Comprehensive Customer Experience Report: Holiday Inn Analysis

This report analyzes customer experience management within the hospitality sector, using Holiday Inn as a case study. It explores the importance of understanding customer needs and preferences, examining factors driving customer engagement across different customer groups. The report...Read More

How to manage the
customer experience

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1. Explain the values and importance of understanding the needs, wants and preferences of
targeted customers groups for a services sector industry............................................................1
P2. Explore the different factors that drive and influences customers engagement of different
targets customer groups within a service sector organisation. ...................................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
P3. Create a customer experience map for a selected service sector organisation......................4
P4. Discuss how the customers touch– points throughout the customer experience create
business opportunities for selected service sector organisation..................................................5
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................6
P5. Examine how digital technology is employed in managing the customer experience with
in the service sector, providing specific examples of customers relationship management
system..........................................................................................................................................6
P6. Customer service strategies in the specific service sector context........................................7
P7. How customer service strategies create and develop the customer experience in a way that
meets the needs of the customers and required business standards............................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
Customers are very important part of company and it is essential for managing their
needs and wants in order to enhance their experience. Company should understand the need and
wants of customers as well as full fill their requirements. This will lead to enhance their
experience as well as develop strong relationship with customers. Customers experience can be
define as a perception which consist of both conscious as well as subconscious that is developed
through interaction with the brand. It is an opportunity for organisation to develop and increase
the experience of customers in order to attract more and more customers towards business as
well as gain loyalty. For respective report, chosen company is Holiday Inn. This is an American
brand of hotels which is owned by Britisher. It is one of the largest hotel and restaurant chain
which is providing its products and services to different part of the world. Holiday Inn services
consist of hotels and lodging, restaurant and food services. This company was established in
1952 and founder of this organisation Kemmons Wilson. This report consist of analysing the
importance of understanding customers needs and wants as well as different factors that drive
customer engagement of different targets customers. It consist of customer experience map as
well as impact of digital technology in managing customers experience. This report includes
customers different strategies in order to enhance experience of customers.
TASK 1
P1. Explain the values and importance of understanding the needs, wants and preferences of
targeted customers groups for a services sector industry.
It is essential for an organisation to understand the need and wants of customers in order
to enhance their experience. Holiday Inn company should focus in providing products and
services that is as per the preference of targeted customer. So that they can develop better
relationship with their consumers as well as satisfy their need ans wants. In order to increase
business activities as well as successful conduct operations of organisation, customer experience
with the business play a significant role in organisation. By identifying and analysing the needs
and wants of customer, company will be able to provide better services and products. Excellent
customer services are considered as a key for the success of business. Holiday Inn company is
dealing in hospitality sector and its is essential for respective company to full fill customers
needs as this will help in gaining competitive advantage over other rival companies. Impoertance
1

as well as value of of understanding the customer needs, wants as well as preference for Holiday
Inn company is mention below.
Maximize profits and revenues: Customers are very crucial part of organisation so it is
essential that company provide product and services as per need and wants of customers. It is
important for Holiday Inn company to provide product and services as per customers
requirements. This will help in attracting more and more customers towards business and help
organisation to increase their sales and profits. Customer will only purchase product and services
of respective company if they meet with the preference of consumers. Identifying and understand
customers requirements and preference will help in attracting more and more customers towards
business as well as maximize the business revenues as well as profitability.
Developing relationship with customers: Understanding need and wants of customers
will be very helpful in developing better relationship with customers. This can be consider as a
great opportunities for Holiday Inn company to provide products and services as per needs and
requirements of customers. This will be very beneficial in enhancing the relationship with
customers. Respective company will be able to develop strong relationship with its targets
customers by providing effective and efficient services as per the preference of customers.
Enhance value of customers: Holiday Inn company needs to analyse the preference of
targeted customers as it will help in enhancing the value of customer as well as satisfying their
needs and requirements. Maximizing the values of customer is one of the important part of
organisation as it will lead to successful running of business for longer period of time. Each and
every customer has different need and expectation from company so Holiday Inn company needs
to evaluate customers preference. It is essential that customer must feel that the products and
services of respective company is valuable to their time and money.
Lower business cost: By evaluating the need and want of customer, company will be
able to lower its business cost. A better understanding about customer preference and needs will
help in attracting customers towards business as well as satisfying requirements of customers.
This lead to reduces the marketing and promotion cost of business as Holiday inn company will
be able to influences its customer by identifying their preference and needs. This is very help in
reducing the operational cost of business and earning more profits.
2

P2. Explore the different factors that drive and influences customers engagement of different
targets customer groups within a service sector organisation.
There are various factors that is influencing customers as well as driving then towards
organisations products and services. It is important for company to attract customer within the
hospitality service sector as there are many company which is dealing in respective sector.
Holiday Inn company is targeting customer of different age with different needs and
requirements. Each and every customer have different need or want and it is essential for
Holiday to analyse all those factor which that drive as well as influences customer engagement
of different group of customer. Major factor that influences the behaviour of consumer are
culture, social, personal and psychological factors. All these factor are mention below in context
of different targets customer group of Holiday Inn company. Culture factor: This has been identified that culture factor play a vital role in influencing
the customer behaviour towards business. This factor consist of various components such
as culture, sub culture, social class. Culture of individual will have major impact on its
attitude as well as their choice and preferences. Customer's preference will be bases in the
culture factor. Adult and teenage customer group will be majorly influenced by the
culture factor as their decision making will be affected by cultural values, ethics and
believes. Social factor: Social factor consist of family, friends, reference group, role as well as
status of a person. Customer belongs to different society and these factors will have
influence over their decision making as well as purchasing behaviour. Holiday Inn
company is attracting customer from different social class and elements of social factor
will affect the buying behaviour of customers. Family and business class customer group
of Holiday Inn will be majorly affected by social factor. As they have to select product as
services as per social factor. Personal factor: Personal factor is one of the crucial factor for attracting and influencing
customers. This factor consist of age of customers, occupation, financial situation, life
style as well as personality of a person. This factor majorly related to the self concept and
personal interest. Each customer has their own interest and beliefs which influences their
decision and choice. Holiday Inn is one of the leading brand and its products and services
3

are higher as compare to any other local hotel. So financial status and occupation will
have affect on taking decisions.
 Psychological factor: This factor is related to the perception as well as mind set of an
individual. Psychological factor play a significant role in influencing customers towards
business. It consist of motivation, perception, learning , experience, belief and attitude of
a person. A customer will be influenced by Holiday Inn company when it has positive
perception towards their products and services.
TASK 2
P3. Create a customer experience map for a selected service sector organisation.
Customer experience map can be define as a diagram which consist of different stages
through which a consumer go through while interacting with the company as well as purchasing
the products. This is very helpful in interacting with customers in more effective and efficient
manner. It lead to focus on particular needs and wants of customers at different stages of buying
funnel. Customer experience map is helpful in full filing customer experiences and increasing
sales of the company. Holiday Inn company will be able to refocus company through inbound
perspective. Organisation can create new target bases of customer thorough experience map.
Customer experience map in respect of Holiday Inn company is mention below.
Set clear objective for map: This is the first stage of mapping the customer experience
and in this company have to set cleat objectives. Holiday Inn company needs to set objective
which is able to full fill requirements of targeted customers in effective and efficient manner.
Define goals: It is essential for Holiday Inn company to define a clear and strong goals.
These goals needs to be communicated with each and every employees of respective
organisation. So that they focus on conducting business activities in better way to that defined
goals could be accomplished with in set time.
List out all touchpoints: After set objectives as well as defining the goals of business, it
is essential to list out all the touchpoints. This refers to all those area of Holiday Inn website
through which customers can interact with organisation. Respective company needs to conducts
a research in order to identify all touchpoints as it is crucial step in creating customer experience
map.
4

Identify elements to map: There are different types of map and respective company
needs to select or identify the map which company wants to show. These map will be selected on
the bases of specific purpose as well as goals of Holiday Inn company.
Customer Journey: Once map is identified it is important to take the customer journey.
This step is very crucial in analysing the results. This will helps in understanding the needs of
customer that is not yet met.
Necessary changes: This is considered as a last stage of customer experience mapping
and in this step company needs to conduct necessary changes as per requirement of the
customers. This will be very helpful in meeting the needs and requirement of customers in much
better manner.
P4. Discuss how the customers touch– points throughout the customer experience create business
opportunities for selected service sector organisation.
Customer touch- points are all those brand points of the customer contact from start to
end. Touch points are any time in which targeted as well as potential customers are in contact of
brand. This could be before or after the purchase of any product and services of the company.
Identifying touch-points of the Holiday Inn company is considered as a first step for develop
map of customer journey. This is very helpful in satisfying needs and wants of customer as well
as full filling their requirement. Holiday Inn company touch points can be found in various
things as it is dependent upon brand and activities of organisation. Some touch-points of befor
purchase are social media, rating as well as reviews, advertisement, marketing, public
relationship and many more. Some of the touch points during the purchase of product consist of
employees and staff member, catalogue, website, hotel environment, area and various other
factors. Holiday Inn company needs to identify as well as improve touch points as per the
feedback of customers. There are various touch point which are very crucial with in hospitality
industry and some of the touch point that will help in enhancing the experience of Holiday Inn
customers are mention below.
 This company needs to create a innovative and great website in order to touch the mind
as well as soul of its targeted customers
 Holiday Inn company should E-mail, SMS or notify it customers though any other
medium. This should be done during as well as after purchase of services in order to
develop better relationship with customers.
5

 It is important that company create as delight while check In in the hotel. This is essential
as it is first time when customer interact with their customers.
 E- mail promotion as well as marketing is a very effective way to create touch points.
Holiday Inn company should focus keeping in touch with customers through emails and
promotion of its product and services.
Customers touch points are very important part of the company as it helps in developing
effective and strong relationship with customers. Holiday Inn company will be able create better
touch points when customers is a contact of organisation. In order to enhance its business
operational as well as achieve desired goals and objectives. This will be very beneficial in gain
completive advantage over other rival companies.
TASK 3
P5. Examine how digital technology is employed in managing the customer experience with in
the service sector, providing specific examples of customers relationship management
system.
Digital technology have major impact on business as well as operations. This is very
helpful in conducting business activities in more effective and efficient manner as well as
accomplishing desired goals and objective. Digital technology is very useful for in enhancing the
performance of employees as well as developing strong relationship with customers. Holiday Inn
company is dealing in highly competitive environment so it is crucial for respective company to
use digital technology in its business process in order to gain competitive advantages over other
rival company. Digital technology is very important for Holiday Inn company in order to
enhancing the customers experience. Some of the benefits of digital technology for respective
company is given below in detail. Better customer engagement: Digital technology will be very helpful in increasing the
engagement is customer with business. It is important for company to use new and
innovative technology in its business process so that they can engage customers with
business. Holiday Inn company will be able to develop better customer engagement with
its potential customers by posting creative contact on social and digital media platforms. Increase customer conversion: Holiday inn company will be able to increase customer
conversion thorough digital media. Customer will be more likely to purchase products
6

and services from those company which have strong brand image in market area. Digital
technology will help in creating new prospect of customers towards business. Reduces cost of marketing: Digital technology is an effective tool for conducting
marketing activities in effective and efficient manner. This will help in reducing the cost
of marketing cost as digital and social media is more cost effective tool for marketing of
products and services of Holiday Inn company.
 Increase customer loyalty and retention: Digital technology will be very helpful in
enchaining the experience of customers in order to increase customer loyalty. Holiday
Inn company should use digital technology in its business process as it will help in
building the foundation of loyalty as well as improve the customer retention.
Customer relationship management system is an effective tool or techniques which help
in developing strong relationship with potential customers of the company. Holiday Inn company
can use customer relationship management system in its business process in order to enhance the
experience of customers as well as providing the complete details and information. This will
helps in foster the loyalty towards business. There are different tools of customer relationship
experience for example chatbots, big data analytics, artificial intelligence, virtual reality and
many more.
P6. Customer service strategies in the specific service sector context.
It is very important for company to develop effective and efficient strategies so that they
can meet with the needs and requirements of customers. There are different strategies which will
help Holiday Inn company to enhance the experience of customer as well as achieve goals and
objectives of respective company. In today's competitive environment, it is essential to meet with
the demand of customers in order to satisfy the requirement of company. This will help Holiday
Inn company to gain competitive advantages over other rival companies. Customer service
strategies needs to be developed to meet with the customers requirement as well as developing
strong relationship with customers. There are different customer service strategies which will be
very helpful for respective company to conduct business objective in effective and efficient
manner. All of these strategies are mention below in respective of Holiday Inn company. Resolving problems and issues of customer: It is important that Holiday Inn company
resolve issues and problems of its customers in order to developed strong relationship
with customers. Respective company should focus on handling the issues or grievances
7

of customer in effective and efficient manner. This will be very helpful for company in
gaining trust from customers by solving the major problems. This is considered as an
effective strategies for gain loyalty from potential customers as well as retaining them
with the company for longer period of time. Holiday Inn company needs to develop
strong strategies and plan that will help in managing and solving issues of customers in
more effective manner. Providing training and development to staffs: Training and development of employees
is very essential part of the company as well as it help in enhancing the performance of
employees. This is a great strategies for Holiday Inn company to enhance the experience
of customers as well as develop strong relationship with customers. Respective company
needs to develop strong strategies by providing accurate training. This training will help
in increasing skill and abilities of employees so that they can work in more effective
manner. It has been analysed that a trained employee will be able to perform its business
operation in better manner as well as satisfy needs and wants of customers.
 Provide products and services as per customer requirement: Holiday Inn company
needs to develop strong strategies by providing high quality of products and services to
its customers. These strategies will help in developing strong image of respective
company in market area. It is very important that company provide high quality of
products and services in order to gain trust from customers. It is essential that Holiday
Inn company is offering products and service as per requirement of customers. For this
respective company needs to conduct proper research as well as analyse the new market
trends as well as market demands. This strategies will help in satisfying needs and wants
of potential customers as well as full fill their requirement from the company.
P7. How customer service strategies create and develop the customer experience in a way that
meets the needs of the customers and required business standards.
It is very important for a company which is dealing in hospitality industry to develop
customer service strategies in order to enhance the experience of customers. This is very helpful
in meeting with the needs and wants of customers as well business requirement. There are
different strategies which is developed by Holiday and impact of these strategies on business in
order to meet with needs of customer are mention below.
8

 These strategies will help in understanding potential customers of the company as well as
creating a proper vision in more to meet with their requirements.
 Through these strategies company will be able to create an emotional connection with
customer. These strategies will lead to enhance the relationship between customer and
organisation.
 Strategies that is developed by Holiday Inn company in order to increase the experience
of customers will help in improve the quality of products and services offered by
company. This will help in retaining customers with in organisation.
 This will help in achieve set goals and objective of organisation in effective and efficient
manner. Holiday Inn company will be able to increase the performance of employees as
well as improving organisational overall performance.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that company should focus on providing
products and services as per need and wants of customers. This will be very helpful in satisfying
requirement of customer as well as gaining trust from from them. In highly competitive
environment, it is essential that organisation is developed effective and efficient strategies which
will help in attracting more as more customers towards business as well as providing high quality
services. By enhancing the experience of customer company will be able to gain competitive
advantage over other rival companies. Digital technology play a crucial role in conducting
business operations in more effective and efficient manner as well as it help in reducing the
business cost. Company should develop a proper map of customer experience as it will help in
increasing customer experience as well as lead to achieve organisational goals and objectives.
9

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Blázquez, M., 2014. Fashion shopping in multichannel retail: The role of technology in
enhancing the customer experience. International Journal of Electronic Commerce.
18(4). pp.97-116.
Bruhn, M. and Hadwich, K., 2012. Customer experience. Springer Gabler.
Buttle, F., 2004. Customer relationship management. Routledge.
Choi, E.K., Wilson, A. and Fowler, D., 2013. Exploring customer experiential components and
the conceptual framework of customer experience, customer satisfaction, and actual
behavior. Journal of foodservice business research. 16(4). pp.347-358.
Grewal, D., Levy, M. and Kumar, V., 2009. Customer experience management in retailing: an
organizing framework. Journal of retailing. 85(1). pp.1-14.
Kandampully, J., Zhang, T. and Jaakkola, E., 2018. Customer experience management in
hospitality: A literature synthesis, new understanding and research agenda.
International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. 30(1). pp.21-56.
Lemon, K.N. and Verhoef, P.C., 2016. Understanding customer experience throughout the
customer journey. Journal of marketing. 80(6). pp.69-96.
MacGillavry, K. and Wilson, A., 2014. Delivering loyalty via customer experience management
at DHL Freight. Global Business and Organizational Excellence. 33(6). pp.6-20.
Popa, V. and Barna, M., 2013. Customer and shopper experience management. Valahian Journal
of Economic Studies. 4(2). p.81.
Sathi, A., 2011. Customer experience analytics: The key to real-time, adaptive customer
relationships. Mc Press, Llc.
Schmitt, B., 2016. Customer experience management. Handbuch Sozialtechniken der
Kommunikation: Grundlagen–Innovative Ansätze–Praktische Umsetzungen. pp.1-13.
Schmitt, B.H., 2010. Customer experience management: A revolutionary approach to connecting
with your customers. John Wiley & Sons.
Schultz, D., Patti, C.H. and Kitchen, P.J. Eds., 2013. The evolution of integrated marketing
communications: The customer-driven marketplace. Routledge.
Verhoef, P.C. and et.al., 2009. Customer experience creation: Determinants, dynamics and
management strategies. Journal of retailing. 85(1). pp.31-41.
Walden, S., 2017. Customer Experience Management Rebooted: Are You an Experience Brand
Or an Efficiency Brand?. Springer.
Wilson, A. and et.al., 2016. Services marketing: Integrating customer focus across the firm.
Yoon, S.J. and Lee, H.J., 2017. Does customer experience management pay off? Evidence from
local versus global hotel brands in South Korea. Journal of Hospitality Marketing &
Management. 26(6). pp.585-605.
1