Attracting Clients to the Establishment - Report Example

Evaluative Report Introduction Stratford Upon Avon is a cultural site popularly visited by people from different places around the globe, as it has been popularised as the birthplace of William Shakespeare. Although the destination is a cultural site, it has adopted different marketing strategies that are aimed at promoting the popularity, and consequently increase the number of visitors received by the site. Despite diversification efforts and the provision of other services and products within the site, marketing strategies adopted by the centre have been focused on enhancing the experience of visitor. The centre has adopted an experience design approach for promoting the destination as a preferred tourist attraction. With a myriad of activities that someone can undertake at Stratford Upon Avon, the focus on visitor experience seeks to ensure the centre increases number of visitors by improving the experience. This has been ensured through the improvement of the services offered within the destination in seeking to ensure the visitors have good and memorable experiences The experience scape The experience of tourists can be described as a fundamental element that affects the decision made by individuals regarding visiting different locations. Application of the visitor experience in marketing seeks to ensure that individuals who visit the Stratford Upon Avon always come back as ways of popularising the destination among visitors. The application of experience marketing seeks to ensure that word of mouth can be used in advertisement of the destination (Cooper & Hall, 2008). Tourism and travel is commonly based on the need to experience certain services that are provided by the various establishments operating within the industry. The authenticity of the tourist destination is the selling element for the particular destination. Through a series of activities and products which have been developed, the attraction has been able to create a unique element which has become the focus of the experience for the visitors. Many popular tourist destinations have increasingly focused on the provision of excellent services and facilities all aimed at enhancing the tourist experience. This is mainly because satisfaction within the tourism industry comes as a result of the experience and not the facilities or services provided. Experience within the tourism industry can be produced from any aspect within the attraction. All these focus on different parameters of the user experience in order to ensure they become repeat clients for the establishment. Front stage environment The experience scape within this contexts focuses on the provision of services which meet the expectation of the clients. The front stage operations within the establishment can be described as focused on creating an environment within which the attraction operations have become focused on the customers. This is focused at ensuring that the variations existing within the establishment are understood for necessary changes to be implemented with the fundamental focus on improvement of the service delivery (Teboul, 2006). The customers are screened in order to ascertain their requirements based on the behaviours exhibited by the customers. The services which are offered at the centre are focused on ensuring they meet the expectation of different customers. Information about the customers is collected and kept in a database when customer visit the centre. This information is collected at the point where customers interact with the employees of the organisations when checking in and while taking tours within the township (Lew, 2011). The demands made by the customers are the basis upon which any major changes are based. Improvements are made within the establishment based on the requirements of the customer based on the feedback received. This approach has ensured that the establishment has developed an environment within which continuous improvements are made. Standardisation of the various components of service delivery has provided a platform upon which frontline environment has been synchronised to deliver user experience. The employees at the front stage of receiving and taking visitors on guides have been trained to ensure they deliver mechanised flexible services. These services are aimed at meeting the requirements of the customers to ensure customer satisfaction. The frontline individual have mastered the process of resisting pressure from the customers to be spontaneous and provide personalised treatment to the clients (Morgan, Lugosi, & Ritchie, 2010). The existing protocols and procedures are utilised in ensuring that there is a standard experience which customers receive when they visit the establishment. Stratford Upon Avon has been able to develop authentic services and products that have made the establishment to be identified as unique. The experience of the customer is enhanced through perceived socially constructed criteria for determining the visitor experience. The experiencescapes are produced by the services which are offered to the customers. The first impression made at the front stage environment is the element which results in the development of different perceptions regarding how the environment will be experienced (Sharpley & Stone, 2012). Customer experience from Stratford Upon Avon is effectively managed at the frontline environment where the customer perceptions develop. These perceptions result in different experiencescapes which are explained through interpretations of pleasure, entertainment and leisure (Getz, 2012). The use of technology Technology has been extensively utilised with the effort of trying to make the user experience become good regardless of the conditions and situation. Technology has been adopted within the organisation at different stages which the customer undergoes when they visit the attraction. The destination has utilised different platforms in making reservations and bookings and this has ensured a great deal of technological involvement (Fullagar & Markwell, 2012). Though this platform the customers are capable of interacting with the establishment to make reservations and booking to the destination. Technological elements have been advance integrated into the system used by the establishment for different functions ranging from marketing, to communicating with the visitors. The technology has been implemented on the basis of other experience designs which are based on the physical attributes of the functional structure. All attributes of the physical booking and information which is provided is also required when making an online booking. This makes the procedures which are used to be relatively similar to what the customer experience when they come for the physical visits (Lee, 2013). Through the online services available on the destination website, the customers are able to interact the destination directly using available technological elements. Different touch points within the system have integrated a relatively high level of technology. The increased level of innovation existing within the tourism industry has been immensely integrated into the sets used at the centre. Great customer experience emanating from the application of technology in the way customers interact with the organisation is a necessity for the improvement of visitor experience. Innovative technological interactions have been critical to the creation of great customer experience within the organisation (Zhu, 2012). The journey of the customer begins with the access to information regarding the organisation through the various marketing approaches. Engagement marketing has been utilised through online interactions where surveys are taken and customer feedback is received. They are various online engagement platforms which have been established through the social networks and other online platforms. Customers can be able to chat and interacts with the establishment through blogging and commenting on the websites. These technological approaches are aimed at improving the marketing effectiveness by enhancing the interaction with the customer (Berridge, 2007). The centre, from time to time runs webcasts of various activities that people can engage in and perform within the location. Interactive emails are sent by the management of the centre to many of the clients whom the centre has their contacts. This is effective as it is directly focused at specific individuals who have been identified by the establishments existing within the location. Customer interactions The interactions of the customers with the establishment are critical to enhancing the experience of the visitors in the organisations. The element of customer interactions within Stratford Upon Avon is governed by the rules and regulations which exist within the organisation. These rules govern the conduct and procedures for handling the many customers who visit the attractions within the centre. The existence of rules and regulations seeks to ensure that there is consistency in the services provided by the organisations to the various visitors (Tung & Ritchie, 2011). Consistency is a fundamental element in seeking to enhance the visitor experience. The experience that customers have should be maintained in order to ensure they have a similar experience when they visit another time. With referral being made by friends and family members, the experience should be the same as that of the referee. The interaction of the customers with the centre commonly occurs when the customers visit the location at different times. While activities at times might be different, the establishment has continuously sought to maintain good relationships with the clients by ensuring their requirements are satisfied. Much interactions occurs at the front stage phase where the establishment employees provide services to the customers directly. The existence of rules and regulation as well as protocols which must be followed given the way in which the interaction occur (Ritchie, Tung, & Ritchie, 2011). The employees must maintain a professional code of conduct while delivering services which meet the customer requirements. These interaction protocols create the authentic experience which differentiates Stratford Upon Avon from other cultural sites. Through these interactions the customer experience becomes enhanced. Many of the interaction occur unsupervised and there is always a possibility of individuals failing to stick to the code of conduct and the existing regulations. These regulations are mainly meant to determine and govern the existence of different approaches in which services are provided to the clients (Page, 2012). The existing principles govern how work is conducted within the centre. This has been critical in ensuring there is a standard way through which interaction between the customers and other individuals occur. Standardisation of the processes ensure that the experience of the customers remains and aspects which can be evaluated according to a certain standard measure. The visitors of Stratford are normally engaged in the process of communication through providing feedback to the different establishments which they visit. This occurs through different platforms which the organisation uses to communicate with the customers. This ensures that the customers are engaged and can be able to provide the establishment with information regarding improvement which the customers might desire to have. Once these aspects have been understood, the improvements can be made and these lead to customer satisfaction. Through these interactions the customer perspectives can be understood and the establishments have always provided services meeting the expectations of the customers (Prideaux et al., 2012). Interactions occurring between the establishments and the customers are critical to the implementation of changes aimed at satisfying the desires of the customers. Recommendations The fundamental focuses of the marketing strategies that have been adopted by the Stratford Upon Avon have all been focused at enhancing the experience of the customers. The visitor experience remains single most important aspect which is utilised in making decision regarding destinations which people visit. Despite the effectiveness of these approaches in the enhancing the visitor experience, there are various shortcomings which might require improvement within the various elements where experiencescape has been included. Experience within these areas could be further enhanced through undertaking different improvements in the following aspects Front stage environment The attraction should create an interaction which integrates various concepts, and theories which ensure the front stage environment becomes friendly. The first experience of customers is always essential in advancing the persons experience. The fundamental focus of Stratford Upon Avon should be on the front stage in order to ensure that the first impressions to the customers present the best from of experience (McCabe, 2009). The centre should focus on broadening the environment to ensure that even the back-stage environment is considered and is capable of interacting with the customers and other stakeholders of the attraction. The focus of the experience should be balanced between that of the employees and the customers. Increased focus on the customer experience can easily result in the services becoming poor is the employee experience is not sufficient. Technology use While the centre has adopted various technological approaches in enhancing the user experience, integration of the technology should also be further advanced. Stratford Upon Avon should consider the development of a mobile platform where people can interact to the establishment through mobile phones. The mobile devices have become relatively common forms of accessing the web. Integrating a mobile phone platform within the location website would enhance the level of interaction and usage of the interaction platform. Interested parties can be able to access information through their mobile phones and other mobile devices. Customer interaction The interaction of the customers to the organisations occurs through a set of protocols and regulations which govern the code of conduct of employees. The regulations and training which employees receive should be accommodating and enabling the individuals to interact a personalised levels (Middleton & Clarke, 2012). This would eliminate the various mechanised processes which are present in the interactive elements of the system. Given that experience is personal and subjective, the customer interaction should be focused on personalising the services. Conclusion The visitor experience at the Stratford Upon Avon has been the fundamental focus of the marketing approaches which have been applied by the location. People focused marketing approaches have ensured that the way people experience services at the centre is improved. The development of emerging skills among the employees enhances the experience of the employees while improving their performance. Improved performance of the employees becomes critical to in enhancing the service delivery within the organisation. This in turn results in improvement in the services and satisfaction of customers with the services rendered by the organisation. The focus of the location has been on the user experience which becomes enhanced when services delivery is improved on the different perspectives. References Berridge, G. (2007). Events Design and Experience. London: Routledge. Cooper, C., & Hall, C. M. (2008). Contemporary Tourism: An International Approach. Oxford: Elsivier. 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