PREFACE 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. Hotel industry in a primarily a service sector emphasis in given on the role played by relationship marketing. 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

I acknowledge the sincere assistance provided to me from several rather unexpected quarters during the course of execution of this study. It would be a mammoth task to place on record my gratitude to each and every one of them but a whole hearted attempt would be made nevertheless, least I be branded ungrateful. Where the emotions are involved words cease to work. I am deeply indebt to for her encouragement, affections, valuable advice and guidance that helped me to complete this project successfully.

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction..6-9 What is CRM Research Questions Scope of Study Objectives of study

2. CRM An Overview..10-28 Advantages of CRM ROI of CRM E-CRM components in hotel industry 3. INDUSTRY/ COMPANY perspective.29-32 ITC Welcomgroup Hotel The Oberoi group of Hotel Taj group of Hotel

4. Research Methodology 33-37 Research Design Steps in the Research Process Limitation of study 5. Findings/ Research.38-53 ITC group of Hotel The TAJ group of Hotel The OBEROI group of Hotel 6. Example of CRM Implementation.54-57 7. Conclusion and Recommendation..58-62

1. Introduction 1.1 What is Customer Relationship Management (CRM )? 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. 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 (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)".

OBJECTIVE OF CRM 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 doesnt mean maintaining only customer loyalty, but also driving purchases higher. 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? 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 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.

CHAPTER 2 2.1 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. 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.

2.2 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 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)

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) 13