Customer Service Experience: Premier Inn Hotel Chain Report

Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments for students. This report analyzes Premier Inn's customer service.

CUSTOMER SERVICE EXPERIENCE: PREMIER INN
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CUSTOMER SERVICE EXPERIENCE: PREMIER INN
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
LO1: Needs and Expectations of Market Segments for Service Industry (P1 and P2)...................3
LO2: Customer Experience Map for the Creation of Business Opportunities (P3 and P4)............6
LO3: Impacts of Digital Technology in Customer Relationship Management (P5).......................9
LO4: Application of Effective Customer Experience Management (P6, P7)...............................14
Recommendations..........................................................................................................................15
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................16
References......................................................................................................................................17
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CUSTOMER SERVICE EXPERIENCE: PREMIER INN
Introduction
Customer experience is a key integral component for any organisation, which helps to shape the
perception of customers as well as the brand image of the customers. This helps to contribute to
customer relationship development for the customer. For the hospitality industry, Customer
experience plays a dominant factor in determining the growth and success of the business of the
industry. Premier Inn is a British based UK hotel chain with over 785 hotels throughout all of the
UK as well as in overseas (Premier Inn, 2019). The following study critically analyses and
evaluates the customer experience in the hospitality industry especially in Premier Inn.
LO1: Needs and Expectations of Market Segments for Service Industry (P1 and P2)
The importance of determining Needs, Wants and Preferences of target customers for the
hospitality industry.
Determining the target customers is one of the most essential parts of sales and marketing.
According to Steinhoff and Palmatier, (2016), the process might be time-consuming but
determining the target market allows the organisation to focus on specific marketing efforts and
structure the respective marketing structure. This helps the organisation to determine the
customers who are willing to take the product and/or service offered by them. As opined
byHalvorsrud, Kvale, and Følstad, (2016), different groups of people have different needs, wants
and preferences which should be identified by the organisation to offer the correct product and/or
service to them which increases the customer satisfaction.
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CUSTOMER SERVICE EXPERIENCE: PREMIER INN
Figure 1. Examples of Target Customers.
(Source: Clark, 2016.)
 Needs: Needs are the basic amenities a human being needs for its survival. These are the
things which a human cannot sacrifice. These can be food, shelter, water, and so on. As
researched by Zhou, Jiao and Linsey, (2015), determination of needs of the target customer
can help an organisation to produce the relevant product or service which the customers will
buy time and again. Organisations belonging to the hospitality industry, like the hotel
Premier Inn, should determine the needs of their target customer as this will help them to
give attention to those services or products which the customers need and will avail it time
and again (Zhou, Jiao and Linsey, 2015).
 Wants: Wants are related to needs, as opined by Abramov (2015), when a need arises it
leads to the taste and preference which finally stimulates wants. Wants vary depending upon
time, location and even people. These are promoted in such a way that tempts people to avail
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CUSTOMER SERVICE EXPERIENCE: PREMIER INN
it. A hotel like Premier Inn. Should try and analyse the wants of the customers in order to
make them available for their customers. Wants are generally more expensive than needs,
this influences the hotels to promote their unique facilities in such a way that it tempts people
to avail them. Wants also lead to innovation which drives hotels, like Premier Inn., to
innovate services that will be different from that of their competitors.
 Preferences: Preferences are the likes and dislikes of the customers. As pointed out by
Adebiyi, Shitta, and Olonade, (2016), preferences and tastes influence an organisation
significantly and is also an important aspect to enhance customer satisfaction. The hotels can
try to determine the requests, likes, and dislikes of their customers through surveys and try
and provide them their preferred service. This not only helps to enhance the reputation of the
organisation but also help in improving customer satisfaction. (Adebiyi, Shitta, and Olonade,
2016) Hence, preferences of the target customers are an important aspect which cannot be
neglected.
Factors that influence customer engagement in a service sector organisation
There are a number of factors that drive customer engagement of different target customer
groups within a service sector industry.
 Understanding the needs want and preferences of the target customers out of the services
that a service-oriented organisation offer helps the organisation to improve their customer
relationship which helps them to retain their old customers and improve the profits.
(Zhang, Guo, Hu and Liu, 2017)
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CUSTOMER SERVICE EXPERIENCE: PREMIER INN
 Customers should be well aware of all the information regarding the organisation. This
enhances the value of the company. This builds a trust factor among the customers which
enhances the organisation’s profitability and reputation (Jayasingh and Venkatesh, 2015).
 Giving customers the best possible service is one of the main factors of improving
customer engagement. The customers or guests must feel special every time they avail
the service (Zhang, Guo, Hu and Liu, 2017).
 The public relations department of the organisation plays a vital role in the engagement
of the public. They should perform their work with full efficiency that will enhance the
reputation and publicity of the organisation (Pansari and Kumar, 2017).
 The social media pages of the organisation should be held in such a way that will help the
customers to gain knowledge about the organisation and also be interactive and
interesting to them. The interaction is very important (de Oliveira, Huertas, and Lin,
2016).
 The complaints of the guests must be given the utmost attention and the organisation
should try to find solutions that will compensate the guests. This will somehow help to
rebuild customer satisfaction to some extent (Jayasingh and Venkatesh, 2015).
LO2: Customer Experience Map for the Creation of Business Opportunities (P3 and P4)
Customer service map for Premier Inn.
The Customer Experience Map or the Customer Needs Map helps the organisation to depict the
different stages a customer goes through while interacting with the organisation in a
diagrammatic form.
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Need is one of the most essential factors that
an organisation like Premier Inn should
analyse in order to obtain maximum customer
satisfaction. There should be proper
maintenance of the room, good quality of
food and providing other vital services, like
proper conference room
Awareness is the next crucial aspect of the
Premier Inn. The customer should be well
aware of the facilities and price of the offered
services. The divergent information provided
by the organisation can lead to a negative
impact on the customers. Hence, proper
awareness should be made available to
customers from time to time.
Interaction is one of the key elements of the touch points and
plays a prominent role in customer service mapping. The guests
should be given equal importance regardless of their ethnicity,
caste, creed, religion and so on. The customers must have a
feeling of having equal importance to the hotel which enhances
their satisfaction. Interaction is a vital element which should be
in mind of the service providers to make every guest feel
special.
Experience is one of the key factors
that should be maintained by the
Premier Inn. The employees of the
hotel should have proper skills and
knowledge to provide the best
services to their customers. The
guests should have the best
experience in the hotel. A social and
cordial relationship must be
maintained in order to give the
optimum experience to the guests.
This will have a positive impact on
their mind, which will enhance the
reputation of the hotel.
Engagement is another vital part of the customer
journey map. It basically means that the customers
must be engaged to Premier Inn even after
consumption. It is a two-way communication system
which is necessary as it engages the customers and
builds a positive image of the hotel. The customer
relationship manager is assigned to take care of the
ongoing engagement of the customers and provide
them with all the required services that help the hotel
to maintain the loyalty of their old customers.
Brand Loyalty is the last stage of the customer
service journey. It is achieved with the
assistance of brand engagement. The proper
engagement with the customers will help
Premier Inn to retain the loyalty of the
customers. The customers they will be loyal to
the brand of Premier Inn and will avail the
services of the hotel even when the price of the
hotel becomes higher than its competitors.
Brand loyalty gives the hotel a competitive
edge over its competitors and helps to maintain
a sustainable business.
CUSTOMER SERVICE EXPERIENCE: PREMIER INN
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CUSTOMER SERVICE EXPERIENCE: PREMIER INN
Figure 2: Customer Experience Map
(Source: Created by the Learner)
Touchpoints of consumers and enhancements of opportunities
Customer touch points are the places of customers to contact with the brand from the start to end.
The following are the points of consumers for Premier Inn Hotels.
 Official website: The official website of Premier Inn provides a lot of information and
facilities to the customers. The website provides booking facilities for the customers.
Customers also get information about the hotel and its upcoming events. Special offers
are also given to the customers for bookings through the website. It has been found that
about 60% of booking happen online(Sufi, 2015).
 Hotel booking sites: Various hotel booking websites provide booking facilities to the
customers. The sites also give the customers the opportunity to check the reviews of
Premier Inn. This builds the business opportunity of the hotel. Around 60% of the total
online booking, the hotel gets their bookings from such sites (Fritsch and Sigmund,
2016).
 The Personnel: The employees of Premier Inn also play a major role in customer
interaction. During the check-in, check-out and stay guests can get their doubts clear
from the employees which help Premier Inn to provide optimum customer satisfaction. A
survey revealed that around 80% of the customers of Premier Inn has given a positive
rating to the service of the hotel (Ling, Lin, and Wu, 2016).
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CUSTOMER SERVICE EXPERIENCE: PREMIER INN
Figure 3: Customer Touch Points
(Source: Stein, and Ramaseshan, 2016)
LO3: Impacts of Digital Technology in Customer Relationship Management (P5)
Digital Technologies used in CRM of Premier Inn
In the modern age of globalisation, the use of digital technology in organisations has become a
prominent and integral part due to the fact that they are very effective and efficient in managing
the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Systems within the organisation. From the
research works of Lin et al., (2017), it has been found that the impacts of digital technology in
the context of the hospitality industry are beneficial in developing and helping the Customer
Relationship Management systems. For Premier Inn, the digital technologies that have been
identified are:
 IoT: Internet of Things or IoT is the digital technological system that is able to use
internet services in order to connect all the digital devices, which are used by individuals
in their everyday lives. From the research works of Lin et al., (2017), it has been found
that the in the context of hospitality industry, the importance of IoT is unprecedented in
the contemporary era due to the fact that most hotels, which are of good quality, use IoT
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CUSTOMER SERVICE EXPERIENCE: PREMIER INN
to keep the customers connected with the hotel. In Premier Inn, IoT is used in their
business operations, which helps them in their management of customer experience. The
connectivity of the IoT in the different devices within the hotel rooms as well as in
receptions allows the customers to connect with the hotel easily. This is very helpful in
situations where the customers require any service from the hotel or for any purpose that
requires them to use the internet. As a result of this, the customers are able to get their
services efficiently which helps in customer satisfaction. Therefore, this influences the
CRM systems to acquire and retain customers effectively (Jeschke et al., 2017).
Figure 4: Internet of Things
(Source: Jeschke et al., 2017)
 Social Media: Social Media is one of the most revolutionary digital technological
innovations of the 21st century that helps people to connect with each other through the
internet. From the research works of Fuchs (2017), it has been found that in the context of
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CUSTOMER SERVICE EXPERIENCE: PREMIER INN
the hospitality industry, the importance, as well as the use of Social Media, is immense.
The organisations are able to use social media sites such as Facebook, Snapchat,
Instagram, and many more to promote their company as well as interact with the public
as well as potential customers. In Premier Inn, the use of social media is highly
prioritized as social media is used in their everyday operations to not only just promote
their company and interact with the public, but it is also used to communicate the news of
the organisation to the people and collect feedbacks and reviews. Through social media
sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, and many more, Premier Inn is able
to post news pertaining to their rooms, hotels, and services as well as new offers and
news. Furthermore, through the use of social media, Premier Inn is able to answer the
doubts, questions, and queries of the customers successfully which not only satisfies the
customers, but it is also able to help build customer relationship (Tuten and Solomon,
2017).
Figure 5: Social Media
(Source: Fuchs, 2017)
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CUSTOMER SERVICE EXPERIENCE: PREMIER INN
 Cloud Services: Cloud Services are a testament to modern digital innovation, which has
revolutionized the process of computing on a corporate and social level. From the
research works of Ghahramani, Zhou, and Hon (2017), it has been found that the in the
context of the hospitality industry, the use of cloud services is integral to their operations
as cloud services form a very crucial part of their everyday operations. Cloud services
enable the hospitality industry to encrypt as well as store their data safely and transfer
them to different servers in different parts of the world. For Premier Inn, the use of Cloud
services allow them to not only store their financial data and information, but it also helps
them to store the information of their customers, their preferences and needs, and other
trivial information. This helps them to keep track of their customers and fulfill their needs
and requirements in an effective, efficient, and surprising manner when the customers
book their hotels. This helps to not only satisfy the customers, but it also helps to create a
positive experience for them, which influences the CRM systems to acquire and retain
customers effectively (Pasquier et al., 2017).
Figure 6: Cloud Services
(Source: Pasquier et al., 2017)
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