Managing Customer Experience

The provided document is an assignment that focuses on managing customer experience in organizations. It emphasizes the significance of formulating customer service strategies for improving customers' experiences. The assignment references various studies and literature on customer experience management, highlighting its importance across different industries and contexts.

Managing Customer
Experience.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
LO 1.................................................................................................................................................1
P1. Value and importance of understanding the needs, wants and preferences of target
customer groups...........................................................................................................................1
P2. Different factors that drive and influence customer engagement..........................................3
LO 3.................................................................................................................................................3
P3. Customer experience map for Travwlodge............................................................................3
P4 How touch points creates opportunities throughout the customer experience.......................7
LO 3.................................................................................................................................................8
P5. How digital technology is employed in managing customer experience within Travelodge.
......................................................................................................................................................8
LO 4.................................................................................................................................................9
P6. Customer service strategies of Travelodge............................................................................9
P7. How customer service strategies help in developing and creating customer experience....10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Managing customer experience is a practice of designing and reacting to customer
interactions in order to meet the expectations of the customers which in return help the
organisation in increasing customer satisfaction, advocacy and loyalty. It is also a strategy which
requires a certain process of change and also requires technologies in order to accomplish the
objective of improving the customer's experience (Bolton and et.al., 2018). The main objective
of customer experience management is to optimise the customer's interaction in order to align
with customer's ideal perception of brand and meet customer's expectations in the future. In this
report Travelodge Hotels Limited is taken as an organisation, which is a private hotel company
which operates across United Kingdom. Present report discusses the needs and expectations of
market segments for service industry, it also includes how to map customer's experience for
creating business opportunities. This report also discusses the impact of digital technology on
customer relationship management and how to apply effective customer experience management
in a service sector for maximising customer engagement.
LO 1
P1. Value and importance of understanding the needs, wants and preferences of target customer
groups.
It is very much valuable and important for Travelodge hotel to understand the needs,
wants and preferences of their target customer groups. Understanding the customer's needs can
increase customers satisfactions, understanding the wants can increase the efficiency of hotel and
preference can increase the customer retention. The importance and value of different needs,
wants and preferences of target customers groups can be explained as below:
Business Person
Business person frequently keep on travelling to different place for attending business
meetings and other things related to work, so such persons have got the needs, wants and
preferences related to work. Some of their important needs, preferences and wants are as follows:
Wi-Fi: It is the most important need for a business person as it has to stay connected with its
clients and customers in order to carry out its business activities like e-mails, social media, work
portals etc which help the business person to continue its business within the hotel.
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Colouring books and Crayons: Business persons have got many projects for which they require
crayons and colouring books so that they could present the statistics and graphs with different
colours in order to attract the clients.
Meeting rooms: There should be a big meeting room within the Travwlodge so that business
persons can conduct business meetings (Janssens, 2019). It should be spacious and equipped
with facilities required in business meetings.
Disabled Customers
Disabled persons has various special needs, wants and preference which should be
fulfilled by the hotel some of them are-
Ramp: It is the one of the most important need for physically disabled person who can not
move, providing a ramp facility will make disabled customer to move easily within the hotel
most importantly for exit and entrance.
Hygienic meals: Disabled persons requires hygienic meals and on time, and menu should consist
a separate list of low calories meals.
Basic medical facility: Sometimes conditions may arise where a disabled person requires
medical help like pain killer tablets so, this need should be valued by Travwlodge.
WI-FI: In order to spend their spare time they prefer to use internet for entertainment and to stay
connected with rest of world.
Family
It is important for hotel to value the needs of families some of their needs are as below:
Nappy changing facilities: Many times in family has got small babies with them so it is
important for Travwlodge to provide nappies and nappy changing facilities in the hotel
(Kandampully, Zhang and Jaakkola,, 2018).
Entertainment: Small kids prefer to play in garden and play various games, so it is important
for the hotel to provide gaming facilities and garden for outdoor games in order to fulfil the
needs of small kids.
Understanding the value of all these needs, preferences and wants can help Traveloge in
developing a positive experience for different customer groups and can help in retention of
customers for long term.
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P2. Different factors that drive and influence customer engagement.
There are various factors which drive and influence the customer engagement of various
target customer groups in Travwlodge are as follows:
Food and Taste: It is one of the main factor which get customers engaged, as customer prefer
those which serve quality food and are rich in taste. Hotel should be able to satisfy different
customers with different tastes, this will result in the customers satisfaction and retention and
will also help in developing a long term relationship with a customer.
Customers' needs: Customer have got certain needs which engage them with hotels like travel,
outings, picnics, business etc (Lee Boon and McCarthy, 2018). Every customer has a type of
need which it has to meet and this results in engagement with hotels.
Price and offers: Price and offers is also the one of the important factor which is the main
concern for many group of segments as offers and low price attracts the customers towards the
services offered by the hotel result in the customer's engagement. Affordable prices for rooms,
food, early check in and late check outs etc are some offers which get customers engaged with
hotels.
Service: As Marriott comes within the Hospitality industry it is important for it to provide the
services which are best in quality which can improve the experience of a customer. Services
offered by the hotel plays an important role in getting customers engaged with the hotel. The
type of services offered by the hotel have an impact on the customer engagement and positive
experience of a customer.
Ambience: A hotel with good atmosphere and pleasant environment also plays an important role
in customers engagement and it is the important factor for improving the customer's experience,
its mood and satisfaction level. A hotel with good attractive architecture, interiors, wall texture,
cleanliness, good employee uniform can attract the customer and result in the customer
engagement (De Keyser and et,.al, 2015). Hotel's atmosphere also results in the positive
experience for a customer which can help in retention of the customers.
LO 3
P3. Customer experience map for Travwlodge.
Travwlodge is the one of the best hotels in UK, they provide various quality services and
products to the customers. Travwlodge provides the best services, best price and various special
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offers, Travwlodge works best for customers satisfaction and improving their experiences.
Travwlodge can map the customers experience in a following way:
Explore Itineraries Book a Tour Pre-Tour During Tour Post Tour
Touch Points  Providing
Tour
details to
the
customers.
 Providing
pre-sales
support
channels to
customers.
 Tour
booking
page can
help the
customer
in making
bookings.
 Tour
booking
pages
will
help
custome
r in
booking
a tour.
 It can
also
develop
apps to
book
their
tour.
 Provi
ding
ticket
detail
s on
the
page.
 Provi
ding
tour
detail
s on
the
page.
 Travw
lodge
should
provid
e a
facilit
y of
Tour
guide
ton
custo
mers
which
will
guide
them
during
the
compl
ete
tour
progra
m.
 Pro
vidi
ng
pho
to
albu
m
to
the
cust
ome
r
afte
r
tour
.
Thinking and
Feelings
 Travelodge
has a
 Travelo
dge has
 Ticket
s can
 Happy
with
 Deli
ghte
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sophisticat
ed website.
 Brochure
is easily
printable.
 Proper real
time
support
channels.
 Can make
compariso
ns for
different
rooms.
got very
easy
booking
process.
 Rooms
can be
easily
booked
through
apps,
website,
etc
(Ding
and
Tseng,
2015).
not be
printe
d
from
the
websi
te.
 Provi
des
recom
mend
ations
which
help
in
prepar
ations
.
 Trave
lodge
provi
des
local
traveli
ng
infor
matio
n.
the
tour
guide
provid
ed.
 Able
to
comm
unicat
e with
local
people
.
 Lack
or
proper
inform
ation.
d
for
rece
ivin
g
the
albu
m
of
the
tour
.
Ideas for
Improvement
 Support
printer
friendly
 Should
simplify
the page
 Provi
de
prope
 Provid
e a
tour
 Eas
y
shar
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brochure
 Support
advanced
searching.
 Support
what's app
and other
social
media
apps.
of
booking
.
 Provide
proper
for low
budgete
d rooms
(McColl
-
Kenned
y and
et.al.,
2019).
r
planni
ng
check
list.
 Shoul
d
show
how
to
travel
to
airpor
t from
the
hotel.
 Shoul
d
suppo
rt
direct
printi
ng
functi
on for
the
ticket
s
booke
d.
guide
a
knowl
edge
about
the
local
areas.
 Shoul
d
ensure
that
tour
guide
should
know
the
multip
le
langua
ges.
ing
of
albu
m.
 Alb
um
sho
uld
be
han
ded
ove
r
whe
n
che
ck
out
is
don
e.
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P4 How touch points creates opportunities throughout the customer experience.
Customer touch pints are the brand points of the hotel from start to finish. Providing
better customer experience will lead to the better results for customers as well as for the
company along the complete journey of customer. Customers experience is based on addressing
the touch points and by providing quality services. Touch points provides a Travelodge
opportunities for improving its guest's experience. Touch points also provide the hotel various
opportunities for gaining new customers as compared to its competitors and this can help
Travelodge in gaining the competitive advantage. Touch points creates various opportunities for
the hotel in increasing the experience of the customers as hotel focuses on various factors which
will increase the customer experience and satisfaction level. This can help the hotel in customer
retention and help in meeting the future needs of the customers (How to Identify Your Customer
Touchpoints. 2019). Travelodge can optimise the touch points of the customers which can help in
improving the customer's journey. Hotel has got the opportunity for changing the thinking and
feelings of customers in a positive way by addressing its touch points and also has a chance for
improving its service levels. Travelodge has got the opportunity to provide the proper
information to the customers and gain information from which in turn can help them in
improving customer's experience. If customer has even got a single bad experience it can result
in loss of profit and image of the hotel. Touch points can help the hotel to fill the gap between
the customer and the hotel which can help in satisfying the needs of the customers in effective
manner. Touch points can also help in increasing the performance of the staff members of the
hotel and can help to address guests in effective manner. Addressing touch pints can also
provide an opportunity for Travelodge in decreasing the number of grievances for the customers
therefore it also provides the opportunity for increasing the efficiency of the business. Touch
points can also help Travelodge in creating a such an ambience within the hotel so that customers
will be pleased with the atmosphere of the hotel and this can result in developing a positive
experience for the customers. So, addressing the touch points of the customers provides various
opportunities for the Travelodge for improving its services, satisfying the needs of the customers
and developing a positive experience for the customers.
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LO 3
P5. How digital technology is employed in managing customer experience within Travelodge.
Digital technology is forcing various companies to change their business models and to
adapt to the new realities of market. Digital technology has not only effected the companies but
have also effected customers too, it has successfully changed the customer habits over a period
of time. Various digital technologies which are employed in Travelodge in managing the
customer experience like mobile devices, machine learning, apps and automations etc allows the
customers to get what they want. Travelodge uses Customer Relationship Management system
(CRM) which is used to manage contacts of the customers and store the basic information of the
customers (Roy 2018). By using CRM, Travelodge can punch in the customer details and come
up with their full history, like check in, check out, number of days stayed in the hotel etc. CRM
systems help in setting the schedule for various rooms and easy sorting of the rooms which help
in providing quick information to the customers. Travelodge used various smart online chat tools
such as Facebook, Snap Chat, What's app and private messaging for making contacts with the
customers. Travelodge prefers live chat with it customers which is better way of communicating
with distant customers. Such tools are easy to use and can open live chat boxes whenever a
customer is on Travelodge's website. It also uses artificial intelligence tools it can start chatting
with website visitor straight away and that too without any human intervention or support. This
will help in creating a positive experience for the customer as it will decrease the customer
waiting period and gets quick and accurate responses. Tarvelodge also uses social media to
support customer requests, as it is time intensive and can easily uses its sales team deal with the
customers. Using of social media as a service channel provides a great opportunity for the hotel
to delight their customers and can also improve its brand loyalty (Jennifer, 2019). For example
Mr Smith is a general manager of Travelodge Hotel who realised that many of the customers are
will to go through different hotels for bookings. So, Mr. Smith has to go beyond when it comes
to get connected to customers. This can be done by using a CRM, social media connectivity so,
that manager can get connected to the customers and remain accessible to them. Also,
Travelodge uses CRM to ensure that any customer who comes to the hotel with grievances get
quickly connected to the grievance department of the hotel so that effective solution is provided
to them. Thus, digital technology help the Hotel creating a positive experience for the customers.
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LO 4
P6. Customer service strategies of Travelodge.
Customer service strategy is considered as one of the most important part of the business
plan as business of any hotel relies on the satisfaction of the customer. Any reputed hotel
develops a proper strategy which only draws on the customer in order to keep the customers
happy so that they will be able to gain the competitive advantage over its competitors. Some
customer service strategies which can be developed by Travelodge are as follows:
Know your customer: Travelodge should their customers, it should know to whom they are
offering service to. It should collect the information of the customers from the research and
should identify their needs, wants and preferences (Zaki and Neely, 2019). Travelodge should
periodically make research on customer's expectations towards the rooms, interiors, food and
technologies which they want for the future.
Employee training- Travelodge should provide information to employee about the various
aspect on the basis of which he can best deal with customer and should provide give them
training for adopting changes. Travelodge should place right person on right place within the
hotel and should increase the employee empathy skills and their emotional intelligence which
will help in addressing the customer in an effective manner. Travelodge should arrange training
and development program for their employee periodically so that employees should learn the
new soft skills, technological knowledge and skill which are new to within the industry.
Improve substructure- Travelodge should improve supporting service infrastructure like their
service management to deliver effective service on time with no errors. It should provide more
option to the customers like online payment options and facilitate easy accessible buying spot to
customer, maintain easy availability of services to the customers within the market (Schmitt,
2015). As, Travelodge Hotel deals with service providing so it has to provide innovative service
in order to attract the customers.
Go beyond the expectation- Travelodge should provide complimentary free service to their
customers, make use of kind words, delight the customer, ask for their opinions about the service
they need. Travelodge should try to go beyond exceptions of the customers by providing free
free facilities like sports facility for children, gifts to families after check out, providing the free
traveling services to guests to airport.
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P7. How customer service strategies help in developing and creating customer experience.
Customer service is a guide for the hotel before the service is offered to the customers
and after the service is rendered. Customers service strategies should have a 360 degree approach
in order to cover all the factors which have an impact on the satisfaction level of customers.
Some benefits of the customer services for the organisation and for the customers is describe
below:
 A research on customer service help the organisation to know about the needs and wants
of customers in the market and also helps to identify the trend that exists in the markets
which can help the organisation in meeting these needs and trends of the customers. This
can help in improving the customer expectation and satisfaction of customers.
 Through effective customer service customers get attention, response due which they feel
that they are valuable for the hotel. This in return can increase the customer retention rate
for the hotel. It can also help Travelodge in improving its brand image and customer
loyalty which can bring huge profits for the hotel.
 Customers also get the best services, best offers and deals from the hotel which is best fit
for their pockets (Kranzbühler and et.al., 2018). It can also increase the quality of service
delivery of the hotel and help in providing on time services to the customers which will
increase the efficiency of the business.
 The level of customer services keep on changing, this will help the company in staying
up dated with the changing trends of the customers and can also increase the skills and
knowledge of the employees in the hotel.
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded from the above report that managing customer experience is very
important for the organisation as it can help the organisation in meeting its objectives of
satisfying the customer needs. Present report also concludes that there are various factors which
have an influence on the customer engagement of target group customers and also customer
experience mapping is also important for the organisation. There various touch points which a
company needs to address and this can provide the organisation an opportunity for improving its
level of service offered to customers. It can also be concluded from the report that various digital
technologies are employees in the organisation for managing customer experience and it is
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important for the organisation to formulate customer service strategies for improving customer's
experience.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Bilgihan, A., 2016. Gen Y customer loyalty in online shopping: An integrated model of trust,
user experience and branding. Computers in Human Behavior. 61. pp.103-113.
Bolton, R. N and et.al., 2018. Customer experience challenges: bringing together digital,
physical and social realms. Journal of Service Management, 29(5), pp.776-808.
De Keyser, A. and et,.al, 2015. A framework for understanding and managing the customer
experience. Marketing Science Institute working paper series. pp.15-121.
Ding, C. G. and Tseng, T. H., 2015. On the relationships among brand experience, hedonic
emotions, and brand equity. European Journal of Marketing. 49(7/8). pp.994-1015.
Janssens, J., 2019. Managing Customer Journeys in a Nimble Way for Industry 4.0. In Agile
Approaches for Successfully Managing and Executing Projects in the Fourth Industrial
Revolution (pp. 141-164). IGI Global.
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.
Kranzbühler, A. M and et.al., 2018. The multilevel nature of customer experience research: an
integrative review and research agenda. International Journal of Management
Reviews. 20(2). pp.433-456.
Lee, L. W., Boon, E. and McCarthy, I. P., 2018, June. Managing Customer-to-Customer
Interaction in Group Service Encounters: An Abstract. In Academy of Marketing
Science World Marketing Congress (pp. 581-582). Springer, Cham.
McColl-Kennedy, J. R. and et.al., 2019. Gaining customer experience insights that
matter. Journal of Service Research, 22(1), pp.8-26.
Roy, S., 2018. Effects of customer experience across service types, customer types and
time. Journal of Services Marketing. 32(4), pp.400-413.
Schmitt, B., 2015. Managing the Brand Experience. The Future of Branding. p.177.
Zaki, M. and Neely, A., 2019. Customer Experience Analytics: Dynamic Customer-Centric
Model. In Handbook of Service Science. Volume II (pp. 207-233).
Online
How to Identify Your Customer Touchpoints. 2019. [Online]. Available Through:
<https://www.surveymonkey.com/mp/identify-customer-touchpoints/>.
Jennifer, L., 2019. How Digital Transformation is Driving Customer Experience. [Online].
Available Through: <https://www.superoffice.com/blog/digital-transformation/>.
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