Managing the Customer Experience

This report discusses the importance of acknowledging customer preferences and needs in the service industry, and how it impacts customer engagement. It also explores the formulation of a consumer experience map and the role of touch points in building opportunities. Additionally, it describes how digital technology and CRM systems help in managing customer experience. The chosen organisation for this report is McDonald's.

MANAGING THE
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1 Mention importance of acknowledging preference, wants and needs of customers in
respect with service industry.......................................................................................................1
P2 Mention varied kind of factors which impacts engagement of clients on various target
customer groups within service sector........................................................................................2
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................3
P3 Formulate a consumer experience map for the chosen organisation.....................................3
P4 Mention how touch points for consumers via customer experience helps in building
opportunities for selected service industry .................................................................................5
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................5
P5 Describe how the digital technology helps in management of customer experience in
service industry involving specific examples of CRM systems .................................................5
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................6
P6 Mention about consumer service strategies in relation with selected service organisation...6
P7 Define the way by which customer service strategies can develop customer experience to
fulfil the demands of business and customers ............................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Customer experience is stated as a term which denotes the comfortableness of customers
while using a service or product. If experience of customers while using a service or product is
good, this assures that an organisation is performing their work in efficient manner. High
experience of customers helps a firm in earning competitive advantage against customers (Ahn,
Back and Barišić, 2019). This report is carried out by considering McDonald's which is a USA
based fast food organisation, established in 1940. This restaurant is headquartered in California,
US and operates their work in global context. This report will mention about the need to identify
the requirements, preference and wants of consumers while using a service. Also, factors which
impacts engagement of clients will be discussed. Also, customer experience map will be
prepared and touch points will be established to serve customers properly. Role of digital
technology, CRMs and customer service strategy is discussed. At last, role of service strategies
in enhancing consumer experience is discussed briefly.
TASK 1
P1 Mention importance of acknowledging preference, wants and needs of customers in respect
with service industry
With advancing technology, requirements and needs of people varies often. Due to which
is became difficult for a company to work without carrying out changes in their organisational
activities. In order to achieve high targets and revenues, a company is needed to satisfy clients in
effective way. Hence, it can be said that to gain expected outcomes in business, a company is
required to acknowledge the needs, wants and preference of customers in proper manner. In
context with McDonald's, workers are required to provide quality service to their clients
according to their need (Bravo, Martinez and Pina, 2019). Customers do not like to compromise
with good quality or health. Hence, McDonald's is needed to offer healthy meals to their
customers by maintaining appropriate quality standards. If customers will not be satisfied, they
will shift their preference towards products of other organisation. In case of McDonald's, below
are mentioned some benefits of identifying wants, requirements and expectations of clients:
 Acknowledging the purchasing practices and behaviours of customers is easier by
identifying their preferable or taste. By this, McDonald's can achieve high revenues and
sales due to which attaining competitive advantage over rivals will became easier.
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 Acknowledgement of needs and perception of customers will benefits McDonald's in
selecting right business strategies so that maximum people can be served in appropriate
way.
 Identifying the taste of customers will help the organisation in carrying out right kind of
promotion so that maximised sales can be achieved. This will help the firm in retaining
clients for maximum time (Fließ and Kleinaltenkamp, 2019).
Different ways to acknowledge requirement of consumers
 Best way to acknowledge the changing need of consumers is market research. Marketing
manager in McDonald's is required to conduct a survey so that varying requirements of
clients can be understand.
 Taking feedbacks of customers during their visits at restaurant is good way to identify
their choice.
Beneath are discussed potential clients of Subway restaurant and their main requirements
while using a service. If these needs are understood properly then McDonald's will be able to
maintain their customer base for maximum time span.
 Young people: These people are adult and teenagers and their main preference is to go to
those places which are fun loving so that they can accompany their friends and family for
quality time. These people require services like live music, wide range of dishes, internet
facilities, healthy beverages, food etc. along with a good place to sit (Moliner-Tena,
Monferrer-Tirado and Estrada-Guillén, 2019).
 Business persons: This section has preference of personal cabins to conduct official
meetings and dinners without much disruptions. Other requirements of this section is Wi-
Fi connectivity, high quality food, peaceful environment, standardised service etc.
P2 Mention varied kind of factors which impacts engagement of clients on various target
customer groups within service sector
Customer engagement is specified as consumer interest in offering and services of an
organisation. If interest of customers is more in services of a business firm then this mean
concerned business is operating in a successful manner. In case of McDonald's, if people will
have high interest in services of restaurant, this will depict that their engagement is more in
working of organisation. Due to increased engagement of clients, sales of McDonald's will be
high due to which attainment of high profits will be very easier. Engagement level of customers
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helps a firm in deciding right business strategies so that desired outcomes can be gained without
any compromise (Padmavathy, Balaji and Sivakumar, 2012). In context with McDonald's, main
targeted customers of restaurant are travellers, young people, business persons, family etc.
Beneath are mentioned different methods by which engagement of these targeted customers can
be maintained in appropriate manner:
 Family member: In order to enhance the engagement of families in McDonald's,
manager is required to offer complementary dishes and services to the kids and teenagers.
By this, their interest in the offerings of restaurant will be more and they will ask their
parents to repeat their visits. Other than this, family members prefer clean and hygienic
ambience, special seats for kids, play zone, healthy food, internet etc. All of these aspects
will help the company in increasing engagement of families.
 Travellers: Major requirement of these targeted customers is high quality food and
standardised services. Also, these people prefer to have dishes in less price so that they
can spend more on other activities during their trip. By providing good food in less
amount, engagement of these people can be increased in McDonald's. Other than this,
travellers need near by transportation facility. This will help them in saving their time
during travelling. Also, drinks, live music, comfortable environment, attractive ambience,
multiple payment facility are some factors which can increase engagement of travellers in
McDonald's (Saini and Singh, 2019).
 Business persons: These customers are professional in nature and prefers those places
which are peaceful, hygienic and soundproof so that they can conduct their meetings and
spend quality time without any interference. In this context, McDonald's can offers them
special cabins which are soundproof. This will help McDonald's in increasing presence of
business persons. Other than this, standardised food must be offered to business persons
to increase their engagement.
TASK 2
P3 Formulate a consumer experience map for the chosen organisation
A customer experience map is referred as a tactics to recognise and evaluate need of
customers so that right products can be served to them at right time. With the help of experience
map, customers can be given standardised services so that an organisation can achieve high
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revenues and profits. Experience map of customers is a tool which helps in identifying ways to
manage the satisfaction level of customers. For McDonald's, customer mind map is discussed
below:
 Research and plan: This is the basic step that is needed to be follow by McDonald's to
outline satisfactory customer experience. At this stage, consumers will perform a proper
research to identify about the services of McDonald's. They will consider factors like
safety and health standards, nutrition level etc. if customers will be satisfied with
offerings of company, only then they will prefer to visits the outlets of McDonald's (Vohs
and Baumeister, 2016).
 Reservation: It is next stage in customer map of experience in which clients will perform
booking and reservations at McDonald's. Customers will only reserve a table in
McDonald's if they are satisfied by researching about restaurant. Here, restaurant can
offer them complementary food and services to enhance their experience while visiting
outlet.
 Experience at restaurant: In this stage of mind map, customers will go to the concerned
restaurant so that they can enjoy quality food there. Here, employees of McDonald's will
be needed to consider the expectations of customers before offering them meals and
beverages. At this stage, manager in McDonald's is required to provide nutritious and
healthy dishes to the customers without any compromise with the taste. By this,
experience of customers will be good and positive reputation of restaurant will sustain in
minds of clients (Kietzmann and Canhoto, 2013).
 Future engagement: This is the final stage in customer experience map in which
consumers have used services of restaurant. Here, clients decide if they wants to have
repeated interaction with the restaurant or not. Here, manager of McDonald's is needed to
take feedbacks of the customers. By this, they will be able to initiate change as per
expectations of customers. This will assure that experience of customers is very good
with restaurant. This will help McDonald's in operating competitively within
marketplace.
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P4 Mention how touch points for consumers via customer experience helps in building
opportunities for selected service industry
Touch-points are basically those aspects that benefits an organisation in interacting with
consumers in appropriate manner. Proper touch-points helps a company in achieving customer’s
attention in positive manner due to which achieving high profits became easier. In relation with
McDonald's, touch points of clients and their role in opportunity generation is mentioned below:
 Before visit: There are different kind of touch-points which are encountered by customer
base before purchasing products or using service of organisation. Some of these touch-
points are menu details, mobile application of restaurant, official website, online
existence of firm etc. appropriate management of these touch-points will help customers
in understanding services of McDonald's. This will encourage them to visit outlets of
McDonald's by which high profits and market shares can be earned (Reason, Løvlie and
Flu, 2015).
 During visit: At the time of visit, a consumer must be treated speciality so that they can
feel valuable and their engagement with company can be enhanced. In this stage, main
touch-points are internet services, free Wi-Fi, special smoking zones, complementary
meals etc. If manager at McDonald's will consider these touch points then existing and
potential clients of restaurant can be retained for maximum time period.
 After visit: When customer had already visit the place, there are different touch-points
which must be managed by manager of company. This will assure that customers is going
to come again and high revenues can be achieved. In this context, main touch points are
feedbacks of customers, surveys at regular time interval, special discounts on next visit
etc. By these Touch points, customers will prefer repeat visit due to which high revenues
can be achieved.
TASK 3
P5 Describe how the digital technology helps in management of customer experience in service
industry involving specific examples of CRM systems
Customer relationship management is basically a procedure in which workers of an
organisation maintains a cordial relationship with the customers. These systems are comprises of
advanced software and technology which helps a company in identifying information about last
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visits of customers. Also, these systems helps in storing the useful information of customers at
one location in systematic manner. In case of McDonald's, with the help of CRM system,
manager at McDonald's can retain their customers for larger time span. This is because CRM
system will cover all the main demands of customers. Also, digital technology plays a vital role
in managing customers. In case of McDonald's, use of digital technology are discussed beneath:
 By using digital software and tools, manager at McDonald's can easily acknowledge the
requirements of consumers by surveys. Also, digital tools will help in conducting market
research in timely manner (Wong, 2013).
 With the help of digital tools, information of customers and their preference can be stored
and restored appropriately. This will help the company is modifying their existing
services as per requirements of customers.
Beneath are discussed various CRM systems that can be used by manager in McDonald's
to assure that business operations and activities are performed in appropriate way:
POS software: It is a digital tool which can be used by restaurants like McDonald's to
enhance their working performance. By this, operational cost of organisation will be minimised
and high profits can be achieved. By this, overall cost of products will reduced and customers
will prefer to buy them in large quantity. This software includes different features associated
with menu management so that customers can be given proper knowledge about pricing,
complementary food, discounts, combo offers etc. in proper manner.
Touch Bistro: This software of CRM helps an organisation in designing business
processes for McDonald's management. By using this software, employees of concerned
restaurant will be able to take orders on digital basis. This reduces the change of misshapenness.
Also, details of customers can also managed by this software (Peppers and Rogers, 2016). This
CRM software will help the customers in splitting bills, reserving table, menu upgrading etc. in a
simplified manner.
TASK 4
P6 Mention about consumer service strategies in relation with selected service organisation
Customer service strategies is an important part of business planning. Main target of a
firm is to accomplish the desires of customers so that maximised sales and profits can be
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attained. In case of McDonald's, customer service strategies which can be adopted by the firm
are mentioned beneath:
Staff empowerment to increase consumer experience: Working staff at McDonald's
must be given training and development sessions on regular basis so that they can serve the
customers in right manner. Due to this, changing needs of people will also served efficiently
(Verleye, 2015).
Offering complementary service to consumers: It is the best strategy through which
expectations and needs of consumers can be fulfilled properly. By providing complementary
service to customers, McDonald's can retain them for maximum time period. Other than this,
manager at McDonald's can offers vouchers to the customers during their repeated visits.
Regular feedback from clients: It is also a good strategy that must be adopted by
manager in McDonald's. With the help of regular feedback, regular changing expectations of
customers can be understood and fulfilled properly. By this, overall satisfaction level of
customer can be maintained. This will help McDonald's in gaining competitive advantage over
rivals.
Analysing queries and issues: It is best service strategy by which customer base can be
retained for maximum time period. By resolving and analysing problems of clients in a timely
way, they can be satisfied appropriately. By this, trust of people in service of McDonald's will be
maintained and firm will be able to achieve high advantages while operating in business
environment (Gounaris and Boukis, 2013).
P7 Define the way by which customer service strategies can develop customer experience to
fulfil the demands of business and customers
Customer Audit Trail, Critical Observations:
Name of business firm: McDonald's
Visiting date: 10/01/20
Basics Positive things Negative aspects What is going to be
changed if I am
business owner
Ambience and First Beautiful ambience It has only one billing I would have
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Impressions: attracts the
customers. Also,
hygiene maintenance
and cleanliness
provides pleasant
feeling to customers.
counter due to which
paying money is time
consuming process.
appointed more staff
at billing counter to
assure no customer
have to wait long.
Signage, Tariff
Boards, Labelling,
etc.:
Different gates are
provided for exit and
entry. Also,
customers can use lift
facility to reach at
restaurant.
No employee is
standing at entry and
exit gate to guide
customers. No broads
are present to
mention which is
entering and exiting
gate.
I would have use
boards and labels to
distinguish entry and
exit gate.
Prices:
McDonald's target
middle income
people and rich class.
In this context, prices
are very genuine and
reasonable.
For students and low
income people, prices
are quite high. This
limits their regular
visit to the restaurant.
I will provide
complementary
service to the
customers so that
they can assure high
services while
coming to the
restaurant
Staff: Staff of restaurant
serves consumers
high quality food in
appropriate manner
without taking much
time (Verhoef and
Lemon, 2013).
In case of
multitasking, workers
are not capable. Due
to this, they easily get
confused and
sometimes mix orders
of different
customers.
I would have given
appropriate training
to staff on regular
basis so that they can
perform multiple
work in a single time
without any
complexities.
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Range of Products: American speciality,
fast food and
beverages are offered
to the clients.
Health conscious
customers in global
context resists in
going McDonald's as
they preferable serve
junk food.
I could have modified
menu of restaurant
and introduced
smoothies, shakes
and health
supplement meals so
that maximum
number of people can
come and enjoy food.
Time:
Waiting time for food
is very less.
Due to manual order
taking, some
customers have to
wait for longer time
span.
I would have
introduced software
to manages orders of
customers
systematically.
Payment: Customers can pay
via both offline and
online mediums.
Value points
collected by
customers are not
given much
preference.
Restaurant can adopt
different system of
payments like points
system, online
payment, cash so that
customers do not
have to face
difficulties while
paying.
CONCLUSION
In accordance with the discussed report, this can be comprehended that customer
satisfaction is vital for a company operating in service sector. If clients are not satisfied with
products of company then concerned firm is not capable to attain expected results. Thus, a
company is needed to offer services as per the demand and choice of customers so that
maximised sales can be earned. To attain sustainability, a business can adopt pricing strategies,
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standardised service, good ambience etc. CRM systems helps a company in accommodating past
experience of customers with specific company. There are varied strategies like... which helps in
attaining attention of customers in a proper manner.
REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Ahn, J., Back, K. J. and Barišić, P., 2019. The effect of dynamic integrated resort experience on
Croatian customer behavior. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 36(3), pp.358-
370.
Bravo, R., Martinez, E. and Pina, J.M., 2019. Effects of service experience on customer
responses to a hotel chain. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality
Management, 31(1), pp.389-405.
Fließ, S. and Kleinaltenkamp, M., 2019. Commentary essay on “blueprinting the service
company–managing service processes efficiently”. Journal of Global Scholars of
Marketing Science, 29(3), pp.281-292.
Gounaris, S. and Boukis, A., 2013. The role of employee job satisfaction in strengthening
customer repurchase intentions. Journal of Services Marketing. 27(4). pp.322-333.
Kietzmann, J. and Canhoto, A., 2013. Bittersweet! Understanding and managing electronic word
of mouth. Journal of Public Affairs. 13(2). pp.146-159.
Moliner-Tena, M.A., Monferrer-Tirado, D. and Estrada-Guillén, M., 2019. Customer
engagement, non-transactional behaviors and experience in services: A study in the
bank sector. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 37(3), pp.730-754.
Padmavathy, C., Balaji, M. S. and Sivakumar, V. J., 2012. Measuring effectiveness of customer
relationship management in Indian retail banks. International Journal of Bank
Marketing. 30(4). pp.246-266.
Peppers, D. and Rogers, M., 2016. Managing customer experience and relationships: A strategic
framework. John Wiley & Sons.
Reason, B., Løvlie, L. and Flu, M. B., 2015. Service design for business: A practical guide to
optimizing the customer experience. John Wiley & Sons.
Saini, S. and Singh, J., 2019. Cultivating Emotional Branding Through Customer Experience
Management: From the Holistic Experience Perspective. In Brand Culture and Identity:
Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications (pp. 1346-1361). IGI Global.
Verhoef, P. C. and Lemon, K. N., 2013. Successful customer value management: Key lessons
and emerging trends. European Management Journal. 31(1). pp.1-15.
Verleye, K., 2015. The co-creation experience from the customer perspective: its measurement
and determinants. Journal of Service Management. 26(2). pp.321-342.
Vohs, K. D. and Baumeister, R. F. eds., 2016. Handbook of self-regulation: Research, theory,
and applications. Guilford Publications.
Wong, I. A., 2013. Exploring customer equity and the role of service experience in the casino
service encounter. International Journal of Hospitality Management. 32. pp.91-101.
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