Managing the Customer Experience - Thomas Cook

Managing the
Customer Experience

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
PART 1 ..........................................................................................................................................1
(COVERED IN PPT ).................................................................................................................1
PART 2 ...........................................................................................................................................1
P6 Customer Service Strategies ................................................................................................1
P7 Develops how customer service strategies develops customer experience ..........................2
PART 3............................................................................................................................................6
P5 Impact of digital technology on customer relationship management ...................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFFERENCES .............................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Customer experience is the interaction between the organisation and a customer over the
duration of relationship. This interaction is made up of three parts which includes customer
journey, brand touchpoints which the customer interacts with and environment to which the
customer experiences the product and service. Therefore good experience of the customer allows
the business to grow in a effective manner and therefore sustains in the market for a long time
period. This ensures that organisations should provide better customer experiences in order to
maintain its sustainability in the complex dynamic environment. The present report is based on
Thomas Cook which is a British Travel Global company offers tour and travel services to the
customers, headquartered in England, UK. This project will throw highlights on the needs and
expectations of the different customer segments within the company. and explores the different
factors that influences engagement of customers according to their segment group. In addition to
this it evaluates customer experience map within service sector organisation and discusses the
touchpoints throughout the customer experience and investigates the effect that the organisation
has because of the digital technology. At last it will discuss customer service strategies within
service sector organisation.
PART 1
(COVERED IN PPT )
PART 2
P6 Customer Service Strategies
Within the part of a group experience team, customers should be provided with better
services so as to enhance their brand image in the market. Different strategies in context to the
proper customer service is discussed as follows-
 Effective Follow up Pre Booking- Thomas Cook provides effective customer service
strategies so as to attract larger customer towards their service sector organisation.
Respective organisation analyses the demands and requirements of the customer and
make arrangement of proper lodging and accommodation and arranges for proper
booking of travel and transportation services. This leads to proper pre booking for the
customer and leads the organisation to provide better services to the customers.
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 Minimise and reduce customer issues when interacting - It is necessary for the
respective organisation to clear issues and problems of the customers, this will attract
them towards the services of Thomas Cook . This will also assist them to attract and
retain the most customers and enhance brand image in the outside environment. In
context to Thomas Cook necessary training should be provided to the employees so as to
handle customer issues and complaints in a better manner and provides better services to
the consumers. (Della, Corte and et. al., 2015.).
 Products and Services according to the requirement of the customer- In context to
gain competitive advantage better customer service to the customers it is necessary for
Thomas Cook to provide customised tour packages according to the requirement and
demand of the customers. This will assist the company in attracting larger customer share
towards the services of Thomas Cook.
 Adopting and offering advanced technology to the customers- It is necessary for
respective organisation to use and provides access to the customers to the advanced
technologies such as providing customers with the specific facility of online payments,
online booking and cancellation facilities. This will attract larger number of tourist and
helps them in attaining maximum profitability and lead the company to enhance their
goodwill in the global market.
These are the specific strategies related to customer service which the Thomas COOK
organisations should adopt and provide services that meets the demands and requirement of the
customers.
P7 Develops how customer service strategies develops customer experience
Customer Audit Trail, Critical Observations
Name of hospitality business visited: Thomas Cook, London.
Date and time of visit: 13 July, 2019.
Ambience and First Impressions:
Positive things and changes
which were observed by me?
Negative things and changes
which were observed by me?
What changes would I bring if
this business belongs to me?
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Hotel staff were friendly and
cooperative and the ambience
was very attractive.
Lack of training was there in
staff, this leads to little
mismanagement of the
activities (Dube and Helkkula,
2015).
If I would be the owner of the
business I would provide
necessary training to the
employees so as to enable
employees to work in a
effective manner.
Signage, Tariff Boards, Labelling, etc.:
Positive things and changes
which were observed by me?
Negative things and changes
which were observed by me?
What changes would I bring if
this business belongs to me?
In the respective hotel, there
were proper use of fire
extinguishers, proper labelling
and there were boars which
would help the customers to
reach at the hotel at proper
place.
There were no proper signals
in the hotel premises which
made confusion in the minds
of customers.
If I would be a owner I would
definitely use proper boards
inside the hotel premises and
removes confusion among the
employees.
Prices:
Positive things and changes
which were observed by me?
Negative things and changes
which were observed by me?
What changes would I bring if
this business belongs to me?
It provides affordable services
for the all age group of
customers.
There are higher taxes which
are imposed on the travel
packages which makes the
total tour package expensive
I will provide customised tour
packages so as to attract larger
customers.
Range of Products:
Positive things and changes
which were observed by me?
Negative things and changes
which were observed by me?
What changes would I bring if
this business belongs to me?
They provides various range
of products and services such
Customised tour packages
comprises of various products
I will provide customised
services at an affordable rate.
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as free Wi-Fi and make ease
for the customers to decide
packages.
and services and creates the
package expensive (Harmeling
and et. al., 2017.).
Staff:
Positive things and changes
which were observed by me?
Negative things and changes
which were observed by me?
What changes would I bring if
this business belongs to me?
Staff members are cooperative
and supportive.
Lack of training in the staff
members which causes
mismanagement in the
business activities.
I would assess the skills and
capabilities of the employees
by offering them training
facilities according to the
requirements.
Time:
Positive things and changes
which were observed by me?
Negative things and changes
which were observed by me?
What changes would I bring if
this business belongs to me?
Customers are provided
services at a appropriate time.
When large customers of
customers wants to avail the
services at a single time, hotel
staff is able to provide.
I would specifically limit the
time to every activity so that
proper services are provided to
the customers.
Supplementary Items:
Positive things and changes
which were observed by me?
Negative things and changes
which were observed by me?
What changes would I bring if
this business belongs to me?
Respective service industry
decorum was so attractive and
moreover the parking facility
There no much discounts and
offers which are provided to
the customers.
I would provide specific
discount to the regular and
prospective customers to
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is well arranged. enhance brand image in the
market.
Payment:
Positive things and changes
which were observed by me?
Negative things and changes
which were observed by me?
What changes would I bring if
this business belongs to me?
There were proper online
payment modes for the
customers.
Payment of services by online
creates confusion and
complexities and even takes
lots of time (Kumar and
Reinartz, 2016).
I would resolve the online
payment problem and provides
better ease to the customers.
PART 3
P5 Impact of digital technology on customer relationship management
Customer relationship management is used by the companies to manager the proper interaction
with customers. This strategy is very powerful as it help the companies to increase their
productivity and profitability as well as their customers satisfaction and retention. Other than
that, the digital technology play a crucial role in in customer relationship management. As
Thomas cook is leading in the travel and tourism, customers service is an important part for
them. Investment in the making customers relationship effective is becoming the most
important in future according to today's competitive market (Ailawadi and Farris, 2017).
Digital technology plays an important role in providing better experience to the
customers. It helps them to connect with their customers and providing them a memorable
experience to the customers whenever and wherever they want look for. By helping of digital
technology they always able to solve their customers problem through various websites, chats,
and telephones. There is a high competition in the hospitality industries, Thomas cooks need to
adopt those strategies and IT systems which help them to compete their competitors. For
instance if Thomas cook adopt communication technology in their organisation, it will help the
to increase the customers experience as they are always keep connected by this technology
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which help them to increase their customers satisfaction and increase their brand value.
Moreover, CRM helps the company in providing great facilities through using latest
techniques, strategies and policies. Although CRM is very effective in any organisations but it
has also some disadvantages which are as follow: The advantages of CRM are, it help them
organisation to motivate their employees in an effective manner which results high productivity,
profitability, and lowering time cost. Also, it improves customers experience by solving their
every query or issues. The disadvantage of the CRM are, the first disadvantage that because of
CRM security and data protection issues might arise. Along with this, like another computer
programs CRM also need a proper training so it is essential for management to give their
employees a proper training which take a great time. Some of IT systems are explained as
under:
EPOS (Electronic Point of Sale System) system which provide the companies efficient
process, help them to track sales and make other procedures easier. This systems is a
aggregation of hardware and software system which is designed for run the business more
smoothly. These systems are involved in stock control and tracking procedure, purchase and
order processing, promotional programs, and many others. Along with this, it will help the
Thomas cook to analysis the whole activities of its business and allowing them to make
decisions to enhance their efficiency and growth. Other than that, it has some advantages and
disadvantage which are as follow: Advantages, it will help them to forecasting their inventory
with more accuracy and effectively and this system also ensures accurate products pricing and
information on multiple channels. Disadvantage, its installation and updating of software are
very expensive which create extra cost for them (Biemans, 2018).
Management information system is an effective system which is responsible for all the
operational activities. This system will help the Thomas cook to collect data from multiple
online systems, analyse the informations, and take advantage in decision making process.
Through this, management system can evaluate and control all the activities by providing up-to-
date and accurate data about inventory, marketing, manufacturing and many others.
Hence, it can be say technology has great impact on the organisational overall
performance by increasing their productivity, profitability, and sustainability in the market.
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CONCLUSION
From the above project it has been concluded that it is necessary for service sector
organisations to provide better and effective services to the customers so as to enhance their
brand image in the market. Hence it is necessary for the hotels to conduct proper market
segmentation so as to provide specific products and services and meet the demands and
requirements of the customer accordingly. This will assist the organisation to attract larger
customer base and enhance their brand image in the market. Moreover, it is necessary for the
customer to provide proper touch points to the customer hence it opens various opportunities for
the business to grow and sustain in the market for a longer time period.
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