Lecture Notes: Tourism Industry, Customer Experience, CRM, and Quality Management

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms from the notes on tourism, customer experience, CRM, and quality management.

Tourism Product

The end product of inputs from multiple suppliers in the tourism and hospitality industry.

Tangible Elements of Tourism

Physical components customers can see or touch, such as buildings, machinery, equipment, land, and inventory.

Intangible Elements of Tourism

Non-physical aspects that influence the experience, including speed of check-in/out, friendly guides, hospitality of flight attendants, attention to event detail, and brand/image.

Service Dimensions of the Tourism and Hospitality Industry

Key characteristics: Intangibility, Inseparability, Variability, Perishability, and Seasonality.

Intangibility (Service Dimension)

The product cannot be tasted, smelled, touched, or seen before purchase/consumption.

Inseparability (Service Dimension)

The tourism product is directly linked to the tourism supplier; services are produced and consumed together.

Variability (Service Dimension)

Service quality can vary by provider or location; a poor experience at one branch can affect the whole brand.

Perishability (Service Dimension)

Services cannot be stored for later sale or use.

Seasonality (Service Dimension)

Demand for products/services is affected by seasons or climate.

Value

The relationship between perceived benefits and perceived costs; value is subjective.

Value Proposition

In marketing, value can be defined by qualitative and quantitative measures.

Customer Experience

The overall experience of a customer across interactions with a business, shaping loyalty and satisfaction.

Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)

A long-term view of customer relationships as a cycle of interactions rather than a single transaction.

Customer Orientation

Positioning a business so that customer interests and value are the highest priority.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

A strategy to select customers and maintain relationships to increase lifetime value.

Loyalty Programs

Programs that identify and build databases of frequent customers, rewarding them with special services.

Moment of Truth

The critical moment when a front-line employee interaction significantly influences the customer’s impression.

Customer Satisfaction (rating metric)

The proportion of customers whose experience with the firm exceeds a set satisfaction goal.

Training of Employees (in service context)

Benefits include foundation for effective service delivery, improved skills, attitudes, work satisfaction, and professional growth.

Brand Loyalty

Loyal customer behavior driven by perceived value, brand trust, and satisfaction, leading to repeat purchases.

Factors Influencing Brand Loyalty

Key drivers include customer’s perceived value, brand trust, and customer satisfaction.

CRM: Primary Function

Operational (sales, marketing, customer support), Analytical (data gathering/insights), and Collaborative (supplier relationships).

Customer Retention

The act of keeping customers consistently purchasing from an organization.

CRM Categories

Operational, Analytical, and Collaborative components of CRM.

Total Quality (TQ)

Integrating all employees in a process of continuous learning to increase customer satisfaction.

Total Quality Management (TQM)

A process of setting service goals as a team to improve quality across the organization.

Quality Management Principles

Eight core principles: 1) Customer Focus, 2) Leadership, 3) Involvement of People, 4) Process Approach, 5) System Approach to Management, 6) Continual Improvement, 7) Factual Decision Making, 8) Mutually Beneficial Supplier Relationships.

Customer Focus

Understanding current and future customer needs and exceeding their expectations.

Leadership

Establishing unity of purpose and direction to pursue and maintain quality.

Involvement of People

Engaging people at all levels to utilize their abilities for the organization’s benefit.

Process Approach

Managing activities and resources as interrelated processes to achieve desired results.

System Approach to Management

Coordinating components to achieve quality objectives by identifying, understanding, and managing interrelations.

Continual Improvement

Ongoing efforts to improve quality and performance.

Factual Approach to Decision Making

Making decisions based on analysis and data.

Mutually Beneficial Supplier Relationships

Building strong supplier relationships where both parties add value.

Satisfy the Customer

A core TQM principle: satisfy both users and buyers, including internal customers, through a chain of customers.

Satisfy the Supplier

Ensuring external and internal suppliers are satisfied, empowering workers and enhancing productivity.

Continuous Improvement (TQM)

Ongoing improvement with methods like: work smarter, work suggestions, and quality methods (e.g., JIT, variability reduction, poka-yoke).

Just-In-Time Production

A quality method aiming to reduce waste by receiving goods only as needed.

Poka-Yoke

Mistake-proofing techniques to prevent defects.

Variability Reduction

Techniques to reduce process variation and improve quality.

Empower Workers

Giving workers authority and support to improve processes.

Work Suggestions

Encouraging employees to propose improvements to reduce unnecessary work.

External Supplier

A supplier from whom you purchase goods or services outside the organization.

Internal Customer

Internal stakeholders who influence wages or have other roles; treated as customers within the organization.

Chain of Customer

The sequence from product improvement to final sale to the external customer.