Managing Customer Experience: A Report on Riverbank Park Plaza

Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments for students. This report analyzes customer experience management at Riverbank Park Plaza.

MANAGING THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................. 2
Employing digital technology in managing customer experience in Riverbank Park Plaza............3
Evaluating the changing CRM systems due to technologies in Riverbank Park Plaza....................5
Demonstration of Customer services strategies in the creation and development of customer
service experiences in Riverbank Park Plaza..................................................................................8
Review of applications of customer services strategies in creating customer experience with
recommendations in Riverbank Park Plaza..................................................................................10
Impact of customer services strategies and communication with a justified valid
recommendation for customer experience improvement in Riverbank Park Plaza.....................11
CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................... 12
REFERENCES.................................................................................................................................13
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INTRODUCTION
A report is being prepared while considering the needs, expectations and wants of the
customers of Riverbank Park Plaza. It includes an explanation of the impact of digital technology
in managing the customer relationship and also analyse the management of the customers'
experiences for the hotel benefits. It also evaluates the changes in the CRM system because of
technology so as to effectively acquire as well as maintain customers (Piccoli et al., 2017). This
report illustrates the customer services strategies in order to create and develop customer
services experience in riverbank park plaza. Also, it includes the review of the application of the
services strategies to create customer experience and also evaluate its impact with a valid
recommendation for customer experience improvement.
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Employing digital technology in managing customer experience in
Riverbank Park Plaza
The pivotal focus for the hospitality industry nowadays is to keep up with the needs
expectations and demands of the guests so as to increase the brand relevancy, advocacy and
loyalty. The only differentiation method in the hospitality industry is the provision of customer
experiences. Dues to the rapid changes in the business environment, the companies such as
Riverbank Park Plaza uses the digital technologies like big data AI, social media, mobile CRM in
order to manage their business (Soltani and Navimipour, 2016).
Digital technology has intensified the competition in the hotel industry as even big brands are
struggling to maintain their market share. It is been observed that customers rather than being
loyal to a particular hotel group focus on the reviews and feedbacks on different travel sights in
order to book Riverbank Park Plaza. It has become important for the hotel to integrate its
online plus offline data for gaining insights along with understanding the guests’ preferences
(Rahimi and Gunlu, 2016). Some of the examples of digital technologies that can be used in
managing customer experiences are further mentioned.
Internet of Things (IoT) is one of the most popular digital technologies, which provides
proactive maintenance and location-based interaction in order to improve the customer
experiences it also sends the customised recommendations tailored as per the interests and
wants of the guests (Rahimi and Kozak, 2017). Another jaw-dropping experience is when an
interactive robot welcomes the guests at the front desk for the concierge service. The
interactive robots or chatbots in the hotel will be fed with all the important information about
the customers so as to positively reshape the overall guests' experience and enhance their
loyalty. It is challenging for the employees of the hotel to cater to the request from the guest
coming from diverse backgrounds.
These interactive robots or chatbots overcome the language barriers and prevent
miscommunication and improve guests’ experiences by better serving the guests (Rahimi et al.,
2017). Virtual reality allows the customers to experience the virtual creation of the room of a
particular hotel so as to help them visit, stay and offer nearby attractions and increase customer
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experiences. Mobile technologies have also improved the customer relationship management
systems as it provides information on the smartphones for hotel bookings, check-ins and
instant notifications.
Also, chat-based solutions or conversational bot offers the hotels an opportunity to take
advantages of every concern, suggestion, compliment and request from the guests. Cloud
technologies allow the hotels to record and maintain the data related to guests preferences,
expectations and other behaviour ranging from ordering room services to enjoying spa
amenities so as to provide personalised and convenient customer experience (Rahimi and
Gunlu, 2016). Social media is another digital technology that supports the customer
relationship management system by providing an active platform for the hotels to interact with
the customers and get informed of their expectations and requires of the customers.
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Evaluating the changing CRM systems due to technologies in Riverbank
Park Plaza
Digital technologies have now become part of the hospitality industry in order to gain customer
loyalty, boosts sales and revenues, and also create a smoother customer experience. The hotels
such as Riverbank park Plaza need to constantly update with the emergent technology so as to
allow its guests to streamline cumbersome processes and minimise the check-in time. Digital
technology has reshaped the hospitality CRMs so as to create loyalty as well as enhance the
customer experience leading to an increase in sales and revenues (Kandampully et al., 2015).
With the growth in digital capacity and maximum mobility, hospitality CRMs supports Riverbank
Park Plaza to gain strong online presence and also enhance customer satisfaction.
The hotels such as Riverbank Park Plaza creates a smooth customer interaction, manages and
analyses data through hotel CRM software for improvement in business relationships with
guests, customers and suppliers for increased customer retention and sales growth (Pérez and
Cambra-Fierro, 2015). It provides an elegant customer interaction platform to interact with
customers and offers room upgrades and other amenities to them. It develops online concierge
services allows the guests to plan and reserve the activities. It also helps hospitality staff to
know about the desires of guests and handle complex concerns.
CRM software creates an on-target marketing campaign to connect with the correct guests and
generate customer loyalty along with guest retention. Sound CRM software does not replace
the hospitality staff but helps them in functioning properly (Kim et al., 2015). Hence it can be
observed that CRM is an essential component for the hotels to stay competitive in the modern
hospitality world and focus on comfort and contentment of the guests by ensuring the needs
and expectations of the customers are met.
ADVANTAGES OF CRM SOFTWARE IN ACQUIRING AND RETAINING CUSTOMERS
ALIGNMENT WITH BUSINESS OBJECTIVES: One of the major benefits is as CRM software is
adaptable and can be set and aligned with the organizational objectives of hotel Riverbank Park
Plaza. It allows the hotel Riverbank Park Plaza to achieve and improve customer interactions so
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that the customer loyalty acquired and retained by meeting their needs, expectations and
wants (Rahimi et al., 2017).
EASY RESTRUCTURE BASED ON DATA: CRM software provides the data which can be used to
restructures the hotel through a slow process by adapting the feedback provided by
experiences of customers and hospitality success.
IMPROVED BETTER CUSTOMER SERVICE: It also enhances the existing relationships between
the business and customers by providing better customer services (Rahimi and Kozak, 2017). A
repository is maintained on each guest’s profiles which makes it possible to treat each guest
individually instead of as a group.
FACILITATE NEW PROSPECTS: Potential customers can be identified by using CRM systems. A
track on the profiles of the existing guests is maintained to determine the target prospects for
increasing clientele returns (Rahimi and Kozak, 2017). For growth of Riverbank Park Plaza, both
existing customers and new prospects are essential.
PROMOTE CUSTOMER LOYALTY: Last but not least, it effectively measures customer loyalty in a
low-cost manner. Since the loyal customer is a walking advertisement and recommends the
hotels among the prospects, it increases the sales and revenue for Riverbank Park Plaza.
DISADVANTAGES OF CRM SOFTWARE IN ACQUIRING AND RETAINING CUSTOMERS
Despite the excellent use of CRM systems to maintain the track of the information related to
customers, there might be certain complexities which depend on the business rules or company
size.
COSTS/OVERHEADS: One of the greatest drawbacks of using CRM software is its cost which
includes subscription or purchase fees, customization, premium upgrades, requirements of IT
resources, hardware and software requirements, and so on (Pérez and Cambra-Fierro, 2015). It
is a costly affair to keep and maintain CRM software. The drawback of cost depends on the
financial strength of Riverbank Park Plaza.
RECORD LOSS: Record loss can be another disadvantage if remote internet connections are
used to save customer records. Lack of control on such type of data and also outage of remote
internet connections make it difficult for hotels to retrieve records.
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TRAINING and UPSKILLING: Training the employees can be another disadvantage as the
employees are required to be trained to effectively use CRM software. Also, Riverbank Park
Plaza hotel may require additional staff to work and input the data (Kim et al., 2015).
CONSTANT UP GRADATION AND INTEGRATION WITH OTHER MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS: It
requires regular updating, continuous maintenance and costly system up gradation. It may be
difficult for Riverbank Park Plaza to integrate CRM software with other management
information systems.
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Demonstration of Customer services strategies in the creation and
development of customer service experiences in Riverbank Park Plaza
The core of any business is its customers who are always on the top priority. Positive customer
experience results in happy customers which further lead to building credibility and bring more
business through their recommendations. In the hospitality industry, riverbank park plaza must
focus on ensuring the happiness and satisfaction level of their customers by offering great
products and exceptional services (Rahimi, 2017). It is said by Mckinsey & company that
customers in today’s times do not buy just products or services rather they make their purchase
decision based on the idea and experience.
Since the key driver of customer retention and acquisition in the present business scenario is
customer experiences, certain service strategies may help in creating and developing customer
service experiences:
SEEK CUSTOMER FEEDBACK: it is essential to understand the needs, requirements and wants of
the customers in order to provide them with excellent services. Riverbank Park Plaza can utilise
this strategy and offer different ways such as telephone surveys, email, building complaint
systems and so on to customers to share their feedback (Bahri-Ammari and Nusair, 2015). This
will enable them to raise their issues and concerns and helps in identifying their experiences.
The hotel will gain real insights into the areas that require improvements. Additionally, it makes
the customer feel valued and express the willingness of the hotel in resolving their issues. This
again builds their trust and prevents them from negative comments or reviews.
STRENGTHEN CUSTOMER SERVICE TEAM: another effective strategy is to train and improve the
skills of the staff in order to make a strong customer service team that offers excellent services.
The hotel must look for rights skilled staff since the lack of a skilled workforce cannot be
compensated by any tool or AI element (Kim et al., 2015). Training sessions and programs must
be organised at regular intervals for developing skills such as empathy and patience, knowledge
and good communication skills. The performance of the service staff can be determined from
the customer they attend. Appreciation and recognition is the key to consider the efforts of the
staff in delivering high customer service experience.
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USE CRM PLATFORMS: customer dissatisfaction may be resulted due to the lack of effective
coordination among different teams within the companies like Riverbank Park Plaza. Therefore
smart CRM platforms can be used to streamline the workforce processes and overcome the
issue. It ensures that everything is synchronized thus establishing high customer service
standards (Kandampully et al., 2015). Effective CRM software provides useful insights on the
needs and requirements of the customers thereby providing them customised experiences. It
helps in improving customer interaction and engagement ultimately building lifelong customer
relationships. It provides the required access to the customers resulting in customer
satisfaction.
LEVERAGE MULTI-CHANNEL SERVICES: the guests prefer to book for rooms that offer
consistent customer service across various channels and provide Omni channel communication
options. It enables the customer to switch between various channels and enjoy the consistent
quality of services. Presence of hotel on multiple channels such as mobile devices, social media,
and self-service such as applications and websites helps in providing excellent services to your
customers leading to customer service experience.
One of the advantages of training customer service team is that it attracts the customers and
helps in retaining and increasing loyalty among them (Rahimi et al., 2017). However, the team
is focused only on meeting the needs and wants of customers rather than contributing to the
development of innovative methods to attract the customers. Also, it is difficult for the service
team to identify the changing needs and wants of the customers.
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Review of applications of customer services strategies in creating
customer experience with recommendations in Riverbank Park Plaza
Customer experience is one of the most critical areas of focus of Riverbank Park Plaza.
Application of effective customer experience strategy increases the satisfaction level of
customers, minimise customer churn and maximise sales and revenue (Xu, 2019). The
abovementioned customer service strategies must be reviewed regarding its application in
creating customer experience in Riverbank Park Plaza.
Seeking feedback of the customers can be advantageous if it helps in collecting what is actually
required by the customers. Also, it helps in identifying what is not required by the customers. It
is an essential part of customer relationship management as it may increase the loyalty towards
the hotel (Kaliappen and Hilman, 2017). It may allow the hotel to identify the lacking in
customer experience. However, it may not be an effective service strategy as the feedback of
the customer does not provide any crucial information so as to help increase customer
experience.
In case of any unattended feedback, the consumer is more likely to abandon the hotel in future.
Offering services through Omni channels can improve customer satisfaction, sales, and higher
margins and draw new income streams (Hyun and Perdue, 2017). Whereas it restricts the hotel
to have a single view of the customers across all the channels, the technological barrier is
another main issue.
Therefore it is recommended for hotel Riverbank Park Plaza to apply CRM software to create
excellent customer experience as it encourages customer loyalty, maintains a good
relationship, offers excellent customer services, track rooms and banquet occupancy, and
attract new prospects for the hotel.
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Impact of customer services strategies and communication with a
justified valid recommendation for customer experience improvement
in Riverbank Park Plaza
The different customer service strategies applied by the hotel impacted in a different manner.
Asking feedback for the customers helped in identifying certain improvement areas while a
major gap is experienced as the behaviour and attitude of the customers are flexible and
volatile. Another strategy was to train and develop customer service team; it helps in providing
better and customised services however lack of innovation resulted in limited services to offer
to customers (Tsou and Hsu, 2017). Services are offered using multiple channels also helps in
attracting and gaining customers whoever with the presence of intense competition, almost
every hotel is present on various channels to increase their clientele base.
Thus, it is recommended to Riverbank Park Plaza to implement and maintain CRM software as it
increases customers' trust, helps in providing quality services consistently, and meet the needs,
expectations and wants of the customers. It helps in maintaining continuous communication
thereby developing the relationship between the hotel and the guests (Alananzeh et al., 2018).
It retains the customers and makes them well aware of the new services available with hotel
Riverbank Park Plaza. This further helps in improving customer experiences. It is also suggested
to periodically update and upgrade the CRM software for its effective use resulting in the future
growth of hotel Riverbank Park Plaza.
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