Managing the Customer Experience in Hospitality Sector

This report focuses on the value and importance of understanding customer needs, factors that drive customer engagement, customer experience map, digital technology in managing customer experience, and customer service strategies in Frankie & Benny's restaurant. It highlights the significance of customer experience in the hospitality sector and provides insights into managing customer expectations and preferences.

MANAGING THE
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
LO 1.................................................................................................................................................1
P1 Explanation of value and importance of understanding the needs, wants and preferences of
target customer groups for a restaurant in hospitality sector.......................................................1
P2 Exploration of different factors that drive and influence customer engagement of different
target customer groups within Frankie & Benny's restaurant......................................................2
LO2..................................................................................................................................................4
P3 Customer Experience Map.....................................................................................................4
P4 How the customer touch-points throughout the customer experience create business
opportunities for Frankie & Benny's............................................................................................7
LO3..................................................................................................................................................8
P5 Ways in which digital technology is employed in managing the customer experience within
restaurants. With examples of customer relationship management (CRM) systems..................8
LO4..................................................................................................................................................8
P6 Customer service strategies in Frankie and Benny’s..............................................................8
P7 How customer service strategies create and develop the customer experience in a way that
meets the needs of the customer and required business standards............................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Management of customer experience is a process of collecting information that can be
used to track needs and requirement of customers, by tracking interaction of customers with
organization. It is one of the most important part of an organization that can directly help then in
retaining their current customers, enhance their loyalty towards brand and can eventually help in
increasing overall sales and revenue of organization (Kandampully, Zhang and Jaakkola, 2018).
In hospitality industry it is one of the most important and vital process because their main service
is to serve customers and provide high quality service to them. This report will lay emphasis
upon explanation of value and importance of understanding the needs, wants and preferences of
target customer group, exploration of different factors that drive and influence customer
engagement of different target customer, creation of customer experience map, explanation of
ways in which customer touch-points throughout the customer experience create business
opportunities, ways in which digital technology is employed in managing the customer
experience within the service sector, and customer service strategies. Restaurant chosen for this
report is Frankie & Benny's restaurant. This restaurant was founded in 1995 whose main
headquarter is in London. It is an Italian- American themed restaurant with 236 outlets
nationwide.
LO 1
P1 Explanation of value and importance of understanding the needs, wants and preferences of
target customer groups for a restaurant in hospitality sector
Customers are one of the most important part of an organization and it is important or
each and every organization to focus upon understanding of needs, wants, demands, and
preferences of customers in order sustain within the market in which they operate. Understanding
of needs and wants of customers helps restaurants to understand products and services that are
required to be offered by restaurant to customers so that a greater number of customers can be
attracted (Ahani and et. al., 2019). This will further help them to enhance customer engagement
and knowing customers’ needs wants, desire can help in formulating effective business strategies
as per the preferences of customers. For restaurants it is important to understand needs, wants
and preferences of target customer groups so that products and services are offered to customers
that are preferred by them. This directly helps them in developing healthy relationship between
customers and restaurant. For a top restaurant like Frankie & Benny's restaurant it is extremely
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important and valuable for them to understand their customer’s needs, wants and preferences as
it helps them in attracting more number of customers, enhance their overall sales for increasing
profitability and revenue (Camilleri, 2018)(Busalim and Ghabban, 2021). Not only this if
Frankie & Benny's restaurant wants to expand their business then they need to develop high
brand reputation so that success of new expanded business can be ensured. In order to understand
appropriate needs, wants and preferences of customers then it is important for them to
understand their target customers in an appropriate manner. Such as target customers of Frankie
& Benny's restaurant main target customers are customers with high disposable income who
prefer to have high quality food rather than cheap food ad people who love Italian and American
Food.
P2 Exploration of different factors that drive and influence customer engagement of different
target customer groups within Frankie & Benny's restaurant
There are many different kinds of factors or drivers that can directly influence customer
engagement of customers. In order to achieve long terms goals of restaurant it is important for
Frankie & Benny's to understand factors and drivers that can directly influences engagement of
different kinds of customers. Or example below poster clearly helps in understanding factors that
affect engagement of high class customers as such kind of customers prefer: unique food on
menu, amazing food quality, minimum service time and stunning interior of restaurant.
Above example clearly explains that there are many different kinds of factors that can
influence customer engagement of different types of target customer groups. Some of the main
factors and drivers that influence experience of customers of target customer group of Frankie &
Benny's restaurant, are as follows:
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Ambiance of Restaurant: Ambiance means interior of Frankie & Benny's restaurant
directly impact customer engagement. Frankie & Benny's restaurant’s ambiance is good and
attractive that helps them in increasing engagement of their customer’s. they have separate tables
for different types of customers and each table has a lamp for light (Monferrer, Moliner and
Estrada, 2019). It helps in maintaining good impression in front of customer’s and directly
impact their perception for brand. Mostly all types of customers like this ambiance of Frankie &
Benny's restaurant.
Pricing strategy adopted by Frankie & Benny's restaurant: Pricing strategy adopted by
restaurants should be according to their target customer’s and should not be overpriced. Frankie
& Benny's restaurant has adopted competitive pricing strategy for all of their branches at
different locations. It is one of the main factors that influence or impact engagement of
customers within organization. If food products and beverages are over priced then least number
of customers will prefer engaging with this organization and if restaurant has adopted
appropriate pricing strategy than it will directly and positively impact engagement of customers.
Quality of food: it is another one of the most important factor that can influence customer
engagement because if overall quality of food is not good then it will directly impact overall
experience of customer’s and can further negative impact overall engagement of customer’s
(Najib and Fahma, 2020).
Variety in food menu: it is another driver that impact customer engagement because mostly
customer’s prefer variety in menu so that they can get various options in choosing food and
beverage items. If customer’s do not get variety of food items to choose from them di directly
impact their preference of choosing restaurant and can further engagement of customer’s.
Other factors: Other factors that influence experience of customers are: serving time period;
time period in which customers are being served food and beverages ordered by them directly
influence their experience because if restaurant takes too much time to deliver their ordered
items, then it can negatively impact their experience. Behaviour of staff members is another
factor that can influence their experience because if staff members do not behave professionally
to do not have positive attitude while serving food then it can impact experience of customers.
High class customers with high disposable income or customer’s who visit restaurant for
business meeting or for client visit majorly focus upon both of these factors.
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LO2
P3 Customer Experience Map
Customer Journey map can be defined as illustration of different touchpoints that
customers have with a company both online and offline. Touchpoints are those points through
which customers and business connect with each other.
Customer experience map developed outlines different phases through which customer
passes in order to make purchase and on the basis of this organisation can determine what
experience they wish to give to their customers (Overkamp, Liefhebber and Lu, 2017).
Frankie & Benny's is a Italian-American themed restaurant chain in UK and customer
Journey Map for the business is-
User decide what they want to eat- In this there are several options available for customers and
option include different types of food and also different types of restaurants.
They look for different option- Once customer has finalised to eat either Italian or American
food later they look for available options for where they can eat either Italian or American
themed food in UK.
Considering different option by user- This is a phase in customer experience map in which
users consider different options for American or Italian themed restaurants.
Above stated three phases are concerned with first stage of customer journey that is
awareness. In this experience of customers can be influenced through ensuring they get to know
about Frankie & Benny's in simplest way.
Comparing different options- This is phase in which when customers compare options about
American and Italian restaurants and they compare on the basis of value in terms of quality of
food, taste of food and price of the food charged by different restaurants (Li, Q.Y and et.al.,
2017).
Checking reviews about restaurants- customer check review about restaurants and this is done
to validate offerings and value offered by restaurants.
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Above stated phases are included in second stage of customer journey that is
consideration. In this customers consider different options including Frankie & Benny's.
Deciding purchase- customers decide to buy from Frankie & Benny's
Purchasing- In this phase customers take action for purchasing
Experience in terms of welcoming environment for customer- In this environment that
business give to customers and make them feel welcoming is included.
Completing transaction- In this customer complete transaction by paying for what they have
purchased from Frankie & Benny's (Li, Q.Y and et.al., 2017).
This is last stage of customer journey in which customers make decision to purchase from
Frankie & Benny's.
After purchase experience- This involves how customers feel once they have purchased and
how satisfied they are after completing purchase from Frankie & Benny's.
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6
Online
Touchpoint
Search
Engine and
Website of
the
company
Touchpoints
Review
Website and
Website
enabling
comparing two
restaurants on
the basis of
reviews and
rating by users
Connecting
with
restaurants at
place/ordering
online
Giving reviews
and rating on
mechanism
developed by
restaurant

P4 How the customer touch-points throughout the customer experience create business
opportunities for Frankie & Benny's
Customer touchpoints throughout customer experience and creation of business
opportunities at different touchpoints for Frankie & Benny's are-
Website:
This is very important as point and also a house of all the information about restaurant.
Website helps customers in identifying about restaurant and it environment also whether it is
suitable or not according to their taste. This is why it is very important that Frankie and Benny’s
create a website identifying taste and preference of target market (van Boerdonk, Krikke and
Lambrechts, 2021). Concerned with Frankie and Benny’s theme of the restaurant is Italian and
American and this is why sophisticated website with Italian and American theme should be
developed to create a positive experience and opportunity for business.
Review Site:
Review site enables customers to know about experience that previous customers have
had regarding restaurant. This is why it is very important that Frankie and Benny’s have positive
reviews and rating by previous customer. Positive and favourable review and rating enable
Frankie and Benny’s attract customers and creating business opportunity for restaurant. In this
specific attention should be provided to responding to customers both those who have given
positive reviews as well as those who have given negative reviews. Being graceful and
considerate about negative reviews and complaints of customer create positive image of
restaurant.
Restaurant Environment:
Restaurant environment is concerned with different elements within restaurant and how
they appeal to customer. Frankie and Benny’s is an Italian American came to restaurant and this
is why it is required that interior of restaurant is also matching with theme of the restaurant
(Bakhtieva, 2017). In addition to this it is required that interior and environment within
restaurant is created according to taste and preference of target market to make them feel
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welcoming. This is also an opportunity for restaurant to create repetitive business from
customers.
LO3
P5 Ways in which digital technology is employed in managing the customer experience within
restaurants. With examples of customer relationship management (CRM) systems
Today due to advancement in technology most of the customer’s preferring using digital
technologies for ordering or paying for their food or beverage items ordered by them. Some of
the customers use digital technology to book table, order food or for home delivery etc. due to
this it has become important for organizations to adopt and employ digital technology for
manging their customer’s experience (Nöjd and et. al., 2020). Point of sale is one of the main
systems which is used by organizations for boosting their overall business operations and for
improving digital experience of customer’s so that quick service and delivery can be made to
customers. This system helps them in ensuring that they have enough customer’s during
workload or when restaurant had maximum customers. mobile application is another digital
technology that has been employed by most of the restaurants today so that they can provide
online ordering and home delivery service to customers. Their application further provides them
service of booking or reserving table during peak hours.
Customer relationship management is another one of the systems which is being used by
most of the organizations for variety of purposes. First of all it directly helps them in integrating
existing technologies with the system (Nöjd and et. al., 2020). They can also collect feedback of
customer’s with the help of this system. Operational data stored within CRM system further help
in developing effective marketing campaign for restaurants for attracting more number of
customer’s.
LO4
P6 Customer service strategies in Frankie and Benny’s
Competent staff- In hospitality industry staff please very important and central role in customer
service. This is important in Frankie and Benny’s as well and staff at different locations of
Frankie and Benny’s is highly competent and words on providing best services to customers and
this is why competent staff is a very important element of customer service strategy at Frankie
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and Benny’s. Competent staff provides welcoming environment to customers and also provide
them with all kind of help that customers require ensuring that they have positive experience at
restaurant.
Waiting Time- Waiting time is very important element of customer service at restaurant and it is
required that waiting time is as much limited as possible (Kurian and Muzumdar, 2017). Having
limited and lead time for waiting enhances customer experience and also enable restaurant to
serve more customers in less time. Waiting time at Frankie and Benny’s is also important
element of their customer service strategy.
Dealing with customers’ complaints- Restaurant that operates through multiple channels have
to deal with more complaints and this is why it is important that complaints of customers are
dealt in a systematic manner. It is important that customers are listened to and also responded on
time so that restaurant can avoid building up of negative experience associated with it. This is
because when complete of customers are not considered it is likely to create frustration and
disappointment of customers and this is why dealing with customer complaints is an important
customer service strategy in Frankie and Benny’s.
Maintaining hygiene and cleanliness in restaurant- Hygiene and cleanliness and restaurant is
very important for creating a favourable and welcoming environment for customers. This is also
important for attracting and retaining customers with restaurant and regarding restaurant and
Hospitality cleanliness and hygiene in a very important element of customer service. This
requires that Frankie and Benny’s maintain highest standard of hygiene and cleanliness
(Thielemann, Ottenbacher and Harrington, 2018). This also enables restaurant to create a
sophisticated environment for its customers.
Going extra mile- Customers nowadays are willing to have personalized services and this is
why going extra Mile for customers and providing them what they require according to the
individual taste can you play very important role in creating positive customer experience. This
is why going extra my and creating experience for customers is also customer service strategy in
Frankie and Benny’s. This enables restaurant to attract and retain customers as their services are
valued and catered in restaurant.
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P7 How customer service strategies create and develop the customer experience in a way that
meets the needs of the customer and required business standards
Creating clear customer experience vision- This is the way in which customer service strategy
create and develop customer experience in a way that meets need of customers and also meet
required business standard. Creating clear customer experience vision is concerned with
identifying what Frankie and Benny’s wants to achieve in terms of customer experience and
what kind of customer experience it is willing to provide (De Vries, Roy and De Koster, 2018).
On the basis of this vision Frankie and Benny’s will be able to create customer experience that
meets their need and also so will meet required standards of business.
Enables to understand customers- Customer service strategies also unable to understand
customers and sound understanding of customers and their requirement enables to provide them
best experience according to their needs. In addition to this on the basis of understanding
developed for customers of business Frankie and Benny’s develop it business standard and fro
customer service strategies customer requirement can be met and at the same time business
standard can be achieved.
Collecting customer feedback- Collecting feedback of customers is a customer service strategy
at the same time it enables to create customer experience fulfilling their needs and required
business standard. This means that customers ever need that when they do not get what they have
been promised. Collecting feedback from customers is also important so that standards of
business can be improved and developed according to customer requirement and their
expectations from restaurant.
Measure the ROI from delivering great customer experience- This is also a way in which
customer service strategies create and develop customer experience. Frankie and Benny’s can
measure ROI from delivering great customer experience and this is possible through having
customer strategies right (Budur, Faraj and Karim, 2019). Organisation can achieve high return
only when they are able to meet customer requirement and also when they are able to achieve
required standards of business.
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CONCLUSION
From the above report it has been summarized that management of customer experience
for an organization is extremely important as it helps them in enhancing their overall sales,
increase revenue and profitability and further helps in retaining current customer base and attract
a greater number of customers. It has further been summarized that for management of customer
experience it is important for organizations to understand needs, want, desire and preferences of
their target customers as it will help them in enhancing overall satisfaction level of their
customers, manage their experience and eventually will help in increasing loyalty of their
customers. It has also been concluded that in order to enhance customer experience firms need to
explore different factors that directly influence customers engagement and in order to understand
this in a much better manner they can develop customer experience map as this map will directly
help organization in understanding customers touch points which will help them in enhancing
overall experience of their customers in more appropriate and accurate manner.
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REFERENCES
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