1

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I wish to acknowledge my deep

gratitude to Dr. K. C. Goyal & Dr. Ummed
singh uidance, wise suggestions, mellow
criticism & above all unflinching moral
support throughout the work.
I wish to thank all the library and other
member staffs for their co- operation &
technical staffs for their assistance. I must
also not forget to thank my family and friends
for their constant support during the work.

Mukesh Gothaniya
Enroll no.- 02/7961
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Contents
1 Introduction
Research Questions
Scope of the Study
Objectives of the Study

2 Evolution of CRM

3 Integration of customer information:

4 Integration of customer information:

5 Advantages of CRM

6 Key Features of CRM Tools

7 E-CRM or Web based CRM

8 Customer Service

9 Partner Relationship Management

10 Customer Relationship Management Software for the Hotel

Industry

11 CRM Success

12 Industry/Company Perspectives
ITC WELCOMGROUP HOTELS
THE OBEROI GROUP OF HOTELS
TAJ GROUP OF HOTELS

13 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

14 BIBLIOGRAPHY
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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 and the application of customer-focused strategies.

“Customer is the most important person for a business. He is not an interruption to

our work but the purpose of it. He is not an outsider; he is a part of it. We are not
doing him a favour; he is doing us a favour by giving us an opportunity to serve him.”
(By Mahatma Gandhi)

It has grown mainstream and is being implemented in a wide range of companies and
organizations such as manufacturing, financial services, transportation and
distribution, medical services and products, consumer package goods and others. This
explosive growth of CRM reflects the intersection of genuine market need and
enabling technology. And, in this growth period, the impetus for CRM is shifting from
an emphasis on efficiency, i.e., doing more things faster with less cost, to
effectiveness, i.e., doing things better for increased revenue with a high "return on
relationships (ROR)".

According to Chaudhuri and Shainesh (2001)-A CRM programmer requires a clear

understanding and commitment to the company's customers, vigilant adherence to
detailed goals, commitment from both executives and line workers, and a constant
awareness of the customer's view point. Customer relationship management is about
more than simply managing customers and monitoring their behavior or attitude. CRM
has the potential to change a customer’s relations with a company and increase
revenues in the bargain. Furthermore it helps to know the customers well-enough to
decide whom to choose and whom to lose.
The objective of CRM (customer relationship management) is to recognize and treat
each and every customer as an individual. It is very essential for any business to know
that how to differentiate customer treatment according to an individual preferences.
For differentiate customer treatment, the companies use personalized service and
customized products which make some customers feel special and others simply
appreciate good behavior. It humanizes their purchase or service request or complaint.
Personalization and customization doesn’t mean maintaining only customer loyalty,
but also driving purchases higher.
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Getting closer to customers and effectively responding to their needs is a great way to
boost their loyalty and encourage deeper business relationship. The task of getting and
retaining customers requires even greater skill and effort. The business needs to ensure
that the service works as the customer actually wants it to, and the customers want to
do business in 'their' way, not to be forced to do it in the enterprise's way. Most
companies consider them customer-focused and believe that in being so they are
servicing the customer. But eventually, being customer focused means to have a
consistent, dependable and convenient interaction with customers in every encounter.
CRM technologies focus on managing all interactions that an organization has with its
customers, in order to leverage the data in a variety of business applications.
Where a profitable relationship already exists, CRM can especially boost superior
service at a lower cost. In addition to this it helps to serve customer's unspoken needs.

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.

The adoption of CRM in the hospitality industry has been impeded by a number of
factors. These include the persistently fragmented nature of the industry, the disparate,
proprietary and relatively immature nature of IT systems, and the additional
complexity associated with managing a perishable product that is sold through a
variety of distribution channels. However, more rapid progress is being made due in
part to the continued consolidation between hospitality companies and hospitality IT
vendors.

1.2 Research Questions

a) How will CRM help to retain customers in hotel industry?

b) What are the new marketing approaches in hotel industry?

c) How CRM can be effectively administered?

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1.3 Scope of the Study

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.

1.4 Objectives of the Study

The primary objective would be:

• To study “Customer Relationship Management in the Hotel Industry”.

The other objectives would be:

• To study the programs and practices of CRM employed by the leading hotels
in India.
• To study the measures to build a better relationship between the
customer/guest and the hospitality unit.

Finally to conclude the findings and suggest any recommendations regarding the
future growth prospects.

2.1 Evolution of CRM

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is one of those magnificent concepts that

swept the business world in the 1990’s with the promise of forever changing the way
businesses small and large interacted with their customer bases. In the short term,
however, it proved to be an unwieldy process that was better in theory than in practice
for a variety of reasons. First among these was that it was simply so difficult and
expensive to track and keep the high volume of records needed accurately and
constantly update them.
In the last several years, however, newer software systems and advanced tracking
features have vastly improved CRM capabilities and the real promise of CRM is
becoming a reality. As the price of newer, more customizable Internet solutions have
hit the marketplace; competition has driven the prices down so that even relatively
small businesses are reaping the benefits of some custom CRM programs.
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2.2 In the beginning…

The 1980’s saw the emergence of database marketing, which was simply a catch
phrase to define the practice of setting up customer service groups to speak
individually to all of a company’s customers.
In the case of larger, key clients it was a valuable tool for keeping the lines of
communication open and tailoring service to the clients needs. In the case of smaller
clients, however, it tended to provide repetitive, survey-like information that cluttered
databases and didn’t provide much insight. As companies began tracking database
information, they realized that the bare bones were all that was needed in most cases:
what they buy regularly, what they spend, what they do.

2.3 Advances in the 1990’s

In the 1990’s companies began to improve on Customer Relationship Management by

making it more of a two-way street. Instead of simply gathering data for their own use,
they began giving back to their customers not only in terms of the obvious goal of
improved customer service, but in incentives, gifts and other perks for customer
loyalty.
This was the beginning of the now familiar frequent flyer programs, bonus points on
credit cards and a host of other resources that are based on CRM tracking of customer
activity and spending patterns. CRM was now being used as a way to increase sales
passively as well as through active improvement of customer service.

2.4 About Customer Relationship Management - CRM

The generally accepted purpose of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is to

enable organizations to better serve its customers through the introduction of reliable
processes and procedures for interacting with those customers.

In today's competitive business environment, a successful CRM strategy cannot be

implemented by only installing and integrating a software package designed to support
CRM processes. A holistic approach to CRM is vital for an effective and efficient
CRM policy. This approach includes training of employees, a modification of business
processes based on customers' needs and an adoption of relevant IT-systems
(including soft- and maybe hardware) and/or usage of IT-Services that enable the
organization or company to follow its CRM strategy. CRM-Services can even
redundant the acquisition of additional hardware or CRM software-licenses.
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The term CRM is used to describe either the software or the whole business strategy
oriented on customer needs. The second one is the description which is correct. The
main misconception of CRM is that it is only software, instead of whole business
strategy.

Major areas of CRM focus on service automated processes, personal information

gathering and processing, and self-service. It attempts to integrate and automate the
various customer serving processes within a company.

There are three parts of application architecture of CRM:

1. Operational - automation to the basic business processes (marketing, sales,

service)
2. Analytical - support to analyse customer behaviour, implements business
intelligence alike technology
3. Cooperational - ensures the contact with customers (phone, email, fax, web...)

Operational part of CRM typically involves three general areas of business. They are
(according to Gartner Group) an Enterprise marketing automation (EMA), Sales force
automation (SFA) and a Customer service and support (CSS). The marketing
information part provides information about the business environment, including
competitors, industry trends, and macro environmental variables. The sales force
management part automates some of the company's sales and sales force management
functions. It keeps track of customer preferences, buying habits, and demographics,
and also sales staff performance. The customer service part automates some service
requests, complaints, product returns, and information requests.

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. For example, you might be able to check your
bank balance via your WAP phone without ever having to talk to a person, saving
money for the company, and saving you time.

2.5 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
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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)
According to Berry (1983) Customers to a business are those people or enterprises
which are benefited by the use of a service or product offered by that particular
business, certainly for something in return, generally a price. When a customer pays a
price, he expects some specific thing with a specific quality and features. If his
expectation exceeds what he has been given, it leads to an unsatisfied customer. If the
offer exceeds his expectations for a stipulated price, it leads to a highly satisfied
customer and he is said to be enjoying customer delight.
Today, the customer has more choices to choose from. So it is more likely for any
customer to switch from one company to another in search of better quality or service.
But the companies have found out that creating new demand i.e., finding out new
customer is much costlier than keeping the regular demand, i.e. Existing customers
for a regular inflow of cash and hence profits. "The reports on new customer
acquisition costs vary, from as low as three times to as high as thirteen times of
servicing an existing customer." (Berry, 1983)
In a customer’s viewpoint, there is very little reason to switch loyalties often, if things
are going comfortably with the existing vendor and the level of service is good.
Switching involves changes and disruptions in service levels that most regular
customers try to avoid. Realizing these facts in its true sense, many companies have
stuck to making long-term profitable relationships with their prospective customers.
(Hart et al, 2002) And this has been proved to be, in a way, mutually beneficial to both
the parties. This has resulted in managing these relationships as a strategic tool and in
the evolution of Customer Relationship Management or most commonly known as
CRM.
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2.3 Four Parameters to Measure CRM Success

a) CRM's ability to impact corporate strategy:

Without a corporate strategy, giving emphasis to a customer-centric approach, no
CRM initiative can be made fully successful.

b) Successful technology integration:

The technology which has been used across different departments of an enterprise
should be integrated to give a comprehensive and successful CRM application.

c) Enhanced strategic partnerships:

For a good CRM implementation, there should be a co-ordinate effort among the
different partners to the enterprise.

d) Assimilation of CRM related technologies:

Those who are responsible for the CRM activities should thoroughly be conversant
with the technological aspects of that particular technique. Otherwise, misuse or under
utilization of these technologies may take place resulting in partial or full failure of
those activities.

2.4 Return on Investment (RoI) of CRM

Rigorous financial scrutiny of all Information Technology IT) investments have now
become the rule. This same rule is applicable to the technology used in the CRM also.
The failures of some CRM installations in some of the industries have given way to
think about the Return on Investment (RoI) of CRM. (www.ascenantone.com)
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)

Factors to be considered while calculating RoI:-

1. Savings in the form of reduced use of time to manage customers and customer
transactions.
2. Savings in the form of time needed to assemble and consolidate sales forecasts.
3. Additional revenue in terms of increased lead generation.
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4. Additional revenue in terms of increased sales due to increased customer

loyalty. (Berry, 1983)

CRM is an integration of contact management, sales automation, marketing

automation, customer service and support, e-commerce, partner and channel
management etc. It is not just a software solution, but also, a set of skills and
competencies that will enable a company to better leverage and profit from each
and every customer relationships. When the goal of cheaper, faster, better service is
considered, the results far outweigh the challenges. Several big organizations have
failed to know what the customer really wants and several others, after knowing, could
not really translate these requirements into deliverance. At the same time we are able
to see small shop keepers doing CRM extremely well. Good CRM is all about
replicating the same experience with the use of technology. (Lemon, et al, 2002)

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.

The Components of Operational CRM:-

1. Customer Service and Support (CSS):

These applications basically automate the support and service functions, including
analysis and also provides workflow engines that facilitate efficient problem and
inquiry escalation, tracking and resolution. They also provide customizable,
dynamic scripting capabilities for the customer service representatives or executives
as well as the potential to record customer responses in a shared storehouse.
Call centers use operational CRM tools; They also integrate with computer telephony
integration capabilities which allows automatic call routing with automatic screen
pop-ups containing all customer and product information to the agent's work stations
as the agents are answering or initiating calls. (Chaudhuri & Shainesh 2001)

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
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reporting and forecasting, lead distribution and tracking of sales contacts with
customers and prospects are some of the capabilities offered within these solutions.

3. Marketing Automation (MA):

These applications provide the ability to create automated marketing campaigns and
track the results. Generating lists of customers to receive mailings or telemarketing
calls, scheduling automatic or manual follow-up activities and receiving third-party
lists for incorporation into the campaigns are all typical functions. Internet
personalization tools are offered here to track behavior on a web-site and allow
tailoring of the contact experience, or generation of specific cross-selling opportunities
based on this behavior. Inbound and outbound e-mail management capabilities are
also becoming popular components of the marketing automation suites. (Key Note ,
2003)

Analytical CRM - How It Functions

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:

1) OLAP: Online Analytical Processing is one of the most popular type of

decision-support analysis, allowing the average business person 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):

o Prediction: The use of historical data to determine future behaviors.

Predictive modeling generates output that populates a model or structure to
represent the results.

o Sequence: Sequential analysis identifies combinations of activities that

occur in a particular order. This is used to determine whether customers are
doing things in a particular order. It can help a business to distill behavior from
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events captured from various operational systems around a company to

determine patterns.

o Association: Association analysis detects groups of similar items or

events. The association algorithm is often applied to market-basket analysis to
help business understand products which are usually being purchased together.
The product affinity concept is the base, here.

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)

4) Rules based personalization analysis: These analytical tools are based on the
concept of personalization. Here the software makes recommendations based
on the personalized/customized website of a customer. Rules based
personalization most often involves rules that have been hard-coded into
software. For this reason it is often difficult to maintain and support.

5) Collaborative filtering: This is otherwise known as 'adaptive personalization.'

This gets smarter as it observes customer behaviors and applies them to new
circumstances. Collaborative filtering uses the behavior of other 'like' visitors
as the basis for its recommendations. These tools are often more complex, and
thus more expensive, than rules-based personalization. (Akhtar, Prashant &
Pankaj, 2002)

2.6 Some Applications of Technology in CRM

1. Call centers: These are organizations which deal directly to the customer
interactions. These are otherwise known as "Customer Care Centre" or
"Contact Centre" indicating more technological sophistication and
multichannel support. Call centre technologies entered the market place to
effectively alleviate some of the repeat work and increase efficiencies,
allowing companies to handle escalating call volumes. Customer Service
Representatives (CSRs) could look up similar calls and resolutions while a
customer was on the phone, without having to repeat research. The software
tools being used in the call-centers also provide forecasting of call volumes to
ensure adequate call centre staffing. (Lemon, et al, 2002)
2. Web based self-service: The customers themselves, without the help of a live
person can resolve their problems or find out answers to their queries using the
web. This model is founded on the principle of enabling customers, partners
and employees to obtain information’s or conduct transactions directly over
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the internet, avoiding time-consuming and costly traditional processes

involving multiple verbal or written interactions. It provides control,
performance, convenience and efficiency. (Chaudhuri & Shainesh 2001)
3. Customer satisfaction measurement: Survey mails are the major way for
companies to monitor customer satisfaction. Nowadays, these survey forms are
even personalized to specific customers or customer groups. Responses are
input into customer databases and included as part of individual customer
profiles. Such tracking of customer satisfaction over time enables a company
to fine tune how it communicates with its customers according to their
preferences. (Mohan Babu, 2003) Now, the paper based surveys are giving
way to electronic surveys.
4. Call-scripting: Automatic scripts generated for customer service
representatives, based on an individual customer's segment and/or customer
profile contents. Scripts remove the guess work from determining how to
respond to a customer query or complaint, guiding representatives through a
dialogue with the customer and thus optimizing discrete customer
interactions.
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)

2.7 Industry Definition

Abbey (1999) proposes a hotel industry in a primarily a service sector emphasis in

given on the role played by relationship marketing. You are nothing without our
customers understanding that your organization exists for no other reasons than to
meet customer needs and expectations. Its imperative is to develop proactive methods
for understanding what customers like and dislike. If you believe other wise, just look
behind you at the long queue off competitors lined up and waiting for the
opportunities to prove you wrong.
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CRM is a business strategy to select and manage the most valuable customer
relationships. CRM requires a customer-centric business philosophy and culture to
support effective marketing, sales and service processes. CRM applications can enable
effective customer relationship management, provided that an enterprise has the right
leadership, strategy and culture. (Anton, 2005)

In hospitality, each customer relationship has value and should be managed

effectively. There is opportunity for repurchase and recommendation from each past
customer. The administration of the information about this past guest and the effective
integration of the information into frontline guest services programs is the challenge of
CRM implementation.

Tactically, where does CRM start? The recommended implementation of customer

relationship management typically looks like (Hart et al, 2002):
Statistically valid customer satisfaction measurement:
From the very top of the organization, there should be a commitment to CRM
including customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction and a desire to have one voice
to the customer.

Integration of customer information:

The process of extracting customer data from legacy systems (i.e., the property
management system) and integrating the entire database in the property that contains
guest information is complex and time-consuming. The data sources may include
guest history, external guest profiling systems, restaurant club programs, sales and
catering system information and other data.

1. Customer profiling:
Demographic and Psychographic information can be appended to a large percentage of
the customer database. This is followed by the implementation of effective marketing
programs to attract similar customers to build revenue.

2. Direct marketing:
The utilization of the integrated customer information for direct marketing offers is the
goldmine of any CRM effort. Highly profitable offers can provide business during
slow periods. These offers can be communicated via mail or e-mail.

3. Best customer/extraordinary service:

The Mecca of all is to understand if the most profitable customers are the most
satisfied. This involves very detailed satisfaction analysis, combined with valid
financial data about each customer – all appended to the customer database. It’s
uncertain whether anyone is there in the hospitality industry, but certainly companies
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are getting very close to understanding the most profitable customers and most
profitable micro-markets. The immediate tactical example of this is can be found in
well utilized sales and catering systems, which integrate the profitability of groups and
meetings. Linking the meeting planner satisfaction to each of these sales and catering
accounts is the first step in making sure that your best customers are most satisfied.

CRM is not a buzzword program, like so many that have gone before. It is the
integration of all the elements that hospitality has focused on forever:

1. Personally recognizing customers;

2. Offering appropriate value and great service to encourage repeat business;

3. Insuring that employee and guest satisfaction continues to improve; and

4. Beating the competition by offering a better product, competing on the service

experience rather than price alone.

Like a dog chasing a truck, once you’ve caught it – what are you going to do with it?
This is the analogy posed by Peter Aeby, general manager of the legendary Brown
Palace Hotel in Denver and the chairman of Preferred Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.
Aeby is referring to the mass of information that major hospitality organizations are
now able to collect about customers. How is it possible to make all this information
actionable? And, with an understanding of labor shortages, high turnover and lack of
computer integration, how does a hotel manager tactically utilize available tools to
improve the frontline experience? How does that same manager build revenues and
customer loyalty from this data?

Advantages of CRM

Using CRM, a business can:-

 Provide better customer service

 Increase customer revenues
 Discover new customers
 Cross sell/Up Sell products more effectively
 Help sales staff close deals faster
 Make call centers more efficient
 Simplify marketing and sales processes

Generally, following are the type of data a CRM project includes (Lemon, et al, 2002):
 16

 Responses to campaigns
 Shipping and fulfillment dates
 Sales and purchase data
 Account information
 Web registration data
 Service and support records
 Demographic data
 Web sales data

Key Features of CRM Tools

 CRM includes all business processes in sales, marketing, and service that touch
the customer.

 With CRM software tools, an enterprise might build a database about its
customers that describes relationships in sufficient detail.

 The management, salespeople, people providing service to the customer can

access information, match customer needs with product plans and offerings,
remind customers of service requirements, check payment histories, and so on
(Lemon, et al, 2002).

Customer Relationship Management Solutions – Guest Centric Data

Customer relationship management (CRM) is more than the practice of

collecting guest-centric data. It’s the art of using historical, personal, and
experiential information to personalize a guest’s stay while generating
incremental revenue opportunities. Knowing a traveler is an avid sports fan
creates the opportunity to market tickets to a game; knowing a guest had a
less-than-memorable experience in the hotel restaurant gives a chance to
win them back the next time they are in town. (Raghunath & Shields 2001)
CRM Solutions Built on the Microsoft Platform

eCRM or Web based CRM

e-CRM application in hotel industry are straddling across business functions to retain,
capture and capitalize on customer data, i.e. integrating all aspects of business process
and systems by keeping the customers as the core. e-CRM 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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e-CRM Components in Hotel Industry

• Sales functionality: Contact management profiles and history, account

management including activities, order entry, proposal generation

• Sales management functionality: pipeline analysis (forecasting, sales cycle

analysis, temporary alignment and assignment, roll up and drill down
reporting).

• Telemarketing/Telesales functionality: call list assembly, auto dialing,

scripting, order taking.

• Time management functionality: single user and group calendar/scheduling, e-

mail

• Customer service and support functionality: incident assignment, escalation,

tracking/reporting, problem management/resolution, order
management/promising, warranty/contract management

• Marketing functionality: campaign management, opportunity management,

web-based encyclopedia, configuration, market segmentation, lead
generations/enhancement/tracking.

• Executive information functionality: extensive and easy-to-use reporting

• ERP integration functionality: legacy systems, the web, third party external
information

• Data synchronization functionality: mobile synchronization with multiple field

devices, enterprise synchronization with multiple databases/application servers

• E-commerce functionality: manages procurement through EDI link and web-

server and includes B2B and B2C applications.

• Service support functionality: Worker orders, dispatching, real time

information transfer to field personnel via mobile technologies (Rmana &
Somayajulu, 2005)

Customer Service

Call Center Software

Help Desk Software

 18

Partner Relationship Management

Contract Management Software: Contract Management Software enables an enterprise

to create, track and manage partnerships, contracts and agreements. Example: Upside
Software, Accruent Software, diCarta, I-Many.

2.8 Customer Relationship Management Software for the Hotel Industry

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.

Marketing Solution - The CRM Approach

Now more than ever, it is critical for hospitality sales and marketing professionals to
maximize their return on investment (ROI) in marketing. Experts agree targeted
marketing to existing customers is the best way to increase marketing ROI. Most
industry consultants estimate the cost of finding a new customer is between 5 and 10
times the cost of retaining an existing customer.

Improvement Analysis - Implement Process Improvement

Industry surveys show that guests are less likely to return if they experience a problem
during their stay. Guest Ware’s Improvement Analysis tools provides with the
information to eliminate recurring problems and keep guests coming back, so to lower
operating costs and increase guest satisfaction at the same time. (Raghunath & Shields
2001)

Comment Card Tracking - Listen to your Customers

Customer survey on restaurant or an extensive questionnaire of guests, the GuestWare
Comment Card Tracking system assists to manage customer feedback. Guest Ware
will improve productivity in the follow-up process and provide valuable management
reports to maximize the benefits of your surveys.

Guest ware Enterprise Solution – For Effective Means

Intended for hotel chains, brands and management companies, the Enterprise Guest
Ware database maintains a single view of the customer essentials for CRM. Enterprise
 19

Guest Ware enhances property management systems (PMS) and central reservations
systems (CRS). It allows hotel companies to implement enterprise CRM while
leapfrogging existing hotel technology investments.

Communications Server - Two-way Messaging

The Guest Ware Communication Server integrates two-way messaging (or other types
of text-based messaging) with Guest Ware’s Rapid Response. It allows staff to receive
and close requests and maintenance issues from a pager or cell phone. The software
helps streamline service delivery and uses existing e-mail systems or a modem to
communicate with most two-way messaging devices.

With the latest offerings in CRM, Hoteliers can:

• Develop comprehensive guest profiles from reservation information and

demonstrate to guests/customers that the property is in touch with their needs

• Drive guest-centric data down to the transaction level, allowing employees and
guest-facing technology to deliver greater value to the guest/customers.

• Generate a realistic profile on the spending and stay patterns of guests,

allowing the property to create guest-centric marketing for increased loyalty
and spending.

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.

Using the Database:

Product and service improvement is just one result of tapping into a database.
Developing special promotions and employing direct mail to promote these campaigns
is another major use of database marketing.

For example: A sales team of Mughal Sheraton, Agra had completed a review of an
upcoming weekend. This review revealed that bookings to date were some what
below forecast and that a special promotion may be done in order to speed up the
business. The sales team then enveloped special promotion packing to encourage
bookings for weekends. They searched their welcome break holiday package database
and scratched it to identify and segment the customers who tend to (Sheth, 2002):

• Book on long weekends

• Book on a short term basis
• Respond to promotional campaigns
 20

The direct mailing was used as a principal means to reach out to these customers.
Activities like these are today referred to as database marketing. It is aggressive
selling to the potential customers who have particular needs and wants and building a
match or “fit” the needs of the noted. Therefore, out of the database of 35,000
members, only a few but almost some customers were contacted by direct mailing
which resulted in sizeable sale during the otherwise lean weekend at Mughal Sheraton
Agra.

Database Mining

Starkov, (2006) points out that Database mining is the process to distill the target
customers groups out of the massive data files typically found in hospitality
operations. In other words, these are systematic ways to distill through a database of a
multitude of databases to get the information for which one is reaching.
Some hotels outsource these tasks to companies that specialize in this field or at best,
do it internally. It enables users to easily integrate company/ property management
reservations and point of sale systems, automatically extracting operating data from
legacy databases for use in the marketing database. The systems analysis tools allow
users to profile their most profitable customers, analyze their buying habits, develop &
assess the performance of targeted marketing campaigns. The biggest advantage of
database mining is that it helps to focus the efforts and available resources into one
direction which is most profitable and out-base mining helps to eliminate the non-
profitable customers and hence reduces the costs and enhances the profits. The profits
enhanced are not only in monetary terms but also in terms of customer loyalty and
long term retention. Companies in hospitality that are adopting the database
marketing approach to enhance sales are seeing increased customer satisfaction which
further results in increased revenues. From the point of view of the internal customers
also, a new profession is emerging in the hospitality industry of getting and keeping a
customer. (Rmana & Somayajulu, 2005)

Relationship Marketing

Rama (2005) suggests that frequent customer programs and database marketing efforts
contribute to a more comprehensive approach to satisfying customers called
relationship marketing. Relationship marketing depends on the goodwill generated by
frequent-buying programs as well as on the information provided from database
marketing efforts, goes beyond simple short term awards and involves all the elements
of a firm’s and services to encourage a personal relationship with each customer.
Relationship marketing is “knowing the customer and using that information to bond
with them.” Form the initial personal contact and then serve as the foundation for
nurturing this brief encounter into a friendly and accommodation relationship by
focusing on personal guest information. In addition to knowing the purchase habits of
members (room selection, certain amenity preferences, and so forth), personal
information such as spouse’s name and hobbies are added to a member database (see
 21

previous section on database marketing). (Swift, 2001) The company uses this
information to tailor special events and products to small segments of the membership.
Complaint Handling

Few companies, use or pay attention to complaints. Who wants to hear what they’re
doing wrong, especially if the criticism is well founded. It is estimated that 90 percent
of dissatisfied customers whose problems were not solved will never do business with
the retailers that sold them the product nor will they again buy the product that caused
the problem. In case of hotels customer/guest is more likely to switch if the provided
service is not satisfactory to their expectation.

On a personal level we all know what our faults are but we get defensive way they’re
re pointed out. We’re also aware of weaknesses in our job performance, problems in
our organization and imperfections in its products and services. But reacting to
criticism is difficult. We tend to respond in a guarded and defensive way, which may
avoid squarely confronting the real problem. Likewise, companies tend to let
themselves off the hook too easily: “We never could have satisfied that customer.”
(Schneider and Bowen, 1999)
The astonishing news is that those people who do complaint and have their problem
taken care of, tend to be more loyal to the company than the people who were satisfied
in the first place. World-Class companies see complaints as opportunities to improve,
to impress customers and to turn complaining customers into loyal ones.

Priority Marketing

Priority Marketing focuses on what’s important to the customer. What is important to

one customer however, may not be as important to another.
Consider the varying demand placed on a hotel: An airline stewardess may find the 24
hour room-service extremely valuable, a retired couple may need dietary menu
options, a tour wholesaler may favor low prices, and a young female executive
considers a security a priority.
Hotels should break down their services and ask customers what is important to them.
This approach can field very valuable insight about changing customer preferences.
Identifying groups of customers who have similar preferences or even similar tastes
(such as sharing common perceptions of quality or states), hotels can target
promotions to capitalize on known characteristics and individualize the presentation.
(Rmana & Somayajulu, 2005)
It is important that hotels involve their guests and stay in touch with customer
perceptions of current services.

2.9 CRM Success

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
 22

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.

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 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.
 23

Industry/Company Perspectives

ITC WELCOMGROUP HOTELS

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:
-

• ITC Hotels – Super deluxe and premium hotels in strategic business location.

• WelcomHotels – Five Star first class hospitality for business and leisure
travelers.

• Fortune Hotels and Resorts – Full service hospitality at mid-level prices for
business travelers and leisure travelers.

• Welcome Heritage – Palaces, forts, havelis, resorts and homes that bring alive
the history and romance of India’s heritage.

“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”.

THE OBEROI GROUP OF HOTELS

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.
 24

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.

Location: Dr. Zakir Hussain Marg, New Delhi- 110003,

25 minutes drive from the International Airport and 7 minutes from Cannaught Place.

Class: 5 star Deluxe

Rooms: 290 sellable rooms with a proper writing desk with telephone lines, a fax
machine, internal and national direct dialing facility, a mini bar, channel music, in
house movies and luxurious bathrooms designed in polished granite. In order to
ensure personalized attention to all guests, an exclusive butler service has also been
introduced on all floors.

The Oberoi has 8 floors with even numbered rooms facing towards the Golf Course
(pool side) and odd numbered rooms facing Humayun's Tomb (monument side).

Leisure Facilities: Health club, Swimming pool, Delhi Golf Club facilities.

Special services: Bank, Barber Shop , Shoe Shine, Beauty Parlor, Laundry, Drug
Store, Flower Shop, Book Shop, Mercury Travels (ticketing & car hire), Executive
Center (Typing, Fax, Photostatting, Board room) etc.

Shops: Shopping Arcade located at the lobby level.

Restaurants and Bars:-

o Chinese Restaurant: The Taipan

o Thai Restaurant: Baan Thai

o Indian Restaurant: The Kandahar

Buffet and Continental Cuisine Restaurant:-

La Rochelle with 3 private dining rooms:

i)Fountainbleau
ii)Versailles
iii)Chantilly

Coffee Shop: The Palms

 25

Confectionery & Delicatessen: The pastry Shop

Bar & Private dining rooms: The Belvedere

Tea Lounge: Club lounge

Banquet facilities

i)Aravalli
ii)Vindhya
iii)Shvalik
iv)Nilgiri
v)TheCannaught

TAJ GROUP OF HOTELS

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.

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.
 26

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.

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.

Hotel is a place which offers boarding and lodging for a certain charge. The concept
has changed over the years from “Home away from home” to “Office away from
home”. Broadly speaking, the product which a hotel offers falls into two categories:-

1. Accommodation - This includes Rooms, Food & Beverage.

2. Service - This is an intangible product.

Food & Beverage - which is also a perishable commodity like a room, are served from
different F&B outlets like restaurants, coffee shops, banquets, room service, specialty
restaurants, bars etc.

Accommodation

Further classification of Accommodation would make the range of Products wider ;

The Rooms could vary from a Standard deluxe room to luxurious Presidential Suites
which differ considerably in the facilities offered and of course the Tag or Tariff on
them. The banqueting facilities, halls and conference rooms also come under the ambit
of the Rooms division.

Rooms that work smarter

The Taj Palace hotel has 421 guest rooms of which 381 are Deluxe rooms and 40 are
Suites. Guest rooms of Taj Palace combine modern facilities with relaxing decor.
Deluxe Business Floor Rooms are indulgently comfortable whilst being, virtually, an
office away from home. The Club Rooms of Taj Palace offers guests a world of
exclusive services and privilege. The Club floor rooms provide personalized services
to the guests round the clock, comfortable large areas, and the conference rooms suited
 27

to conduct private meetings of upto ten persons are just a few facilities to talk about.
Luxury Terrace Suites are spacious, individually appointed with separate lounge,
dining and work areas and a terrace garden. The Executive Suite combines luxury and
modern convenience for excellence.

The Standard rooms and deluxe rooms offer complimentary airport transfer,
complimentary breakfast, in-rooms fax machine and butler on call. Both Standard and
Deluxe rooms are now equipped with ‘Flecon System’ through which the guest can
regulate the air-conditioning and light intensity in the room, obtain World Time and
operate the night light at the flip of a button. E-mail and Internet can be accessed in
both the Standard and the Deluxe Rooms.

In the days gone by, the invading armies came from the North-West. But today they
come from all over the world. New Delhi, India’s capital city is a magnificent tourist
attraction and important trading and commercial centre. The Taj Palace Hotel is the
most distinguished residence in New Delhi for Heads of State and Corporations,
Business tycoons and Luxury tourists, offers a spectacular choice of accommodation.

This session would list below the product and services offered by Taj Palace Hotel and
what makes them unique from the rest of the hotel/s, whether it is the rooms or the
service.

The Taj Club

It is a known fact that a business traveler is a much pampered person indulged with
comforts and conveniences unheard of even a decade ago. However a yearning has
undoubtedly arisen for a special privilege, an inner sanctum, an Exclusive Club. Born
of desire, The Taj Group of Hotels presents the Taj club which offers unique world of
facilities and privileges, both essential and extraordinary.

Broadly speaking Taj Palace has five categories of rooms:-

1. Standard Rooms
2. Superior Rooms
3. Deluxe Business Rooms
4. Taj Club Rooms
5. Suites Rooms
o Executive Suites
o Deluxe Suites
o Luxury Suites
o Presidential Suites
 28

Business Centre

It offers several useful facilities 24-hrs a day, seven days a week. These include
Facsimile, Internet, E-mail, Color photocopying and legal library, as well as laptops,
city pagers and mobile phones on rental basis. Taj Palace Business Centre is designed
to give the best to the business community who do require sophisticated
communication facilities and other gadgets to stay connected to the rest of the world
while at the Hotel. With no exaggeration it could be said that the guest gets the best of
best services and facilities which are more than necessary for a modern business man,
and also feel at home while at work. The hotel calls this concept “An office away from
home”.

Banquet Facility:

The hotel provides facility for orchestrating parties and banquets, conferences,
seminars and symposiums. Taj Palace has 11 Banquet halls with a capacity of 15 to
1600 persons (Auditorium Style) or 15 to 2500 persons for Cocktails/ Receptions. It
also has two huge Lawns to organize Fork Buffet / Standing Buffet also for outdoor
functions. The conference aids includes simultaneous translations in 5 languages. The
banquet halls of various size, decor and interiors, capacity suit all kinds of occasions
including receptions, marriage parties, conferences, meetings, get-togethers, cocktail
parties and scores of other functions. The banquet halls are very much flexible for
various types of seating arrangements and set-ups like Fish-bone, Theatre style, Class
room style, Auditorium type etc. the Banqueting facilities offered by the hotel could
be matched to any other competing hotels and is par excellence.

Food & Beverage:

The Food & Beverage Division accounts for roughly 30% of the total revenue earned
by the hotel. There are numerous Food & Beverage outlets, but broadly they could be
segregated into

F&B Outlets

Restaurants Coffee Shops Bars Room Service Banquets

Taj Palace has four Restaurants and one Night Club and a Bar. To name the few are
Orient Express, Isfahan, The Tea House of the August Moon, Handi and My Kind of
Place which is the discotheque and the hottest and most wanted place in the city,
especially among the youth.
 29

Orient Express:

Orient express is the only restaurant in the country to feature in the “50 great Hotel
Restaurants of the World”. It is a theme restaurant and the entire set-up is that of a
train and any guest who aboard Orient Express would get lost in the sheer opulence of
the legendary train, recreated down to the minutest detail. The Exquisite delight the
menu offers is savoured by anybody with a palate for food. It also serves hard drinks
and acts as a bar for the hotel. Orient Express offers an excellent selection of premium
red and white wines, champagnes and house wines.

Handi:

The Handi is one of the most popular Indian restaurants in the Capital city. The
restaurant offers both ‘Ala carte’ and ‘Table-d- hote menus to its guests. The hotel
organises various food festivals (Indian) and takes Handi as a platform for its
promotional schemes. The decor and ambience of the restaurant, coupled with the
mouth-watering Indian speciality dishes makes the dining experience a memorable
one even to a gourmet critic. It offers specialties from Northern as well as Western
India.

My Kind of Place:

It is the most wanted Discotheque in the city and it is enjoyed by people of all ages.
The DJ plays music on request, which includes- Rap, Ragga, Techno, Pop, Soft, Fast
numbers and also Heavymetal on request. The songs could be dedicated to anyone as
desired by the guest. Food & beverages are also served out here to rekindle the lost
energy at the dance floor.

Other Services & Facilities:

• 24-hour room service

• Free safe deposit lockers
• Express laundry/ dry cleaning
• Purified water supply
• Doctor-on-call
• Full-equipped Business Centre
• 24-hour fax/ telex facilities.
• 3 Meeting rooms
• Work station availability
• Laptops on hire
• Secretarial service
• Knight Rider on-line service
• Travel assistance
• Car hire service
 30

• 24-hour Coffee Shop

• 6 Restaurants & Bars
• Night Club
• 8 luxurious Banquet Rooms
• Shopping arcade
• Fitness Centre
• Beauty shop
• Arrangements made for golf and tennis
 31

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.

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 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.
 32

Some key learning’s are:

 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'.

 Relationships provide 'security'. Strategic bundling of services is a useful

methodology in this context.

 Top management must be committed to the relationship, as their example is

followed throughout the organization.

 Cross functional teams are required to meet the goals, especially where quick
responses are required.

RECOMMENDATIONS

In this era of globalization where ‘Customer is the King’, customer expectations are
going up which is making the situation more and more competitive. As the product is
becoming generic in nature, the hotel industry can no longer rely on the traditional
marketing strategies to retain the customers.

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.

1. Surveys: Conducting monthly guest/customer surveys, club surveys, room

comment cards, toll free guest assistance centers can help in getting customer
feedback and to improve in the areas where there is a lag as suggested by the
feedback.

2. Maintaining suggestion boxes at every touch point/point of interaction with the

customers.

3. Taking feedback not only from external customers but also the internal
customers i.e., the employees.

4. Proper check on the hotel staff’s and processes’ efficiency by the management,
say by employing Mystery Customers.
 33

5. Keeping regular track of the sales data for further leads and follow-up

6. Employing effective CRM software to improve guest satisfaction, lower

operating costs, build guest loyalty, and increase revenues.

7. Having Guest History programs- keeping a databank of customer profiles

along with such details as room preferences, amenities preferred, special
requests, meal preferences, wallet services, sending birthday cards to the loyal
guests and even their spouses and giving them a hassle-free check-in
procedure-like sending them pick-up and drop facilities.

8. Employing an efficient system of complaints handling as complaints are the

opportunities to improve, to impress the customers and to turn complaining
customers into loyal ones.

9. Giving recognition awards to attract old customers.

10. Giving the customers a more personalized and empathic services as building
good rapport with the customers goes along way in having satisfied and return
customers.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
 34

e-CRM Strategy in Hospitality, from http://www.hospitalityebusiness.com

CRM: How to keep your travel customers? from

http://www.hotelmarketing.com/index.php/content/article/061101_crm_how_to_keep_your
_travel_customers

The Loyalty Momentum Effect from

http://www.crm2day.com/library/EpApuEAFEEiQzpQOUf.php

Industry from http://www.hotel-online.com/News/PR2005_3rd/Sep05_eCRM.html

Key Note (2003), Customer Relationship Management Report, Second Edition, Middlesex,
Key Note Ltd.

www.crmdaily.com/perl/story/22438.html

www.researchandmarkets.com/reportinfo.asp?cat_id=53&report_id=3929

www2.roanoke.com/columnists/shareef/5249.html

www.tajhotels.com

www.itchotels.com

www.oberoihotels.com

www. crmguru.com

Google search engine

www.businessballs.com

www.expresscomputeronline.com
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www.naukrihub.com

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