As it might be clear from the title, the main focus of Customer Relationships Management is customers and their relationships with the company, as well as the influence of those relationships on the company’s sales and revenue. CRM is based on three pillars: getting new customers, fixing the leaky bucket, and creating brand/organization advocates. All three pillars are interconnected. If Center Parcs is able to attract more new customers, it also has to address the leaky bucket (the leaving customers).
Information about and observation of attending and non-attending customers will help the company understand what issues have to be addressed immediately. At the same time, gathered feedback and improvements based on it can assist the company in gaining new advocates, i.e., those customers that will translate joy and positive emotions related to the brand (Nguyen & Mutum, 2012). I believe that Center Parcs needs to focus on customer retention and loyalty because increased customer loyalty is more likely to create advocates who will be able to attract more new customers.
It is evident that CRM’s primary focus is customers and customer perception of the brand or the company. The focus may shift depending on customers’ needs. The main points that Center Parcs should consider are an increase in customer satisfaction and its market share. Both of these points will enhance customer perception of the product as a product of value; increased customer satisfaction will indicate that the company provides quality services, and increased market share can reduce the number of switching (or leaving) customers, thus fostering customer loyalty.
As can be seen, the company currently experiences difficulties in communication with its customers because it cannot yet adequately analyze the customer groups and their value. Moreover, the organization seems to ignore the importance of communication, which results in changing customer flow. The second issue is honesty; with lacking communication, there is little chance that customers will have clear expectations of the services. According to Manesh, Naami, and Shoshtari (2015), consumers’ perception of a source’s honesty can influence their trust in this source.
Therefore, the company needs to work on its brand image as a one that will be associated with serious, honest operations and marketing to avoid any discrepancies in customer expectations. Another issue that seems to remain unaddressed is the company’s online advertising and general brand image in social media. Customer feedback can be gathered via social media platforms, and customer perception of the company can also be analyzed with the same tools. Still, it appears that the company does not engage the Web and other digital sources in improving customer relationships and communication.
To understand how Center Parcs can increase customers’ expenditures, the company needs to maintain steady communication with them. However, this is rarely possible without an extensive online presence. The company needs to increase its brand awareness and presence in all types of social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube) to gather direct customer feedback. Company-related online community with a discussion forum is also an option.
To address the identified issues and better manage customer relationships, Center Parcs can review the tourism industry or Disneyland’s customer-oriented operations and services. As Tsang, Lee, Wong, and Chong (2012) point out, it is crucial for an organization to understand employees’ participation in and influence on the delivery of services and their relation to the company’s image. Disneyland’s CRM is not perfect, but a thorough analysis of its services can provide valuable information to the company. Tsang et al. (2012) suggest that extensive long-term training of the staff will improve their ability to maintain service quality. The placement of employees is also important to facilitate customers’ navigation. As can be seen, Disneyland’s experience can provide valuable lessons to the company’s management.
References
Manesh, F., Naami, A., & Shoshtari, A. (2015). Investigating the effect of CRM factors on consumer perception: Evidence from banking industry. Uncertain Supply Chain Management, 3(2), 117-122.
Nguyen, B., & Mutum, D. S. (2012). A review of customer relationship management: Successes, advances, pitfalls and futures. Business Process Management Journal, 18(3), 400-419.
Tsang, N. K., Lee, L. Y., Wong, A., & Chong, R. (2012). THEMEQUAL—Adapting the SERVQUAL scale to theme park services: A case of Hong Kong Disneyland. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 29(5), 416-429.