Report: Customer Experience Management in the Hospitality Industry

This report delves into the crucial aspects of managing customer experience, focusing on the service sector, particularly within the hospitality industry. It begins by emphasizing the need for market segmentation to understand target audiences and tailor marketing strategies, using The Goring hotel as an example. The report then explores customer expectations, highlighting the shift towards personalized interactions, connected experiences, and proactive services, including the importance of high-speed Wi-Fi, cleanliness, and data protection. It details how customer touchpoints, such as staff interactions, service quality, and environment, create business opportunities. The report also covers customer experience mapping, outlining steps from initial search to feedback, and concludes by stressing the importance of understanding customer needs for service improvement and engagement. References from academic journals support the analysis.

Managing the customer
experience

Table of Content
 Need of the market segmentation
 Expectation of the customer’s in the service industry
 Ways in which customer touchpoints creates business opportunities for service
sector organization
 Customer experience map

Need of the market segmentation
 It assist the marketers to understand the requirements of the targeted audience as well
as also adopt the various plans of the marketing. Service sector Firms like The Goring
adopt a more focused approach as an outcome regarding market segmentation.
 It also provides the customer a clear view of what they can buy or what not. An
individual who has low income prefer a 2 star hotel instead of 5 star hotels.
 With the help of the market segmentation it helps the Goring hotel to target right
customers at the right time. With the help of the segmentation Service get to know as
well as understand the customers better.

Expectation of the customer’s in the
service industry
 Customers in each domain expectation on the basis like for pricing and quality but
nowadays customers have much higher expectation such as personalized
interactions ,connected experience, Proactive Services. In hotels like Goring customers
needs high speed of Wi-Fi connectivity, cleanliness, peaceful environment and also the
quality food with fair pricing.
 Customers always needs change as they always expect innovation, as innovation
includes introduce of new food items as well as services which are based on the new
technology.
 Nowadays customers expect data protection as they need like their privacy can be
protected. Market segmentation are mainly focused on the booking behaviours as well
as price strategy.

Ways in which customer touchpoints creates
business opportunities for service sector
organization
 Customer touchpoints are the points of consumer contact, from beginning to end. Touch
points are very important to be considered for hospitality industries.
 Touchpoints like staff, staff plays and vital role in the success of The Goring as when
the staff is good and experienced better serviced are provided to the guest, all the
operations of the hotels are carried out in desired way.
 As when customers are satisfied with the staff they will come again and it assist in
overall productivity of The Goring. Another touchpoint which is very important to be
considered is service of the hotel.

Continue…
 Hotel must have fast and efficient services so that it can handle the visitors in an
desired way. The staff of The Goring should treat every guest like an VIP so that they
feel valued and happy.
 Quality services makes customers satisfied and it attracts more visitors for the hotel.
Services like free Wi-Fi can be provided by The Goring so that the visitors who want to
do their business work can do it without any issues.
 The Goring should regularly focus on safety and security so that guest arrived in hotel
can stay without any problems.

Continue…
 Environment plays an major role in hotel industry. When the environment of hotel is
good and pleasant customer feels more relaxed.
 By good environment it means that The Goring must focus providing well and clean
atmosphere to the guest, proper cleanliness should be maintained so that guest feel
good and satisfied.
 Thus, all these are the touchpoints by which customers are attracted towards the hotel.

Customer experience map
Consumer experience map is to understand that what are the requirements and needs of the
customers. Goods and services are offered according to the need of consumers. There are
few steps in customer experience mapping, these are as follows-
 Search for hotel-
 This is the first step in which customers search for the Hotel.
 There are many ways by which customers search for the hotels as nowadays it is the world of
internet so they will search via internet. And the best which suits them they visited that hotel.
 Check in-
 After this step guest visits the place and ask for all the services they wants from the hotel, and
makes use of all the services offered.

Continue…
 Check out-
 This is the situation in which guest after utilizing all the services offered make an exist from
the hotel premises.
 At this point customers must be treated in an desired way so that feel valued and make a visit
again.
 Billing is done at this point and any quarries if guest have in their mind are solved by the
staff.
 Feedback-
 This the last step in this feedbacks are taken from the guest, these are taken in different forms
as some hotels take this in written form and some hotels prefers online feedbacks.
 The benefit of this is that any issues which are needed to be improved are addressed.

Conclusion
 From the above presentation it has been concluded that it is important for a Hotel to
understand their customer’s needs, wants And requirements in order to bring improvement
within their products and services.
 It has been understood that there are various factors that there are various factors that can
affect as well as influence a Hotel’s customer engagement which further affect fulfillment
of customer’s needs and requirements.
 It has also been observed that customer’s touchpoints helps a Hotel to create opportunities
in various ways which is required by the Hotel to be focused on such as fulfilling safety
and security requirements of an organization can help them to attract more customers.
 It has also been analyzed that it is important for an organization to create a customer
experience map as it helps them in understanding their customers needs and requirements.

References
 Prentice, C., 2019. Managing service encounters with emotional intelligence. Journal
of Retailing and Consumer Services, 51, pp.344-351.
 So, K.K.F. and et.al., 2016. Enhancing customer relationships with retail service
brands: The role of customer engagement. Journal of Service Management, 27(2),
pp.170-193.
 Steinhoff, L. and Palmatier, R.W., 2016. Understanding loyalty program effectiveness:
managing target and bystander effects. Journal of the Academy of Marketing
Science, 44(1), pp.88-107.
 Verleye, K., 2015. The co-creation experience from the customer perspective: its
measurement and determinants. Journal of Service Management, 26(2), pp.321-342.

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