Customer Experience Strategies and CRM: Riverbank Park Plaza Analysis

This report examines the customer experience management strategies employed by Riverbank Park Plaza, a luxury hotel chain. It delves into the application of digital technologies like IoT and robotics to enhance customer interactions and retention. The report analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of CRM systems within the service sector, highlighting features such as operational, analytical, and collaborative CRM. Furthermore, it illustrates customer service strategies, including employee training, effective communication, infrastructure, and the use of social media marketing. The report emphasizes the importance of understanding market needs, experience mapping, and touchpoint analysis for effective customer experience management. Finally, the report demonstrates how CRM strategies align with business standards, focusing on customer satisfaction and engagement.

Managing the
customer experience

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
LO3..................................................................................................................................................1
P5 Entertaining the digital technology in managing the customer experiences within River
bank Part Plaza............................................................................................................................1
M3 Digital technologies help in customer retention to the hotel industry..................................2
D3 Pros and Cons of CRM system in service sector...................................................................2
LO4..................................................................................................................................................3
P6 Illustrate the customer service strategies in a specific service sector.....................................3
P7 Demonstration of the CRM strategies meets the required business standards.......................4
M4 Application of customer service strategies and along with recommendations.....................5
D4 Application of the effective customer experience management for increasing the
engagement of customers............................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Riverbank Park Plaza, is a hotel chain which runs via numerous resort groups as
franchises. However, it was founded in 1986 as an organization and bought via Olympus real
property in 1997. Thus, the report will highlight the various digital technologies adopted by the
Riverbank park plaza that impacts their relationship with their clients. Further, the project will
also outline the advantages and disadvantages of customer relationship management to the hotel.
On the flip side, the project will frame the customer service strategies adopted by the hotel for
developing positive customer experience towards the hotel.
LO3
P5 Entertaining the digital technology in managing the customer experiences within River bank
Part Plaza
The customer is considered as original king of the market and all the production and
manufacturing of the company is generally aimed at perceptions of the consumer. Digital
transformation refers to harnessing the power of new technology in order to create the better
experiences for customers (Goodman, 2019). Riverbank plaza is a Luxury hotel situated in
London and this organisation provides the large variety of Luxury services such as hotel room’s
restaurant facilities etc. In this modernised world, customer interaction is at the forefront of the
e-commerce. So this has led to the increased expectations and demands of the consumer. Due to
the rapid increase in the tastes and preferences of the customers according to the changing trend,
organisations have to change the way to provide services in order to coordinate with such
changing demands.
Technology has changed the way people used to buy the product earlier. The presence of
internet has expanded the scope and opportunities for the business as well as changing aspects of
people according to the trend of the market. Technology offers the online services and booking
facilities to the customers which influences the buying decision of the customer. Even
technology allows the consumers to compare the prices luxuries and quality of services with
other hospitality organisations of London (Homburg, Jozić and Kuehnl, 2017). This allows them
to select the optimum services. Also, online advertisement may enhance the customer
satisfaction of the company which leads to loyalty of the customers.
In Riverbank park plaza, due to the changing demands of the customer, this organisation
has entertained the use of technology in order to understand the tastes and preferences of people.
1

Also, the use of technology in Riverbank Plaza allows the business in strengthening
developing its online presence which helps in attracting large number of people. Technology
provides helps the company in placing the online presence of the market which engage large
number of users. Adopting the technological aspects helps the company in developing an
effective brand image to the customers.
Type of CRM-
 Operational CRM: This type of system enables the business process which includes
marketing, service and sales automation. This will allow the organisation to take care of
their customers and providing support and care for various types of business process as
stated above.
 Analytical CRM: This will be based on data mining and interpretation which is used for
analysing sales data of customer their payment method or history and then evaluating the
response for marketing campaign as well.
 Collaborative CRM: This will collect information from various department like that of
technical, marketing and sales for sharing them.
Feature of customer management system-
 Customer need: This is one of the most effective feature of customer management system
as it help us to identify the need and want of customer to easily track down their demand
related with product and services.
 Customer response: This is also another type of feature of customer management system
which tell about the response and change which people are having related to the
company's product and services.
 Customer satisfaction: The satisfaction of customers towards products and services of
company will be one of the most important factor which could be identified by customer
management system
M3 Digital technologies help in customer retention to the hotel industry
Within the digitalized era, with facts freely available and clients having the potential to
evaluate hotels easily, thus, inside the hospitality industry must be updated with the trendy
virtual developments (Homburg, Jozić and Kuehnl, 2017). Further, this assist the company to
hold tempo with hotel industry opponents, thus, it can also enhance approaches and improves the
consumer experience.
2

However, Riverbank park plaza adopts different digital trends that help them to retain its
customer base.
Internet of things: The internet of factors refers to everyday system of riverbank park
plaza, which is equipped with internet abilities and letting them send and obtain data. This
technology is extremely crucial for the hotel, because it enable them to reduce expenses, whilst
also optimising hotel rooms, without customer intervention.
Robotics: Within the hospitality sector, AI-pushed robots of Riverbank park plaza,
carefully resemble people that are one of the rising digital traits and those robots are able to
perform quite a number complicated, ‘sensible’ responsibilities as of their employees.
However, it includes robotics, which presents traveller records, a front desk robotic who
is capable of clever communication, a cloak robot stores your assets, and face recognition tool
that will check the customers when they are in and prevent losing their key.
D3 Pros and Cons of CRM system in service sector
Customer relationships perform an exceedingly vital role in any business. However, it is
the purchaser’s feedback related to services or products that determines its success and translates
into revenue for the corporation. Thus, CRM is crucial for Riverbank park plaza because it
facilitates an enterprise exceed its clients’ expectancies by using enhancing the aesthetic fee of
its services and creates the opportunity to construct efficacious interpersonal relationships with
them.
Advantages
Centralization of facts: With the help of CRM, all of the data of the hotel regarding the
clients will be in a single location and is obtainable to all the people concerned within the
treatment and interest to that consumer.
Personalization of the treatment and the service or product. This permits an adequate
reaction to management of the Riverbank park plaza (Jain, Aagja and Bagdare, 2017). However,
this can improve customer service and allow the hotel to offer extra suitable offerings and
custom designed merchandise according to the needs of the customers.
Disadvantages
Training: like computer programs need training, the CRM software of the Riverbank
Park plaza additionally require for a duration of mastering and the hotel staff training to know
3

the way it works. Thus, the hotel require much time for their personnel to learn how to control it,
and get used to the features of it.
LO4
P6 Illustrate the customer service strategies in a specific service sector
Customer service strategy defines the standards of care and services which Riverbank
Park Plaza offers in order to increase the customer interaction and satisfaction. This will help in
maximising the sales of the company. These strategies help in retaining the loyal customers and
provide better scope and opportunities to increase the profitability. The customer satisfaction will
be the key for the successful development of business which meets the loyalty of consumers and
hence helps in accomplishing the main objectives of the firm. Several customer service strategies
of the Riverbank Plaza have been explained below:
Promoting the correct knowledge to employees regarding the products
Very first and foremost thing to influence the behaviour of the customer is proper
answers to all the questions. So employees of the Riverbank Park Plaza need to properly train
about the use and features of the products. Proper knowledge about the use of product allows the
employees in answering about the services offered by the company (Koetz, 2019). It is one of the
popular strategy that helps in promoting the better customer relationship within hotel.
Training of the employees in convincing the customer to consume the services
As the customers and employees are generally engaged in interaction at the time of taking
enquiries or consuming the services. So employees of the Riverbank hotel need to develop a
convincing skill that which acquires the empathy of the customer in choosing such services.
Effective communication or convincing skill of the employee helps in maintaining the strong
relationship with the customers.
Effective infrastructure that supports the great customer services
Riverbank provides the effective infrastructure and interior of the hotel which attracts
large number people to visit in a luxury hotel of London. So infrastructure of the hotel is also
considered as one of the important thing which influences the buying decision of consumers.
This strategy allows attracts customer and also allows consumer to leave good comments and
reviews about the experiences they had. Positive feedbacks and reviews attract more people
towards the consumption of such services.
Empowering the customer service team to satisfy consumer needs
4

Customer service team is completely involved in communication and interaction among
users. Often people contact to customer service for asking anything about the use of services and
products. So customer service staff member need to be managed and well trained to resolve all
the customer queries and this leads to the satisfaction of the clients (Noe, and et.al., 2017). This
strategy properly handling the customer issues and complaints regarding the offered services.
Delivering all the expectations and promises of customers
As online is a virtual medium of showcasing all the goods and services to large number
of people via images and posts. So this increases the expectations of consumers in order to get
those services as it is. Loyalty can be built if Riverbank hotel meets all the expectations and
promises to its customers. It is one of the important strategy which plays the role of satisfying
consumers.
Different social media marketing
Currently most of the people in the world are using internet and social media. There are
millions of people are using smartphones and digital devices. The social media sites like
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram is the most famous social media applications. The large
number of social media user provides huge opportunity to Riverbank Park Plaza. Currently
many companies are using social media as strategy of marketing. This can help the organization
to access large number of audience to promote their services. Social media can improve visibility
of organisation in world will attract more consumer towards the hotel Riverbank Park Plaza.
Process of effective customer experience- Assessing the market need- It is most important for the organization to collect the
information of market to know the requirement of consumer and market trends to make
relevant changes in the procedures, services and product of Riverbank Park Plaza. Experience mapping- Ecperience mapping is the process to rate the experience of
customer that where they lie in the map of satisfaction on the scale. The process of
service go through multiple stages. For the each stage the feeling is recorded to improve
the over all experience of clients to improve the productivity of Riverbank Park Plaza.
 Touch point analysis- Hospitality industry uses the different online sites to perform
marketing. The traffic on the company website and number of visitor on company
website shows the efficiency of marketing and promotion strategy of hotel. This can help
5

the organization to make effective changes in online marketing strategy to attract more
consumer.
P7 Demonstration of the CRM strategies meets the required business standards
Riverbank Park plaza is a luxury hotel of the London which is mainly aimed at creating
more customers and along with the increased profitability of the firm. CRM strategies are mainly
adopted to meet the objectives and stated profitability standards. This helps in determining the
survival and sustainability of the hotel in this compensative world (Peppers and Rogers, 2016).
There are various illustrations provided below which helps in identifying that CRM strategies
meets the needs of consumer and business standards. CRM strategies are developed for valuing
the customers with respect to the fulfilling the business standards.
 Prioritize the customers: Customer relationship management mainly place the
customers at the top of the business as all the services and goods often made according
their choices. Riverbank need to identify the main requirements and needs of consumers
which helps the company in becoming more profitable.
 Communication among staff: This is one of the main aspect of every enterprise that
influences the positive culture at workforce. CRM strategies aimed at satisfaction of the
consumers which meets the common standard of the firm. As promoting the interaction
and communication among the staff members mainly increases the possibility to
accomplish the main objectives of Riverbank hotel. As this firm deals with the hotel and
restaurant so the firm may be responsible for adding the nutritious value in food. Such
things promote the effective business standards and hence fulfil the needs of consumer.
 Stagger the changes: Products and services offered by the firm are mainly vary
according to the needs of customers. This may bring the innovation and development of
new services that contributes towards the achievement of successful business standards.
 Evaluate the performance and improves: Perceptions and requirement of people
generally changes according to changing trend of the society. So CRM strategies help in
analysing the consumer needs and make the staff member to work in the same direction.
Ratings and customer feedback system helps in evaluating the performance of the
company and helps in increasing the efforts to achieve the main targets (Customer
Relationship Management, 2018).
6

M4 Application of customer service strategies and along with recommendations
Application of CRM strategies within business maximises the customer interaction and
thus increases the profitability. Companies often use the reviews and feedbacks in order to
improve the services which do not satisfy consumers. It builds the trust and faith among the
customers and also helps in generating the loyal consumers of the firm. Application of CRM
strategies with Riverbank hotel increases consumer satisfaction and improves the profitability of
the firm. Several aspects related to the application of CRM techniques that benefits the
Riverbank park plaza are as follows:
 It develops the image brand
 increases the profitability
 Grows the desired customer segment and increases the future expansion business
opportunities.
 Improves the productivity on the basis of customer demand and supply.
Recommendations
 Manager of Riverbank plaza need to establish a CRM software which saves the time and
energy of the employees. This helps in maximising the efficiency of producing goods and
services.
 Manager should focus towards the effective advertisement which attracts large number of
people.
 Company should also develop a plan to provide offers and seasonal discounts to attract
large number of buyers.
 Riverbank plaza should promote various trainings and professional development plan that
helps the employees in familiar with updated trend and technology regarding the services
of the hotel.
 The manager and leaders should influence the positive environment at workplace that
helps in retention of the employees which contributes towards the successful efforts in
building the strong relationship with customers.
D4 Application of the effective customer experience management for increasing the engagement
of customers
Today fastest growing world often consider the customer experience as a tangible
business value that plays the effective role in improving the performance of the firm. Companies
7

are generally aimed at building the strong image of the brand in the eyes of customers. Customer
experience can be defined as a conscious and subconscious with respect to the reputation and
image of the brand. This result in maintaining the strong interrelationship of the customer in
order to expand the interaction with brand during the life cycle of the customers.
The practice of designing and reacting to the customer interactions in order to meet the
customer expectations, loyalty, advocacy and satisfaction (Noe, and et.al., 2017). Customer
experience management also deals with knowing the perceptions of consumer in respect with
their general buying behaviours. Also, customer experience may be tracks the records of the
consumer from which the person often performs the shopping. Customer experiencing
management can be determined by the reviews and feedbacks that help the company in
determining the exact performance of the firm. Customer experience management mainly aimed
at optimisation of the interaction from the main perspective of the customers. This fosters the
customer loyalty and manages the experience of the regular consumers. In order to manage the
effective customer experience, the company need to create customer centric strategy that
influences the buying behaviour of people. Various things that are incorporate in getting the
positive customer experience are as follows:
 understanding the main cause and needs of consumers
 creating a customer vision
 Developing an emotional connection
 Capturing the feedbacks
CONCLUSION
From the above study, it can be concluded that all the operational and manufacturing
activities of all the businesses are mainly aimed at customer satisfaction. This study has provided
the customer relationship strategies within Riverbank Park plaza. Moreover, various CRM had
been explained in order to strengthen the customer relationship which results in higher
profitability. This report has also provided various illustrations that help the company in
achieving the business standards. Also, it has explained the application of customer service
strategies and some recommendations which needed to be considered in Hotel industry in order
to increase the customer engagement within the firm.
8

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Goodman, J., 2019. Strategic customer service: Managing the customer experience to increase
positive word of mouth, build loyalty, and maximize profits. Amacom.
Homburg, C., Jozić, D. and Kuehnl, C., 2017. Customer experience management: toward
implementing an evolving marketing concept. Journal of the Academy of Marketing
Science. 45(3). pp.377-401.
Homburg, C., Jozić, D. and Kuehnl, C., 2017. Customer experience management: toward
implementing an evolving marketing concept. Journal of the Academy of Marketing
Science. 45(3). pp.377-401.
Jain, R., Aagja, J. and Bagdare, S., 2017. Customer experience–a review and research
agenda. Journal of Service Theory and Practice. 27(3). pp.642-662.
Koetz, C., 2019. Managing the customer experience: a beauty retailer deploys all
tactics. Journal of Business Strategy. 40(1). pp.10-17.
Noe, R.A., Hollenbeck, J.R., Gerhart, B. and Wright, P.M., 2017. Human resource
management: Gaining a competitive advantage. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill
Education.
Peppers, D. and Rogers, M., 2016. Managing customer experience and relationships: A
strategic framework. John Wiley & Sons.
Online
Customer Relationship Management. 2018. [Online]. Available
through:<https://www.fivepaths.com/resources/six-elements-successful-crm-selection-and-
implementation>
9

10