Pearson BTEC HND Hospitality: Customer Experience Management Report

This report delves into the intricacies of customer experience management within the hospitality industry, using the Four Seasons Hotel as a case study. It begins by emphasizing the importance of understanding customer needs, wants, and preferences, and how this knowledge drives effective targe...Read More

Managing Customer
Experience

Contents
INTRODCUTION.....................................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY.............................................................................................................................................3
P1 Determine the value and importance of understanding the needs, wants and preferences of target
customer groups for the hospitality industry............................................................................................3
P2 Assess the different factors that drive and influence customer engagement of different target
customer groups within a service sector organisation..............................................................................4
P3 Create a customer experience map for a selected service sector organisation....................................4
P4 Discuss how the touch points create such opportunities throughout the customer experience in your
hospitality organisation............................................................................................................................5
P5 Examine how digital technology is employed in managing the customer experience within the
service sector organisation, providing specific examples of customer relationship management systems
.................................................................................................................................................................6
P6 Illustrate customer service strategies in a specific service sector context...........................................7
P7 Demonstrate how customer service strategies create and develop the customer experience in a way
that meet the needs of the customer and the required business standards................................................7
REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................................9

INTRODCUTION
Hospitality industry is the industry where they provide different types of services to
customer so that they can increase the profit and sales of organisation. The services include in
hospitality industry is tourism, transportation, hotel sector, events and other. The main aim of
hospitality industry is providing goods and services so that they can perform their activities in an
effective way in order to achieve the business objectives. In the given report, The Four season
hotel is taken as a base company. They are operating in Hyde Park located in central London and
they have 196 rooms which include 47 suites. The given report includes about the importance
and value of understanding the need, want of target customer in hospitality industry. it also
includes the factors that influence engagement of customer in hotel sector. As there are some
customer experience map and touch points that have an opportunity for customer experience in
hospitality industry. the report also includes digital technology that management the customer
relationship management. On the other hand, there are some customer service strategies and how
they can create to satisfy the needs and demand of customer in hotel industry. with the help of
this understanding they can achieve business goals.
MAIN BODY
P1 Determine the value and importance of understanding the needs, wants and preferences of
target customer groups for the hospitality industry
Target market of hotel industry is the industry where they people have similar needs and
demands which means that they have to target their market in an effective way (Barbosa and
et.al., 2018). The target market of Four season hotel is that they have to target those people who
have similar type of needs which include according to their age, income and other factors. In
hotel, they target budget class people as they give their rooms according to their budget level.
The market segmentation of selected hotel divides their guest into group which is based on
characteristics. This is based on age, income, traits and so on. In context to Four season hotel,
their market segmentation is done on the basis of booking done by customer.
It is very important for selected hotel to identify the needs and wants so that they can run
their business smoothly. With the reference to Four season hotel they use market segmentation
process which help them to target different types of customer as it depends on behaviour and
thoughts of customer. The selected hotel gives various offers to customer in order to match their
demand, need and preferences according to their budget. Some of the factors for importance the
want, preferences and wants of target customers for Four season hotel which are mentioned
below: To reach the target audience: The main importance of understanding need and demand is
that they can target audience which help them to satisfy the demand of customer. In context
to Four season hotel, they effectively target their audience so that they can operate their
business. Cost effective strategy: The second is cost effective strategy which means that after
understanding the target audience the selected hotel can easily develop strategies to

understand their needs and demand (Chung and et.al., 2018). As they can maintain the price
so that they can develop strategies related to cost. Target market and customer: To understand the target customer and market it is very
important for hotel industry to target them in effective manner. In this way they can
understand the need and demand of customer which help them to achieve business
objectives.
 Increase sales and profit: In relation to Four season hotel, by understanding the needs and
demand they can analyse what are the factors that positively impact customers (Cobb and
Sfregola, 2021). So, the hotel can easily generate sales and profit by adopting the strategy
that increase the level of satisfaction of employees.
P2 Assess the different factors that drive and influence customer engagement of different target
customer groups within a service sector organisation
Customer engagement is defined as a connection between organisation and customers. In
other words, it can be said that customer engage when they are satisfied according to their needs
and demand. In context to Four season hotel, when customer is engaged then it means that they
visit their hotel again and recommend to others. This not only help in retaining new as well as
existing customer in hotel industry rather they build the better customer experience. This lead to
achieve business objectives and can increase their profitability ratio. There are various
opportunities available with selected hotel as with the help of customer engagement they can
easily ear revenue and enhance their sales. Some of the factors that influence customer
engagement which is explained in detail below: Attractive promotions: The selected hotel which is Four season hotel engage their customers
by giving them various offers so that customer attracts and engage them. They give various
offers to their customer such as discounts on online booking, offers on booking when paying
from debit or credit card, holiday season discounts and other offers. Competitive prices: The competitive price is the most important factor that engage their
customers by giving them rooms at low price as compared to their competitors. With the
reference to Four season hotel, they identify the prices of their competitors then set their low
prices which help them to attract their customers to visit their hotel. Connectivity and reviews: The selected hotel should connect to their employees as they can
engage with their guest on social media such as Facebook, twitter, Instagram and many other
social media sites (Hickman and Silva, 2018). With the help of this they can engage their
customer and target different customer groups. Hotel can take the reviews and suggestions
from customer so that they can build the better customer experience. Delivering better service: The another factor is providing customer better customer service
which means that they have to give excellent service and solve their issues quickly. With the
help of this, The Four season hotel can easily use the software and develop their website in
such a way that it become easy for guest to book their rooms and facilities easily.

P3 Create a customer experience map for a selected service sector organisation
Customer journey mapping is defined as where customer identify and move to the first
stage which is purchase cycle and then move towards the post purchase cycle. The main
objective of customer journey mapping in hotel industry is that they have analyse all the touch
points or problems that can occur in hotel industry. On the other hand, experience mapping is
defined as where the selected hotel which is Four season determine the experience of customer
so that they can interact with customer in an effective way. There are five stages of customer
mapping in context to Four season hotel which are as follows: Inspiration and Research stage: This is the first stage where inspiration place the important
part where hotel post attractive pictures and videos of their hotel (Huang, Lee and Chen,
2019). This is done to attract their customer to visit the hotel. After inspiring them,
customers start searching and shortlist few hotels and then make a decision. As they only
focus on those hotels who have received good reviews and high rating. Booking stage: The second stage is booking, at this stage the decision is based on price.
Which means that customers determine the date to visits but compare the prices with other
hotel and check whether it is worthy as their cost. Nowadays, customer book their hotels with
other facilities in Booking.com, Make My trip and so on. Pre arrival and check in stage: This is the stage where hotels effectively interact with
customers as they receive the confirmation and make a packing list (Brown, Pham and
Sivabalan, 2020). The communication with hotel starts from here which means that hotel
give confirmation message with a small Brochure about the facilities provided by them. In- house experience stage: This is the step where the journey of customer starts and they
use the facility of hotels before they check out. At this stage, they interact with customer by
communicating them effectively and provide them better customer service. Check out and post stay stage: This is the last stage where they can understand that how to
interact with different types of customers. According to this customer leave the hotel and the
main sim of the hotel is to provide the better customer service which include clean room,
staff service and many other facilities.
P4 Discuss how the touch points create such opportunities throughout the customer experience in
your hospitality organisation
Customer touch point is defined as point where organisation and customer interact with
each other which means that they can interact with each other. In context to Four season hotel,
the hotel interacts with their guest and understand their need and demand of customer. The main
touchpoints of customer is that the journey of customer plays a potential part on the basis of
before, during and after their purchase. In other words, it can be said that hotel is not responsible
as they customer is affected by their experience. To identify the customer touch point there are
three factors which include before, during and after (Makic and Bridges, 2018). The first factor is
before as in the context to Four season hotel as customer only find about your customer by social
media, growth and development, online reviews and other. So, selected organisation should
effectively maintain their account on social media so that they can attract customers.

The other factor is during which means that this is the stage where sell their goods and
services. In context to selected hotel, the main sale point is website and through agents. They
deliver their services from their hotels and customer also can solve their problems by inquiring
from hotel. The guests interact from staff members from hotel. The last is after which indicates
that what will happen after the sale service. In context to selected hotel, they give customer a
receipt of their booking and they also take feedback from customers so that they can analyse
what are the needs and requirements of customers. There are various types of category of
customer touch points. The first category is product which means that hotel deliver their services
to customer and the booking of rooms is done from their website. The second factor is
interactions which means the touchpoints of customer where the Four season hotel interact with
their guest personally and give them better services (Moliner-Tena, Monferrer-Tirado and
Estrada-Guillén, 2019). The third factor is messages which means that they send any information
regarding their hotels, offers, discounts and promoting through their website and social media.
The last factor is setting which means the selected hotel manage their activities in such a manner
that they can build the customer experience.
P5 Examine how digital technology is employed in managing the customer experience within the
service sector organisation, providing specific examples of customer relationship management
systems
Customer relationship management (CRM) is a system where organisation and customer
maintain the relationship and interact with each other (Van Hyfte, 2019). In other words, it can
be said that it help Four season hotel to connect and interact with their guests so that they can
increase their profitability ratio. The CRM system maintain the record of all clients so that they
can understand the need and demand of customers. The main strategy of customer relationship
management is that they are customer focused which will help them to satisfy the requirements
of customer. There are different types of CRM system which is mentioned below:
 Operational CRM: Sales automation, marketing automation, and service automation are all
part of the operational CRM process. The main goal of this CRM is to drive sales, translate
them into interactions, collect all necessary information, and give service during the
consumer journey. In context to Four season hotel, they use these automations which help
them to maintain the relationship of customers.
 Analytical CRM: Management team, sales, distribution, and administrative staff may use
analytical CRM to assess the best way to service customers. This type of CRM application's
primary feature is data analysis. It examines consumer data from a variety of sources in order
to gain a deeper understanding of an organization's current state. In context selected
organisation, they gather information of their customer which help them to improve their
customer relationship. Collaborative CRM: It allows a firm's different business divisions, such as sales, marketing,
technological, and support, to access customer information (Rothrock, Kaplan and Van Der
Oord, 2018). The business unit operates as a separate entity which hardly shares customer
information with other departments that result in frequent financial loss. With the reference
to Four season hotel, they use this system so that they improve the quality service so that they
can interact with their customer that lead to increase in market share.

The best example of CRM system is that the respected hotel interacts their employees by
using the digital marketing channel such as social media, e-mail marketing and other
marketing channel which help them to communicate their customer and understand what are
the current trend in market. This only help hotel to achieve set objectives as they can retain
the customer and maintain the customer experience. In this way, they can use the digital
technology.
P6 Illustrate customer service strategies in a specific service sector context
Customer service strategy is the strategy where organisation handle customers so that
they can build the customer experience so that they can understand the requirements of
customers (Sigala, 2018). With the reference to Four season hotel, they develop strategies so that
they satisfy the need and want which help them to attract customer in an effective manner. The
main objective of customer service strategy is that to analyse the issues of customer,
communicate with them, solve the problems of customer which help them to build customer
experience. There are some strategies of customer service so that they can develop the vision for
customer service. The second step is to identify the needs of customers so that they can engage
and interact with customers. The third step is to hire the right employees so that they give better
service and the selected hotel give them training so that they can solve the problems of their
guest easily. On the other hand, when staff members of Four season hotel give them rewards
when they deliver better customer service to their guest.
P7 Demonstrate how customer service strategies create and develop the customer experience in a
way that meet the needs of the customer and the required business standards
With the reference to customer strategy they create and develop the customer experience
that meet the needs and demand of customer which is mentioned below: Assessing market needs: The first step is to assess the market needs which means that
selected hotel should identify the market needs so that they can understand the need which
help them to achieve business objectives. In other words, the selected hotel analyses their
competitors and provide them various offers and discounts so that they can achieve the
business objectives. Experience mapping: Experience mapping is the mapping which means that selected hotel
assesses the customer process, perceptions so that they can develop the strategies in order to
satisfy the needs of customers. For example, they can give them better customer experience
which include the clean rooms, safety measures and many other. Identify and design the brand experience: To build the customer experience, the selected
hotel should give them as per their wish and accordingly identify the needs and wants so that
they can accomplish the given objectives (Smit and Melissen, 2018). They can take reviews
and feedback so that they can identify that what they have to improve the services and which
sector they have to focus. In this way they can build the customer experience which help
them to increase the satisfaction level of customers. Structure the touch points: The structure of touch points is that they can interact with
customer so that they take attention of customer. In context to Four season hotel, they can
interact with customer by using social media so that they can communicate with their

employees in an effective manner. In a nutshell, it is said that they have to regularly posy or
update their social media account so that it take attention of their customer so that they can
visit their hotel.
CONCLUSION
From the above discussion, it is concluded that hospitality industry provides different
services in order to achieve business goals in timely manner. in the report there are some factors
that help organisation to understand the need and wants of customer which is to reach the target
audience, cost effective strategy, target audience and market and increase share and profit. There
are some factors that engage customer of different types of target groups which include
Attractive promotions, Competitive prices, Connectivity and reviews, Delivering better service
and so on. The report includes the stages of customer journey such as Inspiration and Research
stage, booking stage, Pre arrival and check in stage, In- house experience stage and check out and
post stay stage. There are some touch points which help organisation to communicate and
interact with their employees in order to achieve business objectives. It also includes about
customer relationship service management which means the use of digital technology so that
they attract their customer to visit their hotel and recommend to others. Customer relationship
management is of three types such as operational CRM, collaborative CRM and analytical CRM.
In a nutshell, it is said that this help selected organisation to engage their customer in effective
way.

REFERENCES
Book and Journals
Barbosa, M. W. and et.al., 2018. Managing supply chain resources with Big Data Analytics: a
systematic review. International Journal of Logistics Research and Applications. 21(3).
pp.177-200.
Brown, P., Ly, T., Pham, H. and Sivabalan, P., 2020. Automation and management control in
dynamic environments: Managing organisational flexibility and energy efficiency in service
sectors. The British Accounting Review, 52(2), p.100840.
Chung, M. and et.al., 2018. Chatbot e-service and customer satisfaction regarding luxury
brands. Journal of Business Research.
Cobb, C. and Sfregola, D., 2021. Managing and Selecting Logistics Service Suppliers. The
Digital Transformation of Logistics: Demystifying Impacts of the Fourth Industrial
Revolution, pp.345-359.
Hickman, C. R. and Silva, M. A., 2018. Creating excellence: Managing corporate culture,
strategy, and change in the new age. Routledge.
Huang, P. L., Lee, B. C. and Chen, C. C., 2019. The influence of service quality on customer
satisfaction and loyalty in B2B technology service industry. Total Quality Management
& Business Excellence, 30(13-14), pp.1449-1465.
Liu, S.Q., Bogicevic, V. and Mattila, A.S., 2018. Circular vs. angular servicescape:“Shaping”
customer response to a fast service encounter pace. Journal of Business Research, 89, pp.47-56.
Makic, M. B. F. and Bridges, E., 2018. CE: managing sepsis and septic shock: current guidelines
and definitions. The Leading Voice of Nursing Since 1900| AJN 118(2). pp.34-39.
Moliner-Tena, M. A., Monferrer-Tirado, D. and Estrada-Guillén, M., 2019. Customer
engagement, non-transactional behaviors and experience in services. International
Journal of Bank Marketing.
Rothrock, R.A., Kaplan, J. and Van Der Oord, F., 2018. The board's role in managing
cybersecurity risks. MIT Sloan Management Review. 59(2). pp.12-15.
Sigala, M., 2018. Implementing social customer relationship management. International Journal
of Contemporary Hospitality Management.
Smit, B. and Melissen, F., 2018. Sustainable customer experience design: Co-creating
experiences in events, tourism and hospitality. Routledge.
Teleaba, F., Popescu, S. and Santa, R., 2019, August. Managing Quality Perception Along the
Customer Journey: A Behavioral Economics Approach. In Proceedings of the International
Symposium for Production Research 2019 (pp. 491-507). Springer, Cham.
Van Hyfte, S., 2019. AuD Externships: Building, Managing Successful Experiences. The
Hearing Journal. 72(8). pp.28-30.