Managing Customer Experience: A Report on Thomas Cook's Strategies

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of customer experience management within the context of Thomas Cook, a British travel company. It begins by emphasizing the importance of understanding customer needs, wants, and preferences, differentiating between various market segments like holidaymakers, business travelers, and hospital patient guests, and providing examples of how Thomas Cook caters to each group's specific requirements. The report then delves into the concept of customer experience mapping, outlining the customer journey from research and planning to returning and sharing, identifying key touchpoints such as websites, telephone interactions, and email communications. Furthermore, the report investigates the impact of digital technology on customer relationship management, including the use of websites, text messages, e-mails, and review sites. Finally, the report discusses how effective customer experience management can be applied within the service sector, emphasizing the role of management policies and employee training in creating positive customer interactions and maximizing business reach.

Managing Customer
Experience

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION
To manage the consumers are important for a company and it can be managed
by providing quality services in order to satisfy the needs. Consumer experience
management is to be referred as the process of planning & managing the overall
experience of consumers. In the hospitality industry it is required in order to fulfil the
expectations of persons and it helps the corporation to earn more profits. To better
understand this concept Thomos Cook has been chosen which is a British Travel
company. In this report, there are following topics are covered such as: needs &
expectations of market segments, analyse consumer experience map to develops
business opportunities & optimise consumer touch points, to investigate the impacts of
digital technology in consumer relationship management. Apart from this it also discuss
about to apply effective consumer experience management within a service sector.
Learning Outcome 1
P1. Value & importance of understanding the needs, wants and preferences
For an organisation it is important to understand the needs of persons is not easy
all people have different wants and habits. To fulfil the desires of individuals are not
simple reason being all persons have different expectations. It is required for Thomos
Cook to identify the wants of consumers through the market segmentation so that
services can be provided as per the preference of individuals. For the management of
company it is required to analyse the needs of people so that services can be deliver on
the basis expectations which helps to maximize the market reach as well as profits. As
organisation target different types of persons which involves holiday maker, business
persons and hospital patients guest (Reynolds, 2013).
Questionnaire:
Type of customer Different
types of customer
needs
Business
person
Comfortable seat &
separate room.
Charging point &
enough space to pass
between table.
Wi-Fi & quality food
services
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Holidaymaker Transport facility &
pool services
Nappy & changing
facility
Proper place to take
food & meal at
bedside
Hospital
patients guest
Clean room for rest Nutrition food & purified
water
Adequate
information regarding
calorie on menu.
Soft music Charging point Beautiful view from
window
As Thomos Cook targets customers & fulfil the satisfy the desires of persons by
providing quality services.
Holiday maker: These are those persons who want to plan holidays for the
purpose of fun, enjoyment and rest. To satisfy the desires of consumers are important
for Thomos Cook which help to grab more market share. It involves charging facility for
mobile phone, pool facility, nappy and quality products. It helps the corporation to fulfil
the expectations of people which is required for the growth of business (Bruce and
Love, 2018).
Business person: These are those persons who involves in their own business
and Thomos Cook always try to provide better services and facilities in order to satisfy
the preference of consumers. The excellent services and facilities are helpful for the
organisation to attract more number of consumers. The services which are provided are
as: poolside services, Wi-fi facility and separate room facility.
Hospital patient guest: These are those persons who come to meet to the patient
and Thomos Cook always try to fulfil the wants of patient guest. There are various
persons who comes from different cities for the purpose of medical treatment. The
facilities which are provided which are follows: soft music, healthy food and purified
water and charging point.
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P 2 Covered in poster
Illustration 1: Hospital Patient guest, 2018
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Illustration 2: Business person, 2018
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Illustration 3: Holiday maker, 2018
Learning Outcome 2
P 3 Consumer experience map for a selected service corporation
Consumer experience mapping is a procedure which is used to engage the
consumers with the products & services of organisation. To satisfy the needs and
desires are the responsibility of company so their experience can be better and they feel
happy and satisfy while dealing with the corporation. It helps the company to maximise
its sales as well as market share.
Customer Journey Map of Thomas Cook
The following map indicates the touchpoints for the customers at various stages while
interacting with Thomas Cook:
Research and Planning-The first and foremost touchpoint is one
where the customer researches and plans a trip for themselves.
This may be either for leisure or business purposes. Also, this stage
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utilises a comprehensive research on the part of the customer who
looks for packages or travel options that may be economical and
reliant. Hence, a lot of research and planning goes at this stage. For
Thomas Cook, the company can provide a detailed account on the
budget packages that may enable them to be directly engaged with
the company in the first attempt. For this purpose, the main tools
that can be used are Websites and Direct Mail Marketing.
Preparation-Once the details related to destination,
accommodation, itinerary and mode of transportation to reach the
place have been decided, the preparation stage initiates. As per this
touchpoint, Thomas Cook Group can provide various
recommendations regarding hotel, flights as well as activities so as
to engage the customer in a significant manner. This is mostly
achieved through suggestions provided by utilising budget
information and type of trip being taken by the prospective client.
Such can be provided through advertisements on the mode which
is most utilised by the client for researching purposes as it is
possible for them to notice such information on those platforms in
a prompt manner.
Booking-At this point the customer first comes in contact with the
company when they want to book a trip to a specific destination.
For this purpose, the customer may either go to an agent of
Thomas Cook or use company's website or smartphone application
for the same. Here, a real purchase transaction is carried out
between the customer and the business. Thomas Cook can enhance
this customer experience by providing them with a variety of
options which are mostly used by the clients so as to complete a
purchase.
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Vacation-From this stage onwards, the client is in complete touch
with a Thomas Cook Client who escorts them around the
destination and informs them regarding their daily itinerary
activities in a detailed manner. It is most crucial for the company
to ensure that the customer expectations of their clients are met in
the most effective manner. For this stage, the company has an
opportunity to convert a new client into a regular one. This can be
achieved by ensuring that the clients have a strong first impression
of the executive assigned to them. The company can create
feedback or follow-up points on a daily basis which help Thomas
Cook management to ensure that the client needs are met in the
most comprehensive manner.
Returning- Once the vacation is over, the company can ask the
clients for follow-ups by way filling a questionnaire either on the
website or the booking source so as to ensure that they were able to
meet their expectations in the most efficient manner or not. This
would help the business to know various weak points that require
improvements and can rectify the same in a stipulated time period.
Sharing- It is common for the customers to upload their photos on
various social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter and
Snapchat among others. This can act as a mode of free publicity
for the business by way of word-of-mouth.
To increase the market reach Thomos Cook can use different things that are depend
upon experience map. These have been discussed as under:
Telephone: To communicate with the consumers telephone is used by the
company. As Thomos Cook belongs to tour and travelling sector which comes under
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hospitality industry. The manager of organisation take bookings on phone and provide
details about the holiday trip and solve the queries about the trip which involves
services and facilities. The telephone number are mentioned in the website of
corporation so that persons can easily contact to the organisation if they want to know
any information regarding the holiday trip.
Websites: It is useful tool that provide all important information about the
company so that persons can know the details about the business and its activities. As
Thomos Cook have its own website which provide all information such as: price of trip,
number of days, locations and other facilities and services. The website can be assess
by the consumers to know the details about these all things.
Text message: As company uses the text message so that it communicate with
the consumers about the details and attract them so that they can visit to the office and
plan a trip with the company. Thomos Cook uses text message so that it can
information about the holidays trip, special offer, discounts and other facilities. It is used
by the firm as a promotional tool which aware the consumers about the services of
organisation (Shea, 2016).
E- Mail: To communicate with the consumers this tool is used by the company
and it is a formal way of communication which is used by Thomos Cook. Through e-mail
it can inform the persons about the holidays plan which is organised by it. It is cost
effective tool which is used by the management in order to communicate with the
consumers.
Review sites: There are various consumers who visit the company and takes
the facilities and services of it. There is review site of Thomas Cook and consumers
provide its review on the basis of their past experience or through any other tool. It is
helpful for the company to know the views of different persons which is based on their
experience. As the firm consider the reviews so that it can make further improvements
so that needs consumers can be satisfy and it can generate higher profits (TSEGAYE,
2017).
Management: To make the better experience with the company management
policies plays a vital role. As Thomos Cook make effective strategies so that more
number of consumers can attract towards the corporation and training is also provided
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by the company to their employees so that they provide better service and facilities to
the consumers so that their experience with the corporation can be better.
P4 Customer touch point throughout the customer experience
The customer touch point is the point of fundamental interaction between brands,
business, products and customers. They all are exchange information regarding to
transaction and products services. In present time business can use several factors to
analysis business that are help to know all available mediums like online websites, e –
mails and social media. These have been discussed as under:
 Word-of-mouth: This touchpoint is mostly observed at the first and the last stage of the
customer journey map. At the first stage, the customer is mainly associated with
undertaking research and planning activities so as to determine what, where, how and
when of the trip. This touchpoint plays a crucial role in spreading awareness about the
company and its packages.
 Website: At the time of making a purchase, the website acts as a medium of
communication between the company and the client. Thus, it is important to have a well-
managed website which converts a prospective lead into a long-term client of the
company. If the website is prompt, the client will have a smoother experience while
making a booking.
 Regular Follow-ups: Once the booking has been completed, the company can take
follow-ups from the clients at the end of the trip which can help them to improve their
services in future.
These mediums through business and customer meet with each other and
communicate about the products and services and fulfil the needs as per the
requirement. The touch point through provide all facilities to customer that can help to
attract regrading to products and services. When customer interact with them that time
sold to products. Many companies are providing different types services which are
related to before buying and after buying. Thomas Cook can have different facilities and
services regarding to their customer (Guido, 2017).
The particular services applied by the selected company in order to make touch
point and interact with customer and it will help to make them potential customers. The
company has provided effective services to their customer to maintain relation with
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