CIM Level 4 Certificate in Professional
Marketing
Customer Experience (2102)
June 2015
Assignment
The assignment comprises THREE compulsory tasks
Task 1 is worth 25 marks
Task 2 is worth 40 marks
Task 3 is worth 25 marks
10 marks are available for format and communication of information
Total marks available – 100
Candidate guidance
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Answer all tasks
The available marks are shown alongside each part of the task
10 marks are available for overall format and communication of information
Read all tasks carefully before attempting them
© The Chartered Institute of Marketing 2015
Customer Experience (2102) – June 2015
Scenario:
Customer experience is a potential source of competitive advantage for organisations in all
sectors. Understanding customer expectations and the role played by marketing in the
development of that understanding enables competitive advantage to be gained. Managing
customer expectations is therefore a key consideration.
In your role within the marketing function of your own organisation, or one of your choice,
your manager has asked you to prepare a report for senior management which explores
both the theory and the reality of customer experience in detail.
Your report will describe, analyse and make recommendations on how customer
experience can be enhanced, with reference to appropriate supporting theoretical
frameworks.
Guidance notes:
This assignment consists of three tasks and the report should flow as a single document.
There are TEN marks available for the entire report where you will be rewarded for
continuity of tasks, appropriate language and the format used. This is awarded under
‘Format and communication of information’.
While it is helpful to include an introduction and summary in the report, these should be
brief, with the main focus being on the content outlined in the assignment provided. FIVE
marks will be awarded for the organisation summary, which should appear at the end of
the main report, using the headings supplied as guidance. You should write this summary
in report format rather than using bullet points. This is included in the marks allocated to
the report in Task 1.
You should acknowledge all sources/methodologies/applications, using the Harvard
referencing system.
Customer experience can be applied differently across B2B, B2C and not-for-profit
organisations. Application to your chosen organisation is crucial to providing this context
and understanding.
Maximum page count: 12 pages
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Customer Experience (2102) – June 2015
TASK 1
Assessment criteria covered in Task 1:
AC1.1, AC1.2, AC1.3, AC1.4, AC2.2, AC2.4
Please refer to the module specification for assessment criteria details.
Within your report you are required to understand and analyse how your chosen
organisation is structured and managed to deliver effective customer experience within the
organisation’s marketplace.
An important consideration is to demonstrate an understanding of customer expectations
and an appreciation of the importance of fulfilling them, relating to developing customer
loyalty and retention.
Required:
(a)
Using the organisation summary guidelines, provide a background to
your chosen organisation. This section should be placed at the end of
your report.
(b) Assess the role of the marketing function within your chosen
organisation in developing an understanding of the expectations of TWO
significant customer segments, considering the factors influencing the
expectations.
(c)
Discuss the interaction between quality, customer satisfaction and
loyalty, based on the information obtained in relation to factors affecting
customer experience.
(d) Evaluate consumer behaviour theory relating to customer expectations,
within the context of the chosen organisation and customer loyalty in
the selected customer segments.
(5 marks)
(7 marks)
(8 marks)
(5 marks)
(Total – 25 marks)
(Maximum page count – 3 pages)
(1 page of the total 3 pages for this task should be used for the organisation summary)
Page 3 of 7
Customer Experience (2102) – June 2015
TASK 2
Assessment criteria covered in Task 2:
AC3.1, AC3.3, AC3.4, AC4.1, AC4.2
Please refer to the module specification for assessment criteria details.
Customer loyalty can be created through understanding of customer experience
dimensions and utilisation of the marketing mix to enhance the customer experience.
This task requires you to explore the practicalities of developing customer experience in
greater depth.
As part of your report, you are asked to prepare a section detailing how your chosen
organisation could utilise the different elements of the marketing mix, with particular
reference to a product/service offer, to enhance the customer experience for the TWO
customer segments identified in Task 1 (b).
Required:
(a)
Describe the elements of customer experience relevant to the TWO
customer segments identified in Task 1 and recommend appropriate
customer experience designs for those segments.
(b) Outline similarities between customer relationship marketing and
customer experience management, considering links between
relationships and loyalty.
(c)
(10 marks)
(6 marks)
Make clear recommendations for a product/service offer to create and
enhance customer experience for the TWO customer segments
identified in Task 1(b).
(12 marks)
(d) Demonstrate the role of price in creating and enhancing customer
experience and loyalty for the recommended product/service offer for
the TWO selected customer segments identified in Task 1(b).
(12 marks)
(Total – 40 marks)
(Maximum page count – 6 pages)
Page 4 of 7
Customer Experience (2102) – June 2015
TASK 3
Assessment criteria covered in Task 3:
AC5.1, AC5.2, AC5.4, AC6.1, AC6.3
Please refer to the module specification for assessment criteria details.
Measurement of customer experience is essential in understanding whether the
organisation’s activities are meeting customer expectations from a range of stakeholder
perspectives.
You are required to identify relevant KPIs within your chosen organisation as a basis for
making improvements to the customer experience.
Required:
(a)
Identify appropriate customer experience measures to understand
customer retention and loyalty, with reference to the previously
identified TWO customer segments in Task 1(b).
(5 marks)
(b) Identify TWO KPIs to measure customer experience for the chosen
organisation. Recommend appropriate market research methods to
measure those KPIs.
(c)
(5 marks)
Justify the need to measure and monitor the customer experience
KPIs, identified in Task 3(b), from the perspective of both the chosen
organisation and its employees.
(d) Based on the KPIs identified in Task 3(b), recommend and justify how
the chosen organisation can make improvements to enhance the
customer experience.
(5 marks)
(10 marks)
(Total – 25 marks)
(Maximum page count – 3 pages)
Page 5 of 7
Customer Experience (2102) – June 2015
TASK 1 – REPORT FORMAT
TASK 1 MAXIMUM page count: 3 pages
Candidates are encouraged to make reference to their organisation
summary throughout the task, to avoid repetition and provide a
context for their answers.
Guidance notes:
Use of appropriate theoretical frameworks is required in order to
underpin answers and provide structure. Application of the theories
to the chosen organisation is important and should be included
throughout the answer.
Candidates will be rewarded for demonstrating understanding of the
links between customer expectations, customer behaviour and
customer loyalty and retention.
TASK 2 – REPORT FORMAT
TASK 2 MAXIMUM page count: 6 pages
The use of theoretical underpinning to support practical examples
appropriate for the context of the chosen organisation is essential.
Guidance notes:
Demonstrating an understanding of the linkages between the
elements of customer experience management and customer
relationship marketing is an important part of this task.
Candidates will be rewarded for making clearly justified
recommendations relevant to the customer segments identified.
TASK 3 – REPORT FORMAT
TASK 3 MAXIMUM page count: 3 pages
Candidates will be rewarded for demonstrating clear linkages
between proposed research methods and key performance indicators
of customer experience.
Guidance notes:
The candidate should then demonstrate the importance of
measuring and monitoring these key performance indicators in
relation to the organisation and its employees.
The improvements recommended should be justified on the basis of
these key performance indicators, together with knowledge of best
practice from external sources.
Page 6 of 7
Customer Experience (2102) – June 2015
Organisation summary
To be included at the end of the report. Contents will contribute to the FIVE marks
available in Part (a) of Task 1. The following headings should be included:
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Organisation name
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Type of organisation, for example, profit or not-for-profit, local, national, global, and
type of legal entity
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Size of organisation in terms of turnover and number of employees
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Range of products and services provided
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Customer base, for example, B2B/B2C
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Competitors
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Cross-functional relationships within the organisation
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Other important stakeholders
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Other relevant information
Page 7 of 7