Analysis of Customer Experience Strategies: Thomas Cook Report

This report examines customer experience management at Thomas Cook, a UK-based travel and tourism company. It explores various customer service strategies, including follow-up procedures, technology offerings (like online payments and in-travel iPads), and staff training. The report also analyzes customer feedback mechanisms such as Net Promoter Scores and knowledge performance indicators. Furthermore, it includes a customer audit trail, comparing observations at a Hilton Hotel to Thomas Cook's practices, and provides recommendations for improving customer service, such as investing in training and setting clear standards. The report also delves into the impact of digital technology, like Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and EPOS systems, on enhancing customer experiences within the hospitality sector. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of patience, accurate information, and clear communication for delivering effective customer service.

Managing the
Customer Experience

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
PART 1............................................................................................................................................3
Covered in PPT.......................................................................................................................3
PART 2............................................................................................................................................3
P6 Illustrate customer service strategies in Thomas cook. ....................................................3
P7 Demonstrate how customer service strategies create and develop the customer experience
in a way that meets the needs of the customer and required business standards....................4
M4 Review and recommendations for improving the customer service strategies................6
D4 Evaluate the delivery of customer service strategies and communication.......................7
PART 3............................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Customer experience management is an art of satisfying the customer by meeting its
requirements. Management of customer experience is must of an organization which is working
in hospitality industry. The organization here given scenario is Thomas Cook which is a UK base
travel and tourism company. It has its headquarter in London, UK. In this presentation, the
needs, wants and preferences of customers are explained. Customer experience map to show the
interaction of customer's satisfaction is explained in this presentation. Impact of digital
technology in terms of enhancing the experience of customer are explained. Apart from that,
customer experience management to maximize customer engagement are also explained in this
report.
PART 1
Covered in PPT
PART 2
P6 Illustrate customer service strategies in Thomas cook.
As a part of the group experience team, it seems that there are various strategies which
are used by the management of Thomas cook for developing the customer experience. They are
explained as under:
 Follow up post booking – Thomas cook begins to provide customer services at the time
when customer books their package. Effective team are also focus on knowing the needs
of the customer such as accommodations, location, room availability etc. It helps them in
providing best facility to customer due to which they increases experience of customers.
 Offering technology they require – It is an effective tool through which management of
Thomas cook provide quick facilities to their customers such as online payment, I pads
during travel, video games at accommodations for the children etc. it increases the loyalty
of customer towards offering of the organisation.
 Trained staff members to read travellers: The team of Thomas cook is prepared and
trained so that, they can predict the requirement of customers due to which, they provide
facilities to their customers as per their requirement. It is necessary because there are

various customers who have different type of needs so that, they requires a trained staff
for fulfilling such kind of customer's need (Stein, 2015).
 Net point score- It is an effective tool which is used by the management of Thomas
cook, they are evaluating the experience of customers by taking their feedbacks and rank
their feedbacks from 1 to 5. Through this, they are implementing new ideas in their
services due to which, they provide better facilities to their customers in near future.
 Knowledge performance indicator- this tool is used for knowing the performance level
of staff members. In the hospitality sector, if the customer will not satisfied with the
services of an organisation then they will not take offerings of the organisation at next
time. Therefore, it is essential to measure the performance level of employees. Through
this tool, Thomas cook evaluate their position in marketplace.
P7 Demonstrate how customer service strategies create and develop the customer experience in a
way that meets the needs of the customer and required business standards
Customer Audit Trail, Critical Observations:
Name of hospitality business visited: Hilton Hotel, London
Date and time of visit: 12th December 2018
Ambience and First Impressions:
Positive things and changes
which were observed by me?
Negative things and changes
which were observed by me?
What changes would I bring if
this business belongs to me?
The internal environment of
Hotel was better as I visited
and my first experience was
too good.
No receptionist was available
at the front desk due to which,
customers were highly
dissatisfied.
If I was the owner of this hotel
I would implement a strict
work culture in the workplace.
Signage, Tariff Boards, Labelling, etc.:
Positive things and changes
which were observed by me?
Negative things and changes
which were observed by me?
What changes would I bring if
this business belongs to me?
Hotel staff was using various There were no directions If this hotel belongs to me, I

safety equipments such as fire
extinguisher, emergency
windows etc.
available in the periphery of
hotel due to which, various
guests were confused.
will use proper sign boards for
direction in the hotel.
Prices:
Positive things and changes
which were observed by me?
Negative things and changes
which were observed by me?
What changes would I bring if
this business belongs to me?
The products were available at
low prices
There are some services which
was provided by the hotel staff
charges a huge amount then
expectations.
I will implement an effective
pricing policy so that,
customers will feel positive
about the hotel services during
their stay.
Range of Products:
Positive things and changes
which were observed by me?
Negative things and changes
which were observed by me?
What changes would I bring if
this business belongs to me?
There are various services
which are provided by the
hotel staff such as free Wi-Fi,
laundry etc.
The service of swimming pool
staff was not good.
In order to improving the pool
services I will hire new staff
members for this and check
regularly the cleaning at that
place.
Staff:
Positive things and changes
which were observed by me?
Negative things and changes
which were observed by me?
What changes would I bring if
this business belongs to me?
They have an educated and
knowledgeable staff members
There are some areas in which
the staff members are required
such as bar, housekeeping etc.
I would measure the need of
employees in every department
through which, I will hire new
employees.

Time:
Positive things and changes
which were observed by me?
Negative things and changes
which were observed by me?
What changes would I bring if
this business belongs to me?
The staff members are
providing services at time.
Laundry services are taking
too much time.
I would make a time structure
so that, every staff member
will provide their services in
allotted time period.
Supplementary Items:
Positive things and changes
which were observed by me?
Negative things and changes
which were observed by me?
What changes would I bring if
this business belongs to me?
The parking service of hotel is
better then expected
Receptionist nature is so rude
which is impact on the
welcoming of guest.
Every guest wants a good
welcome so I would trained
my receptionist.
Payment:
Positive things and changes
which were observed by me?
Negative things and changes
which were observed by me?
What changes would I bring if
this business belongs to me?
Finance department of hotel
takes payment in cash or card.
The online payment service of
hotel is taking too much time.
Problem related with the
online payment will be
checked and resolved by me.
M4 Review and recommendations for improving the customer service strategies
There are some recommendations which can be used by the management of Thomas cook
for improving the customer services they are as follows:
 Invest in customer service training – As it is a multinational organisation having
various kinds of staff members such as low performer and high performer therefore,

management of Thomas cook have to provide training programmes to their low
performer employees due to which, they will better perform at the task (Tsai, 2015).
 Set and communicate clear standards – Managers of Thomas cook have responsibility
to define roles and responsibility to their employees due to which, they provide better
customer services so as to maximise their experience with the company.
D4 Evaluate the delivery of customer service strategies and communication
 Patience is a must – The staff of Thomas cook have to properly listen and understand the
needs of customers through communicating them and accordingly serving them better
services.
 Accuracy of information is key- Employees who are working in the Thomas cook have
to provide accurate information to their customers due to which, a good image of the
organisation will be build in the mindset of customers.
PART 3
TITLE: “Technology underpins all of our processes and is key to how we create value; from
our IT, our customer digital channels or our airline efficiency”.
INTRODUCTION
In this part we will discuss about the technology which is adopted by Thomas
cook for increasing their efficiency. Thomas cook is a company which is providing their
services in travel and tourism sector and comes in effect from 2007. The company is giving
their services in UK, Germany and many more countries. As they are engaged in hospitality
sectors so they have to provide efficient services to their customers along with value of money
to them.
MAIN BODY
Digital technology in terms of hospitality is the method of providing better experience to
customers with the help of technology. It helps the customer in managing its experience
through website, chats and telephones. All these are advanced technology which are used in
hospitality industry to enhance the experience of customer. There is a huge competition in
hospitality sector, every organisation has similar strategies and each of them wants to capture
a huge market share. It can be possible through adopting some effective IT systems.
Information and technology plays an effective role in the growth of an organisation so, it is

very essential to adopt some IT systems due to which, Thomas cook can achieve a huge
customer base and achieve their preset objectives in allotted time period. Some of IT systems
are explained as under:
Customer relationship management is a management theory which is adopted to
increase the experience of customer and helps organisation in providing better services to
their customers. CRM helps the company in providing best facilities through using latest
techniques, strategies and policies (Kumar, 2016). A data base is collected of an individual's
experience, while they use services of organisation. The positive and negative aspects of their
experience is restored in this system due to which, management of Thomas cook can take help
in resolving the upcoming issues in future. It provides helps to management in improving the
goal of customer service and the growth of the company. The advantages of CRM are, it helps
organisation in storing the data at one place and allows the employees to be enhancing their
productivity and performance through tracking the previous experience of an individual and it
also helps to management in managing the data base and increases the growth of organisation.
The major weaknesses of this system are, it has a slow process sometimes as it is not working
when the management have essentially needed it. It can be hacked by anyone therefore,
management of Thomson have to consider such things and making effective plans before
using it.
EPOS system is an effective tool the advancement of tools in the sales department. It
increases the performance level of sales department. It provides an efficient and fast way of
dealing with customers. These systems are involved in sales and billing department. There are
various customers who wants quick services therefore, managers of Thomas cook can adopt
such systems, with the help of this, they can provide more effective services to their
customers (Pearson, 2016). Advantages of EPOS systems are, They improving the way in
which business performs, they provide assistance to inventory department in securing the
stock, information can be acquired by the management when it needed. On the other hand, the
weaknesses of the EPOS system are, its installation and updating of software are very
expensive, it needs maintenance on regularly basis, it has to be updated because, if it is not
updated it will gave wrong results which decreases the brand image of firm in marketplace,
Billing department have to face various challenges during the use of this system, because it
requires knowledgeable staff members who have knowledge about using this tool.

Management information systems is mostly used by the firms in order to take effective
decision and also for cooperating with other employees of organisation. Through this,
management can evaluate and control all the activities of the organisation in an effective
manner. The management of Thomas Cook can use this for evaluating the latest technologies
and people of their organisation.
CONCLUSION
It has been concluded from the above information that digital technologies are playing an
crucial role in the growth of organisation. It helps organisation in increasing the experience of
customers. Customer relationship management is an effective tool that provide assistance to
management in storing the huge customer data for solving upcoming errors in future. There
are various advantages and disadvantages with this systems so that, management of Thomas
cook have to evaluate such factors before using it.

REFERENCES
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Online
Managing Customer Experience. 2018. [Online]. Available
through:<https://www.gartner.com/it-glossary/customer-experience-management-cem>.