Managing Customer Experience

This report examines customer experience management at Four Seasons Hotels, a leading luxury hospitality firm. It explores customer segmentation, profiling, and engagement strategies, and examines the role of touchpoints in creating business opportunities. The report includes a customer experience map for Four Seasons, highlighting key touchpoints and their impact on customer satisfaction. This report is available on Desklib, a website that provides past papers and solved assignments for students.

MANAGING CUSTOMER
EXPERIENCE

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
INDUCTION TRAINING PACK...................................................................................................1
1. Importance of Customer segmentation and different customer profiling activities for
determining target market.......................................................................................................1
2. Different ways of customers profiling and the effect of customers wants and preferences in
designing products and services.............................................................................................1
3. Drivers of Customers engagement.....................................................................................2
4. Reviewing different strategies employed by hotel.............................................................3
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MAP.................................................................................................3
1. Preparing a customer experience map for Four Season.....................................................3
2. Identifying touch points when customers interacting with the Four Seasons Hotel..........6
EXPLANATION OF MAP ON THE BASIS OF LEVEL OF TOUCH POINTS..........................7
1. Creation of business opportunities by touch points............................................................7
2. Activities and action at touch points..................................................................................7
3. Optimization of customer touch points..............................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Customers' satisfaction is the primary objective of all the organisations because making
customers happy by offering products and services according to customers’ expectations, helps
companies to stand out in the competition of industry (Lemon and Verhoef, 2016). The present
report is about Four Seasons Hotels Ltd, a luxurious hospitality firm headquartered in Toronto, it
will include an induction training pack that will focus on market segmentation and its
importance. It will also discuss what is customer profiling and the ways of segmenting
customers. Customer journey map will be prepared in the report which will show how different
touch points creates opportunities for the hotel.
INDUCTION TRAINING PACK
1. Importance of Customer segmentation and different customer profiling activities for
determining target market
Hotels conduct market segmentation on the basis of Demographic, Geographic, Psycho
graphic and Behavioural aspects of customers that delivers proper, strategic and specific reach to
its customers.
These strategies at Four Seasons strengthen its delivery procedures. Demographic
segmentation provides it a unique identity, customer retention as it provides personalised
services to its customers. Geographic segmentation defines its accessibility to customers which
results in increasing brand value.
Similarly, customer profiling generates a specific outline of services that has to be
provided depending upon customer's needs. It portrays a responsive image of the hotel towards
its customer.
Segmentation and profiling provide a clear view of what customer wants and how to
provide all services to different customers timely. The target of Four-season hotel is generally
based on needs and preferences which differs according to behavioural and demographic
preferences.
2. Different ways of customers profiling and the effect of customers wants and preferences in
designing products and services
Customers are profiled on the basis of following factors:
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Demographic: Customers are grouped on the basis of age, gender, income of the
customers, marital status. Customer's income helps in designing and producing services which
meets the requirements of high-income people and low earning customers.
Psychographics: This segmentation is done by grouping people who share same
lifestyles, values, attitudes, interests and hobbies.
Buying habits: Buying habits of people in the market helps in segregating the customers.
This will enable clarity to guest relation executive over the potential guest of hotel and their
needs, wants and preferences.
Tastes and preferences of the target customers significantly affects the types of services
and products of Four Seasons. Offering services and products which does not meet the
expectations of target audience would lead to dissatisfaction amongst them, distortion of
company's brand and goodwill, low profitability. All these results into creation of circumstances
which would make the existence of the hotel difficult. Knowing the target audience and their
expectations results in greater customer experience. This helps the company in attaining cost
effectiveness in its marketing and promoting activities.
3. Drivers of Customers engagement
 Communication: Post customer services, quality services are the key drivers of customer
engagement. It helps the industry to contribute its best in creating a long-lasting relation
with customers (Nema and Joshi, 2016). Efficient communication procedures enhance
customer loyalty, customer retention.
Four Seasons conduct customer’s engagement by the help of “Digital platform”. It has about
90 Facebook links for subsidiaries, regular updates for its websites and active profiles at tumblr,
Pinterest. Customer engagement through digital platform increases advance booking facilities of
Four Seasons and increased 20% revenue via digital platform.
 Post customer care: This make the hotel services reliable, trustworthy and increase its
goodwill in market. Four Seasons have toll free numbers, brochures, gift cards for
receiving feedbacks, complaints of customers. Customer engagement is necessary for
quality services and may be influenced by mode of interaction, procedures of delivering
services and management of related terms. Depending upon feedback of customers hotel
measures its performance and rectify the faults (Peppers and Rogers, 2016).
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Guest relation executive of Hotel is also focused on engaging with guest on the basis of
profiling. This helps the person in analysing individual experience with hotel and important
areas. Engaging of executive with travellers helps the firm in managing innovation and
improvement in quality of hotel services.
4. Reviewing different strategies employed by hotel
Four Seasons use different strategies for attracting its diversified customers like changing
the interiors and decorations of the hotel at regular periods helps in engaging customers, making
management and staff politer and humble while interacting with the guests for giving customers
a pleasant feeling, providing additional facilities like welcome drinks to the visitors for
converting potential customers into customers. These on-board strategies have helped the Four
Seasons to grab more customers and has also showed more customer satisfaction which
altogether have benefited company in achieving efficiency and profitability (15 Ways to Attract
& Motivate More Guests to Stay at Your Hotel, 2017).
For example: hotel make use of on boarding strategies of understanding and meeting
customer expectation. The strategy used by hospitality firm is digital communication where the
firm focus on providing online customer support which helps the business in determining and
fulfilling needs of its guest.
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MAP
1. Preparing a customer experience map for Four Season
Customer experience map shows the journey of a customer right from knowing about the
services and products of hotel to experiencing of the services offered including post sale
services.
Customer experience journey map
Touch
points
Awareness Thinking Purchasing
decision
Experience
the services
Post
customer
services
Share
experience
Hotel's
website
Customers
gets the
knowledge
Customers
compares
the prices of
Customer
after
comparisons,
Customer
utilises the
services
Consumer
builds good
customer
Whatever the
satisfaction
level, a
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about types
of products
and
services
Four
Season is
offering
like
luxurious
suits for up
market
customers,
affordable
rooms for
average
income
people etc.
according
to their
needs.
the products
and services
of Four
Seasons
with
different
brands in
terms of
price,
quality,
refund
policies,
after sale
services, etc.
builds up its
mind of
buying the
products and
services of
Four Season
and makes
payment for
the services
availed
through
online mode
such as credit
cards, net
banking etc.
offered by
the hotel and
form an
opinion about
the product
and services
served.
experiences
through post
sale services
such as
greetings
from the
hotels,
reminders
from the
company
about the
new
additions in
the services
through
emails,
messages,
etc.
customer
derives is
shared with
friends,
family,
colleagues
which could
be either
positive or
negative.
Physical
stores
Customers
visits the
hotel, asks
about
hotel's
offerings
from its
staff and
manager.
Customers
observes the
ambience of
the hotel
and sees
management
treats its
guests, how
they
welcome its
customers
Buying
decision is
taken by the
customer
after the
thinking
phase.
Orders the
services and
products of
the hotel and
Customers
avails the
products of
the Four-
Season hotel
and sees
whether his
expectations
are met or
not and
accordingly
Customers
services of
the hotel like
proper clean
and peaceful
environment,
welcoming
treatment
from hotel's
staff,
additional
A good
consumer
experience
will create
good word of
mouth for the
company
which would
be shared by
customer
with the word
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etc. makes
payment by
either digital
way or cash
payment and
receives
invoice of
the same.
forms an
opinion.
facilities
which makes
the customer
experience
better.
through
positive
reviews on
social media,
creating the
goodwill of
Four Season.
(Source: Consumer experience map, 2017)
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Illustration 1: Customer experience journey map

2. Identifying touch points when customers interacting with the Four Seasons Hotel
Official website of Four Seasons is one of the touches points where customers interact
with the company. Customers finds out about the products and services. In this image is also
displayed at the site for encouraging people to buy its products. Official websites also offer chat
options for the customers where they can ask anything from the company. This tool helps in
better understanding of the customers’ requirements and the services are offered in the way a
customer wants.
Physical store: Place of Four Seasons is another touch point from where company
communicates with its customers. Hotels' interiors, welcoming facilities, pleasant treatment by
the staff builds efficient customer experience as it helps in moulding the mind sets of the
customers (Venkatesan, 2017).
EXPLANATION OF MAP ON THE BASIS OF LEVEL OF TOUCH
POINTS
1. Creation of business opportunities by touch points
Touchpoints creates many business opportunities for the Four Seasons Hotels in the way
that it helps in having effective interactions with its customers and also its potential customers.
Websites shows overview of the business, its offerings to the people which creates excitement in
them to purchase its services. Hotels attractive interiors and environment helps in attracting
customers which affects the profitability of the company. In addition to this, touchpoints are the
bases on which customers forms their perception about the hotel, its staff and its offerings.
2. Activities and action at touch points
Touch-points let the organisation in understanding the needs and requirements of the
customers which helps them in better designing of its offerings that will ultimately reflect in
greater customer satisfaction, increased productivity and enhanced customer experience.
3. Optimization of customer touch points
Hotel have taken various actions for touch point creation. Management of the company
decided to improve its interaction with its customers on online media. With the help of analysis
of touch points, hotel designed more user-friendly website and provided content there which is
very relevant, meaningful and endearing in nature that has helped in attracting customers and
building loyalty base. Physical attractiveness of the place and giving welcoming treatments are
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some actions and strategies used by the hotels for making it an effective touch point from which
the number of customers has increased and also it has helped in developing a strong brand image
of Four Season (So, King, Sparks and Wang, 2016).
CONCLUSION
From the above project report, it has been concluded that achieving customer satisfaction
is the ultimate goal of Four Season. The company segments its customers by different ways such
as geographic, demographic, on the basis of their buying habits which has helped the company in
better understanding of tastes and preferences of the customers, resulting into better offerings of
products and services which are according to the requirements of the customers. The report
showed different touch point of Four Seasons such as online websites, physical stores through
which company's interaction with the customers takes place. These touch points have created
new opportunities of increasing their sales by attracting customers and enhancing customer
experience by providing efficient services on websites like post sale services.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Lemon, K. N. and Verhoef, P. C., 2016. Understanding customer experience throughout the
customer journey. Journal of Marketing. 80(6). pp.69-96.
Nema, G. and Joshi, A., 2016. Managing Customer Relationships through Customer interaction
management. International Journal of Research in Finance and Marketing. 6(4). pp.74-
82.
Peppers, D. and Rogers, M., 2016. Managing customer experience and relationships: A strategic
framework. John Wiley & Sons.
So, K. K. F., King, C., Sparks, B.A. and Wang, Y., 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
15 Ways to Attract & Motivate More Guests to Stay at Your Hotel.2017. [Online]. Available
through <https://hotelmamallaheritage.com/blog/15-ways-to-attract-motivate-more-
guests-to-stay-at-your-hotel/>
Consumer experience map. 2017. [Online]. Available through
<https://www.startupgrind.com/blog/customer-experience-mapping-what-is-it-and-how-
to-do-it/>
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