Customer Experience Management: A Case Study of Crown Plaza Hotel

Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments. This report analyzes Crown Plaza's customer experience management.

Managing Customer Experience
1

2

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION 3
LO1 3
P1 Value understanding the needs, wants and preferences of target customer groups 3
P2 Factors that drive and influence customer engagement 5
M1Review of how customer engagement factors determine customer on-boarding strategies 6
D1Evaluation of the understanding of needs and expectations in terms of customer engagement 6
LO2 7
P3 Creation of a customer experience map 7
P4 Touch points which create opportunities throughout the customer experience. 8
M2Creation of a detailed customer experience map 9
D2 Analysis of how organisation can optimize each of the customer touch points. 10
LO3 10
P5 Examination of how digital technology is employed in managing the customer experience 10
M3Evaluation of how digital technologies employed in managing the customer experience 11
D3 Advantages and disadvantages of CRM systems used in service sector businesses 11
LO4 12
P6 Illustration of the customer service strategies in a specific service sector context 12
P7 Demonstration of how to create and development required business standards 12
M4Application of customer service strategies 14
D4 Recommendation for improvement 14
CONCLUSION 15
REFERENCES 16
3

INTRODUCTION
Managing customer experience is the practice of designing and reacting to customers’ interaction
positively so as to exceed or to meet customer expectation and thus, leads to increase in customer’s
loyalty, advocacy and satisfaction level. It is a strategy which requires a change in use of technologies and
process so as to accomplish the aim that is increase in customer satisfaction level. The hospitality company
which is being taken into consideration is Crown Plaza which is multinational chain full service, upscale
hotel with its headquarter in United Kingdom and was founded in 1970.This assignment explains about
the importance of understanding the needs, wants and preferences of target customer groups for the
hospitality industry. Apart from this how the touch points create opportunities throughout the customer
experience in hospitality organisation is being explained in this file. Lastly a focuses has been given on
how digital technology is employed in managing the customer experience within the service sector
organisation.
LO1
P1 Value understanding the needs, wants and preferences of target customer groups
Target market refers to the end customers to whom the firm wants to render their products and
services. It basically involves breaking down the entire market into chunks and planning marketing
strategies accordingly for each part so as to increase the market share. There are basically two steps which
are involved in defining the target market, first is identification of customers who are interested to make
purchase of products and services. Once it is identified, second step is to be carried out in which the firm
need to understand customers according to their income level, region etc.
Therefore it is very much essential for management of hotel Crown Plaza to understand the needs,
wants and preferences of the customers because customers are considered to be the backbone for an
organisation. If the customers will not take services rendered by firm then it will result in down fall of the
4

profitability ratio of business. Similarly if the management of Crown Plaza will take customers needs and
preferences into consideration and will render services accordingly then it will help firm to attract large
number of customers to take their services which will result in increase in the profitability ratio of firm.
Thus, the importance of understanding the wants, needs and preferences of target customers for
hotel Crown Plaza are being mentioned below (Bernardo and Farrero, 2015):
Increase in market share:
If the management of Crown Plaza will render services to their customer by taking their needs and
preferences into consideration then it will help firm to increase in market share. For example customer “A”
wants enough of accommodation facility for hanging out with friends then the firm should render services
accordingly by taking their needs into consideration as this will help firm to increase customer satisfaction
level which will indirectly result in increase in market share of business.
Helpful in building long term customer relationship:
Second major advantage which the Crown Plaza will get if they render services to their customers
by considering their wants, needs and preferences into consideration is that it will help business to build
long lasting and effectual customer relationship. For example; if the customers are satisfied with the
services that they receive from the management of Crown Plaza then their satisfaction level will foster
again and again to take services from same hotel which would result firm in building effectual and long
term relationship with customers.
Sustainable growth in profitability ratio:
Third major importance of understanding the needs, wants and preferences of the customers for
hotel Crow Plaza is that it will help business to achieve sustainable growth in the profitability ratio of firm.
For example if the management of Crown Plaza will render services as per the customer demands then it
will help firm to establish good relationship with customers which will influence customers to go for word
of mouth advertising. Thus, because of which more customers will get attracted towards the hotel for
taking services from them which will result in the sustainable growth in the profitability ratio of firm.
5

P2 Factors that drive and influence customer engagement
Customer engagement refers to the connection which takes place between the customers and an
organisation through various channels. In simple terms it can be said that it is an emotional connection
between a brand and a customers. As highly engaged customers help to promote business more, buy more,
demonstrate more loyalty. Thus, it can be said that it is very much essential for the management of Crown
Plaza to render high quality customer experience to customer so as to engage customer engagement
strategy.
There are several factors which drive and influence customer engagement of different target customers
groups within a service sector organisation and they are mentioned below (Yildiz and Yildiz, 2015):
Fast delivery of service:
Fast delivery of services is one of the factor which drive and influence customer engagement of
different target customer groups and this can be best explained with the help of example: If the customer
“A” is ordering for food service then without taking much of time the employees of Crown Plaza render
service within a 5 minutes then it will help in creating lasting impression in the mindset of customers
which result in driving customer engagement within a service sector organisation.
Privacy of customer information:
Second factor which drive customer engagement is the privacy of customer information and this
can be explained with the help of example: When customer renders personnel information such as contact
number, adhar card number etc. during check-in time for hotel and such information are kept private by the
management of Crown Plaza and are not disclosed to any third person then it help business to build trust
among the customers regarding the privacy of their personnel information. Thus it helps in driving
customer engagement to take services again and again from the same hotel.
Less of waiting time:
6

Most important aspect which helps customer in driving customer engagement towards the hotel is
less of waiting time during check-in and check-out time. For example; if the management of Crown Plaza
render online services of booking, check-in and check-out time for customer then it will help customer to
not to wait in a line for booking room or for check-in and check-out which leads in saving waiting time.
Thus, it helps in driving customer engagement to take services from same hotel.
M1Review of how customer engagement factors determine customer on-boarding strategies
Customer engagement refers to the link which gets established between the company and the
customers due to certain factors which highly influence customer to drive customer engagement towards
an organisation. Factors such as less of waiting time, privacy of customer information, effective room
service, fast delivery of service, politely answering to the question of customer, online check and check out
time etc. all these drive in building customer engagement during on-boarding journey within service sector
organisation.
D1Evaluation of the understanding of needs and expectations in terms of customer engagement
Needs and expectation varies from customer o customers so it is very much essential for the
management of Crown Plaza to carry out customer research analysis so as to acknowledge the changes
taking place in the terms of customer needs and preferences (Wasono, and et. al.,2018). So that
accordingly services can be rendered this will also result in increase in the customer satisfaction level. For
example some customer may demand for quiet room and some may demand for light music system in a
room so according to the customer preferences if the management of Crown Plaza render services then it
will help in developing effective and long lasting customer engagement within an organisation which will
also result in increase in the profitability ratio of business.
7

LO2
P3 Creation of a customer experience map
Customer experience map refers to the on boarding journey which the customer starts right from
visiting website of different hospitality organisation and ends up with rendering of feedback to the firm.
Thus given below is the creation of customer experience map for Crown Plaza hotel (AHMAD, 2017).
Look for websites:
Before planning to visit any hotel and take service from them customers firstly visit the website of
different hotel so as to examine which hotel looks the best and what all services are being rendered by
different hotels. As its creates an opportunity for Crown Plaza to create their websites attractive and
influencing by posting different exterior look of hotel along with the pictures of dishes. This will help firm
to attract more customers to take their services by booking hotel instantly by looking at the website. As it
is being said that first impression is the last impression, so attractive website of Crown Plaza will help in
creating first good impression upon customers who are looking for such attractive hotels.
Book hotel:
Secondly if the customer gets influence by the website of hotel then the customers plan o book
hotel on the spot without wasting much of time.
Take service after check-in:
After booking hotel online the customers check-in for hotel which was booked so as take service
from hotel. Then the customer pursue further to take service and examine what all are the positive and
negative aspects of hotel in respect of every filed whether food service, room service, accommodation,
waiting time, price, way of communication etc. So it is very much essential for the management of Crown
Plaza to render services to customers as per their needs and expectation so as to creative more of positive
influence about the hotel in the mindset of customers.
Check-out:
After taking services from hotel then the customers go for check-out from hotel. So management of
Crown Plaza must ensure that customers don’t have to wait for long time for check-out procedure. This is
8

also help in creating positive image about the hotel in the mindset of customers which will leads in driving
more of customer engagement towards organisation.
Render feedback:
Lastly, during check-out customers render feedback about the experience that they have examined
during on-boarding procedure of services. So management of crown plaza must take customers feedback
into consideration and should make changes accordingly so that in future the firm doesn’t repeat the same
mistakes. This will help firm to achieve a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
P4 Touch points which create opportunities throughout the customer experience.
Customer touch points refer to any kind of interaction which an organisation has with the
customers. The company tries to communicate with their target customers through various level and at
many places and this interaction are considered to be essential for carrying out their branding and
marketing strategies which result in building up their brand value (Amanda, 2017). On an average it is
being exposed that near about 4000 to 10000 advertisement is being done by hotel Crown Plaza in a day of
which customers don’t even recognized such advertisement, so it is very much essential for the
management of Crown Plaza to analyse the customers main touch points as it will help business grab
opportunity throughout the customer experience in the form of increase in profitability ration and
successful growth in marketplace.
Therefore, some of the customers touch points for hotel Crown Plaza are given below.
 Websites:Online presence for every business concern is considered to be an utmost priority for
hospitality sector such as for hotel Crown Plaza and it cannot be missed at any cost. As customers
generally prefer first to visit the websites of hotels so as to stay up-to-date about hotel and about the
prices of rooms and check-in and check-out time. So management of hotel Crown Plaza can easily
reach their guest and grab opportunity to enhance customers experience via websites by presenting
some attractive features about the hotels.Beside this firm can also integrate chat bots too so as to
remain in contact with customers and make their business available for 24*7.
9

 Mobile app deliver more ways to engage: Management of hotel Crown Plaza must focus on
establishing a custom app and a mobile optimized website as it will help in promoting unique
experience. As well as it is considered to be one of the customer touch points. So hotel Crown
Plaza can utilize this as opportunity push messages with selected destination and dates in away that
it proves to be relevant to specific guest. Management of hotel must continue this interaction with
their guest while they enjoy their stay enrich their experience by rendering special offers.
 Streaming services: This is another customer touch point which must be taken into consideration
as an opportunity by the management of hotel Crown Plaza, as in modern era mostly guest prefer to
enjoy streaming services in hotel such as HULU, Netflix, YouTube etc. Beside this hotel should
also render their customers an access to their BYOC (Bring Your Own Content) which will prove
to be a key to a great in-room entertainment experience.
M2Creation of a detailed customer experience map
Customer experience map refers to the process which starts right from selecting the best hotel by
looking at the websites of different hotels and end up with the process of rendering of feedback to the hotel
from which the service is being taken by customer. This journey of customers is also known as the on-
boarding customer journey (Kazançoğlu and Dirsehan, 2014). Beside this there are several touch points
of customer which must be taken into consideration by the management of Crown Plaza and they helps
business to create an opportunity for achieving a successful growth in market place. Touch points here
refs to the aspects which lead in creating positive impression in the mindset of customers. For example for
some customer touch point may be the website of company so firm should make sure that websites must be
attractive enough so as to create first impression as a last impression. Whereas for some customers touch
point may the service rendered by the firm in respect of food service, so management of Crown Plaza
should ensure that by targeting their touch point their needs are being satisfied
10

D2 Analysis of how organisation can optimize each of the customer touch points.
Hotel Crown Plaza can easily optimize each of the customer touch points so as to influence their
behaviour, responses and action as well as to enhance the customer experience and this can be best analyse
with the help of example: For some customers touch point is attractive website of firm then management
of Crown Plaza must ensure that they maintain their websites up to date with attractive pictures of dishes
and of the exterior design of hotels, as it will help in influencing the behaviour of the customer and will
foster customer to take action by taking service from such hotels. Thus, it will help business to achieve
competitive advantage an as well as will also help in enhancing positive customer experience.
LO3
P5 Examination of how digital technology is employed in managing the customer experience
Digital technology is considered to be an effective technique in managing customer experience
within service sector of hotel Crown Plaza as it helps in maintaining effective customer relationship
management between firm and customers. Therefore some of the digital technology which helps hotel
Crown Plaza in managing customer experience are mentioned below (Kochukalam, 2016):
 Artificial Intelligence: It is considered to be one of the coolest and effective technologies because
AI and its technique such as NLP has help hotel Crown Plaza to come up with voice and chat based
solution. This has prove to be quite useful technologies as customers can easily converse with these
and can receive hyper-personalized recommendation as per their behaviour and preferences.
 Front desk robot: It is another digital technology which helps in managing customer experience as
front desk robot can easily understand customer because all the important date will be pre-fed to
them. In addition to this it also greet guest by their names and can easily acknowledge the
itineraries, dining habits of the guest. Thus, it can be said that such advancement in the digital
technology in hospitality industry will helpful for hotels in reshaping the overall positive customers
experience which will also result in building more loyaltyamong guest than before.
11

Beside all this other digital technology such as social media app. Mobile technology etc also helps in
managing customer experience and maintaining customer relationship management and this can be
best explained with the help of example: As mobile application is being used by every people in the
world, so this is a great opportunity for hotel Crown Plaza to grab opportunity for creating better
customer experience. This can be done if the hotel come up with an app with the help of which the
management of hotel can guide their guest on continuous basis during their on-boarding journey so
that customer doesn’t face any kind of issues. Thus, advancement insuch technology will result in
building effective customer relationship management too between guest and the hotel.
M3Evaluation of how digital technologies employed in managing the customer experience
Digital technology are proves to be very much effective enough for hospitality industry as it
resulted in the successful growth of service sector. Technology such as artificial intelligence, front desk
robot, mobile application, social media etc. all this has helped hotel Crown Plaza creating positive
customers experience in the mindset of customer (Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick, 2019). For example with
the help if mobile application management of Hotel crown plaza can send messages to their guest on
continuous basis whenever they render some kind of discount and offers, this help in building effective
customer relationship management as well as in acquiring and retaining regular customers.
D3 Advantages and disadvantages of CRM systems used in service sector businesses
In order to build effective customer relationship management hotel Crown Plaza make use of
digital technology such as AI, mobile application etc. as it helps in retaining and acquiring customers.
Beside this CRM systems possess certain advantage and disadvantage too. One such advantage of CRM
system used in service sector business is that it helps management of hotel Crown Plaza to build better
customer relationship, improve efficiency in serving customers. Whereas the disadvantage of CRM system
is that it requires more of cost to make investment as it require adoption to digital technology to build
customer relationship management.
12