). pp.402-408.
Peppers, D. and Rogers, M., 2016. Managing customer experience and relationships: A strategic
framework. John Wiley & Sons.
Plouffe, C.R. and et.al., 2016. Does the customer matter most? Exploring strategic frontline
employees’ influence of customers, the internal business team, and external business
partners. Journal of Marketing. 80(1). pp.106-123.
Saunila, M., Ukko, J. and Rantala, T., 2018. What determines customers’ engagement in the
digital service process?. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management.
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So and et. al., 2016. The role of customer engagement in building consumer loyalty to tourism
brands. Journal of Travel Research. 55(1). pp.64-78.
Venkatesan, R., 2017. Executing on a customer engagement strategy.
Online
Customer Journey Maps. 2019. [Online]. Available Through:
<https://www.toptal.com/designers/product-design/customer-journey-maps>.
Customer Relationship Management. 2018. [Online]. Available Through:
<https://www.aptean.com/blog/definition-of-a-crm-system>.
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