Managing the Customer Experience

This project report explores the values and importance of understanding customer needs, factors impacting customer engagement, building customer maps, and the use of digital technology, specifically Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, in managing customer experience in the service sector.

MANAGING THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
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Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
P1 Determine the values and importance of understanding needs, wants and choices of target
customer groups for service industry.....................................................................................3
P2 Determine different factors which can drive and impact customer engagement of various
target customer groups within service industry......................................................................4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
P3 Build a customer map for service industry........................................................................6
P4 Debate over customer touch points throughout customer experience which can create
business opportunities for service sector................................................................................7
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................8
P5 Evaluate how digital technology is employed for managing customer experience in service
sector by using examples of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system...............8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10
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INTRODUCTION
Hospitality industry is a categorization of fields of service industry which involves
lodging facilities, food and drink services, theme parks, convenience and transportation services
and event planning. Customer care service is a service which is offered by a company to their
customers before and after they buy products from the company. Customer service help a
business to retain maximum number of customers and in organisational growth. Through
mapping consumer's journey, it helps a business through which they can get insight of the
customer choices and preferences and due to rapid change in technology, it acts as opportunity as
well as thereat for hospitality industry (Chahal and Dutta, 2015). Andy's Greek Taverna, is a
London based restaurant which offers Greek cuisine. The restaurant also offers effective
customer services through which they focus on meeting customer expectations. This project
report is based on the customer services which are offered by the company and on how an
organisation manage customer experience.
TASK 1
P1 Determine the values and importance of understanding needs, wants and choices of target
customer groups for service industry
In hospitality sector, customer satisfaction is one of the basic requirement of the industry
though which they can retain maximum number of customers and maintain brand image in the
industry. Customer group is a technique of gathering all customers on the basis of their
similarities as this help organisation in targeting customers through which they can benefit the
organisation. Determining the needs and demands of the customers is one of the basic
requirement of Andy’s Greek Taverna to offer quality experience to customers and in retaining
loyal and potential customers to the business (Grønholdt and et.al, 2015). Analysing the needs and
demands of target customer needs is one of the basic factor for a successful business and it also
help in getting insight of potential and existing customers and their interests.
Some of the values and importance for understanding needs of target customer groups for
service industry are quoted below:
Customer retention- Through analysing the demands of the customers, it helps business to
make their customers feel appreciated and valued which help them in retaining maximum
number of loyal and potential customers. By collecting data through which a business can get
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customer insight more number of customers can be retained through which they can get
competitive advantage. Through understanding the demands of the customers Andy’s Greek
Taverna maintain higher level of customer retention and it also help them to maintain their brand
image and reputation in the industry. Through valuing the preferences and demands of
customers, it helps Andy's Greek Taverna in attracting more customer to the restaurant
(Kandampully, Zhang and Jaakkola, 2018).
 Business development- New products can be introduced by the company through which
they can target new customer segment and products and services are promoted by using
effective marketing channels and mediums. Andy's Greek Taverna will bring new
products and innovation in their Greek cuisine through which they can attract more
customers. The restaurant focus on customer demands and through analysing the
changing preferences by taking feedbacks and through meeting demands and choices,
Andy’s Greek Taverna target maximum number of customers through which they can
attract more customers and retain their potential existing customers by offering them
quality customer experience.
 Products Innovation- Analysing the demands of existing customers and their preference
about existing products and services which are offered by Andy’s Greek Taverna help in
gathering valuable information through which they can develop new customers which
will help in attracting more customers to the restaurant. The information which is
collected by Andy's Greek Taverna help them to communicate with new and existing
customers.
P2 Determine different factors which can drive and impact customer engagement of various
target customer groups within service industry
Customer engagement- It is an emotional connection between the customer and brand
or business. Through highly engaged customers, they will buy more products and will also help
in promoting their products (Lipkin, 2016). Thus, it will also help in maintaining customer loyalty.
The basic strategy for customer engagement is to offer high quality customer experience through
which maximum customer engagement can be maintained.
Customer engagement is one of the major key aspect through which a business can retain
their customers and sustain for longer period of time in the industry. Some of the factors which
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can influence customer engagement of different target customer groups within Andy's Greek
Taverna are mentioned below:
 Customer experience- Through delivering quality customer experience to their existing
customer it helps Andy’s Greek Taverna to effectively interact with their customer. This
will also help in more engaged customers for the products and services which are offered
by the restaurant and by service industry (McColl-Kennedy and et.al, 2019). By delivering
quality customer experience, Andy’s Greek Taverna can create a positive impact on the
sale and brand recognition.
 Facilities- Andy's Greek Taverna must focus on providing quality services and facilities
to their customers through which they can meet customer satisfaction and it will help in
retaining maximum number of loyal and potential customers within restaurant. Andy's
Greek Taverna provides facilities through which help to meet customer satisfaction and
focus on providing effective customer service through which they can engage with their
customers and can run business successfully for longer period of time.
 Presentation- By offering cuisines with attractive presentation, it helps to maximise
customer satisfaction and it also helps to promote brand in the industry through which
they can engage with more customers and it will also help restaurant in attract more
customers and different customers can be targeted. The presentation of food creates a
positive impact on the customers which also helps in retaining maximum number of
customers.
 Infrastructure- By maintaining good infrastructure and ambience in the restaurant,
Andy's Greek Taverna can attract numerous customers and can maintain their brand
image in the service and hospitality industry.
Some of the factors which influence different customer groups are stated below:
Psychological factors which involves motivation of customers, their values, perception and
their beliefs (Peppers, D. and Rogers, M., 2016).
Personal factors such as age cycle, occupation, personality, living standards and economic
circumstances can create an impact on the different customer groups.
Socio-cultural factor such as reference groups, families, culture, social class system and
status can create an influence on the target groups.
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TASK 2
P3 Build a customer map for service industry
Customer Map- It is a visual presentation of customer journey and their experience with
brand and from their services. Customer map is a presentation of process through which a brand
can analyse the achievement of their desired goals and objectives. Basically, it is an overview of
customer interaction and their experience with products which are offered by brand and their
website (Srivastava and Kaul, 2016). Through a customer map, company can visualize customer
experience. A customer a for service industry is depicted below:
Step 1: Determine your targets for build a customer map
This is the first stage of building a customer map and in this phase targets are identified
which needs to be accomplished. In this initial stage, type of customers is determined and what
customer experience will be identified is evaluated. In other words, this initial stage depends on
who, what and why.
Step 2: Create customer personas
For tacking customer movements, the company must analyse who their customers are,
what their aspirations and preference is trough conducting an effective research through which
all customer data can be collected and their choices can be analysed. Trough conducting an
research and with the help of questionnaire, customer experience can be analysed. This stage
involves several questions, such as:
 How and what you hear about the brand?
 What made you purchase products?
 What attracts you to the brand?
 Have you contacted with customer service of our company?
Step 3: Identify touchpoints
Touchpoints are the places on your online site though which customer can interact with
customer service team of the company.
Step 4: Finalise type of map
The type of customer map is based on the objectives which needs to be accomplished
through which all important information regarding customer experience can be collected
(Venkatesan, Petersen and Guissoni, 2018). The three main types of customer mas are:
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 Current state: This is one of the most common type of map through which actions,
thoughts, emotions, customer experience are visualized. This type of map also provides
customer experience while interacting with them.
Day-in-the –life: This customer map details the day of their customers from day to night and it
also includes all details regarding habits and activities of customers when they interact with the
company or brand (Wali and Nwokah, 2017).
 Future state: This customer map visualizes predicted actions, thoughts, behaviours and
emotions of customers which they will experience during future interaction with the
company.
Step 5: Plot the customer journey
This is the second last stage of customer map in which all focus is on actions which ae
taken by customers and at what time.
Step 6: Take the customer journey
This is the last and crucial stage of customer mapping which help a business to identify
neds and demands of customers which are not met by the brand and this stage also focus on
offering brand engagement by resolving customer queries, building trust and providing the
quality customer experience.
P4 Debate over customer touch points throughout customer experience which can create business
opportunities for service sector
Through delivering an effective customer experience, Andy’s Greek Tavern focus on
delivering quality customer service by channelizing all efforts in accurate direction and customer
touch points can be delivered. It is important for business to identify and understand touch points
through which they can improve interaction with their customers. Customer touch points can
create business opportunities for Andy’s Greek Tavern are stated below:
Before purchase-
Customer experience for dinning or takeaway service can be different at Andy’s Greek
Tavern and it is important for a business to spread brand awareness, which can be done through
touch-points (Yang, Liu and Li, 2015). Some of the touch points channels which can help in
improving awareness of potential audience are:
 Website: One of the best medium to interact with customers is through official website of
Andy’s Greek Tavern. Through using effective marketing strategies Andy’s Greek
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Tavern can increase traffic on their website an tus customers can also easily place orders
online.
During Purchase-
This is one of the well defied customer touch points of hospitality sector. Through
offering interactive and attractive sales and innovative ideas help Andy’s Greek Tavern to
deliver quality customer services and more customers can be appealed (Zhang and et.al,
2017).
 In-store purchase: This touch point allows organisation to effectively interact with their
customers in their store. Andy’s Greek Tavern offers in store purchase to their customers
through interpersonal customers which help them in delivering effective customer
experience by maintaining constructive customer interaction.
After Purchase-
 Feedback survey: Feedback survey acts as customer touch point which strongly supports
Andy’s Greek Tavern to improve their customer service.
TASK 3
P5 Evaluate how digital technology is employed for managing customer experience in service
sector by using examples of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system
Implementing marketing strategies with the help of digital media platforms, it can create a
great customer experience for service sector such as hospitality industry. Customer service is one
of the key component of hospitality industry as the hotels and restaurants can meet customer
satisfaction and increase customer engagement through providing quality customer services.
Impact of digital technology for managing customer experience in service sector
The digital technology can create a virtual influence on customer experience as though digital
media platforms, customers can get information and collect valuable data before buying any
products from the company. However, digitalisation have helped Andy’s Greek Tavern
restaurant to tailor feed and contents of individual customers and users by regularly engaging
with them and sharing relevant content to such potential users (Caboni, 2020). Through using
digital media platforms, Andy’s Greek Tavern will be able to monitor demands of their
customers and will build more opportunities of attracting more customers who are willing to bug
reek cuisine from their restaurants. Andy’s Greek Tavern can analyse demands and preferences
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of their customers from the data which have been collected through digital media channels and
from analysing different touch points of customers. The companies of the service sector which ae
using such transformation in their digital media usage ca ace high customer engagement in their
restaurants.
Customer relationship management at Andy’s Greek Tavern
Customer relationship management is a technique through which customer experience
can be managed and it also helps in establishing effective interaction which will help in building
strong customer relationship through which maximum customers can be retained for longer
period of time (Kuppelwieser and Klaus, 2021). The Customer Relationship Management of
Andy’s Greek Tavern use various set of actions, practices and technology through which they
can manage customer experience. The restaurant, Andy’s Greek Tavern is using advanced CRM
software through which they collect all kind of data of their customers which help them to
present and visualize issues of their customers.
CONCLUSION
From the above project report, it can be concluded that customers are the backbone of the
hospitality industry through which they can sustain for longer period of time in the industry.
Through delivering quality customer experience, restaurants can meet customer satisfaction and
more customers can be engaged. With the help of advanced CRM systems, restaurants can offer
effective customer services through which customer experience can be improved.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
Caboni, F., 2020. Managing the Customer Experience within the Town Centre Retail.
In Managing Customer Experiences in an Omnichannel World: Melody of Online and
Offline Environments in the Customer Journey. Emerald Publishing Limited.
Chahal, H. and Dutta, K., 2015. Measurement and impact of customer experience in banking
sector. Decision. 42(1). pp.57-70.
Grønholdt, L and et.al., 2015. Customer experience management and business
performance. International journal of quality and service sciences.
Kandampully, J., Zhang, T. C. and Jaakkola, E., 2018. Customer experience management in
hospitality. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.
Kuppelwieser, V. G. and Klaus, P., 2021. Measuring customer experience quality: The EXQ
scale revisited. Journal of Business Research. 126. pp.624-633.
Lipkin, M., 2016. Customer experience formation in today’s service landscape. Journal of
Service Management.
McColl-Kennedy, J. R and et.al., 2019. Gaining customer experience insights that
matter. Journal of Service Research. 22(1). pp.8-26.
Peppers, D. and Rogers, M., 2016. Managing customer experience and relationships: A strategic
framework. John Wiley & Sons.
Srivastava, M. and Kaul, D., 2016. Exploring the link between customer experience–loyalty–
consumer spend. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services. 31. pp.277-286.
Venkatesan, R., Petersen, J. A. and Guissoni, L., 2018. Measuring and managing customer
engagement value through the customer journey. In Customer engagement marketing (pp.
53-74). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Wali, A. F. and Nwokah, N. G., 2017. Aviation customers’ journey, who cares? Managing
customer experiences with customer relationship management strategy: Insight into
Nigerian customers’ perspectives. Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing
Science. 27(2). pp.123-135.
Yang, Y., Liu, X. and Li, J., 2015. How customer experience affects the customer-based brand
equity for tourism destinations. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing. 32(sup1).
pp.S97-S113.
Zhang, M and et.al., 2017. Understanding relationships among customer experience,
engagement, and word-of-mouth intention on online brand communities. Internet
Research.
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