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)

Generally speaking, the five needs of customers are:-

(a) Service
(b) Price
(c) Quality
(d) Action and
(e) Appreciation.

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.
 HISTORY
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.

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.

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.
 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.

Today's customer relies on the ability to enjoy their hotel stay beyond any
freebee or rewards offered. The modern hotel is one that can build a
relationship with their customers with a personalized stay - a stay that
customers want to come back to again and again. But how does a large hotel
create such personalization? The infrastructure of large hotels is no longer
like the grass-roots hotel of previous generations.

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.
 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”.
ITC MAURYA SHERATON DEFINES CRM AS:
“Customer Relationship Management is a process of managing customer
relations in an organized way”. They aim at managing each “Moment Of
Truth” that is experienced by the customer.

There are various contact points where the hotel comes in direct contact
with the customer which are known as ‘Touch points’ in the CRM language.
These touch points are considered important as there is direct interaction
with the customer and they provide valuable input to the hotel. The input
provided by the customer has to be captured in such a way that it becomes
information and can be used by various processes within the hotel. This
can be done with the help of technology and the aim is that whenever there
is a customer interface with any of those processes they are able to use that
information in servicing the guest in a most efficient manner.

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.
CRM process at ITC Maurya Sheraton has been divided in 2 steps:-

1. Identification of all Customer Relationship management ‘vehicles’

2. Integration of these Customer Relationship management ‘vehicles’

DATA CAPTURE VEHICLES

Maurya Sheraton has identified 5 such vehicles (from marketing point of

view) which are also the touch points for the hotel in the process of
managing its Customer Relationship. These vehicles are:-

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 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 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.

Distribution Points/ Central Reservation System

A customer can simply make a call at the reservation centre to make a

booking with the hotel. It sounds simple but it could get complex in case he
does not receive the expected or the desired response. Therefore, Maurya
Sheraton sees this distribution point as an opportunity to establish CRM as
the respondents at the reservation centre could turn a prospective
customer into a ‘sale’ or could let go off the opportunity to do so by not
being polite enough or not giving out the information as desired by the
guest. The information regarding all guest reservations is managed through
computer software, therefore, when a customer make calls to query about a
reservation, all his hotel usage history pops up in the system which gives a
chance to the executive at the reservations to instantly recognize the
customer and address him by his name. This moment of truth is
experienced by the customer with a feeling of recognition and feels it as
good service at the first touch point itself. The input or instruction received
from the customer at the stage is recorded in the reservation system for
further reference by the hotel operations. Therefore the wheel does not get
reinvented every time a standard instruction is to be followed. This leads to
removal of an irritant and that ultimately leads to a satisfied customer
willing to return.

World Wide Web

The World Wide Web is part of the internet. It is a computerized,

interactive, multimedia system to import and/or access information world
wide. It is used for both personal and business purposes. But ITC Maurya’s
focus is on the business side of using the web. In hospitality, there are
several avenues that one can take up to set up a web site to share
information and do business with a potential customer. Since the web gives
a convenience and allows the access to information at any time, it is
considered as one of the vehicles for CRM. Though Maurya recognizes the
potential of this system and is in the process of evolving a filing automated
system where the reservations can be made by the customers on time and
also the confirmation is received back on a real time basis. Presently they
have an information portal which only allows the customer to request a
reservation which has to be checked manually by the hotel reservations and
then only the confirmations are given. This is a touch point of customer
relationship because a speedy and accurate response could win you a
customer. And since it is on an individual basis, it is more personalized and
customized because the customer puts in his preferences when requesting a
booking. Therefore, once it is entered in to the hotel’s data base the
customer does not have to repeat his preference as they are automatically
suggested by the reservation form on the net.

VALUE CHAIN OF CUSTOMER INTERACTION IN HOTEL INDUSTRY

AND POSSIBLE BENEFITS OF e-crm

Stages
Customer Pre-sale Sale Routine Post- Non-routine
Research Interaction Transaction sale Interaction Post-sale
interaction
Consumer Comparison of Order Routine On time/ End
Buying Hotel products placing information time settlement
behavior Payment sharing (new
Customization products/service Claims
ActPayment of products Order s, advisory processing in
ivitpatterns processing services etc.) times
ies Clarification of
Consumer FACs and Payment Investment
Profiles specific Processing specific
queries information
sharing

Short-term
payments/
redemptions
Accuracy Decision Speed Speed Accuracy
Comprehen- Making Accuracy Transparency Fairness
siveness Customization Delivery Speed
Scrutiny Transparency
Expected Benefits From e-CRM
Call Centers
ITC Maurya has a Call center dedicated to servicing the loyalty programme
members. Here the customers can call in and find out about any
information related to their membership. Whether query relates to
accumulation or redemption of points, it can be accessed through these
centers. This facility has been outsourced by Maurya and is out of the
premises of the hotel. This has been done to service the quest in a most
personalized and efficient manner. Call centers can now even be accessed
via e-mail as it is the most cost effective and time effective way of accessing
information. Call centers are seen as CRM touch point because they usually
provide solution to a problem that is being faced by a customer. Therefore
the intangibles of listening, understanding and providing a solution to a
problem at the right time adds to the process of retaining the customer –
There is a rapport which is built between the customer and the
respondent which goes a long way in future correspondence with the
center.
 OTHER INCENTIVES TO THE CUSTOMERS BY ITC
WELCOMGROUP HOTELS
Welcome Award - Rewarding Relationships

Welcome Award has earned the distinction of being India's premier and
most powerful frequent guest programme. 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.

Welcome Link- Bring home the rewards

Welcome Link, India's most popular programme for key professionals

offers many value-added benefits. It is designed to help members in making
reservations for their company executives. For every materialized room
night booked by a member at ITC-Welcome group Hotel, points are earned
that can be redeemed for a wide range of rewards.
With Welcome Link, the member can look forward to many exciting
promotions and prizes coming their way plus an exciting range of rewards...
complimentary dining, free holidays, air tickets, car rentals and privilege
shopping with Citibank Diners Gift Vouchers countrywide.

Sheraton Plus- The art of fine dining with a special edge

Welcome group Sheraton Plus brings the pleasures of the palate, in a truly
rewarding manner. As a member, customers can savour the finest in cuisine
ranging from authentic Indian, Mughlai and Chinese specialties to
Continental fare in a selection of over thirty ITC-Welcome group
restaurants. From 24-hour coffee shops to the specialty restaurants such as
Dum-Pukht, Bukhara, Dakshin and West View, members get to dine and
entertain.
STEPS IN THE CRM PROCESS

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.

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.
 The Sales Process – Pre CRM and Post Implementation of CRM
Independent Database

Call Sales Security Credit Operations

Centre Agent Agent

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Database

Call Sales Security Credit Operations

Centre Agent Agent
GuestWare Enterprise Edition’s Preference entry screen. 
Note Global Preferences denoted by red “G”.
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– ITC is organized and well
established CRM practices. It 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.