Managing Customer Experience in Hospitality: Hilton Report

This report examines customer experience management within the hospitality industry, using Hilton Hotel as a case study. It begins by emphasizing the importance of understanding customer needs and preferences, highlighting the role of customer profiling in segmenting the market and tailoring services. The report then delves into factors influencing customer engagement, such as pricing, brand value, and service quality, before introducing the concept of a customer experience map to analyze customer decision-making processes. Customer touchpoints are discussed as crucial opportunities for business development, particularly in the context of booking and service delivery. The report concludes by reiterating the significance of customer loyalty and the need for continuous improvement in service and strategy within the hospitality sector, emphasizing the importance of analyzing customer touchpoints for new business opportunities.

INDUCTION-
UNDERSTANDING
CUSTOMER

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Role of understanding needs and preferences of target customers .............................................1
Various approaches for customer profiling .................................................................................2
Factors influencing customer engagement...................................................................................2
Customer experience map ...........................................................................................................3
Role of customer touch points in creating business opportunities ..............................................5
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Customer are the key to success of business and thus it is necessary for the organisation
to understand the needs of their target customers. Their role become more significant when it
comes to hospitality industry as in these service providers the guest experience determines the
success of organisation (Hill and Brierley, 2017). Hilton hotel is one of the most successful chain
of hotels which is delivering high quality services to its guest. The use of appropriate customer
mapping and engagement allows organisation to enjoy its unbeatable success in the international
market. The study will discuss the various factors which influences the engagement of customers
and consumer profiling which controls the success of organisation in long term.
Role of understanding needs and preferences of target customers
Hilton hotel provides services to different types of customers such as those who have
business requirements as well as those who are in need of accommodation services. For
satisfying needs of all customers it is required that Hilton hotel must analyse and understand the
preferences and needs of its various types of customers. If organisation will not analyse and
understand these requirements then it may fail to improve its services and to ensure the necessary
modifications in its management and business practices (Hill and Alexander, 2017). For instance
organisation have pool and game facilities for the guests which are on holidays.
However it is also the responsibility of the hotel to regulate that these services does not
interfere in the requirements of business oriented guests who utilises conferences or meeting
rooms of the hotel. The analysis is also helpful in providing more improved services to the
guests. When Hilton hotel will be able to identify its different types of customers only then it
will be able to include specific services or facilities as per the needs of individual customers. The
failure to understand the preferences of guest can result in dissatisfaction among the guests of
hotel and thus it will influence the overall performance and brand image of the organisation.
It is also beneficial for the organisation to identify the gaps in the quality of its services
by conducting an assessment of customer needs and preferences (Agnihotri, and et.al., 2016). If
hotel will fail to do this then they may not meet the service quality expectations of the customers.
As a result of this consumer loyalty is affected and long term success of the organisation is
influenced in negative manner. For avoiding such circumstances and to enhance profitability
Hilton hotel emphasis on analysing the needs and preferences of its guests.
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Various approaches for customer profiling
Customer profiling and segmentation is known as the process of identifying and
distributing the various customers of organisation into specific gropus on the basis of some
particular characteristics. The profiling is helpful for the organisation to improve the products
and service quality as well as their range which has positive effect on customer satisfaction,
operational cost, profitability and brand value (Pizam, Shapoval and Ellis, 2016). Hilton hotel
also uses variety of approaches for profiling its customer segments. The first approach used by
the hotel is demographic and geographic approaches. For instance the food services provided by
the hotel varies from one geographical place to other.
Apart from the food services the organisation also modify its interior designs and other
infrastructural things on the basis of location. For profiling the customers organisation also uses
their behaviour and service usage as the necessary criteria. For instance some customers prefers
Hilton hotel services for business meetings while other use for food services and accommodation
facilities. Thus usage and behaviour of customers is one of the key criteria used by service
industry for profiling (Zablah, and et.al., 2016). Another popular criteria used by the organisation
for customer profiling is on the basis of customer life style and psychological factors.
There are some customers who used to prefer only premium services and thus they prefer
Hilton hotel. On the other hand some customers prefer low cost budget hotel only and brand
value is less significant for them. Thus while improving any new service or product service
providers consider factors such as income level, life style choices and perspective of the
customers. Hospitality industry is seasonal and thus Hilton hotel also consider purchasing
behaviour of the customers. For instance the strategies and service type of hotel also depends on
specific customers who will use those services in particular duration of season.
Factors influencing customer engagement
There are various factors which affect the customer engagement. These factors also
depends upon the nature of target customers (Saeidi, and et.al., 2015). The first factor affecting
customer engagement is income and pricing factors. This aspect is particularly important for
those who mainly prefer the economic range of services. The middle income level customers
used to prefer Hilton hotel only when organisation gives them attractive discounts or service
benefits or low cost services. There are some customers whose engagement upon brand value
factor. The premium customers or the high income customers does not pay much attention to the
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pricing strategy of the organisation. Thus their engagement entirely depends upon the brand
value and public reputation of the service providers (Hult, and et.al., 2019). Such type of
customers feel proud to pay the premium price for the Hilton hotel brand.
Thus even if they travel to different parts of the world they will show their engagement
with Hilton hotel. However in case if organisation will involve in some controversy damaging
its brand value then it will also influence the customer engagement. The most dominating factor
which drives the engagement of all types of customers is service quality. Irrespective of the
choice and preference of the consumer, their engagement greatly depends upon the service
quality. Thus it varies from customer to customer. If any customer is satisfactory from the
services then it result in long term customer engagement while if Hilton hotel fails to meet their
needs and preferences then its engagement will not last for longer duration.
Service and hospitality industry is based upon response and equal engagement from the
staff members. Thus contribution of staff members is also responsible for influencing the
customer engagement (Han and Hyun, 2015). The proper response and hosting from the staff
members also leaves a great impression on the customers and they used to show better
engagement towards the service providers. Hence staff training and behaviour in Hilton hotel is
also one of the critical factor which drives the customer engagement and loyalty.
Customer experience map
(Source: The hotel business along the customer journey, 2018)
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Illustration 1: Customer experience map

Customer experience map is one of the best way to analyses the various motivational factors
which influences the decision of customers. The experience map has several benefits such as it
identify the profess of customers, builds higher customer conversion rate, eliminate the customer
hurdles and priorities the improvement initiatives of the hotel (Ren, and et.al., 2016).
(What is Customer Journey Map?, 2018)
At first customers have motive to search for hotel services or the services of Hilton hotel.
On the basis of travel inspiration customers make research for the hotel which meet their needs.
Thus hotel service providers use online marketing which display all necessary services and
positive aspects of their services which helps to make customers. When customers are satisfied
with the promotion and description then they made their bookings (Kaura, Durga Prasad and
Sharma, 2015). This is second touch point where customers interact with the hotel. The easy
booking system, effective pricing strategy and effective communication from the staff members
serves as the key aspect which creates a positive impression on the customers.
After booking when customers uses the service then they used to evaluate the service
quality as well as behavior of staff members. It depends upon service quality and customer
experience and hence affect the next step of the journey map. After using the services customers
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Illustration 2: Customer touch points in customer journey

provides their feedback and referral to staff members as well as their well known. The
satisfaction and customer feedback affects the purchase decision of the other people as well. This
aspect of the journey helps to build brand image and customer loyalty of the people (Amin,
2016).
Role of customer touch points in creating business opportunities
(What is Customer Journey Map?, 2018)
Business touch points are great way for the organization to enhance the business
opportunities. For instance at first when customers have travel inspiration then they search on
social media applications or websites to explore the possible choices. This aspect gives a great
opportunity for the business to use effective promotional strategies and to encourage more and
more customers to engage with the organization. Another critical aspect which gives
organization opportunity to develop themselves and grow is at booking stage. When customers
find it convenient to book the services easily and to easily contact the organization then it make
them easy to make the purchase decision. The occupancy rate of the hotel, reviews of the other
customers, ratings and availability of the services and convenient to the customers in making
decisions plays key role in affecting the customer engagement (Izogo and Ogba, 2015). By
analyzing these aspects Hilton hotel can focus on makings its booking services more convenient
and flexible. For instance if service provider will have booking facility available for 24*7 and via
mobile based applications then it allows more and more customers to make bookings. This will
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Illustration 3: Detailed specifications involved in customer touch points

give a great chance for the organization to expand the scope of its services and to approach wide
range of customer segments. By providing this kind of flexible services organization will allow
more and more customers to utilize their services (Izogo and Ogba, 2015).
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded from the report that for assuring the long term success it is vital for
the organisation to build customer loyalty. Consumers are essential resources for the organisation
to maintain the high quality success. It has been analysed from the above discussion that service
industries must analyse various factors affecting customer engagement so that they can bring
significant improvements in their services and strategies. It can also be concluded that for
gaining competitive advantage organisations must also analyse the various customer touch points
in exploring and developing new business opportunities.
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REFERENCES
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Agnihotri, R., and et.al., 2016. Social media: Influencing customer satisfaction in B2B sales.
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Amin, M., 2016. Internet banking service quality and its implication on e-customer satisfaction
and e-customer loyalty. International Journal of Bank Marketing. 34(3). pp.280-306.
Han, H. and Hyun, S.S., 2015. Customer retention in the medical tourism industry: Impact of
quality, satisfaction, trust, and price reasonableness. Tourism Management. 46. pp.20-
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Hill, N. and Alexander, J., 2017. The handbook of customer satisfaction and loyalty
measurement. Routledge.
Hill, N. and Brierley, J., 2017. How to measure customer satisfaction. Routledge.
Hult, G.T.M., and et.al., 2019. Antecedents and Consequences of Customer Satisfaction: Do
They Differ Across Online and Offline Purchases?. Journal of Retailing. 95(1). pp.10-
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Izogo, E.E. and Ogba, I.E., 2015. Service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty in automobile
repair services sector. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management.
32(3). pp.250-269.
Kaura, V., Durga Prasad, C.S. and Sharma, S., 2015. Service quality, service convenience, price
and fairness, customer loyalty, and the mediating role of customer satisfaction.
International Journal of Bank Marketing. 33(4). pp.404-422.
Pizam, A., Shapoval, V. and Ellis, T., 2016. Customer satisfaction and its measurement in
hospitality enterprises: a revisit and update. International journal of contemporary
hospitality management. 28(1). pp.2-35.
Ren, L., and et.al., 2016. Exploring customer experience with budget hotels: Dimensionality and
satisfaction. International Journal of Hospitality Management. 52. pp.13-23.
Saeidi, S.P., and et.al., 2015. How does corporate social responsibility contribute to firm
financial performance? The mediating role of competitive advantage, reputation, and
customer satisfaction. Journal of business research. 68(2). pp.341-350.
Zablah, A.R., and et.al., 2016. A cross-lagged test of the association between customer
satisfaction and employee job satisfaction in a relational context. Journal of Applied
Psychology. 101(5). p.743.
Online
The hotel business along the customer journey. 2018. [Online]. Accessed through
<https://www.gchhotelgroup.com/en/newsroom/blog/customer_journey/3258?rel=/en/
newsroom/blog>
What is Customer Journey Map?. 2018. [Online]. Accessed through <https://www.visual-
paradigm.com/guide/customer-experience/what-is-customer-journey-mapping/>
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