Report: Customer Experience Management in Thomas Cook (Module Name)

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of customer experience management within Thomas Cook, a prominent tourism company. It begins by exploring the significance of understanding the needs, wants, and preferences of diverse target customer groups within the hospitality sector. The report then investigates factors that facilitate and encourage customer engagement, focusing on families, corporate personnel, and disabled individuals. It also examines how these factors influence customer on-boarding strategies. A detailed customer experience map is presented, outlining the various touchpoints and activities that create business opportunities. The report evaluates the use of digital technology, including customer relationship management (CRM) systems, and assesses their merits and demerits. Furthermore, it analyzes customer service strategies and their role in creating positive customer experiences, with recommendations for improvement. The report concludes with an evaluation of customer service strategy delivery and communication, offering justifications and recommendations for enhancing the quality of customer experience within Thomas Cook.

Managing Customer
Experience

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
LO 1.................................................................................................................................................1
P1. Value of comprehending needs, wants and preferences of target customer groups for
hospitality sector.........................................................................................................................1
P2. Factors facilitating and encouraging customer engagement of various target customer
groups in Thomas Cook..............................................................................................................2
M1. Customer engagement factors determine customer on-boarding strategies for various
target customer groups within Thomas Cook.............................................................................3
D1. Evaluation of broad range of target customer group's needs and expectations in terms of
customer engagement..................................................................................................................3
LO 2.................................................................................................................................................4
P3. Customer experience map for Thomas Cook........................................................................4
P4. Manner in which touch points create such opportunities throughout customer experience
within Thomas Cook...................................................................................................................6
M2. Detailed customer experience map and examination of activities by which customer
touch points create business opportunities..................................................................................8
D2. Analysis of Thomas Cook optimizing each of customer touch points to influence
behaviour, responses and actions of customers to enhance their experiences............................8
LO 3.................................................................................................................................................9
P5. Use of digital technology in management of customer experience within Thomas Cook
with examples of customer relationship management systems...................................................9
M3. Evaluation of utility of digital technologies for customer experience management in
changing CRM systems to effectively acquire and retain customers.........................................9
D3. Critical evaluation of merits and demerits of CRM systems used in service sector
businesses for acquisition and retaining customers..................................................................10
LO 4...............................................................................................................................................10
P6. Customer service strategies in relation to a certain service sector......................................10
P7. Customer service strategies create and develop experience for accomplishment of needs of
customers and business.............................................................................................................11

M4. Review of application of customer service strategies of Thomas Cook in creation of
customer experience with recommendations for improvement................................................12
D4. Evaluating delivery of customer service strategies and communication with justification
and recommendations for development of quality customer experience..................................12
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Management of customer experiences is defined as the procedure consisting of devising
plans to organise and manage the wholesome experience driven by consumers as a result of
consumption of organisational offerings. The present project contains an analysis of the customer
experience management within Thomas Cook. It is a well renowned and established corporation
operating within the confines of tourism sector. The firm provides travel and tourism services to
patrons from all over the world which includes, accommodations, tour packages, etc. This
assignment comprises of comprehensibility of needs and wants of diverse target segments,
alongside exploration of customer experience map to create business opportunities and optimise
customer touch points. Moreover, the report covers investigation of impacts of digital technology
in customer relationship management and application of customer experience management
within service sector business to maximise customer experience.
LO 1
P1. Value of comprehending needs, wants and preferences of target customer groups for
hospitality sector
A target market can be referred to as the accumulation of customers which an entity aims
to target for the execution of its marketing and sale efforts as well as resources. This can be said
to be the subset of the overall market for a certain organisational commodity or facility.
In today's modern era, the primary aim of the overall tourism industry, irrespective of its
size and scale, is to gain maximum customer satisfaction. Customer experience has a pivotal role
to play in long term sustainability of enterprises within tourism industry. For this, firms of the
sector require to function in a way which is aligned with the fulfilment of needs, preferences and
wants of customers.
Travel and tourism sector pertains to hospitality industry which is aimed at attainment of
maximum contentment from public. It is quite wide and for this context, several examples could
be undertaken to show importance of understanding the needs and wants of customers. For
instance, organisation like The Ledbury would be required to analyse the preferences regarding
tastes of individuals which would provide benefit to the company regarding attracting more
customers of different origins. Moreover, an organisation like Intercontinental Group of Hotels
(IGH), would be assessing perspectives of customers regarding good hospitality practices, which
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would ensure its sustainability in the market. This reflects that comprehending needs, wants and
preferences of target customer groups within this sector is very much important for attracting
customers, along with providing them with effective experiences.
P2. Factors facilitating and encouraging customer engagement of various target customer groups
in Thomas Cook
Customer engagement means procedure involving business communication between a
company and its external stakeholders through several media of correspondence like newspaper,
social media, television advertisements, etc. Being a reputed tourism company, Thomas Cook
invites a large number of customers on a daily basis to experience its high quality services. This
ensures comfort and contentment of people who visit the organisational premises. In this regard,
there are a number of factors which tend to serve as drivers as well as influencers for
engagement of various target customer groups. These, in context with Thomas Cook, are
explained as follows:-
Families: These are one of the most effective target customers of each organisations
pertains in the criterion of travel and tourism industry and in order to ensure customer
engagement of this group, the factor which must be taken into account by the firm is
entertainment. It is inclusive of activities which catch the attention of all family members
irrespective of their age, such as fine dining, amusement park, etc.. Yet another effective factor is
to arrange and plan for small trips to heritage places, wildlife sanctuaries and biological parks,
which provides convenience to families, hence, ensuring their engagement.
Corporate Personnel: This is another target customer group for Thomas Cook and is
inclusive of individuals working in a corporate setting. One of the factors which facilitate
engagement of this group is ease to access the facilities, which includes accommodation
facilities that include conferencing and meeting rooms along with free internet facility with a few
charging points in the room so that their office electronic equipments such as mobile, charger,
tablet can be timely charged and do not cause any hindrance in their working.
Disabled people: Engagement of this customer groups is very much important for
Thomas Cook. Thus, to ensure the same, safety is one factor which Thomas Cook must adopt in
order to minimise inconvenience or mishappening pertaining to disabled guests. This could be
ensured by implementing facilities such as wheelchair, elevator must be present on places
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available on their tour packages which are generally present at all the programmes conducted by
Thomas Cook.
However, there are several factors that could influence this engagement in a bad manner.
Some of these are mentioned below:
Inappropriate Food and Beverage Quality: Presence of inappropriate quality of food
products in the remote area due to the lack of resources become the negative factor for different
customer groups such families and adventurers.
Inappropriate Booking Facilities: One of the major aspects which keeps the customers
hooked with Thomas Cook is their easy and convenient booking practices. However,
ineffectiveness within the same due to technological faults could have a negative influence on
customer engagement of each and every group with the company as they require consistency in
their services.
M1. Customer engagement factors determine customer on-boarding strategies for various target
customer groups within Thomas Cook
It is essential for Thomas Cook to effectively build appropriate strategies which are
determined from the factors driving customer engagement. For instance, one on-boarding
strategy with Thomas Cook for families would be to provide entertainment facilities like fancy
dinners or picnics within their services which allow them to have a leisure time. Another on-
boarding strategy for disabled individuals is that alongside booking facilities, the firm could also
arrange for physical assistance, such as stretchers or wheelchairs, along with nurses or care staff
to ensure appropriate on-boarding of these customers. Furthermore, for corporate personnels,
they could be given direct reference links to the hotels where they could obtain conference or
seminar services. This would then not interfere with their personal tourism activities and thus,
would keep them entertained as well as on-board..
D1. Evaluation of broad range of target customer group's needs and expectations in terms of
customer engagement
Various target customer groups have diverse set of needs, wants and preferences. When
the needs of these groups are met relevantly, this results in attainment of maximum satisfaction
from them. In perspective of Thomas Cook, the specific needs and wants of its target customer
groups are evaluated below:
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Families: These groups require a fun and leisure time which is full of family-centric
activities, alongside convenient accommodation and eating services. For instance, a family
touring in India would like to stay in an appropriate area which is close to fun parks, and street
food.
Corporate Personnel: These people are very much constraint due to their tight schedule
and responsibilities while being on a trip. Thus, they require packages where their
accommodation could be close to both airport and subway stations, inclusive of conferencing and
telecommunication services. For instance, an employee going for a conference in London would
like to stay near Heathrow Airport, in a prime hotel having corporate facilities.
Disabled People: They require appropriate material facilities like wheelchair, hospitals
nearby and crutches or stretchers. Along with this, they require that transport, hotels and sight
seeing places provided within their packages are inclusive of such supportive facilities. For
instance, a crippled person, willing to explore Rome, would require that the hotel he is checked
into have slopes, appropriate railings and assistance facilities.
LO 2
P3. Customer experience map for Thomas Cook
Customer experience mapping means procedure whereby a firm traces the interaction that
takes place between customers and the company. Thomas Cook also maps customer experience
from research to the final entitlement. The Customer Experience Map for Thomas Cook is given
underneath:-
MAP ACTIVITIES
Research and Plan In the regards of research and plan the different
kind of facilities and assistance provided by
organisation includes website, online
application, physical offices at different
location and agents who are ready to give
personalised services.
These different available options help
diversified consumer groups. For ex.,
corporates always in hurry due to their tight
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schedule. Usage of mobile application provides
easy access to these consumers along with
special personalised services regarding instant
payment improves their experience with the
organisation
Booking
Thomas Cook provides ease and comfort to
customer by way of making the booking
process quick and accessible to all through its
application and website, that are user friendly.
Thus, through their websites and apps,
customers Like Corporates could easily search
for the package which best suits them and
make their bookings using online payment
services provided by the company..
Entailment of Customer Services
Thomas Cook ensures that adequate and
relevant training is imparted to the staff
members for them to provide a comfortable
and pleasurable experience. Moreover, the firm
has instant support services on its websites and
mobile app, which ensures safety, assistance
and convenience to customers Such as
Corporates. Thus, individuals entail customer
service through using the firm's on-boarding
techniques like enrolling in a tour package and
through availing the services mentioned on
their app and websites beforehand.
Check out and Future Customer Engagement This being last stage of customer experience
mapping process witnesses procedures like
provision of feedback forms. Moreover,
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customer mapping is also done post customer
check outs from organisational premises
through provision of lucrative offers, discounts
and coupons. Moreover, customers engage
with the company through websites, apps and
social media pages of the company which
includes feedback forms and spontaneous
communication portals which allow customers
like Corporates to communicate their
experiences with the customer service
executives of the company.
P4. Manner in which touch points create such opportunities throughout customer experience
within Thomas Cook
Customer touch points are encounter of customer with the business entity throughout the
process of their engagement. Such kind of touch points may be linked to provision of facilities or
commodities, flow of data or handling of transactions. Thomas Cook can effectively optimise the
touch points in such a manner that it leads to creation of business opportunities for enhancement
of customer experience. These touch points are briefly explained underneath in context of the
journey with Thomas Cook:-
Mobile Application: Yet another prominent touch point which could be taken into use as
an opportunity by Thomas Cook is organisational mobile application (Thomas Cook - Holiday
Packages, 2019). The application developed by the entity needs to be eye-catchy but at the time
user friendly to ensure ease for customers. The respective corporation can develop this as an
opportunity through the provision of personalised offers and several options for customers to
choose in accordance with their requirements. Selection of the type of holiday they want to take,
hotel they want to stay in and many such facilities can be easily decided upon by the customers
upon the app. Customer service assistance also needs to be there for people within the
application. It must also have an option of safety tabs which would help the customers contact
the firm in case of emergencies regardless of the location.
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Company's Website: Before the start of the trip, there are several issues or queries faced
by clients that need to be resolved in order to gain satisfaction from customers. In this regard,
Thomas Cook must make sure the ease in accessibility of its website for customers so that people
can easily carry out interaction with the chat bots. Spontaneous chat reverts should be provided
on the website so that the queries of clients can be handled in a timely manner and they can be
convinced to experiences the services provided by Thomas Cook. Moreover, the website also
provides information about different packages, special deals and services, as well as chat feature
which allows the customers to spontaneously clarify their doubts. These touch points could help
the company in engaging and hooking customers for long.
In Hotel premises: This is regarded as one of the most significant touch points for
clients. From the time, customers check in into the hotel to the point that they check out, the staff
of the organisation has a significant role to play in inflating the experience driven by customers.
The staff members of the respective organisation must possess formal code of conduct while at
work so that customers feel that they are dealt with in a professional manner. They should be
greeted and welcomed from the moment they gain entry into the premise of company. The staff
members must escort them to their rooms and make sure that the clients do not face any kind of
difficult during their stay at the hotel. Furthermore, in an instance of emergency, the same should
be professional communicated to customers along with the measures that can be undertaken by
them to exercise safety. Furthermore, technologies like self checkouts, and automated safety
system on websites could also be used in order to ensure effectiveness in services. All of this
would enable the respective entity to inflate the experience driven by customers.
At Restaurant premise: The employees operating within the restaurant should be
imparted adequate and relevant training so as to warmly greet the customers as they enter the
premise. The meal tables should be ready prior to the entry of guests and the staff should guide
the customers to their table. The menu must be already present upon the tables so that customers
do not have to wait for even a moment. The guests must be asked at regular intervals to be served
with extra meal servings. Lastly, post the consumption of meal by guests, the customers should
receive a polite goodbye from the restaurant management with proper thanking for visiting the
premises and sharing of any feedback for bringing improvements in the restaurant dishes and
services. Moreover, technological advancements could also be used, like mobile billing as well
as pre booking, that would enhance the customer experience further.
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M2. Detailed customer experience map and examination of activities by which customer touch
points create business opportunities
It is highly essential for an organisation to ensure crafting detailed customer maps, along
with examination of activities through which customer touch points could create business.
Selected service sector organisation can optimize each of the customer touch points to influence
the behaviour, responses and actions of its customers to enhance opportunities. For example,
detailed crafting of customer mapping would help Thomas Cook in effectively ensuring
accomplishment of activities during all customer experience touch points. The journey model
depicted from the effective accomplishment of this process regarding continuous improvement.
This will further contributes in the selection of the activities and actions which enhances the
touch point and create business opportunities. Usage of mobile application by the organisation
seemed to be the contribution of the continuous impoverishment model which allows the
customer to perform actions from their home. Now, the future improvements will be seen
through the use of more advanced technologies that enhance the consumer experiences at next
level.
D2. Analysis of Thomas Cook optimizing each of customer touch points to influence behaviour,
responses and actions of customers to enhance their experiences
It is further important for organisations to effectively optimise each customer touchpoint
to influence behaviour, response and actions of customers. For instance, Thomas Cook could
ensure push notifications through emails and social media portals, providing information to
patrons about its website and packages. This would attract more customers towards their
websites. To optimise it further, the firm could provide directional tutorials to guide users of how
to use their websites and mobile apps both. Furthermore, in terms of hotels and restaurant
premises, digital technologies like Automation, Customer Service Management and even
Artificial Intelligence could be used that would optimally provide effective, accurate and
convenient services to customers appropriately, thus, increasing their experiences.
LO 3
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P5. Use of digital technology in management of customer experience within Thomas Cook with
examples of customer relationship management systems
Customer Relationship Management refers to the procedure under which organisation's
manage their interactions with current as well as potential customers. Digital technology has a
major impact within this management as data analysis plays a crucial role in determining the
history, buying behaviour and preferences of customers.
In terms of Thomas Cook, customer relationship management is managed through
software, which is RightNow Technologies' CRM Package. This is one of the recently acquired
system of the organisation which is developed using technology like Automation, wherein the
firm has an agenda of appropriately manage its relationships with customers without investing
heavy amounts in technology (Thomas Cook buys into CRM, 2019). Majorly, this software uses
online optimisation of complaints and enquiries, which would be helping the company in saving
a lot of money. This would directly help customers to engage in a spontaneous conversation with
the firm's executives online, which enhances the convenience and further scope of engagement
with the company.
M3. Evaluation of utility of digital technologies for customer experience management in
changing CRM systems to effectively acquire and retain customers
Digital technology plays a crucial role these days in the whole travel and tourism sector,
in terms of attracting, engaging and retaining customers appropriately. There are several
examples that showcases how the current technologies adopted by the organisations within the
industry are changing CRM systems to effectively acquire and retain customers. Some of the
examples from within the sectors are discussed below: Teradata CRM Solution: This system is used by British Airways to automate ongoing
campaigns as well as customer communications. This allows the firm to optimise
communication and relationship with numerous individuals within hundreds of
destinations (Big Brand CRM Case Studies, 2019). Thus, automation is one digital
technology that is essentially been used in this system. This technology is changing CRM
Systems within the sectors as now accuracy and optimisation, both could effectively be
achieved whilst managing different customers around distinct geographical boundaries.
This changes CRM systems as now there is a need to ensure effectiveness in farther
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