Marriot - Customer Experience Management System - Case Study Example

Marriot CRM Name Course Lecture Date Table of Contents 1.0Introduction 3 2.0 The Moments of Truth framework 3 3.0 Presale Encounter 5 3.1 Marriot Website 5 3.2 Marriot call centre 6 3.2 Marriot Booking services 6 3.3Customer Consultation 7 4.0 Post-Sale touch point 7 5.0 Consumption Touch point 7 6.0 Post-consumption Touch point 8 6.1 Post-consumption Customer loyalty 9 6.2 Customer Membership initiatives 9 7.0 Using customer relationship data 10 7.1 Relating with dissatisfied customer 11 8.0 Recommendations for Marriot Hotels 12 8.1 Key Performance Indicators 12 8.2 Implement a cleanliness standard for all Rooms 12 9.0 Conclusion 13 10.0 References 14 1.0 Introduction Marriot is a leading global company in the hospitality business with over 4,200 properties across the globe. It operates in 80 countries and in 2014 it reported profits of nearly $14 billion (Marriot Profile 2015). The Marriot stable has over 19 brands under its name including: the JW Marriott®, Autograph Collection®, The Ritz-Carlton®, BVlgari®, ® Hotels, Renaissance® Hotels, Marriott Hotels®, Marriott Executive Apartments® and Delta Hotels. Marriot has received rewards for its superior business ethics, customer services and as a good employer. Marriot uses award-winning guest loyalty programs in many of its accommodation establishment across the globe. The loyalty program has over 50 million members (Marriot Profile 2015). In recent decades, the accommodation industry has become more competitive and is characterised by slim margins, over-capacity, and ease of switching between competitors. Many new hotel chains have joined markets that were traditionally dominated by Marriot international. In the hotel industry retention of customers is extremely essential as customers can easily switch to any of Marriot’s numerous competitors. Marriot uses their customer relationship management system to ensure they retain and attract as many customers as possible. This report uses the service touch point analysis to evaluate the customer relationship management system of Marriot and how it contributes to the hotel chains sustainability in a competitive environment. 2.0 The Moments of Truth framework Hotel customers interact with the service company multiple times in different places and ways. A hotel customer has some real moments when he associates with the company products and experiences their services (Meyer and Schwager 2007). Some moments of truth include when the customer sleeps in the service provider’s room, when they phone the hospitality provider, when they check-in and out of the hotel, and when they watch adverts and other promotion by the Service company. However, all the service touch points cannot be investigated in one report and thus it is important to identify the most critical moments of truth. According to Tiernan, Rhoades and Waguespack (2008), there are a number of moments of truth touch points in the accommodation industry: 1. Pre-sale 2. Post-Sale 3. Consumption 4. Post consumption Pre-sale customer processes in the accommodation and boarding industry include: Seeking information, booking a room and printing the reservation. Post sale processes include advice at airport and other hotel transfer, check-in and condition of check-in lounges. Consumption is the actual use of the service offered by Marriot Hotels to the customer and includes welcoming of customers into the hotel, quality of room entertainment, food and beverages, comfort of bed and other services offered during a stay in a Marriot hotel (Pranic and Roehl 2012). On the other hand, post-consumption processes include reward programs, seeking customer feedback and information on available offers and promotions to existing customers. At each of these points the customer assess the touch points reliability, assurance, empathy, tangibles, empathy, responsiveness and rater factors (Pranic and Roehl 2012). For each of these Marriot Hotel services we will investigate how the hotel chain is performing. The reports will also look at how Marriot Hotel’s services achieve the customer expectations of quality. This part will analyze whether they achieve Desired Service levels, adequate service levels, Predicted service levels or they service are just within the customer’s zone of tolerance. Desired service levels is a description of service quality that customers believe should be provided by the organization. Adequate service level describes service levels that fall within the minimum acceptable service level (Godson 2009). Predicted service level is the quality of service that customers expect to receive from the service company. Customers may also be willing to accept variation in service delivery within a given level of tolerance. 3.0 Presale Encounter The first encounter Marriot has with customer is at the presale phase of the service. The pre-sale touch point is a great opportunity for hotels and indeed other service organization to raise their service quality (Godson 2009). Marriot can provide services and information that enhance the customer’s overall experience. It also provides an opportunity to make up sells and cross sells. Other information that can be provided includes customer’s itinerary information, passenger preference, inferred preference and loyalty/frequent customer history (Pranic and Roehl 2012). A Customer’s first encounter with Marriot is when they are looking for information on the type of accommodation and prices offered by Marriot International. Nowadays, most information about flights is available from www.marriott.com; the official website of the Marriot Brand. The Marriot website provides an easy and convenient way where potential Marriot customers can get information about Marriot’s accommodation services. 3.1 Marriot Website Marriot International runs separate websites for each for its hotels around the world. Marriot Hotel website is very informative providing information that helps customers make order with the hotel. The website includes information about arrival airports, airports transfer, check-in information and checkout information. The websites are also used to convey information about offers and promotions to Marriot customers. 3.2 Marriot call centre Another important service touch point at the presale phase is the Marriot call centre. Call centres are valuable to a hotel as customer call in to find out further detail about the service company products (Hackbarth and Kettinger 2000). Call centre are also important when customers want to notify Marriot about changes in their arrival and check-out time. Marriot call centres have attracted the praise of reviewers as their customers are polite and go out of their way to assist customers (Sudhir and Reddy 2010). Marriot owes the success of their call centres to the way they treat employees. Several Marriot centres have been voted the best workplaces in many countries where the Marriot chain operates. According to customers, there is hardly any delay before Marriot customers care representatives pick their customers calls (Marriot Profile 2015). Speaking to them is always a pleasure and there are also very helpful to customers who call Marriot seeking some kind of assistance regarding Marriot’s services. Marriot calls centres provide exceptional services that are expected by the chains customers. 3.2 Marriot Booking services Online booking is one of the functions that enables modern hospitality services sell their services online. Marriot customers can pay for their rooms through the company’s online portal which accepts credit cards. Customer can book their rooms from the convenience of their homes and thus costly journeys to airports and the offices of travel agents are avoided (Grundy and Moxon 2013). Customers also avoid the inconvenience of changing currencies when paying for their accommodation as credit cards are used to make the online payments (Svensson 2006). Marriot’s accommodation booking touch point can thus be said to be providing expected service levels for customers. 3.3 Customer Consultation Marriot also enhances the presale experience of customer by providing them with valuable information about their accommodation (Baghai, Smit and Viguerie 2009). Marriot’s consultations services to travellers are concerned with keeping them safe and showing the best way to get to the hotel. Marriot website also helps visitors learn the cultural etiquette of the regions they are visiting (Helkkula 2011). 4.0 Post-Sale touch point Hotel transfers and check-in are important touch points in the Marriot customer experience (McKechnie, Grant and Golawala, 2011). The kind of transfers offered to customers can help Marriot distinguish between other high value customers and other customers (Godson 2009). Some customers are offered chauffeured limousine transfers while others have to do with public means of transport. Enhancement off services for this customer depends on customer information available from the Marriot customer reward program. In this regard Marriot provides adequate service levels to customers and most customers who have come into contact with Marriot at the post-sale touch point are satisfied by the hotel chain’s services. 5.0 Consumption Touch point The consumption touch point is arguably the most important in the accommodation industry. When Marriot customers enter their rooms and spend the night or the day they are actually consuming the core product offered by Marriot Hotels. According to McKechnie, Grant and Golawala (2011), the consumption touch point is the best chance for making an overall impression on the customer. A customer’s stay at a Marriot hotel is a prolonged period when the organizations employees interact with the customer. One of the most notable customer services offered by Marriot is the provision of reading glasses to guest. Marriot offers free reading glasses to every customer who books with the chain. The idea of providing reading glasses was implemented after Marriot realized many customers check-in without their reading glasses. Many business travellers need their reading glasses to complete their work and even to sign hotel bills and approve other chargers. Many customers express delight at finding out that Marriot provides reading glasses to their customers. Marriot hotel rooms are also described admiringly by many customers. Many customers describe Marriot rooms as large, well decorated and clean (Marriot Profile 2015). Marriot beds are also large and they provide high quality beddings for their guests (Nickson, Warhurst and Dutton 2005). Many Marriot hotels have their rooms rated five stars on many customer review websites. Marriot also pays particular attention to the way rooms are lit ensuring that just the light amount of light is in the room. However, some Marriot customers have complained about the cleanliness of rooms in some of the chains properties. An enraged customer once complained that he did not expects to find such a dirty room in a Marriot property. Marriot customers also describe the food offered in the group’s restaurants and bars as very good (Trip Advisor 2015). Customer reviews establish that Marriot food is always good and is preferred even by travellers who are staying in other hotels. One Marriot hotel in the UK employs celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay as their head chef (Trip Advisor 2015). This show that Marriot cares deeply about the kind of food they offer to their customers. 6.0 Post-consumption Touch point Post-accommodation touch points are one of the critical focus areas of customer relationship marketing. Marriot obtains the contacts of their customers when they are making reservations for their rooms. The reservation is accompanied by a request to use the information for future marketing communication with Marriot (McKechnie, Grant and Golawala 2011). Marriot communicates with customers post accommodation to enhance relationships with them. Based on the value of the Customer to Marriot, the chain tailors the kind of communication it is going to initiate with the customer (Godson 2009). 6.1 Post-consumption Customer loyalty Customer loyalty is defined as an unchanging altitude of support, friendship and belief in an organization, its brands products and services (Godson 2009). Loyal customers act out in support of the organization. Customer loyalty is the key goal of customer relationship management (Stringer and Cates 2009). Customer loyalty arises from customer satisfaction. Customer loyalty leads to many repeat purchases by consumers, thereby increasing the organisation’s profit. It is also a very effective way of advertising the organizations product. 6.2 Customer Membership initiatives Making customers members of the organization is one of the greatest ways of building customers relationship. Customer membership creates a special relationship between the marketing organization and the customer. Membership schemes reinforce customer loyalty and create long-term relationship (Peterson et al 2010). Marriot Hotel have membership program where frequent customers can join. The Ritz loyalty reward program is one among many loyalty programs run by the Marriot chain of hotels. Customer membership programs provide an easier and more accurate way to determine target audience, enhance the services delivered to them (Peterson et al 2010). The marketing organizations can use customer’s past information to provide more customized services to each customer. This gives customers a strong sense of belonging to the hotel chain. 7.0 Using customer relationship data One of the most important aspects of relationship marketing is the intelligent use of customer information as a basis for improving customer experience. At each of these touch points; the marketing organization must make use of customer data intelligently to enhance customer relationships (Svensson 2006). The data collected can be used to create market segments which they can tailor products and offers to the segments identified. By taking advantage of that information, hospitality organizations can turn customer relationships into profitable partnerships that ensure the sustainability of the organization. According to McKechnie, Grant and Golawala (2011), customer relationship influence three dimensions of customer loyalty including: Customer’s willingness to make a purchase; Customer’s willingness to switch to competitors; Customers willingness to refer friends or colleagues; According to Godson (2009), customer relationship management is an enterprise wide information system which collects and makes use of customer information to enhance their service experience with the organization. Customer relationship management involves gathering and management of customer’s consumer behavior information, demographic data which assist the company to improve the service experience of its customers. Marriot stores customer information in a secured database as the hotel chains understands that customer privacy and information technology is important (Hackbarth and Kettinger 2000). Marriot customer information is shared across by chain’s businesses across the world. Therefore, a Marriot property in China has the information of a customer who checked into Marriot Hotel in London. Marriot makes creative use of customer information it has in its database. Marriot sends its customers gifts and greeting cards based on the information it obtains from the customer database. Customers are delighted to see that Marriot remembers them on special occasions. According to Peterson et al (2010), this strategy brings many Marriot customers back as they want to stay with the hotel that cares even when they are not accommodating them. 7.1 Relating with dissatisfied customer At the post-consumption touch point, the organization may encounter many unsatisfied customers. The organization must make every effort to maintain good relationships by dealing with issues that cause this dissatisfaction. It has been argued that dissatisfied customer feel like the service organization owes them something (Godson 2009). They have to restore and strengthen their relationship with the aggrieved customer by resolving their problems. Customer complaints are valuable source of data on how an organization’s services are performing. Marriot runs a call centre and have offices in airports to deal and handle customer complaints. Marriot has initiated training programs that ensures that their employees are competent in handling complaints that are received from customers (Hackbarth and Kettinge 2000). Marriot has not followed the convectional model where line workers do not have the authority to make decision that affect customers. Marriot customer care staff are able to solve the customer’s problems and this has seen Marriot recognized as one of the best workplaces in the hospitality industry. The intense rivalry in the boarding and accommodation industry means customer complaints have to be handled seriously. If Marriot dissatisfies its customer they may be pushed to switch to rival hotels. In addition complaints are relayed to other customers if the services company fails to take timely action (Sudhir and Reddy 2010). Marriot has a well established complaints management system and has trained it staff on how to deal with complaints. Marriot has a website where customers can give their feedback on their services experience with Marriot. Therefore, the quality level for unsatisfied complaint touch point can be said to live up to consumer expectations. 8.0 Recommendations for Marriot Hotels 8.1 Key Performance Indicators To ensure that the overall service experience of its customers is enhanced, the hotel chain should develop key performance indicators (KPIs) in every service touch point discussed above. Employees of Marriot Hotels should observe these metrics to ensure that customers are satisfied with the hotel chain’s services at each touch point. According to Tate and van der Valk (2008), Key performance indicators provide a basis for monitoring performance in regard to meeting customer expectations at each service touch point. Marriot Hotels must strive to provide desired service levels by continuously improving service quality across all touch points (Meyer and Schwager 2007). Marriot must remember that failure to meet customer expectations at each of the critical points may make or break their customer relationships. In addition, Marriot should create a customer-satisfaction metric for each touch point. BA can ask customers to fill an online survey describing their experience with each of the hotel chains service touch points. With key performance indicators established a scorecard approach should be used to monitor performance. If significant changes are noticed in any of the metrics, the hotel chain should make sure its services are living up to consumer expectations. 8.2 Implement a cleanliness standard for all Rooms As seen in this report, a few complaints about cleanliness in Marriot Hotels have been submitted online. However, these few complaints are a speck on Marriott’s otherwise impeccable record for responsible customer service. If more complaints about the level of cleanliness in any of Marriot’s properties are received, the chain could lose its reputation as one of the best providers of premium accommodation services across the globe. Urgent action is needed as negative information about poor services spreads like bush fire in the age of information. Marriot can implement a uniform standard for room cleanliness across the chain’s accommodation business across the entire globe. 9.0 Conclusion Marriot Hotels have a well established customer relationship management system that is able to ensure quality service to customers at various service touch points with the organization. Marriot Hotels have been the recipient of various awards owing to their excellence in customer’s service. This report provides a snapshot of how Marriot handles the customer relationships that has propelled the chain to great heights in hospitality provision. Marriot has used IT to share customer information among the numerous hospitality establishments run by the hotel chain. However, Marriot shows high regard for the confidentiality of customer information and store information securely and only use customer information with their consent. Marriot customer relationship management system has contributed greatly to the sustainability of the hotel chain’s business and Marriot will continue to stay ahead of its rivals if it continues to treat its customers as well as it does. 10.0 References Godson, M 2009, Relationship marketing. OUP Oxford. Hackbarth, G, & Kettinger, WJ 2000, Building an e-business strategy. Information Systems Management, 17(3), 78-93. Marriot Profile 2015, Accessed 26 June 2015, http://news.marriott.com/marriott-international-profile.html McKechnie, D, Grant, J & Golawala, F 2011, ‘Partitioning service encounters into touch points to enhance quality’, International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences, vol. 3, no. 2, pp.146 – 165, ,(online Emerald) Meyer, C & Schwager 2007, ‘Understanding customer experience’, Harvard Business Review, No.February, pp.116-26, (online Emerald) Nickson, D, Warhurst, C, & Dutton, E 2005, The importance of attitude and appearance in the service encounter in retail and hospitality. Managing Service Quality: An International Journal, 15(2), 195-208. Peterson, M, Gröne, F, Kammer, K & Kirscheneder, J 2010, Multi-channel customer management: delighting consumers, driving efficiency. Journal of Direct, Data and Digital Marketing Practice, 12(1), 10-15 Pranic, L, & Roehl, W 2012, 'Rethinking service recovery: a customer empowerment (CE) perspective', Journal of Business Economics & Management, vol. 13, no.2, pp. 242-260, (Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost) Stringer, R, & Cates, TM 2009, Leading for loyalty. The 2009 Pfeiffer Annual: Leadership Development, 1, 225. Sudhir, B, & Reddy, T 2010, 'A STUDY ON MARKETING PRACTICES IN SELECT SERVICE INDUSTRY', Mustang Journal Of Business & Ethics, pp. 50-65, (online Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost) Svensson, G. 2006, ‘Sequential service quality in service encounter chains: case studies’, Journal of Services Marketing, vol. 20, no .1, pp.51-8, (online Emerald) Tate, WL, & van der Valk, W 2008, Managing the performance of outsourced customer contact centers. Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management, 14(3), 160-169. Tiernan, S, Rhoades, DL & Waguespack, B 2008, ‘Hotel chain service quality – exploratory analysis of consumer perceptions and operational performance in the USA and EU’, Managing Service Quality, Vol. 18 No.3, pp.212-24, (online Emerald) Trip Advisor 2015, Marriot food are always good.” Accessed 26 June 2015, http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g147367-d1046162-r200452063-Solana-Seven_Mile_Beach_Grand_Cayman_Cayman_Islands.html Read More