Customer Experience Management Report: Marriott Hotels Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of customer experience management, focusing on Marriott Hotels. It begins with an introduction to customer experience and its importance, followed by an examination of market segmentation strategies, including demographic, psychographic, and behavioral approaches. The report delves into the significance of understanding customer needs, wants, and preferences, and analyzes customer behavior and attitudes within different market segments. It explores factors that drive customer engagement, such as entertainment, loyalty programs, and feedback mechanisms. The report then examines the needs and expectations of different target groups, including quality, service, and pricing considerations. A customer experience map is developed to identify touchpoints in the customer journey, from researching hotels to departing. Finally, the report offers recommendations for optimizing these touchpoints to enhance the overall customer experience and improve customer satisfaction. The report also covers the use of CRM systems and digital technology in managing customer interest in hotels. The analysis includes advantages, disadvantages, and recommendations for improving the quality of customer experiences.

MANAGING THE
CUSTOMER
EXPERIENCES

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
SCENERIO 1...................................................................................................................................3
Market segmentation...................................................................................................................3
Importance of understanding the needs, wants, and preferences of the target customer groups.4
Customer Behaviour and attitudes of different market segments................................................4
Factors Driving Customer Engagement.......................................................................................5
Needs and Expectations of different target groups......................................................................5
Customer Experience Map..........................................................................................................6
Customer Journey through Customer Experience Map...............................................................6
Optimising the Touch Points in the Customer Journey...............................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
SCENERIO 2:..................................................................................................................................1
1) Introduction.............................................................................................................................1
2) Customer relationship management........................................................................................1
3) Digital technology is employed in managing the customer interest in hotels.........................1
4) Advantages and disadvantages of using the CRM systems....................................................2
5) Illustration of consumer service strategies..............................................................................4
6) Customer service strategies meet the needs of the hotel.........................................................4
7) Valid recommendation for improvement of the quality customer experiences......................5
8) Conclusion...............................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Managing the experience of the customers is considered to be an effective process as it helps in
carrying out the operations of the business (De Keyser and et.al., 2015). This is an effective
process of reacting and designing to the customer interaction which in turn helps in meeting the
customer expectations, customer loyalty, etc. The management of the company tends to
effectively organize every interaction between the organization and the customers. Managing the
experience of the customers helps in strengthening the preference of the customers over the
particular brand.
Marriott Hotel and resorts is one of the leading hotel company in hospitality industry.
Marriott Hotel and resorts was founded in the year 1957 by the founder J. Willard Marriott. This
company is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, U.S. It tends to offer full-time hospitality
services to the customers across worldwide.
SCENERIO 1
Market segmentation
Market segmentation is referred to as an effective process as it helps in dividing the market of
the potential customers (Goodman, 2019). The market segmentation is referred to as an effective
approach who intends to focus on customers who shares similar traits such as interest, needs and
location. Market segmentation is based on dividing the groups into subgroups in accordance
with the particular set basis. The base tends to range from gender, age, income, place, lifestyle,
status, occupation, etc. and various other psychological factors which is mainly linked with
interest, value, attitude, behaviour, belief, etc.
Demographic segmentation is considered to be one of the effective approach which is
mainly focused by the Marriott Hotel. The segmentation of the Marriott hotel tends to mainly
comply with classic luxury, classic premium and classic select. The demographic market
segmentation of the Marriott Hotel is mainly associated with the age, gender, culture, income,
education and religion (Alt and Iversen, 2017). Marriott Hotel and resorts has tiers for every
income segment. Marriott Hotel tends to offer effective hospitality services for various age group
in order to attain higher customers satisfaction and loyalty.
Psychographic segmentation is mainly associated with the values, beliefs, interests,
lifestyle and traits of an individual. Marriott Hotel provides luxury and warm customer services.

They tend to offer custom personalized services, delicious food with wholesome ingredients,
distinctive lounges, dinner expectation, etc.
Behavioural segmentation is associated with understanding the buying behaviour of an
individual (Denizci Guillet, Guo and Law, 2015). Marriott Hotel tends to focus on offering
various reward programs, up-gradation of room, etc. helps in creating better brand loyalty.
Importance of understanding the needs, wants, and preferences of the target customer groups.
It is considered to be very crucial for the Marriott hotel company to evaluate the needs,
wants, and preferences of the target customers because it helps in building better relationships
with the customers and also focuses on building profitable business for the Marriott Hotel
(Wittmann-Wurzer and Zech, 2019). It is very crucial for the company to determine their own
target group in order to attain higher operational goals and deliver the best possible services by
complying with their needs. Understanding the neds, wants and preference of the targeted
customers helps in providing customized services which in turn leads to higher sustainable
growth and efficiency. This also helps in getting more lead onto the business and helps in
offering effective customer services (Pansari and Kumar, 2017). This also helps Marriott Hotel
in maintaining strong customer relationship which in turn leads higher sustainable growth and
success of the business. It is considered to be useful in generating new sales with the help of
positive word of mouth recommendation. It is very useful in understanding the current market
trend of the market which helps in delivering optimum hospitality services to customers
(Schoenwitz and et.al., 2017).
Customer Behaviour and attitudes of different market segments
The three selected market segments which would be on the priority list of the managers have
been identified as demographic, psycho graphic and behavioural and these can be targeted by
analysing different attitudes:
Added Benefits: The customers always get excited when they are given freebies with the services
or products they are being offered and this can help the manager of Marriott in attracting
customer based on the behavioural segmentation (Surridge And et.al, 2018). This increases the
satisfaction level of the consumers and their brand loyalty automatically increases towards the
service provider i.e. Marriott Hotel.
Entertainment: The managers must ensure that there is something for everyone at their hotel
irrespective of their gender or age or other demographic factors so that they enjoy their

experience at the hotel rather than feeling lost (Joshi, 2018). This would help in increasing the
customer engagement and therefore, increase the trust of the consumers in the service given by
the Marriott Hotel.
Health Consciousness and quality: The behavioural segmentation includes tendencies of the
customers such as the food should be healthy, they quality should be best etc. and by addressing
these factors, the manages of the company can satisfy these wants thus ensuring customers that
their taste would always be met at the hotel and increasing their loyalty and trust.
Factors Driving Customer Engagement
It is very important that the customer visiting the hotel should feel connected and
engaged in the activities that are going on and for different target groups, this can be done in
different ways such as:
Entertainment for different age groups: the Hotel needs to understand that for different age
groups, the entertainment is different i.e. for kinds physical activities are more engaging, for
teenagers and adults, parties, dances, events etc. are more pleasurable and for older people,
soothing musics, spas and therapies will be the best manner of engaging them (Zolkiewski and
et.al., 2017). Therefore, there must be some activity for everyone who is visiting the hotel.
Loyalty Points, Discounts and Schemes: This is the best manner of keeping the customer
engaged and associated with the hotel since the more they would visit the hotel, more would be
their loyalty points and chances to avail discounts and other offers such as discounts to regulars
etc. This will automatically increase the engagement of the customer with the hotel and thus
customer retention will also increase.
Feedbacks: This is the most important tool because when the feedbacks given by the customers
would be noted and analysed, then their ability to keep the customers satisfied would increase
and hence the customer retention would increase.
Needs and Expectations of different target groups
The different target groups have separate needs and expectation from their service provided and
these can be addressed in following manner:
Quality: This aspect would be more required by the regular visitors of the hotel and other
travellers who are health conscious especially females and therefore the management should
rather ensure that they highlight this aspect while serving the targeted customers so that their
need to eat good quality food gets satisfied.

Service: When the elite class and the older people are visiting the hotel, their focus is on the kind
of service that is given to them and the behaviour of the staff (.Kandampully, Zhang and
Jaakkola, 2018). Therefore, these factors should be of more concern to the management where
they try to give more comfort to the visitors of the hotel.
Pricing: Although, for majority fo the customers visiting the hotel, this is not the primary
concern but yet, they should not price their products overly or in a much expensive manner. The
prices should remain reasonable despite the image of the hotel as an expensive one. This will
help in attracting those occasional visitors to the hotel and therefore increase the publicity of the
business. When they will find that the hotel is affordable and lavish, this would be an immense
success factor.
Customer Experience Map
The customer experience map can be defined as the identification of all the encounters and
experiences that the customer had in the hotel and then on this basis various touch points are
developed. These help in understanding what was the interaction of the customers with the
service provider and whether it was positive or negative (Wilson and et.al., 2016). Further,
preparation of a customer experience map helps in increasing the customer satisfaction by
identifying what are the problem areas and how by addressing these, the retention and loyalty of
the customers can increase toward the service provider or Marriott Hotel in this case.
Customer Journey through Customer Experience Map

These are the major touchpoints for customers during their entire experience at the hotel and can
be detailed in following manner:
Researching Hotels: The potential customers view different points available to them and then
select the most appropriate one while evaluating them in different context such as price etc. For
Marriott Hotel, this can be done by ensuring that the different amenities are made available and
the pricing is different for different customer segment.
Making Reservations: The easier the process of making reservations, more is the flexibility of
the consumers. Marriott Hotel can simplify the process and make it flexible for the potential
customers so that it does not becomes complicated.
Arriving At Hotel: A customer, when they arrive at hotel often expects some sort of welcome in
the company. At Marriott, they can facilitate this aspect by ensuring that they feel properly
welcomed upon entering the restaurant (Homburg, Jozić,. and Kuehnl, 201).
Checking In: While checking in at Marriott Hotel, the managers should try to reduce the waiting
time and make the room available as soon as possible.
Using Guest Room: This is the waiting time and this should be kept minimum. Managers should
try to make this short and entertaining by playing some kind of music or by serving drinks.
Using Amenities: At Marriott, the amenities should be clean, sanitised and hygienic along with
ensuring that the health and sanitation is maintained in all aspects.
Paying and Checking out: A feedback Form is the best strategy so that the experience of
consumer can be documented.
Departing: A customer should always feel that they are welcomed again any time and this can be
adopted by the staff of Marriott Hotel.
Optimising the Touch Points in the Customer Journey
 Search engine optimisation can be used at the first stage where the name of JW Marriott
Hotel can be prominently seen by the potential customers.
 Online booking process should be encouraged and simplified so that it is easy to make
booking in the hotel (Schoenwitz and et.al., 2017).
 On the arrival, welcome drinks should be served or a welcome tradition should be
developed which is same for everyone.
 At the time of Check In, the waiting time should be kept minimum and they should be
entertained.

 The amenities given should be clean and safe to use.
 Checking out processes should be simple and feedbacks should be encouraged.
CONCLUSION
The above research helps in concluding that the customer segmentation and targeting is very
important in the industry and this is the best strategy that can be used to target the customers
appropriately. In the current report, the consumer experience map was used to document the
experience of the consumer and it was found that the experience of the consumers at Marriott
hotel can be optimised using certain techniques and strategies. Appropriate recommendations
were also made in the end of the report

SCENERIO 2:
1) Introduction
Digital technology refers to the electronic mode which is adapted by many companies in
relation to promoting the business at larger level. Usually companies use the social media
platform to promote their products and services at global level and this can be attained in respect
of using the advertisement or organising campaign to promote the business (Goncu and Marriott,
2019). This report is based upon the Marriott hotels and resorts which is founded in 1957 and
also, they are located in around 567 places carrying the business at higher level growth. This
report carries the matter related to digital technology and also its impact upon the business
through using the advanced technology. It also determines the relationship with the customer and
its management system to maintain their integrity in the business.
2) Customer relationship management
This is mainly adapted by company in relation to managing the relationship with the
customers. As customer are the important part of the business and through their involvement and
guidance, the integrity of the business is determined. Thus, company manages the relationship
with customer through focusing on their needs and wants in products or services which is offered
by them (Nambisan, 2017). The three major benefits which is gained through preferring the
effective customer relationship management is that it helps in improving the satisfaction of the
customer regarding attaining the particular products. It also helps in retaining customer interest
in context of offering innovative services. In relation to interacting with customer, it helps in
improving the communication skills and also, they manage the internal matter in right manner.
Thus, in such manner, CRM mainly cover the strategies, technologies and methods which
is adapted by the company in relation to increasing the sales or gathering information regarding
the customer lifestyle and also examined their taste in availing the particular products.
3) Digital technology is employed in managing the customer interest in hotels
In case of Marriott hotels, they mainly promote the business through digital technology.
As this is one of the major aspects through which they build the close relationship with the
customer by promoting the products or services online (Henderson, Selwyn and Aston, 2017). In
relation to Marriott hotels they bring Vroom services which is one of the most attractive gadgets
usually preferred by the adults and youngsters to experiences the real-world journey. Thus,
through this manner, Marriott hotel is promoting their services through using the digital media
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platform. As customer are attracted if they find any unique concept which fulfil their needs in
better way. Marriott hotel carry the renowned brand name in market and mainly attract the
customer interest through bringing innovative ideas in their hotels (Drijvers, 2015). Marriott
hotels is the first one which is promoting the services relating to Vroom hotels. The promotion
regarding the Vroom services are undertaken in relation to building the strong connectivity with
the guest and also helps them to know more about the hotels and its working criteria to expand
the business into many countries.
As Marriott hotels is located in around 567 places and thus in such manner, they are
building the strong connection with the people which are using the online services. Usually
customer is attracted if they find any unique and creative websites which is the eye catching for
the customer. The power of the digital platform is that they can retain the customer interest for
longer way through organising the events which is mainly preferable by the customer. Thus,
through this manner they are mainly undertaken in relation to managing the customer
experiences through taking proper reviews and feedback, once they avail the services (Selwyn,
2016). Through the technology, customer can also raise queries from the company in context of
finding any new services which is offered by Marriott. Thus, the impact of technology raises in
context of boosting the customer interest towards the services which is offered by the company.
It also helps customer to differentiate their choice from the different companies and they prefer
the best services. In this aspect rating and customer reviews play the positive role in taking the
correct decision and also in context of company it helps them in taking the corrective decisions.
For e.g. In case of Marriott hotels, if they are brining any new services relating to any
special offers during the particular time period, then they use the social media platform to build
the trust among the products and services of the customers. As customer in return expected to get
timely feedback regarding the hotel services and also the offers which they are promoting in
market. Thus, in such manner they can use the email services to reach the customer and promote
the offers which is undertaking in hotels.
4) Advantages and disadvantages of using the CRM systems.
In context of examining the advantages of CRM systems, it mainly undertakes the
matters in respect of following:
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 Through using the CRM system, it results in gaining more advantages to hotels by
adapting the numerous strategies to retain their interest towards the services for longer
time period.
 In relation to dealing with customer, it results in building team collaboration in hotels, as
all the employees are working together to bring innovate ideas at work place (Parise,
Guinan and Kafka, 2016). This helps in building the interest of customer to grab the
services in better way.
 If the CRM systems is applied in right manner than it results in generating more revenue
in hotels and they get promotion in relation to getting positive reviews from customers.
 The major advantages which is examined through adapting the CRM systems is relating
to improving the communication skills through resolving the queries which they face
after visiting their sites.
The disadvantages of using the CRM systems is relating to:
 The major issue which can be examined is relating to lack of communication or abusive
languages used in relation to resolving the issues of customers (Westerman and Bonnet,
2015). As customer interest are maintained till, they get the accurate guidance or also till
their queries are properly resolve. In case if they use unethical languages, it resulting in
affecting the interest of the customer towards the business.
 As CRM is the time-consuming concept, as it takes lot of time to divert the mind of the
customer towards the Marriott hotel.
 The issues raise regarding the protection of data and security of the information if they
are booking the services through online mode. Customer not easily build confidences in
relation to sharing their detail during booking the Marriott services on hotel websites.
 The disadvantages are also examined in relation to changes in business culture. As if
they are dealing with customer and they not maintain ethics, then in such manner they
not retain customer interest for longer way.
Thus, these are the major aspects which is undertaken in relation to retaining the
customer interest and also acquiring their interest to bring changes in Marriott working. As it is
necessary to maintain close relationship with customer to gain higher profits and also increase
sales through using the effective marketing strategies.
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5) Illustration of consumer service strategies
In respect of matter related to Marriott hotel they can adapt various method to maintain
the customer service strategies through undertaking following aspects such as
1. To appoint the skilled person in hotel, to carry the good communication skills with
pleasant personality. As most of the customer are satisfied if they hear the proper
languages and also the way of taking is also ethical.
2. The services which the Marriott hotel is offering must be fair and not affects the right of
any persons. As the services not reflect any difference in culture and also it is equivalent
for every person to avail it for better results (Calvo-Porral, Faíña-Medín and Nieto-
Mengotti, 2017).
3. The employees which are working under hotels must provide effective training regarding
dealing with customer and conveying their views and judgement in better perspective.
4. Once the customer vails the services of the hotels, the revert back queries is raised
regarding knowing their experiences with Marriott hotels. They can also raise queries
regarding taking reviews in relation to bringing changes in any of the services. Through
this manner, Marriott hotel can make customer feel more important.
5. The staff of the Marriott hotels are trained regarding manging the time. As if the
customer raise queries on any particular time period, they must be available during the
particular time. So that they can interact with customer personally and also resolve their
issues in better way.
6) Customer service strategies meet the needs of the hotel
In context of developing or creating the customer services to meet the business standards
of the Marriott hotels, it is necessary that customer interest must be fulfilled towards the allotted
services. Thus, customer is happy if they receive thank you note from the company which they
are dealing with (Chan and Ahuja, 2015). As this is some type of appreciation which is given by
hotel in return of the services which they provide and also the services which is vailed by the
customers.
In relation to maintaining the business standards, it is necessary to call to customer
reminding him the time period in which they had to booked the hotel to avail the services. Once
they avail the services, they must call to customer regarding taking their reviews about the
services and overall management. In respect of getting the positive reviews from the customer
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