Customer Experience Management: A Report on Hilton Hotel's Strategies

This report delves into the realm of customer experience management (CEM), focusing on the strategies employed by Hilton Hotel. It begins by exploring the impact of digital technology on customer experience, examining the role of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems in enhancing interactions with customers. The report highlights the importance of building customer relationships, the types of CRM systems (operational, analytical, and collaborative), and the utilization of digital marketing tools such as websites, emails, and social media. Furthermore, it analyzes Hilton Hotel's customer service strategies, including the Customer Experience Management (CEM) system and the analysis of customer touchpoints. The report emphasizes the importance of touchpoint analysis, customer service strategies, and the overall customer experience in the hospitality sector. The report covers the importance of CRM, digital technology, customer touchpoints, and strategies used by Hilton Hotel to manage and enhance customer experience.

Managing Customer
Experience

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................3
P5 Examining the impact of digital technology in managing customer experience..............3
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................7
P6 Establishing customer service strategy for service sector organisation............................7
P7 Demonstrating development and creation of customer service strategies for meeting needs
of company and consumers....................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Customer experience is the perceptions of individuals about the organisation, the services
provided and the manner in which they are being treated. Managing customer experience or
perceptions is the most valuable factors which every company needs to consider, it is the top
priority and responsibility of every individual working in organisation (Goodman, 2019). This
report is developed on Hilton Hotel which is a public company and founded in 1919 by Conrad
Hilton. The hospitality organisation serves in vast location around the globe and and it
headquarters are in Virginia, U.S. In this assignment, the impacts digital technology have over
customer experience is investigated, along with developing a understanding about Customer
Relationship Management system (CRM). Moreover, customer touch points are used for
applying an effective Customer Experience Management (CEM) strategy.
TASK 3
P5 Examining the impact of digital technology in managing customer experience
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system is a tool, technique, practices or
principles which are adopted by the organisation to communicate and interact with their
customers. Customer Relationship Management system serves to enhance and improve overall
experiences of buyers or potential customers. This system most commonly refers to the
technology and methods entity uses to increase and manage external interactions with people.
Nowadays with changing business practices new emerging technologies and digital forums plays
vital role in making a CRM effective and efficient. Therefore, it is seen that digital technology
has huge influence over managing experiences of consumers.
Feature and Importance of building Customer Relationship for Hilton Hotel:
The features and importance of building customer relationship for Hilton Hotel is very essential
and necessary as it is advantageous for the entity, its long term business revenues and more
importantly for its survival. Hilton Hotel deals in hospitality sector which is aggressively
increasing and becoming competitive. The importance of customer relationship is huge for the
business and growth prospective. Hilton Hotel uses its relationship with the customers for
increasing sales and retaining the customers. The customer relationship allows the company to
also conduct market research and know about the preferences of people so they can serve the

best quality services and products to their potential customers. The customer relationship
management systems allow company to keep all the data secured for longer duration which is
beneficial for them in long run in the business. So, building customer relationship is very
important in hospitality industry for smooth functioning and running of business, for surviving
and growth of the hotel and most important for effectively attaining all objectives and motives of
the organisation with improved and enhanced profit units and goodwill of the Hilton Hotels.
Types of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system
Most commonly used CRM systems with every entity for managing customer
relationships in an effective manner are explained below (Roy, 2018). These systems are
enabling Hilton Hotel to be most productive and adopt appropriate manner to communicate with
customers. These systems are as follows: Operational CRM system streamlines all procedures and process of business. The main
aim of this CRM system is to develop leads that is attract potential people, change them
into potential buyers, acquire all details about them and accordingly serve them
throughout their customer life-cycle. This CRM system supports Hilton Hotel's front
office department, as they are the face of company, involves direct interactions with
guests. The front office department make use of technology and communicate with
people through telephones, emails, etc. the hotel front office department send the
confirmation to guest of their booking through emails which helps in speedily rendering
all information to the guests also, it enhances the speed of the transactions and reduce
waiting time at the time of check-in and check-out. Another us of technology is done by
front office department, the executives contact the guests through telephones for
confirming their booking and taking confirmation form guests about their visit and their
trip. Operational CRM system is most effective for rendering customers service support
to visitors, resolving their issues and answering to their queries and also enables the hotel
to develop close and healthy relations. Taking continuous feedbacks and rendering quick
solutions to the problems of consumers make them feel important and the foremost
priority of hotel which makes the relationship between guests and hotel stronger and
change customers into loyal customers. Analytical CRM system is the next working, hand in hand with Operational CRM
system. Through this system the data which is gathered by company in at operational

level in relations to their customers are then analysed and evaluated. This assist Hilton
Hotel to analyse the needs of individuals, understand their behaviours and derive their
true value for themselves (Bolton and et. al., 2018). This system helps in approaching the
efficient buyers, communicate with them in an appropriate manner, and make proposals
top them according to their needs and desires for rendering utmost satisfaction. Basically
analytical CRM tool enable Hilton Hotel to make appropriate research and accordingly
develop packages grabbing the attention of different segments of society which enables
them to attract the customers and motivate them to stick to the hotel and become their
loyal customers. The tool which are helpful at this stage is data mining for searching and
extracting most effective information in relations to people such as their buying
behaviour, motivating factors and many more, which enables them to improve their
business performances.
 Collaborative CRM system is a practice of developing synergy and coordination. The
name of this function reflects its meaning, helping Hilton Hotel to create coordination
with customers, suppliers, business partners and other related parties. The main aim or
purpose of this system is to increase sales and the quality of services provided to
customers which will automatically help in developing customer loyalty and enhancing
customer base (Gopalakrishna, Malthouse and Lawrence, 2019). Hilton Hotel, make use
of emails for collecting feedbacks of guests about their experience of stay at their hotel
and the quality of service provided. Collecting feedbacks trough emails saves waiting
time of guests at the time of check-out and helps Hotel to keep their data stored for future
use and analysis.
On-line customer experiences
Digital marketing is a tool which encompasses all electronic devices and use of internet
for marketing. These digital marketing channels are adopted by the firm as the current trends and
scenario is changing, people are becoming more techno-friendly. This make it essential for
Hilton Hotel to make use of digital making tool basically on-line tools for developing and
managing customer experience. Few online digital tools which are used by Hilton Hotels are
explained as under: Other websites- There are number of websites which are developed and work as mediator
for potential buyers and Hotels. These websites collects data of both the hospitality

provider and the receiver. The company's offerings and their pricing strategies are
mentioned for consumers, their requirements and expectations are collected. Hilton Hotel
take reservations and room books online with their website but also associate with other
websites for increasing their accessibility and reaching to wider customer’s in no time,
generating a strong and loyal customer base. The use of online websites enables Hilton
Hotel to attract larger population, make more booking and reservation in the same time
along with reaching to higher population. The enhancement of speed will directly affects
to the performance of hotel as more and more customers will be gathered and revenue
units will increase. Emails for feedbacks- Another digital marketing tool which Hilton Hotel is using is
emails, in order to collect feedbacks and suggestions of guests and even employees for
making improvements in their operations. Emails are send to visitors containing a
feedback form with a humble request to fill them and let hotel knows about their
experience (Kranzbühler and et. al., 2018). This enables Hilton Hotel to develop effective
interaction with guests and make changes if required. The use of emails are done for
collecting feedbacks of employees and basically their suggestion on the operational
effectiveness of their hotel. As personnel’s or workers are closest to visitors they can help
Hilton Hotel in making appropriate changes according to the requirements of clients.
Also, taking feedbacks of employees increase their engagement in the operation which
will enhance their motivation level and they will work willing and in more creative
manner on behalf of the hotel rendering guests more efficient services on behalf of the
hotel. The better performance of employees and their efficient efforts will increase the
productivity of workforce which will automatically improve overall performance and
productivity of Hilton Hotel.
 Social media- The social media platforms are another potential examples of digital
marketing channels. Social applications such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc. are
used by Hilton Hotel for making promotions and rendering knowledge about their
products and services. The marketing team of Hilton Hotel make an attractive poster and
images surf them on their social media handles informing and raising awareness about
the services which are rendered by hotel (Nobar and Rostamzadeh, 2018). These social
media accounts helps Hilton Hotel in marketing their offerings in wider manner, reaching

and attracting various segments of society, increasing their market share and maximising
profits. The use of social media also beneficial from financial point of view as it is a very
less time and money consuming process of marketing. The Hilton Hotel make use of
social media platforms in a very effective manner and also use it for bookings increasing
sales of the organisation as it is a very systematic form of business allowing improvement
and enhancement of business and profitability of company.
TASK 4
P6 Establishing customer service strategy for service sector organisation
Customer Experience Management (CEM)
It is a system which identifies and describes the manner for how a company can take
control, of how it interacts or communicate with its customers. Customer Experience
Management is basically a system which enable in improving interaction between organisation
and buyers, according to entirely customers perspective and for the whole customer life-cycle.
Effective implementation of this process, enrich the experience of customers, provide them
higher satisfaction and increases loyalty of visitors. This is the main goals of Customer
Experience Management, along with making the operations of company most effective and
productive.
Touch-points analysis
Customers touch-point refers to the equilibrium point where company and consumers
interacts with one another. These communications can take place in various forms which are
broadly categorised into online and offline. Touch-points are anything that will direct a brand
and consumers to interact with one another (McColl-Kennedy and et. al., 2019). These touch-
points are important as it serves in several sections to the organisations, helps in identifying new
opportunities opening new doors for the firm. Customer Touch-point analysis has four stages,
starting from reviewing the customers insight which is already present in company, according to
them a map is created for interacting with consumers for understanding the need for data
collection. Then value is being derived where analysis is done about what interaction will most
influence the individual adding value to brand. According to the data collected, information
gathered and analysis is performed an improvement plan implemented for increasing customer
experience and delivering them a consistent brand experience. Once a plan is executed and all

improvements are implemented now the its impacts are measured for knowing that the motive of
touch-point analysis of driving customer value is fulfilled at what level.
Customer service strategy used by Hilton Hotel
Customer service strategies are basically thoughts and ideas which are introduced in
business for increasing interactions and maintain consistency in providing best possible
experience to consumers (Kim, Beckman and Agogino, 2018). There are few strategies which
Hilton Hotel are using for rendering best experiences to their guests who are visiting their hotel
present in worldwide locations. These strategies are proving to be effective for the organisation
chain as they are of flexible nature and practised in specified way according to the locations.
These strategies are highlighted or elaborated below in the next section. Continuous Feedbacks- One of the most effective tool and touch-point trough which
Hilton Hotel interact with its customers is Feedback (McLean, Al-Nabhani and Wilson,
2018). It is a tool which is used to and records the reactions of people about the services
and goods which are rendered by the service provider. The Hilton hotel make use of
customer feedbacks for knowing their customers buying behaviours, their needs and
loyalty for the hotel. These feedbacks are collected by using digital technology such as
emails and interviews on phone calls. The feedbacks collected by the customers can also
help Hilton Hotel marketing team or department make use of the data effectively and
potentially and assess the data for developing potential marketing strategy which can
enhance the ability of the business and boost the sales and revenue of Hotel. Regular training and development- Employees or the different operational teams are the
one who executes all plans and serves to guests on behalf of their Hotels. Therefore,
another customer experience strategy which Hilton Hotel adopts is continuous training
and development of staff who are the closest to guests, such as housekeeping department,
front office department and other functional units. These departments are the closest units
which are attached to visitors and render them services for which they are assigned. As
employee skills and knowledge is updated it will allow them to perform in better manner
also, they can be in touch with the guests and render them quality service according to the
market trends expectations of customers. 24*7 Customer helpline- This is a service which almost all hotels which are higher in
ratings provides. The differentiation is done the basis of their effectiveness and

appropriateness (Mbama and Ezepue, 2018). The 24*7 helpline is for customers where
they can call every time and on anytime on the clock expecting a solution for their issues
and resolving their quires. These helplines can be approached by individual from
anywhere inside or outside of the hotel. Hilton Hotel has specially recruited a team for
attending calls at all times and these executives work at different times according to their
shifts and job description.
 Fascinating infrastructure supporting customer service- Nowadays, people are more
attracted towards and wishes to have a comfortable luxurious stay while they are out on
their holidays. This factors brings the infrastructure of the hotel into consideration, the
more beautiful and decorated the hotel is the more people are fascinated about it.
Therefore, Hilton Hotel make sure that the infrastructure of their hotels in different
locations of the world are best and most attractive. These attractive infrastructure is
another customer service strategy which is adopted by Hilton Hotel for developing an
effective impression on the customers as the infrastructure will be according the
expectations of the visitors and accordingly fulfil their needs and desires which will turn
them into loyal customers towards the brand.
P7 Demonstrating development and creation of customer service strategies for meeting needs of
company and consumers
The customer service strategies which are discussed in above section and adopted by
Hilton hotel are not appropriately demonstrated in this section below (Følstad and Kvale, 2018).
This demonstration is based on the creation of these strategies in a way which meets the needs of
guests and organisation both. Continuous Feedbacks- First strategy is continuous feedbacks of customer trough emails
and telephonic interviews. These feedbacks are collected by the existing customers of
Hilton Hotel and also from employees. This strategy helps hotel to consider the
perceptions of both the potential guests who are external and employees who are internal
to the company. For instance, through gathering feedbacks hotel front office staff
identifies that customers are unhappy about the waiting time at the time of check in and
check out. Then the hotel management will make strategies in order to reduce waiting
time and making their systems more effective. This will help Hilton Hotel to increase
their effectiveness and reduces the complaints from visitors about the waiting time.

 Regular training and development- The feedbacks which are received by Hilton Hotel is
useful here. According to those feedbacks hotel can gain knowledge about their leakages
and lacking segments and where they need to make changes. Therefore, once changes are
implemented training and development program is initiated for educating personnels
about the new systems or technologies introduced (Smit and Melissen, 2018). For
instance, in order to reduce waiting time at check-in and check-out, Hilton Hotel has
introduced new digital technology which helps customers to make their payments online
and check-in or check-out with their ease at the time they wish to leave the hotel. This is
a new technology for which employees needs to be trained as they are not familiar with
the new technology. These training will make workforce more competent, they can guide
visitors about how to use the new technology reducing chaos form the system and help
enhancing the experiences of individuals.
 24*7 Customer helpline- Another customer service strategy which Hilton Hotel has
adopted is 24*7 customer helpline. This is a service which is rendered by hotel to visitors
by this they had a facility to make calls at hotel, communicate with hotel staff and clarify
their queries related to anything. Also, customers can call for taking helps from outside
the hotel if they stuck anywhere or misguided by someone. The hotel staff was always
ready for reaching out to help their guests and making their stay best gaining great
experiences. This customer service is provided by many hospitality providers the factor
which matter is differentiation and uniqueness of the service.
CONCLUSION
The above report summarises that managing customers experience is a necessary task for
every hospitality sector organisation. The effective use of Customer Relationship Management
(CRM) system enable company to make effective communication and interactions with
consumers, understand their behaviours and helps in knowing needs of people for rendering them
best quality services. Digital technology impacts the business, enables them to market
themselves in better manner in front of target market and increase their customer base. Number
of customer service strategies are created for enhancing the experiences of customer’s by
fulfilling their needs and desires which is the main objective or motive of every hospitality
business organisation.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Bolton, R. N. and et. al., 2018. Customer experience challenges: bringing together digital,
physical and social realms. Journal of Service Management.
Følstad, A. and Kvale, K., 2018. Customer journeys: a systematic literature review.
Goodman, J., 2019. Strategic customer service: Managing the customer experience to increase
positive word of mouth, build loyalty, and maximize profits. Amacom.
Gopalakrishna, S., Malthouse, E. C. and Lawrence, J. M., 2019. Managing customer engagement
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Implementing a customer-experience-focused strategy. California Management Review.
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Kranzbühler, A. M. and et. al., 2018. The multilevel nature of customer experience research: an
integrative review and research agenda. International Journal of Management
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Mbama, C. I. and Ezepue, P. O., 2018. Digital banking, customer experience and bank financial
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Roy, S., 2018. Effects of customer experience across service types, customer types and
time. Journal of Services Marketing.
Smit, B. and Melissen, F., 2018. Sustainable customer experience design: co-creating
experiences in events, tourism and hospitality. Routledge.