Customer Experience Management Strategies

The provided project report concludes the importance of managing customer experience for business entities to attain competitive advantage and long-term sustainability. Understanding customer needs, wants, and preferences is crucial for generating profits. Various types of customer relationship management systems are discussed, including operational, analytical, and collaborative systems. Different strategies are also implemented by companies to provide best experience to clients, resulting in enhanced sales and profits.

Managing Customer
Experience

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
LO1..................................................................................................................................................1
P1. Values and importance of understanding the needs, wants and preferences of target
customer group.............................................................................................................................1
P2. Different factors that drive and influence customer engagement of different target
customer groups within a service sector organisation.................................................................4
LO2..................................................................................................................................................7
P3. A customer experience map...................................................................................................7
P4. Touch points create such opportunities throughout the customer experience ......................9
LO 3...............................................................................................................................................10
P5. Examining the way in which digital technology is employed in managing customer
experience..................................................................................................................................10
LO4................................................................................................................................................11
P6. Customer service strategies.................................................................................................11
P7. Customer service strategies create and develop the customer experience in a way that meet
the needs of the customer and the required business standards.................................................12
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15

INTRODUCTION
All the businesses performs their operations to manage the customer experiences in such
a manner which satisfies them and retain them for longer period of time (France, Merrilees and
Miller, 2015). It is a practice of formulating, implementing and reacting towards the customer
interactions for satisfying the demands as well as meeting their expectations to increase the
loyalty and satisfaction. Such management plays a crucial function in maintaining the
sustainability of the organisation to operate in the dynamic environment. To understand the
management of customer experiences, Imperial Hotel in chosen. The selected hotel is having its
headquarters located at Holborn, London, UK since 1966. This report includes the value and
importance of understanding the needs, wants along with different factors that influence
different target customer segment. Further, it talks about impact of digital technology, a
customer experience map, opportunities, service strategies and importance of strategies for
developing the customer experience for meeting the needs of the customer and the required
business standards.
LO1
P1. Values and importance of understanding the needs, wants and preferences of target customer
group
All the firms performs activities to carefully understand and monitor the needs and
preferences of its target customers to satisfy them by providing the appropriate product or service
(Customer Needs, Wants, and Demands & Strategic Decision Making, 2018). Analysing the
needs and wants of different people in the market is a difficult task for any business as different
individual demand according to their taste, preferences, wants as well as food habits. Properly
ascertaining and understanding the needs helps in formulating and implementing certain
strategies to manage the customers experiences and satisfaction with the firm. In relation to the
hospitality industry, the experience is related to the product. The managers of different
restaurants or hotels makes possible attempts to analyse, understand and identify the needs,
wants, desires of their visitors and accordingly provide them products or services to convert them
into potential as well as targeted customers. The managers of Imperial hotel analyses the
demands of the customers by segmenting them into homogeneous groups for understanding and
satisfying the wants of each individual. They focuses to satisfy the needs and likes of customers
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to manage their experiences. Target market refers to particular group of individuals to provide
them products or services according to their needs and demands. The marketers of selected
business targets families, business travellers, couples and backpackers which benefits them to
increase the image as well as revenue for the purpose of developing global reputation by
managing the experiences of multiple customers (Giovanis, Athanasopoulou and Tsoukatos,
2015).
Customer engagement is the framework of encouraging the customers by providing them
information related to the products or services for the purpose of enhancing the interaction and
sharing of the experiences for building the brand image in the market. There are various factors
which drive and influence customer engagement of different target customer groups of the
selected business. Some are as follows:
 Destination choice: The destination choices influences the engagement of customers
towards the hotel industry. The social interactions along with marketing strategies of the
potential traveller includes the attitudes, preferences, values of different customer groups.
Value based profiles helps in influencing the customer engagement of different targetted
customers.
 Tourist experiences: Tourist experiences are the fundamental offerings of the tourism
industry. Various tourists experiences different travelling experiences. The managers of
selected business have implemented various strategies to engage the customers to
experience different services before, during and after the travelling. Tourist experiences
is a critical factor which also influences customer engagement of different targetted
customer groups.
Customer engagement factors are considered for determining various on board strategies
for different target customer groups within chosen the selected hospitality industry (Holloway,
2017). Some are as described:
 Customer success on boarding: It helps in building effective relationship with the
customers. It focuses on providing effective experiences with smooth services. It includes
the listening of customers queries and solving them successfully by engaging them in the
tourism plans.
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 Role based on boarding: Distinct on boarding paths are used which are based on the
roles such as executives, senior managers and many more. Such strategy is used by the
Imperial hotel managers to provide the role services by engaging with the customers.
The following are the range of different target customer groups’ needs and expectations
in terms of customer engagement for the selected hotel:
Targetted customers Customer need, wants and preferences
Families Kid friendly and
budgeted hotels.
On site play areas for
kids.
Open air spaces.
Business travellers Quality food along
with access to internet
and electronic devices
(Khan and Rahman,
2015).
Separate and
comfortable business
class rooms.
Proper room service
offerings, high quality
of beddings as well as
furnishing.
Couples Candle light
restaurants
High quality of
bedding and furnishing
Off-site surroundings.
Backpackers Clean rooms for rest. Beautiful view from
window
Healthy food.
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P2. Different factors that drive and influence customer engagement of different target customer
groups within a service sector organisation
( Source: Customer Needs, Wants, and Demands & Strategic Decision Making. 2018 )
Families: Families needs and wants are based on kid friendly playgrounds, open space, on site
play areas.
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( Source: Customer Needs, Wants, and Demands & Strategic Decision Making. 2018 )
Business traveler: The need, demand are based on quality food along with access to internet and
electronic devices, separate and comfortable business class rooms.
5

( Source: Customer Needs, Wants, and Demands & Strategic Decision Making. 2018)
Couples: Needs, wants and preferences of couples are based on candle light restaurants, high
quality of bedding and furnishing and off site surroundings.
6

( Source: Customer Needs, Wants, and Demands & Strategic Decision Making. 2018 )
Backpackers: Preferences as well as need of backpackers are related to clean rooms for rest,
beautiful view from window and healthy food.
LO2
P3. A customer experience map
Customer experience mapping is a framework which helps in tracking the engagement of
the customers with the offered products and services by the business entity. It is used to analyse
the connection of various potential customers with the services as well as commodities provided
to them. Such mapping is used to convert the new users of the commodities into potential
customers by engaging them through providing services. In relation to the hospitality industry,
the objective is to provide comfortable experiences to its customers by utilising the products as
well as services (Nicholls and Gad Mohsen, 2015). Imperial Hotels promotes its brand by
providing the outlets in multiple countries of the world. Customer experience mapping plays an
important role in building and maintaining the organisational image in the competitive market.
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A customer experience map for the selected business to create business opportunities.
The procedure for creating such map and charting the journey is as follows:
Setting of clear objectives: the first step is to set clear objectives for the mapping in advance.
Based on it buyers persona are created.
Profiling personas and defining goals: Clear personas are profiled for reminding the aspects of
experience mapping and accordingly goals are defined.
Touch points are listed: Touchpoints includes the websites where the customers have chances
to interact the most. The touch point helps in listing out the websites which are most used by the
customers. All are listed in sequential order. It includes emailing, social channels along with
third party reviews (Perrey, Freundt and Spillecke, 2015).
Identification of elements to map the show: Different types of customer experience are
mapped for understanding the benefits. Some of the elements includes the current state, present
state, future state and service blue print.
Taking the customer journey: Once the map is formulated and implemented. The next step is
to analyse the results. Analysing the results helps in achieving the customers experiences and
satisfying the needs, demand and preferences of them.
Making the necessary changes: By analysing the results it helps in identifying the key areas
where necessary changes are required. It is the duty of the manager of the selected hotel to make
necessary changes in the mapping plan.
Customer journey experience map is used to analyse the experience of customer from the check
in till departure in systematic manner. It involves following steps:
Customers Journey Experience Map for Imperial Hotels:
Discover and explore: Customers experiences throughout the procedures to
acquire services of Imperial Hotels begins from discovering information related
with options or packages that such hotel provides to general market in order to
satisfy customers demand. Through social media, advertisements or official
Imperial Hotel web page, customers acquire information about services as well as
explores more.
Compare and evaluate: After exploring information, customers compares the
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offered services or packages with other Hotels to reach on decision in context to
Hotel they should choose as per their needs. In order to improve customer
experiences of customers, marketers of Hotels should update information over
internet.
Book services: As soon as decisions are framed, customers makes booking of
their services through online or offline bookings. Imperial Hotel has reservation
staff which time to time communicates with customers to verify about bookings.
Such staff ensures simple booking procedures to reduce frustration among
customers.
Arrival at hotel: It is the standard time where clients arrives at hotel to enjoy the
services. The managers of Imperial Hotels serves cocktails and refreshments.
Room available: Hotel managers makes availability of rooms for clients at the
time they makes verification call to customers. They do not have to wait for long
and gets free room availability service as per their preferences at Imperial Hotels.
Customers experience great room interiors as well as enjoys ocean view from the
rooms window.
Fitness rooms: Such facilities are made available for those who regularly
exercises.
Dinner: According to the customer preferences, dinner facilities are served. Some
customers like to enjoy food in open space while other enjoy at their rooms.
Free breakfast: The managers of Imperial Hotels offers free breakfast services to
their clients till the time they remains in hotel.
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The staff members along with management behaves in friendly and nice manner
that helps clients to resolve any sort of query.
Check out: The procedures to depart are easy as well as convenient which do not
waste time of clients.
Theoretical perspective in context to Customer Experience map
The customer Experience Map theory states that the experiences of customers are based
on their interactions. It is a complex system which includes series of inputs as well as outputs in
typical ways. The idea is related with emergent, self organising and complex system interactions
that impacts on chance of future outcome. Some of the tools along with techniques that are used
by Imperial Hotels management are the followings:
Website: By updating detailed information on official website of the company, necessary
information are delivered to customers related to facilities, services or packages provided to
clients. In addition, special packages are also provided on special occasion or seasons that can
attract more customers.
Hotel environment: it is one of the factor that helps managers to attract numerous
customers. For example, Imperial Hotels provides open space at roof top so that couples or
family members can feel the fresh environment in comfortable manner.
Thus, above are some of customer experience maps which plays important role in helping
Imperial Hotels management to understand needs or preferences of customers in effective
manner.
P4. Touch points create such opportunities throughout the customer experience
Customer touch points are the points of starting till ending where customers contact with
the organisational services or products. These includes the points where a customer before,
during and after comes in contact with the product or service. These are the influential actions.
Touch points helps in creating opportunities throughout the customer experience in Imperial
Hotel by communicating the message to its customers in several ways. It includes several tools
to maximise the reach to customers for experience mapping. Some of them are as follows:
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 Telephone: Telephone are used all organisations to communicate with people for the
purpose of influence them to visit the place. The managers of Imperial Hotels have hired
various people for interacting its customers to collect their experiences related to the
hotel products and services. The hired people communicates in influential manner to
encourage the customers to again visit their places (Ross, 2015).
 Hotel Staff: It is very important to hire the potential staff who understands the demand
and accordingly provides the services to the customers. The Imperial Hotels have hired
effective and efficient staff to provide the demanded services on time to its regular as
well as new customers according to the expectations.
 Hotel management: It is important for any entity to ensure that the management
performs the operations in effective manner. The working to the management is
preplanned and effective measures are taken to effectively achieve the desirable goals to
satisfy the expectations.
All these touch point tools helps in creating opportunities throughout the customer
experiences in the selected entity. Various facilities are availed in past, present and future of
rendering the products and services in the hotel. To evaluate the measure of touch points, the
managers of selected hotel have used various methods to influence an individual to buy the
offered product or service. They offer various packages to the customers (Rowley, 2016). The
analyse the effectiveness of each touch point, the owners of chosen hotel has set up feedback
system for managing the customer experiences through a software. The elements of pre purchase
touch point of the Imperial Hotels includes social media advertisements. During purchase are the
hotel descriptions through catalogue and presentations. Post purchase includes the feedback
systems.
LO 3
P5. Examining the way in which digital technology is employed in managing customer
experience
Now a days most of the organisations are using digital technology to management
customers experience in service sector as it helps to enhance profitability of whole entity.
Imperial Hotels is a part of hospitality industry which is using different types of customer
relationship management systems that helps to gain trust of them and retain for a long period in
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future (Type of customer relationship management systems, 2019). All of them are described
below:
Operational customer relationship management system: It is concerned with the
automation of three main business activities that are sales, marketing and service. In Imperial
hotel it is used by managers to increase engagement of workforce in operations, enhance
attractiveness of marketing campaign and deliver best quality services to customers in order to
gain their support. It helps to bring contact information and purchase history of clients together
so that managers can analyse their previous experience and if they have faced any issue then it
can be resolved effectively.
Analytical customer relationship management system: It is implemented by managers
of companies to determine the appropriate manner in which services can be rendered to
customers. It is used by managers of Imperial Hotel to form better decisions and analyse
effectiveness of the services so that appropriate modifications can be made for the purpose of
sales enhancement. With the help of this system organisation collect data from various sources
and arrange it in an appropriate manner and then present it in front of managers to facilitate them
in the process of strategy formulation.
Collaborative customer relationship management system: This system is used to
establish good relations with clients as well as other stakeholders. Managers in Imperial Hotel
share information of customers with different functional departments in order to aware them
regarding their needs, requirements and perceptions. It helps to form strategic decisions for the
purpose of attaining long term goals such as high profitability and sales.
All the above described system are used by Imperial Hotel to manage customer
experience because with the help of such systems they focus on actual requirements of clients
and the issues that can result in unsatisfied customer. These are the digital technologies that are
used by all around the world by companies to retain their clients for long period.
LO4
P6. Customer service strategies
Customer service strategies are the plans and policies framed by the executives for
retaining the potential customers and building image of the business. Such services are helpful in
planning day to day actions. they assists the managers to operate the activities in appropriate
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manner to ensure the loyalty of customers towards the organisation. In consideration to hotel
industry, providing customer services helps in maintaining the engagement of customers. The
representatives of Imperial Hotels provides quality of experiences to its customers by
formulating effective strategies to persuade the connection and loyalty for long period. Some of
the strategies are discussed below:
 Treating customers as VIP: All the individuals who comes in the hotel are treated like
VIPs. No customer is different for the staff of hotel. Such strategy helps in creating a
favourable environment in the organisation. It increases the customer satisfaction and
eliminates the frustration related to the hotel services. This strategy is used by selected
hotel management to enhance customer experiences by meeting their demands.
 Deliver the promises: By delivering the services on time or as demanded helps in
engaging the customers towards experiencing the products ore services. Imperial Hotels
staff deliver all the promises made with the targetted customers. They cater the products
or services as per the requirement by the customers(Shamim, Ghazali and Albinsson,
2016).
 Resolving customer grievances: every business focus to use such technique which helps
in dealing with the customers in appropriate as well as effective manner. If any grievance
is faced by the customer for the product or service offered, it is the duty of the
organisation to resolve them at the time such issues evolves. The managers of Imperial
Hotels investigates the situation and take appropriate decision for resolving the
grievances of the customers. As a result the managers can ensure that customers stay
loyal with the firm for longer time and operations can be performed without any
interventions.
P7. Customer service strategies create and develop the customer experience in a way that meet
the needs of the customer and the required business standards
Customer Audit Trail, Critical Observations
Name of hospitality organisation visited: Imperial Hotels
Date of visit: April 13, 2019
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First and Ambience Impressions:
Things which I observed
were positive or good?
Things which I observed
were negative or bad?
What would I change if this
was my business?
The location was nice and the
interior was eye catching.
The parking needs some
improvements as it was
unmanageable by the guards.
I will make improvements in
the parking section along with
providing the valet parking
system.
Tariff Board, Labelling and Signage:
Things I find attractive or
impressive?
Things were not good or
up to the level of hotel?
What changes would I make
if it would be my business?
Signage such as fire exit,
different paths for entry and
exit.
As there were no tariff
board or any other large
size board displaying room
numbers (Zhang, Song and
Liu, 2015).
I would use tariff board and
large size display which shows
the path and room numbers to
customers. So that no
confusion can evolve.
Price:
Which things I find
attractive or impressive?
Which things were not good
or up to the level of hotel?
What changes would I make if
it would be my business?
Prices of food items are
affordable for every
customer.
Some food prices are high
according to dishes and taste.
I would focus on maintain
affordable prices and good food
quality.
Staff:
Which things I find
attractive or impressive?
Which things were not good
or up to the level of hotel?
What changes would I make if
it would be my business?
Staffs were good as well as
polite in talking and
Some staff members were
new and requires training to
I will hire skilled staffs and
provide them adequate training
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provided the demanded
services on time.
perform operations. to perform their duties and
provide relevant services.
Time:
Which things I find
attractive or impressive?
Which things were not good
or up to the level of hotel?
What changes would I make if
it would be my business?
Impressive thing I found
was no delay in providing
services. Services were
provided on time.
It is difficult for the
receptionist to manage
various customers at one
time.
I will hire more people for
reception area so that services
so that no confusion can occur.
Supplementary items:
Which things I find
attractive or impressive?
Which things were not good
or up to the level of hotel?
What changes would I make
if it would be my business?
Efficiency and
effectiveness in delivering
the food services.
No complementary gifts are
provided when customers
depart from hotel.
I would provide some
complimentary gifts which
will help in engaging the
customers in future (Khan and
Rahman, 2015).
Payment:
Which things I find
attractive or impressive?
Which things were not good
or up to the level of hotel?
What changes would I make
if it would be my business?
As Imperial hotel accepts
the cashless payment so one
does not need to carry more
cash for making payments.
Limited digital payment tools
are only used.
I will implement or use
various digital payment tools
such as payment apps, mobile
wallets and many more.
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CONCLUSION
From the above project report, it has been concluded that it is vital for all the business
entities to manage customer experience in order to attain competitive advantage and long-term
sustainability. Understanding needs, wants and preference customer is very important to generate
profits because when clients get what they are willing to acquire then it results in higher sales.
There are various types of customer relationship management systems that are used by
hospitality sector enterprises in order to manage customer experience. These are operational,
analytical and collaborative systems. Different types of strategies are also implemented by
companies to provide best experience to clients so that sales and profits can be enhanced and
competitive advantage can be acquired.
16