Customer Experience and Service Design

The provided document is an assignment on customer experience and service design in the context of hospitality services. The assignment draws from various research studies and papers to discuss the importance of customer experience, its measurement, and the design of services to enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty. It also references books and articles that provide insights into the subject matter.

Managing Customer
Experience

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1. Value and importance of understanding the needs and wants and preferences of target
customer groups..........................................................................................................................1
P2. Different factors which drive and influence customers engagement of different target
customer group............................................................................................................................2
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................3
P3. Customer service map for Leon restaurant...........................................................................3
P4. Evaluation of customer touch-points through out the customer experience which created
business opportunities.................................................................................................................4
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................5
P5. Examining digital technology which employed in managing the customer experience
within the service sector, providing specific examples of customer relationship management
systems........................................................................................................................................5
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................6
P6. Customer service strategies in Leon.....................................................................................6
P7. Demonstration of customer service strategies which create and develop the customer
experience in a way that meet the needs of customers and required business standards............7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Customers are the centric asset of a hospitality industry, This industry is customer
focused as their business totally depends on their experience (Managing Customer Experience.
2018). If a customers is not happy with the services offered, it will not come again to the hotel
again. This will be a huge loss for the company. In this report the Hotel taken for the customers
experience is Leon. It is a multinational restaurant chain found in 2004 in UK. In this report,
importance of needs, wants and preferences of target customers will be discussed. The factors
which can influence the customer engagement are also explained. To generate the new
opportunities customer map will be generated which will help the company to increase their
profit. Impact of digital technology in customers relationship management and effective
customer experience management is explained in this report.
TASK 1
P1. Value and importance of understanding the needs and wants and preferences of target
customer groups
The target customer for the restaurant Leon are Primary school children, Disabled
customer and Business persons. The needs, wants and preferences of these customers are
explained below:
Needs are the basic requirement of an individual to satisfy itself (Altunel, 2014). The
needs of primary school children is local food which should be fulfilled by the restaurant. The
characteristics of school children are funny and entertaining atmosphere and tasty food because
children are not aware of their health. If these needs are not fulfil then customers will not visit
the premise of Leon again. Therefore customers satisfaction should be centric for the restaurant.
When needs are filled then it is the time for wants. Wants are the options available to customer
from their needs. The school children are focusing on local food therefore their wants can be
burger, noodles etc. They can choose anyone of them. As soon as the wants are filled this is the
time for preferences. The priority of customers on top is called preferences. The school children
have preferred Burger, therefore it is must for Leon to fulfil needs, wants and preferences of
school children.
Disabled person have also some needs and wants from Leon. The characteristics of
disabled person is that they require healthier and comfortable environment and educated people

who will not make prank on their condition. The need of this customer is healthy food and low
caloric meal. Since they are not able to work efficiently therefore they require low caloric food.
The wants of this customer can be intimate environment which help them to feel comfortable.
The preference of this customer will be menus written in brail which will help dumb and deaf
customers to order the food according to their requirement. This could be their preferences.
Therefore Leon should focus on meeting the requirement of its customers. This will help them in
managing good customer experience.
Business person who has set its timing in Leon restaurant also have some needs, wants
and preferences (Erkut, 2015). These are the customer type which are task oriented i.e. they
prefer to complete their task within time. Therefore the needs, wants and preferences of these
customers will differ from others. These customers requires proper place to conduct a friendly
meeting so that they can eat and organize a meeting also. The wants can be Wi-Fi and sockets
which are required for power supply in laptop and other electronic gadget. From these wants this
customer can prefer meeting rooms to its priority. These are the basic needs, wants and
preferences which can be fulfil by Leon so that they can enhance customer experience.
Leon restaurant should commit itself in completing needs, wants and preferences of its
targetted customers. This will help the restaurant in developing greater relationship with its
customers and thus sale will increase. This will also help the restaurant in increasing their brand
image. Fulfilling the needs, wants and preferences attracts the customers to the door of Leon.
P2. Different factors which drive and influence customers engagement of different target
customer group.
There are various factors which influence customer's engagement in the restaurant. Leon
should focus on such factors so that they can improve the experience of its customer (Bowie,
2016). Following are the factors of targetted customers like primary school children, disabled
person and Business person.
Primary school children requires a funny and entertaining environment in which they can
gossip and enjoy their time. The Leon restaurant should focus on this factor because this factor
can influence the customer engagement. Apart from the above factors they should also focus on
providing tasty food to the children which is must for their need. If above needs are not fulfilled
by the restaurant it will create dissatisfaction among the customers.

Disabled person are the targeted customers which require an intimate environment for
them to eat their food. This is because they are not willing to laugh others on them. This will
create dissatisfaction among the customers therefore Leon should focus on eliminating such
factors so that they can attract their customers. Apart from the above factors, these customers
also require low calorie food because they cannot work physically to burn their calories.
Therefore Leon should provide such healthier environment for its customers to make them
satisfy with their services.
Business person are the targetted customers who are willing to create a informal meeting
for its clients and employees. To do this they require a peaceful environment for them so that
they can communicate with each other efficiently (Buttle, 2017). Apart from the above factors
Leon should also focus on providing facilities like Wi-Fi sockets near their table or other
facilities which will not influence their work. The quality of food is also a major factor for them
to spend some time in Leon. Therefore restaurant should focus on providing better facilities for
their customers so that they can visit the restaurant again.
With the help of above factors the restaurant should take feedback about the services
offered to its customers so that they improve their services if any lack of service is found. This
will help Leon in improving its services up to the mark and increasing the customers experience.
TASK 2
P3. Customer service map for Leon restaurant
There are some factors on which customers experience can be mapped by Leon restaurant
Some of them are as follows:
Website:
It is the starting point of interaction of a customer to the restaurant. Therefore the website
designed should be proper enough so that the customer when visit the website, will feel positive
with the content shown on website. The photos of food and information shown on the website
should be real and all the pictures should be clicked by a professional photographer. Apart from
that, website should be created by a professional web developer so that customer will become
customer rather than a visitor on website.
Review sites:

After visiting the site, customer will check the reviews of restaurant so that they can
check the experience of previous visited customers (Brandon, 2016). This step will come when
customer will attract with the views of website. In order to increase the reviews of website the
restaurant has to provide better services to its customers so that they provide better feedback for
upcoming customers. These reviews help the customer to find a blue print about the services
offered in restaurant. Therefore Leon should focus on improving reviews of its customers in
managing customer experience.
Telephone:
This is another aspect of customer experience map in which a customer will call the hotel
for more information required. This step will come when it will satisfy with reviews of
restaurant. The information required will be related to price, quality of food, and the environment
which is must for the customer to experience. The receptionist of Leon restaurant should provide
clear information to the customer and communicate with it politely so that it will attract to the
door of restaurant. Communication on telephone plays an important role in confirming the
booking in the restaurant.
Restaurant staff:
When customer entered in the premise of Leon restaurant, the behaviour of staff of
restaurant plays an important part in customer experience map (Jones-Lewis, 2018). The staff of
restaurant should deal customer with humble and politeness. Their behaviour should be gentle so
that it will impress the customer. The staff of restaurant should be well educated and talkative so
that it will help them to serve better for their customers. Behaviour of staff will play an important
role in managing customer experience.
P4. Evaluation of customer touch-points through out the customer experience which created
business opportunities.
Touch-points are the interaction of customer to services offered by restaurant. These
points help the customer in finding the experience of the resources offered to it. Touch-points
can be included in mapping of customer experience but mapping cannot be included in touch-
points. There are many touch-points through which customer experience can be affected which
are stated here as under:
Website:

This is the first touch-point of customer by which it can know about the services and
quality of restaurant. The information about the restaurant and its menu is listed on website.
Therefore the information on website should be clear and true to the best of restaurants
knowledge. Otherwise if the first experience of customer will affected then it will not going to
visit the restaurant. If the experience of customer is positive with website it will surely enhance
the business and business opportunities (Verma, 2015).
Telephone:
It is another aspect of customer touch-point in which customer can experience the
resources of restaurants. In this point customer call for the information about the food and
premise and other facilities such as WI-Fi etc. If this experience of customer is not good then it
will dissatisfy it from the services offered. To improve its services, the receptionist should talk in
a positive way to help the customer as much as possible. This will surely increase the number of
customers in the premise of restaurant and thus business opportunities develops.
Restaurant staff
It is the most important touch-point of a customer in the premise of restaurant. In this
point, the behaviour of staff of restaurant is considered. If staff is not behaving properly and does
not consider the issues with customer, this will surely dissatisfy it with the services offered.
Therefore restaurant should focus on improving the communication skills and behaviour of its
staff. This will enhance the chance of grabbing the business opportunities (Cetin, 2018).
Restaurant management:
The management of restaurant should be good enough so that it will help the customer to
feel good in the premise of Leon. The services offered should be in time and the quality of food
should be up to the mark. This will enhance the experience of customer and thus the chances of
grabbing opportunities will increase.
TASK 3
P5. Examining digital technology which employed in managing the customer experience within
the service sector, providing specific examples of customer relationship management
systems
Customer relationship management(CRM):

This is a management theory which deals in improving customer experience and provide
better services for its customers (Dincer, 2016). CRM helps the company to provide better
facilities through adopting new technology, strategy and practices. A data is collected of
customer's life in Leon so that any feedback and issue can be resolved efficiently. This process
also helps the restaurant in improving the goal of customer service and driving sales growth.
 What was the name of the company making the presentation?
Black and White Hospitality is the name of the company making the presentation. This is
a Macro Pierre White company.
 What was the name of the person who made the presentation?
Julian Hook was the person who made the presentation.
 What is the name of the software program that they demonstrated?
Opera is the name of the software programme which they demonstrated.
 What are the key elements of their program?
The key elements of their program are Opening a table, Booking a table, Bookings.com,
Reservations, EPOS system. This is used by almost all four and five star hotels.
 Name some of their current customers?
Macro Pierre White Restaurant, IHG(Inter-continental Hotel Group), Hilton International
Hotel and Travelodge.
 How long have they been in business?
Opera is operating its business since 1970 and Black and White Hospitality is operating
since 2014 (Chathoth, 2018).
 How does the company see these programmes developing in the future?
These programmes help the company in increased functionality, new market entrants,
further integration with guests, identifying trends and better analysis of feedback.
TASK 4
P6. Customer service strategies in Leon
Leon should adopt some strategies by which it can improve customer experience.
Following are some strategies which will help the Leon in improving customer experience.
Follow up Post booking:

Customer service starts when customer books it table to eat. The restaurant should focus
on knowing the requirement of customers like spice, premise information and other facility. This
will help the restaurant to prepare as per the requirements of customers (Engelbrecht, 2017). This
helps the customer to know that it is an important guest for the restaurant. Hence improving
customer experience.
Offering technology they require:
The technology which can be provided by restaurant to its customers is free Wi-Fi, online
payment etc. This helps the customer in doing things quickly and efficiently. Free internet
facility can be provided to customer because it does not charge cost. The security should be
proper enough on the network so that it provide great experience to customer.
Beyond customer service while resolving issues
It is possible in the restaurant that there will be some issues to the customer. In order to
solve those issues authorities should provide better facilities which are not mentioned to their
services. This will help the customer to have faith on the staff and restaurant.
Trained staff to read guest:
The staff of Leon restaurant should be properly trained so that they can predict the
requirements of customers (Kruger, 2016). It is necessary for the employee to learn from the past
experience and the decision made before. Since there are different perception of each customer,
therefore it is necessary for the employee to train itself.
P7. Demonstration of customer service strategies which create and develop the customer
experience in a way that meet the needs of customers and required business standards.
Customer Audit Trail, Critical Observations:
Name of hospitality business visited: Hotel Russell, London
Date and time of visit: 25th November, 2018
Ambience and First Impressions:
Things that I observed that
were positive, or good?
Things that I observed that
were negative, or bad?
What would I change if this
was my business?
The exterior of Hotel was
impressive as I entered and the
There is no one available on
help desk which demotivate
If this was my business, I
would like to strict the rules

first experience was good. the customer. and regulations of work.
Signage, Tariff Boards, Labelling, etc.:
Things that I observed that
were positive, or good?
Things that I observed that
were negative, or bad?
What would I change if this
was my business?
Fire exit, emergency response
team is also available at hotel.
There is no proper directions
are available in Hotel which
confuses the customer to reach
a destination.
I would like to make proper
sign boards of direction and
hire employees for this work.
Prices:
Things that I observed that
were positive, or good?
Things that I observed that
were negative, or bad?
What would I change if this
was my business?
The price of Hotel is cheaper
as compared with others.
There are some areas where
the price is more than expected
such as pop-corn in theatre.
I will pay attention on
reducing these extra cost to
make easy for customer.
Range of Products:
Things that I observed that
were positive, or good?
Things that I observed that
were negative, or bad?
What would I change if this
was my business?
There is a lot of food items and
services offered like Wi-Fi and
availability of housekeeping.
The water of swimming pool is
not so clear.
In order to improve the pool
area, I will recruit a person to
clean that area on daily basis.
Staff:
Things that I observed that
were positive, or good?
Things that I observed that
were negative, or bad?
What would I change if this
was my business?
A good educated and
supportive staff.
In some specific departments,
there is also a need of
I would like to recruit
employees for some specific

employee. areas where there is shortage
of employee.
Time:
Things that I observed that
were positive, or good?
Things that I observed that
were negative, or bad?
What would I change if this
was my business?
The ordered food is delivered
within time.
A huge amount of time taken
in laundry services.
I would like to manage each
and every task of the hotel
within time so that customer
experience can improve.
Supplementary Items:
Things that I observed that
were positive, or good?
Things that I observed that
were negative, or bad?
What would I change if this
was my business?
The parking facility of hotel is
up to the mark.
The welcoming trend of hotel
is not so impressive.
Welcoming the guest is an
important task of hotel, I
would like to improve this
experience.
Payment:
Things that I observed that
were positive, or good?
Things that I observed that
were negative, or bad?
What would I change if this
was my business?
The payment can be done with
the help of cash or card.
A plenty of time is taken in
hotel to make online payment.
The problem related with time
should be resolved by me.
CONCLUSION
In this report, it can be concluded that experience of customers should be improved on a
regular basis in hospitality industry. The Leon restaurant should always try to improve those
services which are necessary for its customers. For doing this they can provide training to its

staff and extra facilities should be offered to its customers so that they feel valuable to the
restaurant. In this report, needs and expectations of market segments are discussed along with
customer experience map which creates business opportunities and optimize customer touch
points. Apart from that, impact of digital technology in customer relationship management and
effective customer experience management are also discussed in this report.