P1 Explain the value and importance of understanding the needs, wants and preferences of target customer groups for a service sector industry

H/616/1789 HND in Hospitality Management

Unit 6: Managing the Customer Experience

LO1 Explain the needs and expectations of market segments for the service industry

Task 1

Scenario

A high quality, London-centric, restaurant group has employed you as their Customer Care Manager. Your Job Description states that your role requires you to see that the needs of all customers are meet – indeed exceeded – by all of the restaurants in the Group.

You decide that your first task is to ensure all the Restaurant Managers understand what all the different needs of different customer types might be (including customers going to different types of business.

After careful deliberation, you determine that the best start is to test the understanding across all the restaurants by sending them a questionnaire. Once you have their responses, you will be able to plan your training programme to meet their needs.

P1 Explain the value and importance of understanding the needs, wants and preferences of target customer groups for a service sector industry 

Task 2

Scenario

Your restaurant managers have shown from their responses that they are quite good at understanding the needs of different customers, so you have decided to move on to look at Customer Engagement. You ask them to demonstrate their understanding of customer engagement by producing three posters (or academic graphic displays) to show in the workplace. The posters may be produced on the computer, or they may be drawn, or you may cut images from magazines (or any other method that achieves the same result). Central to their posters will be an image of a customer (choose three customer types from Task 1, or three of your own choice), the remainder of the posters will show examples of things that engage each type of customer – these may be presented as pictures, or as text boxes, or handwritten/drawn.

P2 Explore the different factors that drive and influence customer engagement of different target customer groups within a service sector organisation

M1 Review how customer engagement factors determine customer on-boarding strategies for different target customer groups within a service sector organisation

Expanding on P1 and P2, write a detailed report that explains the different strategies that a business might employ to attract customers, with particular focus on customer types.

D1 Evaluate a broad range of different target customer groups’ needs and expectations in terms of customer engagement for a service sector organisation

Produce an additional four posters in the same format that you have used for P2. Your seven posters must reflect a diverse range of customer types.

LO2 Explore the customer experience map to create business opportunities and optimise customer touch points

Task 3

Scenario

Your manager has been very impressed with the work that you have undertaken so far; she is keen to progress things further. You have been discussing together the process of Customer Experience Mapping; she wishes to ensure that all the customer touch points are giving a consistent message about the business. Together, you have written a list of these points – you have identified nine points: Website, Review Sites, Text Messages, E-Mails, Paper Mail, Telephone, Restaurant Environment, Restaurant Staff, Restaurant Management – and now you have been asked to show how the business gives a consistent message at each of these points.

P3 Create a customer experience map for a selected service sector organisation

M2 Create a detailed customer experience map that charts the customer journey model and examines the activities and actions taken at each customer touch point to create business opportunities for a selected service sector organisation

P4 discuss how the customer touch-points throughout the customer experience create business opportunities for a selected service sector organisation

Scenario

You decide that it will really bring things to life for your restaurant group if you provide them with some real-life examples concerning customer touch points. You decide that the best way to achieve this is to undertake some role-play activities

D2 Analyse how a selected service sector organisation can optimise each of the customer touch points to influence the behaviour, responses and actions of its customers to enhance the customer experience

LO3 Investigate the impacts of digital technology on customer relationship management

P5 examine how digital technology is employed in managing the customer experience within the service sector, providing specific examples of customer relationship management (CRM) systems

Questions: 1. What was the name of the company making the presentation?

2. What was the name of the person who made the presentation?

3. What is the name of the software programme that they demonstrated?

4. What are the key elements of their programme?

5. Name some of their current customers

6. How long have they been in business?

7. How does the Company see these programmes developing in the future?

M3 Evaluate how digital technologies employed in managing the customer experience within the service sector are changing CRM systems to effectively acquire and retain customers

D3 Critically evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of CRM systems used in service sector businesses for acquisition and retaining of customers

LO4 Apply effective customer experience management within a service sector business to maximise customer engagement

P6 Illustrate customer service strategies in a specific service sector context

P7 Demonstrate how customer service strategies create and develop the customer experience in a way that meets the needs of the customer and required business standards

M4 Review the application of customer service strategies of a specific service sector organisation in creating the customer experience and make recommendations for improvement

Scenario

As the final element of your work for the restaurant group, you want to encourage all their employees to go out and fully understand the customer experience from a hands-on perspective. You believe that the best way to achieve this is for them to visit a hospitality provider of their choice and undertake a series of observations, writing their findings into a document that you have prepared for them.