customer relationship management loyality program of hotel taj mahal

Table of Contents

TERM PAPER
OF
CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT
ON
LOYALITY PROGRAM
OF
HOTEL TAJ MAHAL

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

INTRODUCTION OF TAJ MAHAL HOTEL

The Taj Mahal Palace & Toweris a prestigious luxury five starhotellocated in theColabaregion ofMumbai,Maharashtra,India, next to the Gateway of India. Part of theTaj Hotels, Resorts and Palaces, this iconic 105-year old heritage building retains its stature as the flagship property of the group and contains 565 rooms. From an historical and architectural point of view, The Taj Mahal Palace and the Tower are two distinct buildings, built at different times and in different architectural designs.The Taj Mahal Palace hotel resort was commissioned inIndo-Saracenicstyle byTataand first opened its doors to guests on 16 December 1903.It is widely believed thatJamsedji Tatadecided to build the luxurious hotel after he was refused entry to one of the city’s grand hotels of the time,Watson’s Hotel, as it was restricted to ‘whites only’. However, this story has been challenged by some commentators that suggest that Tata was unlikely to have been concerned with ‘revenge’ against his British adversaries. Instead they suggest that the Taj was built at the urging of editor of theTimes of Indiawho felt a hotel “worthy of Bombay” was needed. The original IndianarchitectswereSitaram Khanderao Vaidyaand D. N. Mirza, and the project was completed by an Englishengineer, W. A. Chambers. The builder wasKhansaheb Sorabji Ruttonji Contractorwho also designed and built its famous central floating staircase. The cost of construction was �250,000 (�127 million today).DuringWorld War I, the hotel was converted into a 600-bedhospital. The dome of the hotel is made from the same steel as used in theEiffel Tower. Jamsedji Tata imported the same steel during that time. The hotel was the first in India to install and operate a steamelevator.

The side of the hotel seen from the harbour is actually its rear. The front faces away to the west. There is a widespread misconception that the architects’ building plans were confused by the builder so that he built it facing away from the harbor. The hotel was deliberately built facing inland, possibly because the horse carriages in which guests came to the hotel could more easily approach the hotel from the city. The carriages were then taken to Wellington Mews. 40 years ago, the old front was closed off, and since then, access has been made through the harbor-side entrance.

There used to be a Green’s Hotelat the Apollo Bunder, which was purchased by the Taj Mahal Hotel. It was at the Green’s Hotel, that a small group of pro-Indian Goans (largely employees of the Indian state and communists) assembled and formed the Goan Liberation Council demanding that Portugal cede Goa to India, in the 1950s. This was done at the instigation ofJawaharlal Nehru, and funded by the Kamani Group of Companies. In 1973, Green’s hotel was demolished and the present Tower wing was constructed in its place.

Facilities and services at Hotel Taj

Accommodation: Accommodation: 600 rooms including 48 suites.

New Wing Rooms : All rooms elegantly appointed, centrally air-conditioned with international direct dial facility, mini-bar, personal safe, channel music, colour television with in-house movies and satellite programmes. Also 24-hour room service and laundry service.

Old Wing Rooms: Reputed for its unique architecture, with corridors that resemble art galleries, no two rooms in this wing are alike. The old wing has standard rooms, seafacing rooms and superior rooms, all adorned with original artifacts. In-room fax on request for all rooms. Valet service for superior rooms.

Suites : Choose from luxuriously appointed executive suites, special thematic suites, deluxe suites with spacious living rooms and separate dining areas; and the Presidential suite with its original paintings & antiques.

Business Facilities : 24-hour colour copier/telex/facsimile facilities. A fully equipped Business Centre with secretarial service, 4 meeting rooms, work stations, laptops on hire, colour printers and Reuters on-line information service.

Restaurants & Bars :-

Shamiana: 24-hour coffee shop.

Sea lounge : Meeting place in Bombay for tea and light meals.

Harbour Bar: Bombay’s oldest bar.

Apollo Bar: The rooftop bar.

Lounge Bar: For the finest selection of wines.

Zodiac Grill: Continental gourmet dining. Also serves Power Breakfast.

Golden Dragon: Authentic Sichuan cuisine.

Tanjore: Indian cuisine with classical dance performances in the evening.

1900s: Bombay’s newest night club.

Other Facilities : Swimming pool, fitness centre, beauty parlour, barber shop, travel desk, car rental, pastry shop, book shop, shopping arcade, currency exchange, safe deposit lockers, doctor-on-call and baby sitting. Arrangements for golf, badminton, squash, billiards, tennis, and table tennis on request.

WHAT ARE LOYALITY PROGRAM

A marketing initiative for:-

Developing long lasting relationships with most valuable customers.

Creating and delivering unique, consistent and memorable engagements.

Developing better business understanding for driving footfalls and increasing ROI.

Managing customer churn

CRM: KEEPING CUSTOMER LOYAL

Customers are now in charge – thanks to the growth of the Web

Customer relationships are a company’s most valuable assets – worth more everything else combined as:-

NO CUSTOMER = NO BUSINESS

Loyal customers will be much more likely to tell their friends about the business. Loyal customers spend more and bring in even more new customers. Loyalty is immensely valuable.

Research has shown that a 5 percent increase in customer retention rates results in a 25 percent to 95 percent increase in profits. It’s easy to say customers are our most important asset but turning CRM strategy into bottom-line results is hard work. It means winning the battle for customers’ hearts and minds every day, with each interaction at every customer touch point. Long-standing relationships only arise from trust gained over many transactions and by customers’ belief that the company wishes to keep them around rather than drive them away.

Creating a customer-focused company starts with the definition of a CRM strategy, which must then be filled out with new work processes, organizational changes, and even a revamped corporate culture. To create customers for life, customers who will become advocates with the perception they need to believe that you do what’s best for your customers, not just what’s best for your bottom line.

To do that you need to:

Find out what customers want and know what you are providing matches that. Do not start with the bottom line. Profit and cash flow are residuals of attention to the needs and preferences of your customers. Of course, profits are crucial. But long-term cash flow and profits come from regular customers.
Be honest and keep things simple, listen, communicate openly and keep your promises. Deliver what you say you will. Far too many businesses focus on ways to keep customers, only to lose sight of the fact that their product or service simply isn’t what it should be.
Practice what you preach and preach what you practice. Treat your customers like you would like to be treated and then go even further by, in that classic phrase: exceeding their expectations. Give customers reasons to stay.
Nurture employees. “Old-fashioned” solutions still provide the edge. Research shows that a personal relationship with your employees is the key to keeping customers loyal and that happy staff keep customers coming back.
Treat your employees as you would want to be treated year after year. Not only does that encourage staff to also do their bit to entice customer loyalty, it’s emphasises a supportive, responsive environment. Employee loyalty needs to be appropriately valued and rewarded.
Use sensible marketing practices. Not many people enjoy being inundated with telephone calls and mailings so don’t do it! Test, test, test and track the customers who come back. Once you know who your best customers are, the real work begins�convincing them to stay forevermore. Repeat purchase and retention rates capture the real financial ramifications of whether or not a company is delivering high value to its customers.
Know the value of your customers, segments and groups. Know who is likely to be loyal. Some customers are more trouble than they’re worth. Monitor what goes into keeping a customer satisfied; if it’s too costly or simply too much work – it’s wrong to say that everyone should be a lifelong customer.
Use effective CRM systems, don’t let the systems use you. Don’t be driven by the vendor or consultant – use them, they’re likely to know the technology far better than you. But let customers’ needs and everything above drive how you use the technology. Remember it is an aid not an end.

Getting and keeping more customers who stay with you longer is crucial. If your customers are loyal to your business, they will be much more likely to choose you over your competitors.

LOYALITY PROGRAMS:- RELEVANCE FOR INDIA

India is a nascent market for loyalty programs, holds tremendous potential.

Customer choice are being shaped through unparalleled access to information.

MEANING OF LOYALITY PROGRAM

Loyalty programs are structured marketing efforts that reward, and therefore encourage, loyal buying behavior � behavior which is potentially of benefit to the firm. In marketing generally and in retailing more specifically, a loyalty card, rewards card, points card, advantage card, or club card is a plastic or paper card, visually similar to a credit card or debit card, that identifies the card holder as a member in a loyalty program. Loyalty cards are a system of the loyalty business model. In the United Kingdom it is typically called a loyalty card, in Canada a rewards card or a points card, and in the United States either a discount card, a club card or a rewards card. Cards typically have a barcode or magstripe that can be easily scanned, and some are even chip cards. Small keyring cards (also known as keytags) which serve as key fobs are often used for convenience in carrying and ease of access.

A retail establishment or a retail group may issue a loyalty card to a consumer who can then use it as a form of identification when dealing with that retailer. By presenting the card, the purchaser is typically entitled to either a discount on the current purchase, or an allotment of points that can be used for future purchases. Hence, the card is the visible means of implementing a type of what economists call a two-part tariff. The card issuer requests or requires customers seeking the issuance of a loyalty card to provide a usually minimal amount of identifying or demographic data, such as name and address. Application forms usually entail agreements by the store concerning customer privacy, typically non-disclosure (by the store) of non-aggregate data about customers. The store � one might expect � uses aggregate data internally (and sometimes externally) as part of its marketing research. These cards can be used to determine, for example, a given customer’s favorite brand of beer, or whether she is a vegetarian.

Where a customer has provided sufficient identifying information, the loyalty card may also be used to access such information to expedite verification during receipt of cheques or dispensing of medical prescription preparations, or for other membership privileges (e.g., access to a club lounge in airports, using a frequent flyer card).

TYPES OF LOYALITY PROGRAM

Some of the most common types of loyalty programs are

Appreciations

Giving customers more of a company’s product/service.

Rewards

Giving customers rewards unrelated to a company’s product/service

Partnership

Marketing to another company’s database and allowing loyal customers to choose their rewards from either company.

Rebate

Giving customers money back when they buy more.

Affinity

Building a lifetime value relationship with a customer based on mutual intrests and not on the use of rewards.

Coalition

Teaming up with different companies to share customer data to jointly target a customer demographic.

Appreciation program: Rewarding loyal customers with more of your own product/service.

Rewards program: Rewar-ding loyal customers with awards unrelated to your product/service.

. Partnership program: Marketing to another company’s database and allowing loyal customers to chose their rewards from either company.

Rebate program: Rewarding loyal customers incre-mentally according to their purchase activity.

Affinity program: Building a lifetime value relationship with a customer based on mutual interests and not on the use of rewards.

DEVELOPING LOYALITY PROGRAMS

Steps towards setting loyalty programs

Setting the expectations from the program

Determine what customer information and buying behaviour data to gather

How to gather data, analyze, run campaigns and monitor ROI.

First step:-

Setting expectations some possibilities

Identifying loyal customer and their buying behavior

Using customer data for new product campaign and new outlet identification

Improving margins and revenue through direct marketing campaigns

Second step:-

Determining information to gather

Why do customers buy this brand?

Why are customer dissatisfied?

What is the current buying behavior?

By time, day

Existing customer segment brand or price conscious

Product and/or service

Third step:-

Implementing the program

Implement using innoviti’s LIME, a comprehensive loyalty management tool provides:-

Data gathering

Data analysis

Direct marketing campaigns

Information access for customers and brands

Monitoring ROI from campaigns

BENEFITS FOR CUSTOMERS USING LOYALITY CARDS

Saving Money / Make Money

Convenience Factor – Ease of Payment (Speed and Simplicity)

Special Offers / Discounts for Card Holders

Feeling Of Belonging and Membership

Possibility of Receiving other Financial Services

Member Magazines etc

BENEFITS FOR COMPANIES THAT OFFER LOYALITY CARD SCHEMES

Identification of Customers (enabling deeper relationship marketing)

Reason for More Contact with Customer

Identification of Customer Behavior – who buys what, when, where how much, how, etc. + Identification of Trends.

Customer Tie-In

Increased Sales Volume / Turnover

Damage to Competitors (if successful and especially if rewards based on minimum requirements, e.g. air miles)

Cross Marketing Opportunities (eg. Financial Services)

Customer Satisfaction

Word of Mouth if it is a good deal

Differentiation / More Appropriate To Those Who Want It

May Hide Real Prices & Therefore Enable Higher Prices

Perhaps New Customers

Possibility To Sell Customer Data (in certain circumstances)

DISADVANTAGES FOR COMPANIES OFFERING LAYALITY CARDS

High Cost of Promotion and Implementation

Effort / human resources possibly removed from other marketing projects

Difficult to Get Out of such schemes (once in always in, well at least for a long time)

If Scale, Customer Benefits and Other Requirements are Not Achieved Then Scheme May Be an Expensive failure.

It May Hide Real Loyalty and Satisfaction Levels (eg. switching may take place following retrieval of minimum accumulated rewards). Ie. Disloyalty may be delayed rather than avoided.

Customer Information May Be Partial and Misleading

Do not Loose Profits to Bonuses and Rewards (What is the real cost/benefit)

Risk of falling foul of Consumer Privacy ACT

25 WAYS TO KEEP CUSTOMERS FOR LIFE

In today’s fast-changing and competitive environment, excellent customer service is essential for success. Here’s how to keep your customers – for life!

In fact, the only way to differentiate yourself and to become less of a commodity in the marketplace is through good customer service. The strategies for keeping customers for life can be honed down to some basic steps that any business owner can use. To get customers, keep them and to get enthusiastic referrals follow these 25 proven techniques:

Reward your customers. Send them a gift, provide them a lead, generate business for them, etc.

Use your customers’ services and buy their products. If you want to increase loyalty, there is no better way.

Send thank-you cards. Make sure they are handwritten and sent promptly. Peter Drucker attributed much of his success to the fact that he sent out 12 thank-you cards every day.

Return phone calls promptly. Since so many people don’t return calls, you automatically look good when you do.

Do what you say you are going to do.

Do things when you say you’re going to do them.

Under promise and over deliver.

Be accessible. Make sure you are available and willing to help customers whenever there is a problem. Your business should be open to meet the convenience of your customers and not only for your convenience.
Be credible. If you can’t establish that trust right away, customers may start to look at your competitors.

Appearance counts. Perception is reality, and the reality is that people do judge a book by its cover.

Show empathy. Remember the best customers are your currents ones. Stay in touch and continue to service their wants and needs.

Have a “Goof Kit.” If you make a mistake, it’s not enough to say, “I’m sorry.”

Promote customers’ products and services. By getting business for your clients, you ensure you will have a customer for life.

Do things for the customer’s convenience not yours. Make it as easy as possible for your customers to do business with you. The easier you can make it for your customer to do business with you, the more business you will have.

Determine all the ways you can eliminate the hassle factor.

Send an invoice periodically with a “no charge” on it. This will help your customers remember you. And if it is unexpected, it will have a much larger impact.

Have a customer advisory panel. Only by knowing your customers’ wants and needs can you successfully grow your business and be totally customer-oriented.

Hire mystery shoppers. To really find out how good your customer service is, hire someone to go out and use your service from start to finish.

Be a resource. No matter what your customer needs, try to find it for them — even if it has nothing to do with your business.

Shower customers with kindness.

Speak your customers’ language. If you use jargon your customers can’t understand, they won’t use you.

Have a great attitude.

Treat your employees well. If they are treated poorly, there is a good chance your customers will also get poor service.

Give your customer what they want, when they want it and how they want it.

Give back to your best customers. If you run a special price or product offer for first-time customers, ensure your current customers are offered the same opportunity.

Don’t show an attitude of indifference to your customers. In a recent study on why people give up on a company, 68 percent quit because of an attitude of indifference toward the customers by the owner, manager or employees – 68 percent!

7 TIPS FOR OUTSTANDING CUSTOMER RETENTION

Here are seven customer service tips to get your business up and running for outstanding customer retention..

Customer retention, often measured in repeat purchases, plays a massive role in driving profits for any business. Businesses that excel in customer retention are usually positioned for long-term success and possess a far greater competitive edge over their competitors.
So how do businesses master the art of customer retention? Though there are other contributing factors to high customer retention, the most effective one probably belongs to superior customer service. Customer service is designed to create a positive customer experience in order to increase customer loyalty and ultimately, long-term customer retention.

Customer service is more than a worthwhile investment, so:

1. Pay Attention To Complaints And Compliments

The National Transportation Safety Board offers an approach that every business can learn from. The NTSB takes every accident very seriously, ensuring that the same incident should never occur again. Work that same policy into your business, taking every customer complaint very seriously, ensuring that your business will never have to deal with the same complaint twice.

Use customer complaints to bring about new ideas and ways to improve your product or service. Use the same approach for customer compliments too, using compliments as a point of reinforcement for what your company is already doing right.

2. Just Ask Them!

There isn’t a simpler method of retaining customers then just asking customers what exactly is it they seek from your business and how they want it given to them. Whether you ask them via a printed survey, an online survey, over the phone, in person, or via email, it is crucial that you just ask them. You’d be surprised at the detailed response you’ll receive, sometimes
saving you the trouble of spending extra on expensive market research. Consider conducting a focus group with your customers. With a customer focus group, you have the opportunity to tap into their collective needs and wants and reward them for their time with discounts on their next purchase, or anything that will demonstrate your sincere appreciation.

3. Up Your Service With A Loyalty Program

Loyalty programs used efficaciously by businesses such as the airlines industry are extremely effective for outstanding customer retention. Starbucks is another company that ties customer service in with a loyalty program that keeps its customers coming back for more. A variation
of a loyalty program can be in the form of offering specialty discounts for customers in your database sent via email.

4. Service With A Smile

Not every business owner believes that “the customer is always right,” or that the “the customer is king” and they’re quite right to believe so. But, in situations where customers are distraught and tend to seek attention through emotional outbursts, it pays to keep calm and take control of the situation by appeasing the customer with a smile and doing everything possible to pander to the customer’s frustrations. It may seem over the top, but this approach will reflect positively on your business and an end-result will be outstanding customer retention.

5. Be A Solution Provider

Customers are a savvy lot and they can usually sense a sales pitch approaching miles away. Though they love buying, customers hate to be sold to. Instead, adopt the approach of being a solution provider, showing that you sincerely care about their needs.

Lend a listening ear to your customers and let them know that you’re not after their wallets, but instead collaborating with them to help get what they want in a way that will benefit both parties. This approach works almost all the time and is the secret sauce for high customer retention.

6. Be A Value Provider

Companies are always harping about providing value to customers, but very few of them actually understand what it means. Providing value to customers simply means giving first and receiving second. Giving first could be as easy as offering a free email newsletter filled with juicy tips that other companies would have charged a premium for. It’s a great way of differentiating yourself from your competitors and at the same time, providing great value for
free to your customers.

7. Keep Your Service Memorable

Customers usually become fans of your business when they remember something remarkable you did for them. This usually happens when customers have a problem with something they bought from you and need to be fixed. The easier you make it for them to get it fixed and solve their problems, the more satisfied customers become. It could even be as simple as providing human support within three rings of a customer calling instead of sending them to voicemail and a maze of phone menus.

CRM INITATIVES BY HOTEL TAJ

In the coming years, Hotel Taj will see growth through the addition of 80 Luxury Residences at theTaj Wellington Mews, Mumbai, as well as rooms added atTaj Lands End, MumbaiandTaj West End, Bangalore.The Taj Lands Endis a hotel built with a capacity of 500 rooms with an additional 50,000 sq. ft. approximately that is yet to be built. Hotel Taj will reach this capacity over the next two years, which will include adding rooms and developing high-end offices or retail space created in the new 50, 000 sq. ft. block.Taj West Endwill have approximately 175 rooms added to it over the next two years. Associate companies viz. Taj GVK Hotels & Resorts Limited and Oriental Hotels Limited are also in the process of setting up properties in Chandigarh and Bangalore respectively, which would add to the properties under the Taj group. Taj groups has secured two management contracts for a high end luxury resort and an upmarket resort in Kovalam, Kerala. Both the hotels are under construction and will open in the current financialyear.

Spas

Taj group successfully launched the Taj Spa in theTaj Mahal Palace & Tower, Mumbaiand is in the process of launching Spas in a number of hotels. These will be a combination of Day and Destination Spas of international standards, with a unique treatment menu developed by the Taj. They will be the first and one of a kind – Indian Spa. Spas are being planned inTaj Wellington Mews, MumbaiandTaj Lands End, Mumbai. The Spas being rolled out in the key properties will be state-of-the-art, having areas in excess of 10,000-12,000 sq. feet.

Ginger Hotels

Taj group is in the process of rolling out its Smart Basics hotels, under the brand name “Ginger”. The first prototype has been launched in June 2004 in Bangalore, with roll out being planned in a number of cities and towns subsequently. These hotels will cater to the economy or ‘value for money’ segment and being predominantly domestic clientele based, are far less prone to fluctuations than the luxury and upscale segments. In the long run, this segment will help in derisking the current revenue stream of the company.

Brand Architecture

Taj is in the process of clearly defining the product and service standards in order to have consistency across properties under each brand. This will help in further enhancing the brand value of Taj. Brand value builds customer loyalty and is one of the approaches of building customer relationship.

Product Upgradation

Hotel taj continues to invest in renovation and relaunch of key / brand defining properties. In the last financial year Taj upgraded rooms at theTaj Mahal Palace & Tower, MumbaiandTaj West End, BangaloreThe lobby and public areas ofTaj Lake Palace, UdaipurandRambagh Palace, Jaipurwere also renovated to provide a luxurious sense of arrival. The Sea Lounge and Harbour Bar atTaj Mahal Palace & Tower, Mumbaiwas relaunched, while a new Vietnamese restaurant ‘Blue Ginger’ was opened inTaj West End, BangaloreThe renovated products and the new outlets were very well received in the market. The renovated rooms atTaj Mahal Palace & Tower, MumbaiandTaj West End, Bangalorehave emerged as the price leaders in the respective cities. In the coming year taj intends to open a number of F&B outlets by celebrity Chefs with international cuisine. In the upscale segment, the properties are being relaunched to be at par with international level upscale hotels. The rooms atTaj President, Mumbai,Taj Residency, Bangalore,Jai Mahal Palace, JaipurandTaj Holiday Village, Goaare being renovated and relaunched.

Service Excellence

In the last few years Taj has undertaken a number of steps to significantly enhance service levels to be in line with the best in class and to build superior customer relation. Taj has constantly benchmarked itself with the key international luxury chains and strived to raise the bar. Taj’s service excellence philosophy, has at its core, delivery through our people, processes and culture.

Taj has taken a number of steps to provide highly personalized service to the discerning customer, including butler services in its luxury properties. In order to take care of the entire stay experience, Taj has also completely revamped its Concierge services. The Centers of Excellence have been strengthened considerably to train staff to meet the exacting standards of a truly luxury hotel. Tata Business Excellence Model (TBEM) will play a significant role in raising the bar of service provided. The TBEM has been rolled out in all the three hotel divisions and will be rolled out to the international properties also.

Tata Business Excellence Model (TBEM)

In order to intensify the drive for Business Excellence,Taj conducted Internal Assessments based on the Tata Business Excellence Model for Luxury, Leisure, Business SBUs as well as for Taj SATS Air Catering Limited. The Luxury Division has also applied for External Assessment, which is to be facilitated by Tata Quality Management Services.

Based on the External Assessment (2003) feedback report and the feedback from the Internal Assessment, action plans to improve processes which finally impact the overall organizational effectiveness, have been drawn out and worked upon.

Some of the key initiatives deployed across key hotels of the Taj group to enhance customer relation in the year 2003-04 are:

Raising the bar in terms of product & service quality:

In order to raise the standards of service & product quality to international levels, taj has benchmarked & gauged the performance against international luxury and super-luxury hotels and has upgraded its standards.

Introduction of international best practices

Taj group is using the expertise of international consultants and domain experts who work in different functional and operational areas in order to introduce world-class practices. They have launched the concierge service, butler service, and car hire service in key hotels of the group. This has resulted in a steep change in service levels beside increasing the overall customer experience.

Rollout of the Customer Feedback System (CFS)

The CFS was launched in November 2003 and has taken root in 30 hotels across Taj group. It is the primary and sole customer feedback system of the group. Till date, the system has clocked around 12,000 pieces of customer feedback. The feedback from all sources gets recorded and aggregated and analyzed to improve the service quality in areas of concern at each of the hotels. Feedback is not restricted to only guest difficulties (complaints) but also consists of compliments and suggestions. The feedback would ultimately be used for product planning as well.The customer feed back is used to deliver excellent services to the customer.

Reinforcement of the use of the Balanced Scorecard

The use of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) has been strengthened across the organization. It is used as the key strategy deployment tool. The key strategic objectives are captured in the BSC and cascaded across the units & departments. All the SBU scorecards are aligned with the corporate scorecard, as well as the HR & Sales & Marketing scorecard. The key focus of BSC is to build strategy that will help in retaining and building customer relationship.

Corporate Restructuring

In order to make Taj leaner and carry brand standards across domestic and international properties, the International division was merged with the Luxury, Business and Leisure divisions, so as to make the corporate setup leaner and more agile. We also continue to restructure the balance sheet and reduce the number of under performing / non-performing assets. Such restructuring, in the previous year, resulted in a net inflow of Rs. 37.25 crores. In the last financial year, taj sold the Gateway Riverview Lodge, Chiplun, which did not meet brand standards.

TOP

Taj’s operational improvement programme, TOP (Total Overdrive for Profits), being managed jointly with McKinsey & Company, has made significant progress since its inception in July 2002. The programme’s main focus is to improve customer relationship and providing superior services to the customer. The programme has identified improvement ideas across areas like Rooms, Banquets, Purchase, Engineering, Wines, Mini-bar, In-room dining, Chambers and several other operational areas. In addition, the TOP team has been working with a cross functional team to develop a strategy for maximising revenues from key corporate accounts. The focus of the TOP team for the next few months will be in ensuring that all identified improvement ideas are fully implemented. In addition, the team will continue to focus on cost areas and address new areas like restaurant revenues and capital expenditures.

IT initiatives

From a situation in 1999 where there was limited IT application, Taj group has today achieved domestic leadership in deploying IT to leverage its competencies and is rapidly approaching benchmarks set by international highly regarded chains. The first three phases of implementation of the IT strategy included putting in place the physical infrastructure across the Taj Group and getting customer relationship applications to ride on this physical infrastructure, with a view to enhancing customer services through customer information and recognition systems and better inventory management. Some of the key IT initiatives being under taken by IHCL are Orion, a comprehensive back office system, implementing Revenue Management system, Interactive TV Systems and National Call Center.

Other customer focus services

WIFI -For business travellers, hotels often become a second home. So top-end hotels are investing heavily on systems that help them look after their customers better, especially with the help of the customers’ history with them.

In a unique development, Taj has introduced wireless broadband solutions�Wireless Fidelity (WiFi)�for its guests. Result: Using a laptop, a guest can log on to the Internet from anywhere in the hotel.

Sms services – The hotel is also planning to introduce an SMS service. Whenever the hotel receives a call in the absence of the guest, the message from the caller will be passed on to the guest through SMS. This will help a business traveler keep track of the missed calls and act on important ones while away from the hotel.

Customer database – Taj Hotels have created databases of customers’ history�on stay information and profile which sit on a centralised server connected to each of the locations. Each time a frequent traveller checks in, the profile pops up at the reception desk with multilevel information and the hotel is ready to take care of the customer’s needs and choices. This is one of the most important strategies to build customer relationship. It enhances the customer experience each time the customer book a room in Taj.

Website – Taj is running an updated website to support customer services. The customers can book rooms, reserve rooms in advance, arrange parties, check status of reservations etc. Website helps in providing quick and easy services to the customer which results in customer delight.

CONCLUSION

CRM is all about customers, your relationship with them, and how to manage that relationship. It’s the relationship with the customer that is at the heart of the entire process. Without a relationship with the customer, you might as well put on a blindfold at stab pins at a prospect list in the hope that the one you pick will be a good one.

Customers have expectations. They expect that their expectations will be justified. That bit is partly up to the businessman, and partly depends on the value of the product. We can’t change the product, but we can change the things we do. Communication with the customer is the key!

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http://www.reuters.com/article/newsMaps/idUSTRE56H0ST20090718

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TERM PAPER OFCUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENTONLOYALITY PROGRAMOFHOTEL TAJ MAHAL