Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Preface
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Today, businesses are facing an aggressive competition and they have to
make Efforts to survive in a competitive and uncertain market place. People
have realized that managing Customer relationships is a very important factor
for their success.
However, more rapid progress is being made due in part to the continued
consolidation between hospitality companies and hospitality IT vendors.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
2
I acknowledge the sincere assistance provided to me from several rather
unexpected quarters during the course of execution of this study. It would be a
mammoth task to place on record my gratitude to each and every one of them
but a whole hearted attempt would be made nevertheless, least I be branded
ungrateful.
Where the emotions are involved words cease to work. I am deeply indebt to
for her encouragement, affections, valuable advice and guidance that helped
me to complete this project successfully.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction………………………………………..6-9
• What is CRM
• Research Questions
• Scope of Study
• Objectives of study
2. CRM – An Overview…………………………..10-28
• Advantages of CRM
• ROI of CRM
• E-CRM components in hotel industry
• Research Design
• Steps in the Research Process
• Limitation of study
5. Findings/ Research……………………………….38-53
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1. Introduction
CRM entails all aspects of interaction a company has with its customer,
whether it is sales or service related. It even uses technology to streamline
processes that impact customer loyalty, service delivery and quality
management.
Today, businesses are facing an aggressive competition and they have to
make Efforts to survive in a competitive and uncertain market place. People
have realized that managing Customer relationships is a very important factor
for their success. Customer relationship management (CRM) is a strategy that
can help them to build long-lasting relationships with their customers and
increase their profits through the right management system.
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OBJECTIVE OF CRM
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Generally speaking, the five needs of customers are:-
(a) Service
(b) Price
(c) Quality
(d) Action and
(e) Appreciation. (By Raghunath & Shields 2001)
Apart from these, there would be needs, which even the customers have not
taken care of, but which, if would have satisfied will lead to higher customer
loyalty. CRM, if practiced properly might lead to cross-selling and up selling of
products and services. Cross-selling means selling the right product to the
right customer. One other relevant and important attribute of CRM is its ability
to help in the ego-mending of customers. This, if practiced efficiently, soothes
the customer's negative emotions he could have, due to the non-attainment of
his expectations regarding the product or the service.
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1.2 Research Questions
This study will provide an insight into the hotel industry and the steps being
taken by them to improve their relationship with their guests/customers.
From the study, one can infer the present scenario of the practices and
programs being followed by the leading players in this sector and the steps
being followed by them to enhance customer retention, customer satisfaction
and in turn, leading to enhanced profits and brand image in the minds of the
customers.
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CHAPTER 2
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There are three parts of application architecture of CRM:
Integrated CRM software is often also known as "front office solutions." This is
because they deal directly with the customer.
Many call centers use CRM software to store all of their customer's details.
When a customer calls, the system can be used to retrieve and store
information relevant to the customer. By serving the customer quickly and
efficiently, and also keeping all information on a customer in one place, a
company aims to make cost savings, and also encourage new customers
CRM solutions can also be used to allow customers to perform their own
service via a variety of communication channels.
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2.2 Importance of Customers
There exists a wide-spread mistaken notion that CRM is some kind of a
manifestation of technology only. Another interesting thing is that even those
who have implemented highly technological installations for their CRM
initiatives, quite often can be seen to have forgotten the basis of this modern
concept, i.e., making profitable relationships with their customers. This
significant part is left to the technology alone (Schneider and Bowen, 1999).
Such a situation arises mainly because of the inability or reluctance of the
management to accept the importance of customers and serving them to keep
them satisfied and happy, which otherwise may result in low sales and hence
low profits. "One widely accepted marketing rule-of-thumb claims that the
average, unhappy customer tells eight other potential customers about his
negative experience." (Lemon, et al, 2002)
Some decades ago, most of the companies concentrated mainly on higher
productivity through higher levels of efficiency of employees as well as
machines, cost-reduction tactics and on attracting more customers through the
classic marketing tactics such as TV advertisements, mass mailings, bill
boards etc. But the sudden growth and expansion of services sector proved
that these would not convert into profits, as was expected. Moreover, the
emergence of faster, cheaper and more efficient systems of communication,
transport and information technology has made the business enterprises
realize that the competition is just a mouse click away. These changed, new
environment of business unveiled the importance of keeping the existing
customers loyal so that they would not switch over to the competition, without
much thinking. This led to the increased awareness of companies about the
importance of serving the customer needs with a higher level of quality and in
a way which is convenient and beneficial to both the companies and the
customers. (Anton, 2005)
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2.3 Four Parameters to Measure CRM Success
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Now there are specific analytical tools which will help organizations to
measure their return on investment of CRM. According to George Varghese,
Head (Marketing), SAS India, "Operational CRM can improve efficiency but it
is difficult to calculate RoI. (Mohan Babu, 2003) To calculate
RoI, enterprises need to build organizational intelligence, customer
intelligence and supplier intelligence to get a unified 360 degree view of
customers, suppliers and organizations." (Dyche, 2004)
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2.5 CRM and Technology
In CRM the important functions are collecting customer data, analyzing them
and making relationships with the prospective customers based on the
analyzed information. Among these three main functions, the first and the last
ones are making direct contact with customers, while analyzing data is not.
The operational CRM deals with those which make customer contacts or
otherwise called as touch points.
Analytical CRM does the job of analyzing the accumulated data from the
various touch points with the aid of business intelligence.
By using the new CRM techniques the companies are trying to provide a
consistent but tailored customer experience across all contact points with the
customers.
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2. Sales Force Automation (SEA):
These are tools which automate the collection and distribution of all types of
sales or sales related information’s. SEA allow for the design of sales teams
based on particularly defined criteria. Calendar management, activity
management, sales reporting and forecasting, lead distribution and tracking
of sales contacts with customers and prospects are some of the capabilities
offered within these solutions.
According to Hart et al, (2002) Analytical CRM involves the analysis and
interpretation of large amounts of cross functional data collected from the
customer activities occurred at the front-office. This data is regularly stored in
a data warehouse, which is actually a storehouse of corporate data from
various sources intended to facilitate business analysis. The major types of
analysis of data are the following:
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to explore data online with the aim of focusing on detailed data at a
lower and lower level of the data hierarchy. More often, this means
generating an online report, analyzing the results and submitting a
detailed query in order to understand the result data. OLAP analysis
requires the analyst to have a query or hypothesis in mind for clearly
understanding the result.
2) Data mining: Data mining tools identify patterns in data and deliver
valuable new information’s that can increase a company's
understanding of itself and its customers. It is commonly used to help
data analysts search for information they don’t yet know to look for,
often involving no hypothesis. The three types of data mining
are(Dyche, 2004):
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3) Click stream analysis: By analyzing the click streams of an internet
user, one can understand how the user arrived at the site, how long he
stayed, what he did during his visit and when he returned. The whole
process is similar to a hidden camera recording the activities of a
shopper in a store. These data are stored either as part of company’s
data warehouse or as separate click stream data store called "data web
house: If examined regularly with consistent metrics, click streams
reveal certain patterns of web-user behavior. (Schneider and Bowen,
1999)
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5. Cyber agents: This is a kind of an improved or modified form of the
concept of self-service. Cyber agents are 'lifelike representatives'
normally depicted on a company’s web site as a real person. This
attempt to pull together the best of both personalization and advanced
technology. It is given a personality and is having facial expressions
and volume. Usually a cyber agent addresses the web visitor with
his/her first name. It can draw from the wealth of detailed information to
answer basic FAQs as well as guide a customer to the appropriate
screen for a definite purpose/action. (Raghunath & Shields 2001)
6. Web site: It is the efficient and effective use of worldwide web for
providing information to the customers, by a company who had created
that site, in a hassle-free manner. The main advantage of a web site is
its 24 hours accessibility. Usually gathering information from the site is
a simple task and is cost-effective. In the US and in the developed
countries web is extensively used. In the case of monetary transactions,
if it is a high involvement activity most of the customers prefer the
offline mode mainly due to their concern over security problems in
monetary transactions, through the net. (Key Note , 2003)
Advantages of CRM
Generally, following are the type of data a CRM project includes (Lemon, et al,
2002):
Responses to campaigns
Shipping and fulfillment dates
Sales and purchase data
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Account information
Web registration data
Service and support records
Demographic data
Web sales data
With CRM software tools, an enterprise might build a database about its
customers that describes relationships in sufficient detail.
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projects are no longer viewed as stand-alone implementations but are now
being increasingly pursued in context of larger business objectives and core
strategic agendas. Corporations realize that the true values of their customers
in down turn are the ones that will be equipped, tied over the slump and jump
start, consolidate and thrive.
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• Customer service and support functionality: incident assignment,
escalation, tracking/reporting, problem management/resolution, order
management/promising, warranty/contract management
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EXAMPLE:-
Guest Ware is a unique Customer Relationship Management System (CRMS)
designed specifically for the lodging industry to provide personalized guest
recognition and exceptional service quality. Leading hotel management
companies use Guest Ware to improve guest satisfaction, lower operating
costs, build guest loyalty, and increase revenues. (www.guestware.com)
Guest Ware is installed in over seven hundred hotels and resorts worldwide;
including Marriott International, Kimpton Hotel Group, Hyatt Hotels, Star wood
and many independent hotels and resorts.
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provide valuable management reports to maximize the benefits of your
surveys.
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ITC Maurya Sheraton - Field selling, Loyalty programs, Reservation systems,
Web & Call centers are the major sources of database development. The
hotel has 35,000 members in its database. They regard this management of
their database as an asset because it enables a superior customer
understanding.
Seeing CRM initiatives take hold and begin to pay off is often a waiting game.
It’s not a “flip-the- switch” product that automatically spits out results or
something that will take affect overnight and cause profits to skyrocket while
you sleep. The puzzle must be completed and time must play its part before
true success will be seen. However, through dedicated and smart planning,
businesses should see markedly increased profits, as satisfied customers will
continually re-visit them. Gradually, as businesses get to know their
customers, their customers get to know them, and a closely aligned
partnership is formed. This one-to-one relationship is the catalyst that sparks
both lifetime customer loyalty and revenue increase.
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In the true spirit of thinking outside of the box, experts at the Gartner Group
believe “the most successful organizations will be those who, through
innovation and focus on business effectiveness rather than merely efficiency,
manage to break the mold of traditional business thinking”. Being effective is
paramount. The end goal of better serving customers and enabling a high
percentage of customer retention cannot be met with out creative thinking and
effective planning and actions. The task of perfecting the relationship between
business and customer is always on going and requires special dedication and
innovation as the commerce markets continually change and fluctuate. And
over time, customers change, as does their behavior and needs, and business
must be able to respond to that.
Being on the cusp of the industry and always having a hand on the pulse of
the customer is the key for success. As the CRM initiative begins to take hold,
key players will soon see patterns emerge among customers, will discover
what a productive strategy is and what is not. This is the essence of a
successful CRM project: being able to really know what will work for your
customers, what satisfies them, and what keeps them loyal. The ability to get
an accurate gut feeling about the marketing campaigns, new products, and the
type of policies customers will respond to is invaluable. This kind of customer
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knowledge only comes from really digging in and being savvy about how you
go about understanding the people that you hope will continuously call on the
services and products of your business. The ROI in this case would be
compelling indeed.
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Chapter # 3
Industry/Company Perspectives
ITC hotels stepped into the hospitality industry in 1975 and are one of the
most upcoming hotel chains in its class. They started their first hotel in
Chennai and now they have 66 hotels across more than 50 destinations in
India. ITC collaborated with Sheraton hotels, which is a part of Starwood
hotels and resorts and is a well-known global hospitality chain. They were the
first ones to adopt this exclusive logo which has not been thought or taken by
anyone to match this – The “Namaste-Nobody gives you India like we do”.
It is represented by four distinctive brands serving the needs of the travelers,
namely: -
“In the year 1984, this group underwent a drastic change when their occurred
a paradigm make over in the entire Hospitality Industry. It was at this point
when there focus shifted from catering the Leisure Travelers to Business
Clientele in order to provide a feel of a working environment while traveling all
over the country. We feel that the hotels in the city fulfill the leisure needs well,
but there are very few to think out of the box”.
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THE OBEROI GROUP OF HOTEL
The Oberoi Group of Hotel has played a leading role in the growth of the hotel
industry in India. The Oberoi group has the distinction of having listed as
members of the leading hotels of the world. Oberoi hotels today operate the
largest chain of luxury hotels with 30 hotels in 9 countries and are rapidly
expanding into new destinations around the world.
As the founder chairman Rai Bahadur Mohan Singh Oberoi started off
with a single hotel in Shimla in 1934, the group has diversified business
interests relating to the hospitality industry.
The Oberoi Chain currently runs 18 hotels in India and 12 hotels abroad.
CONCEPTION
The Oberoi, New Delhi was India's first modern, luxury hotel, when it was
opened in 1965. A member of the internationally prestigious leading hotels of
the world, today the Oberoi has undergone a multimillion dollar redesign and
offers every comfort and convenience to the international corporate travelers.
Taj group of hotels is the largest chain in India- with several Hotels abroad
also. The parent Hotel-The Taj Mahal Hotel, Bombay is rated among the 10
best hotels in the world.
The founder of the house of Tatas, Mr.Mansheti Nuser wanji Tata, in 1894
formed the Indian Hotels company and built the exquisitely beautiful Taj
Mahal Hotel in Bombay.
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Taj has been operating in the USA, the UK, the Maldives, Oman and Srilanka
and the Taj Empire continues to expand further. Today Taj has 50 Hotels of
which 48 are operational, 38 destinations and is the largest Hotel chain in the
country. Only one hotel group knows India and South Asia so well, and does
so with such consummate style. From its earliest days, taking residence with
The Taj Group has been a grand occasion. When The Taj Mahal Hotel,
Mumbai, opened in 1903, the event was described by The Times, London, as
“a resplendent debut”.
Taj Palace is Luxury Hotel under Taj Group of Hotels. It is ideally located, 10
minutes from the Airport, 10 minutes from down town situated amidst 6 acres
of landscaped greenery; Taj Palace hotel offers convenience and gentle
ambience. The hotel combines attractive functionality with style in a peaceful
symbiosis. In Taj tradition, one finds congenial atmosphere of true business
hotel coupled with local handicrafts and a special emphasis on cuisine. Taj
Palace has 421 rooms and suites. Each Deluxe Business floor room is a
modern business centre. So too is their exclusive club floor rooms. Within
quiet reason, everything that one wishes is available round the clock Taj
Palace hotel including the finest cuisine in town. On request in-room fax, E-
mail facility, Laptop computer, background information on major Indian
industries, plus on line accessibility to world business information is available.
There are six restaurants and a bar in the hotel to offer its guests. To name
the few are Orient Express, Isfahan, The Tea House of the August Moon,
Handi and My Kind of Place ( Discotheque). There are six Luxury Hotels
which offer a whole of elegant living and upto the minute business amenities,
as a part of Rs. 300 crore upgradation programme. All Luxury Hotels now
have renovated rooms, a state of the art Business Centre and a modern
Fitness Centre. The Taj group also have eight Business Hotels spread over
different corners of the country. There are 20 Taj Leisure Hotels out of which
16 are in India and 4 are abroad.
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Today, The Taj Group is India’s largest and finest hotel chain offering 48
hotels in 34 locations across the subcontinent. This growth has been as
diversified as it has been impressive. In addition to superlative luxury hotels,
The Taj Group includes business hotels, beach resorts, palace, garden
retreats and other comfortable accommodation. Internationally, The Taj Group
has a few properties in key cities like London, New York, Washington DC,
Chicago and locations in the Middle East and in Africa.
The uniqueness of the Taj Group lies in the sum of its parts in providing a
living heritage of India, together with superb comforts and modern facilities. All
of these combine to make The Taj Experience a must.
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Chapter # 4.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Design
After having defined the marketing research problem and developed a suitable
approach, attention must be given to the formulation of a detailed research
design, which will provide pertinent information. According to (C.R. Kothari,
2004) when defining research design, he presents it simply as ‘the framework
for a study used in order to guide the collection and analysis of data’.
According to Kothari (2003), there are two major types of research design:-
Even though exploratory and conclusive research has distinct purposes, they
both consist of the same research components. They differ only in terms of the
degree of formalization and flexibility of the components illustrated in table
below:
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Research project Exploratory Research Conclusive Research
Components
Research Purpose General: To generate Specific: To verify insights
insights about a situation in selecting a course of
action
Exploratory Research:
According to Kothari (2003), the primary purpose of exploratory research is to
shed light on the nature of situation and identify any specific objective or data
needs to be addressed through additional research. Exploratory research is
the most useful when a decision maker wishes to better understand situation,
identify relevant courses of action or gain additional insights before an
approach can be developed. In general, exploratory is appropriate to any a
problem about which little is known.
Exploratory studies are distinguished by flexibility concerning the methods
employed. Literature searches, experience surveys and study of selected
studies are some commonly used approaches (Kothari, 2004).An effective
way of doing exploratory research is to seek out and talk to individual with
expertise related to the situation being investigated.
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Conclusive Research:
The insights gained from exploratory research might be verified by conclusive
research, as the objective of conclusive research is to test specific hypothesis
and examine specific relationship (Malhotra, 1999). Conclusive research is
especially useful when the decision-maker already has in mind on or more
alternatives and is specifically looking for information pertinent to evaluating
them. Therefore, when conductive a conclusive research, the decision maker
can choose the best course action in a situation.
The kind of research is based on large, representative samples, and the data
obtained are subject to quantitative analysis.
o Descriptive research
o Casual research
Descriptive research:
Descriptive research is the design involved in the vast majority of marketing
studies. The goal of descriptive research, as the name implies is essentially to
describe something. Specifically, it is intended to generate data describing the
composition and characteristics of relevant groups of unit such as customers,
salespeople, organization and market areas (Parasuraman, 1991).Data
collected through descriptive research can provide valuable information bout
the study units along relevant characteristics and also association among
those characteristics.
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STEPS IN TH RESEARCH PROCESS
Research simply means a search for facts- answers to questions and solution
to problems. It is a purposive investigation and an organized inquiry.
This research project has a specified framework for collecting the data in an
effective manner. Such framework is called “Research Design.”
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ANALYZE THE INFORMATION
The next step is to extract the pertinent findings from the collected data. In this
project, the collected data is presented as the CRM practices followed by each
hotel covered in the study.
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Chapter # 5.
Findings / Research
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Customer Service is now more fashionably called Customer Relationship
Management. ITC Maurya Sheraton has been following an unstructured form
of CRM with a narrow focus of serving the customer well and in a most
efficient manner. The concept of Customer Relationship Management has a
broader focus of not only serving the customer but also creating the customer
and retaining him for measurable and substantial returns. CRM is a vast
subject where the concept of one to one marketing is supported by Database
Marketing.
o Field selling
o Loyalty Programs
o Distribution Points
o Web
o Call Centers
Field Selling
When a sales group or a marketing executive of the hotel makes a sales call
to a corporate, then it is called Field Selling. Field Selling includes
Prospecting which means searching and seeking for new customers. Current
Accounts are one of the best sources to uncover new business that is within
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these current accounts, as they harbor many sources of untapped business
potential. They also provide Leads and referrals. Leads are potential
customers with whom no contact has yet been made and learning of potential
customers from current customers is called Referral. Field selling is
considered the most important vehicle for the CRM function as the initiative is
on the part of the hotel to contact the prospective guest. Since the
representative of the hotel meets the customer personally, he is able to strike
a chord instantly and has a fair chance of representing the hotel. The
difference between the customer and consumer is apparent at this stage as,
the person who uses the hotel is a consumer (guest) and the person who
helps him make this choice is the customer (link), this link, in most cases, is
the administration personnel who are responsible for making reservations. So
with the help of field selling, the executive is able to make a direct contact with
the ‘link’, the administration person and is able to take the feedback on a
continuous basis and helps to customize the offering. The main objective of
this is to maintain ‘one to one’ contact with the customer on a regular basis
and also to maintain reasonable visibility so that whenever there is a
requirement, the hotel is the most obvious alternative for the customer to
consider.
Loyalty Programs
Second vehicle for CRM identified by Maurya Sheraton are the Loyalty
Programs. These programs are designed to reward the loyal guests of the
hotel. Every time a guest checks in the hotel at his every touch point or
interface with the hotel, every time he spends on a service provided by the
hotel (use of Room, Restaurant, Laundry, Telephones etc.), the transaction is
recorded at each individual point and is added to the final bill presented to the
guest at the end of the stay. There are certain points attached to the number
of rupees spent by the guest. Therefore higher the amount of the bill, the
higher will be the number of points attained by the guest. These points are
credited to the account of each guest with the help of technology. These are
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called Loyalty points. These accounts having the loyalty points are unique to
every guest. Therefore, whenever after the first time that guest checks into the
hotels, the guest history also affects the loyalty points. The higher the number
of points, more loyal is the guest. The points can be redeemed by the guest
for either free stays at the hotel or free gifts as listed by the hotel or free meals
depending upon the number of points accumulated.
The objective of having a loyalty programme is not only to make the guest feel
rewarded for his stay but also providing a chance to the guest to reduce them
at the hotel, they essentially “gross self” the other services which would be
used & paid by the guest. In case he redeemed (for example) his points for a
free stay, he would spend on the supporting services like laundry, telephones,
restaurants etc. and the revenue generated from these could be earned by the
hotel. Therefore, instead of loss of revenue by providing free stay, they
actually gain the revenue as well as certain customers for life with the help of
the loyalty. The Loyalty Program is called welcome avail which is for the
consumer. They have another loyalty programme for the link. The
administration personnel, who is called welcome link, is motivated to provide
more business to the hotel. Therefore, the more the number of bookings the
links gives to the hotel, the more number of points are credited to his accounts
which are again redeemable at the hotel either by way of free stay or gifts.
This is seen as an important way to keep the source of business motivated
towards a long term relationship.
Welcome Award has earned the distinction of being India's premier and most
powerful frequent guest programmed. The Welcome Award programme
recognizes customer as a business traveler and through its strategic alliances
with travel partners endeavors to build a rewarding relationship customer.
As a Welcome Award member customers can earn 'Stars' on every aspect of
their business trip…hotel stays, business entertainment, Car rentals and even
air travel.
The first step in CRM is for the internal customer that is to create awareness
among them towards the concept, advantages and disadvantages of the
function. Then equip them by training in their own requisite functions & scope
of CRM within that function. At Maurya, they are trained to learn more about
the guest and his background so that when he talks to the guest, he can strike
a conversation that is of some interest to the guest. That may not be
necessarily related to his stay at the hotel but these informal conversations
with the guest can help build an excellent rapport with the guest which will
lead the guest to know the employee by the name. In future interactions, it is
possible that the guest may only wish that most of his work done through that
employee. This is also a form of customized and personalized selling within
the hotel.
Maurya does not have a separate training for CRM. Any time when they have
a special promotional scheme for a particular property, the marketing team
(which has formulated the promotional scheme) puts together the details of
the scheme, clearly marks out what is the customer expecting from the
property and also if these are some special arrangements to be made for it.
This team briefs the General Manager of the property about the customer
expectation. The General Manager then decides the path of trickling down to
that information, who should know & how much to know. In Maurya Sheraton,
they use a phrase to explain this percolation which is “Nice to know and needs
to know” which essentially means that it is nice to know for all employees of a
particular property about the running of the promotional scheme at their
property but not all need to know about every aspect of the scheme as it may
not be relevant to their scope of work but they do need to know the tier points
of the scheme relating to their scope of work.
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The second step in CRM process is to integrate the information which is
received through touch points. From a marketing point of view, it is important
to get the desired input back from touch points in such a way that all the bits
and pieces picked up by different touch points can be organized and used as
valuable information by various other touch point to offer the right product to
the right customer and that too at the right time. All this is done by creating a
data base.
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The Sales Process – Pre CRM and Post Implementation of CRM
Independent Database
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Database
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2. THE OBEROI GROUP OF HOTELS
The Oberoi, over the years, has acquired an outstanding brand value which
would help sell the hotel solely on its name. Oberoi has a very loyal patronage
from its guests, which has ensured a high market share in the high-end
segment of the market, which they cater to. Oberoi has, thus, been charging a
premium for the value that its guests derive from its services.
Till about five years back, The Oberoi did not have any competition and sales
and marketing team did not have to sweat it out to acquire and attract potential
clients. Today is a changed scenario. Because of globalization, India has seen
the entry of International hotel chains, there has been a lot of pressure on the
sales and marketing team to perform. Oberoi has seen its market share
eroding due to price wars and cost cutting amongst the five star hotels. The
loyal guests of The Oberoi have started switching due to similar international
standards of services available at cheaper rates. The Oberoi is thus working
hard to sell its services since the product has become generic in nature.
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CRM PROCESS AT THE OBEROI GROUP OF HOTELS
They use a variety of after sales tactics for customer bonding and loyalty.
Co-operative and collaborative relationships with customers seem to be the
most prudent way to keep tracks their changing expectations and
appropriately influencing it. The Oberoi has ensured the above by the various
‘end user’ and ‘booker’ programs such as (Starkov, 2006):
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Connections – Bookers’ Program
Bookers are an important link in materializing an actual sale therefore they
need to be kept motivated to push the hotel when the reservations are made
by a corporate account. Each time a booker gives as reservation to the hotel
he gets credit points for that and which can be redeemed for gifts or any hotel
services.
Food Festivals
The Oberoi conducts various food festivals at its Restaurants. Regularly and
sends invitations to its more profitable Clients.
Tie-Ups
The Oberoi invites top clients like CEO, Managing Directors and key decision
makers of different companies to social evenings specially arranged to further
enhance the Customer relationship management functions.
Taj group of hotels is the largest chain in India- with several Hotels abroad
also. The parent Hotel-The Taj Mahal Hotel, Bombay is rated among the 10
best hotels in the world
The founder of the house of Tatas, Mr.Mansheti Nuser wanji Tata, in 1894
formed the Indian Hotels company and built the exquisitely beautiful Taj
Mahal Hotel in Bombay. The doors opened in 1903 and has been a landmark
by the Gateway of India ever since.
In 1971, the 220 roomed Taj Mahal Hotels in Bombay was converted to a 325
Roomed hotel, and a multistory structure was built adjoining the original
property. In 1972, the Lake Palace at Diaper and Rambagh Palace in Jaipur
was linked to the Taj and a Chain was born. In 1974, a new company was
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floated, which created the Taj Coromandel in Madras. In the same year the
chain broadened with the acquisition of fort Aquada Beach Resort in Goa...
In 1976, Fisherman’s Cove was built which is 30 minutes drive from Madras
on the Bay of Bengal with a Private Beach. In the same year, the Taj Group
opened the Taj Flight Kitchen in Bombay, Catering to both domestic and
international flights.
In 1978, the glittering Taj Mahal was opened in Delhi, and this was followed by
The Taj Ganges in Varanasi after two years.
The1980’s was to see a rapid expansion of the group and the gigantic Taj
Palace in New Delhi was opened. The Shiv Nivas Palace at Diaper and TAC
(Taj Air Caterers) in New Delhi Airport were also opened. Followed by this was
the opening of Taj Residency in Bangalore, the Savoy Hotel in Ooty and the
Raj Mahal Palace in Jaipur and the Taj View Hotel in Agra.
Taj has been operating in the USA, the UK, the Maldives, Oman and Srilanka
and the Taj Empire continues to expand further. today Taj has 50 Hotels of
which 48 are operational, 38 destinations and is the largest Hotel chain in the
country. Taj is only the only hotel group that knows India and South Asia so
well, and does so with such complete style. Earlier, taking residence with The
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Taj Group has been a grand occasion. When The Taj Mahal Hotel, Mumbai,
inaugurated in the 1903, the event was described as “a resplendent debut” by
The Times, London.
Taj Palace is Luxury Hotel under Taj Group of Hotels. It is ideally located, 10
minutes from the Airport, 10 minutes from down town situated amidst 6 acres
of landscaped greenery; Taj Palace hotel offers convenience and gentle
ambience. The hotel combines attractive functionality with style in a peaceful
symbiosis. In Taj tradition, one finds congenial atmosphere of true business
hotel coupled with local handicrafts and a special emphasis on cuisine. Taj
Palace has 421 rooms and suites. Each Deluxe Business floor room is a
modern business centre. So too is their exclusive club floor rooms. Within
quiet reason, everything that one wishes is available round the clock Taj
Palace hotel including the finest cuisine in town. On request in-room fax, E-
mail facility, Laptop computer, background information on major Indian
industries, plus on line accessibility to world business information is available.
There are six restaurants and a bar in the hotel to offer its guests. To name
the few are Orient Express, Isfahan, The Tea House of the August Moon,
Handi and My Kind of Place(Discotheque). There are six Luxury Hotels which
offer a whole of elegant living and upto the minute business amenities, as a
part of Rs.300 crore upgradation programme. All Luxury Hotels now have
renovated rooms, a state of the art Business Centre and a modern Fitness
Centre. The Taj group also has eight Business Hotels spread over different
corners of the country. There are 20 Taj Leisure Hotels out of which 16 are in
India and 4 are abroad.
The Taj Group is India’s one of the finest and largest hotel chain which is
offering 48 hotels within 34 locations across the subcontinent. This growth has
been as diversified as it has been impressive. In addition to its admirable
luxury hotels, The Taj Group includes business hotels, beach resorts, palace,
garden retreats and other comfortable accommodation. Talking about
Internationally, The Taj Group also has properties in key cities like London,
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New York, Washington DC Chicago and also at locations in the Middle East
and in African states.
The Taj group uniqueness lies in the sum of its parts in providing a living
heritage of India, together with superlative comforts and its modern facilities.
All of these things combine to make The Taj Experience a must.
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o Check-in & departure formalities will be easier, faster & flexible
o Receive special discount on rooms at Taj leisure hotels
o Avail of double occupancy at no extra cost
o Entitled to a priority wait-list.
5. Points Redemption
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Chapter # 6.
VisiGlobe offers variety of CRM solutions. These solutions can be ranged from
providing CRM software to providing turnkey solutions including project
management, software, training and support. Guest satisfaction is the most
important aspect of CRM approach of VisiGlobe. Guest requests are
continuously observed, services improved and provided seamlessly. On the
other hand, staff performance and guest satisfaction surveys are tracked. It
helps hotels to improve guest satisfaction at least 20%. This increase provides
a minimum of 5% increase in revenue.
VisiGlobe is used for guest satisfaction survey, guest request and problems
follow-up, staff performance tracking, department performance tracking, guest
satisfaction in overall hotel performance. It has a direct connectivity to PMS -
Property Management Software. All available information in PMS are retrieved
directly into VisiGlobe.CRM and processed. A call center is established. All
reported problem and request are entered into the system and dispatched to
runner to solve the issue. Closed issues are instantly closed in the system. All
issue is solved timely. Each department manager tracks related issues and if
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necessary, he can act immediately. This ensures all guest problems are
solved before he leaves. Some part of our CRM solutions:
o Guest Recognition
To know more about guests and to serve better.
o Incident Tracking
Solving problems on time without leaving any un-solved issue.
o Rapid Response
Priority required requests are tracked and solved.
o Improvement Analysis
To improve service quality and reduce cost.
o Relationship Marketing
Marketing through guest history analysed with requests and comments.
o Facilities Maintenance
Planned room and property maintenance to offer problem free service.
o Communication Server
All requests are delivered to specific person on time via electronic
transmission.
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Transportation for Siebel Systems, said, “Our customers apply CRM tools
differently depending on their businesses’ drivers. A property that has
optimized occupancy uses CRM differently than one with low occupancy
because their needs are different.”
Think of CRM as a way of life rather than a technology. Having said that,
today’s technical possibilities are a crucial enabler for doing a much better job
of embracing our customers than we ever could have in the past. Structured
databases, robust wide area networks and technologically aware hotel guests
are all part of the mix that has elevated the art of customer relationship
management. The technology allows us to do it better, but without effective
leadership in the hotel companies and buy-in from line employees it remains
only a good idea.
Our experience and research identifies five crucial elements required for a
successful CRM initiative in any service organization.
For some companies, additional elements may become equally crucial, but we
see these strategic concepts as universal:
1. Guest recognition
2. Data capture and maintenance
3. Channel integration and consistency
4. Ranking and discrimination
5. Two-way personalized dialogs
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Chapter 7.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
CONCLUSION
Implementing an effective CRM solution is not complex. Adequate planning,
effective communication, stakeholder involvement and mistake avoidance will
ensure that your initiative gets off the ground easily.
From this study, we can conclude that all the three leading hotels – ITC,
Oberoi and Taj are following organized and well established CRM practices.
They have realized that a happy and satisfied customer is a retained customer
and that’s the key in creating superior brand equity and better returns.
ITC HOTELS
At ITC, the management has identified ‘data capture vehicles’ or ‘touch points’
(as they call it) - like loyalty programs, reservation systems and call centers to
maintain a data bank of their customers and to access the information as and
when needed. This helps in providing quicker and more customized solution to
queries and complaints, if any and also helps in building a rapport between the
hotel executives and the customer which goes a long way in satisfying and
retaining the customers, building a superior brand image and turning them into
loyal patrons. Ultimately, this leads to measurable & substantial returns to the
hotel.
Other benefits extended to the loyal clients of ITC include Welcome Award,
Welcomlink, Sheretonplus which are aimed at rewarding the regular clientele
of their patronage and building a better relationship with them.
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THE OBEROI
The brand value that The Oberoi has created for itself is a result of its
consistent delivery of exceptional services to its customers. Traditionally, at
The Oberoi, CRM and relationship management has been considered to be a
single function, but to maintain its market share and fight the competitive
situation, the marketing department at The Oberoi is now focusing on building
co-operative and collaborative relationships with the customers with the result
that they have a loyal patronage from their guests, and are, thus, able to
charge a premium for the value given to the customers.
The CRM programs at the Oberoi include The Oberoi Plus for the customers
and also for the Bookers to motivate them.
The Oberoi also organizes Food Festivals regularly and sends invitations to its
regular clientele and the top CEOs, MDs and business people to further
enhance the CRM functions’ effectiveness.
THE TAJ
The Taj Group is also investing heavily on CRM systems to maintain customer
databank with their profiles to give a quicker and personalized service to their
loyal clientele. The Taj gives high priority to guest satisfaction.
They even have an SMS service to keep track of lost/missed calls by the
customers while they are away.
They have employed applications like PMS, CRS and CIS to keep track of
customers’ profiles which includes information such as their spending patterns
and their special needs also. They employ data mining technique to get and
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act on data and also give credit to the employees who get compliments from
the guests.
Other reward programs include Taj Inner Circle and the Epicure plan to give
the customers a host of privileges as silver and gold card holders.
The challenge is to balance between the long-term goals and short-turn gains.
Long turn, profitable relationships can be built when both, the service
provider and the customer, rise above the 'transaction' approach, and work
in an atmosphere of mutuality and trust.
Relationships, like real life, goes through ups and downs, and it takes a
great amount of maturity and courage to handle the 'lows'.
Cross functional teams are required to meet the goals, especially where
quick responses are required.
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RECOMMENDATIONS
Customer Relationship Management is one of the key tools to fight this cut
throat competition and stand out as a superior brand.
On the basis of the study, I would like to recommend some suggestions which
could be implemented profitably by the industry.
3. Taking feedback not only from external customers but also the internal
customers i.e., the employees.
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5. Keeping regular track of the sales data for further leads and follow-up
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
WEBSITES-:
WWW.WIKIPEDIA.COM
WWW.TAJGROUPS.COM
WWW.ITCHOTELS.COM
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