Customer Experience Management: A Case Study of Thomas Cook

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CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT: THOMAS COOK
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CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT: THOMAS COOK
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
LO1: The Needs and Expectations of Market Segments for the Service Industry (P1, P2)............3
Importance of Needs, Wants and Demand..................................................................................3
Factors that influence customer engagement in an organisation.................................................7
LO2: Customer Experience Map for Business Opportunities and Customer Touch Points (P3, P4)
.........................................................................................................................................................8
Customer Experience Mapping...................................................................................................8
Customer Touch Points Creating Business Opportunities.........................................................10
LO3: Impacts of Digital Technology in Customer Relationship Management (P5).....................12
Employment of Digital Technology..........................................................................................12
Advantages and Disadvantages of Customer Relationship Management Systems...................13
LO4: Effective Customer Experience Management to Maximize Customer Engagement (P6, P7)
.......................................................................................................................................................14
Customer Service Strategies......................................................................................................14
Recommendations......................................................................................................................16
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................17
References......................................................................................................................................18
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CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT: THOMAS COOK
Introduction
For any organisation, the importance of customer experience is paramount because customer
experience for any organisation helps to build the brand image as well as maintain the customer
relationship of the organisation. Thomas Cook is a British based global tourism and travel
company that was founded in 1841 in London and has operations in many countries in the world
(Thomas Cook Group, 2019). The following study critically analyses and evaluates the customer
experience management within the context of Thomas Cook.
LO1: The Needs and Expectations of Market Segments for the Service Industry (P1, P2)
Importance of Needs, Wants and Demand
It is very important for an organisation to keep in mind factors like the need, wants and demands
of their customers and the market. They are very common terms in marketing. They help in
making strategic decisions for the organisation. The organisations should be aware of the needs,
wants as well as preferences of their customers in order to identify the target markets for efficient
positioning. These terms are interrelated and they are based on requirements, ability and
willingness of customers. They also depend on the demographic, income and socio cultural
aspects of the market.
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CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT: THOMAS COOK
Figure 1: Needs, Wants and Demand
(Source: Mirabi et al., 2015)
The awareness of these factors is very essential for marketing as they help in segregating the
target customers and markets. They also help in taking strategic decisions and implementing
them. They also help in the promotion of the product with suitable and effective advertisements.
This maximizes the sales and profit of the organisation.
Needs – They refer to the basic requirements of human beings for sustaining. They are food,
shelter, water, clothing and safety. Without these, existences of human beings become very
difficult. According to the view of marketers, the needs of a person can create repetitive sales
irrespective of status and want. If the products of a company fall inside the category of needs
then the marketing team does not have to put in much effort for the promotion and sales of the
product. They are sold automatically to maximize the profits of the company. Further, needs of
human beings force them to purchase products repeatedly.
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CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT: THOMAS COOK
Figure 2: Needs
(Source: Mai, 2016)
Wants – Wants does not fall under the basic requirements of human beings. They are not
essential for the existence of human beings. Nevertheless, they do have a relation in between
them while needs give birth to preferences and taste. Preferences give birth to wants of a human
being. Wants are never permanent in nature and change with time, situations and most
importantly market trends. They are not mandatory in nature but marketers promote the products
under wants in such a manner that it is portrayed as a necessity to the customers (Jansson et al.,
2017).
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CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT: THOMAS COOK
Fig 3: Wants
(Source: Mai, 2016)
Demands – Demand is simply the ability as well as willingness of buying a particular product.
These products are mainly luxurious in nature. Monetary power is an essential factor of
demands. Luxurious cars, accessories and many more come under this category. The marketers
of companies that produce luxury products should keep in mind the economy of the country and
the per capita income of the same. The products are value created and qualitative in nature.
Fig 4: Demands
(Source: Mirabi et al., 2015)
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CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT: THOMAS COOK
Factors that influence customer engagement in an organisation
Several factors influence the engagement of customers in an organisation. These factors help in
maintaining relationships with customers that last long. They are –
 Understanding the needs, demands and expectations of customers out of the product and
the organization is important. This will help them to build up a better relationship with
their customers that will escalate profits of the company.
 Valuing the customers is very important for a company. The customers should always
feel important. This results in better engagement of the customers with the company. The
information of the customers is very valuable for the betterment of the company.
 Customer satisfaction is again a very important factor for maintaining a healthy and
efficient relationship with the customers. The customers should always be provided with
excellent and efficient customer services. This keeps them engaged with the organisation
(Kumar and Pansari, 2016).
 Providing useful and correct information to the customers is very important. This
portrays how genuine the company is. This in return engages the customers to the
company and builds a trust factor. Providing correct information through communication
is the key to good and loyal relationships with the customers.
 It is very important for the public relations department of an organisation to take care of
the fact that no miscommunication takes place. All doubts and misunderstandings should
always be cleared.
 Another very important factor is always being in touch with the customers. Following up
with customers, it keeps them alert about the company as well as its products. It also
secures the needs of the customers.
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CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT: THOMAS COOK
 Creating interest within customers is very important. New interest does not bore the
customers and keep them engaged to the company constantly. For creating new interest,
the companies should come up with new ideas, offers, products and many more.
 The last and one of the very important factors of building a strong relationship with
customers is the engagement of employees with them. The attitude and behaviour of the
employees who attend the customers majorly influence the engagement of the customers
in the company. Hence, good attitude, attentiveness and polite behaviour create brand
loyalty within the customers (Hapsari et al., 2017).
LO2: Customer Experience Map for Business Opportunities and Customer Touch Points
(P3, P4)
Customer Experience Mapping
A customer experience map or a customer journey map is a crucial and integral tool for any
organisation, which helps to evaluate the different stages of the journey of their customer
experience (Bernard and Andritsos, 2017). For Thomas Cook, the customer experience map is
shown below:
Customer
Experienc
e
Touch
Points
 Tour details
 Tour Booking
pages and the
 The Tour
Booking
page and
 The details of
the tickets of
the tour
 The guide
and
company
 The Hotel
Website
and Social
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Exploring
Itineraries
Booking
a Tour Pre-Tour During
the Tour
Post-
Tour

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT: THOMAS COOK
company
Website
 The pre-sales
support
channels
company
website
 The official
app of
Thomas
Cook
packages
 The details of
the tours
officials
within the
tour
 The
affiliated
trips and
hotel
services
Media
Pages
 Photo
Albums
from the
travel
company
Customer
Thinking
& Feeling
 Getting
information
about Tours and
packages
 Being able to
compare the
tours and
packages with
other tour
packages
 Getting
complete
support from
customer
service
 Convenient
and easy
process of
ticket
booking
 Able to
book tickets
and tours
through the
smartphones
and other
smart
devices
 Direct
communicatio
n with the
customer
service
support of
Thomas Cook
 Being
happy and
excited to
enjoy the
tours and
trips
 Being able
to enjoy
the quality
of the
services
provided
by the
hotels and
the
 Delighted
to get a
complimen
tary photo
album of
the trip
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CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT: THOMAS COOK
tourism
company
Table 1: The Customer Experience and Journey Mapping of Thomas Cook
(Source: Created by the Learner)
Customer Touch Points Creating Business Opportunities
For Thomas Cook, the customer touch points for the creation of business opportunities are:
 The Website of Thomas Cook: The Website of Thomas Cook is one of the primary
touch points for the customers through whom the customers are able to interact with the
company and view all of their tour packages as well as the detailed information
pertaining to the tours. This allows the customers to select a tour of their choice and book
their business. It has been found that on an average, the website of Thomas Cook gets
over 10 million views and from those views, 65% of the customers are able to book tours
(Nakano and Kondo, 2018).
 The Social Media Pages of Thomas Cook: The social media pages of Thomas Cook are
one of the key touch points for the customers through which the customers are able to
interact with the company. Through the social media pages, Thomas Cook is able to not
only to promote themselves to the customers, but they are also able to display their tours,
packages that appeal and attracts the customers. This also allows them to book their tours
and trips through portals from the social media pages of Thomas Cook. In 2018 alone, the
bookings done through social media pages were over 85,000 (Nakano and Kondo, 2018).
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CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT: THOMAS COOK
 The Staff Members of Thomas Cook: At the offline channels and centers of Thomas
Cook, the customers are able to interact with the staff members of Thomas Cook and as
such, this is a key touch point for the customers. By interacting with the employees of
Thomas Cook, especially with the Travel Agents of the company, the customers are
influenced as well as determined in selecting a tour package, which helps in creating
business opportunities for the company. It has been found that annually, over 2 million
customers of Thomas Cook are able to book tour packages through the official travel
agents of the company (Følstad and Kvale, 2018).
 The Customer Support for Thomas Cook: The customer support is a key touch point
for the customers where the customers are able to interact effectively with the company
and their helpline services, both online and offline. Through the customer support, the
customers are able to solve their inquiries as well as doubts and questions regarding the
tours and travel packages of Thomas Cook. This helps them to feel satisfied and they are
able to book their tours and travel packages, which creates business opportunities for the
company. Annually, over 15% of the customers of Thomas Cook were influenced by
customer support to buy their tour packages (Jain, Aagja, and Bagdare, 2017).
 The Interaction with the Tour Guides: Interaction with the tour guides is another key
customer touch point that helps to create business opportunities for the company. During
the trips and tours of Thomas Cook, the tour guides are able to communicate with the
customers, which help to improve their customer experience during the tours. This helps
to build the customer relationship and they are able to feel satisfied with the services of
Thomas Cook, which allows them to book another tour with the company. It has been
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CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT: THOMAS COOK
found that over 65% of the customers of Thomas Cook were able to book two or more
consecutive tours and travels from the company (Jain, Aagja, and Bagdare, 2017).
LO3: Impacts of Digital Technology in Customer Relationship Management (P5)
Employment of Digital Technology
In this technologically advanced century, possession of materialistic things is no more the main
measure of a successful consumer. The consumers nowadays demand for shareable experiences
along with quality life. The most efficient and best mediums of communicating with customers
nowadays are through websites, applications and other tools that technically advanced in nature.
This helps them enhance the company’s Customer Experience (Pagani and Pardo, 2017).
Customer Experience is all the interactions in between the company and its customers over their
relationship course. It is also the effective customer journey through all the physical,
communications as well as digital touch points of the organisation. Under the digital touch
points, websites, applications and online systems of customer relationship management are
included.
Digital Technology used in enhancement of Customer Experience is a very hot topic as this is the
first digital generation. This generation is experiencing all the fundamental shifts of attitudes
that directly affect and influence the business on many different levels. This generation focuses
more on sharing rather than experiencing or owning things. This has turned out to be a social
currency. This century is also termed as the Experience century. This means that the delivery of
customer experience of an organization is very crucial for the success of the organization. The
good and efficient experiences of the customers are shared in social media. The bad experiences
are also shared. These can go viral and harm the image of the company.
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