ecrm_in_the_travel_industry.rtf

8/18/2019 eCRM_in_the_travel_industry.rtf

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What isCRM?

eCRM in the Travel Industry

SUMMARY

We are bombarded with Internet forecasts and statistics every day, however there is little

doubt that the Internet has permanently changed the face of travel promotion anddistribution. While only a minority of consumers are actually prepared to buy online atthe present time, this minority is growing and there are large numbers of consumers whowish to use the Internet for information and communication. Travel and hospitalitycompanies are selling an information-rich product and will need to leverage the full rangeof offline and e-channels to engage their customers in dialogue. The Internet does nothave any respect for geographic or organisational boundaries and companies will have toforge new business models, involving partnerships and customer-driven product design,in order to meet the needs of the online consumer. There are major challenges andopportunities for companies wishing to add the “e” to their !" strategy.

INTRODUCTION

# previous article in the Travel $ Tourism #nalyst on database mar%eting &'anuary ()))*indicated that ustomer !elationship "anagement &!"* would be a bu++word for

travel mar%eters in the (st

century. This has certainly proved to be the case so far withmany travel mar%eting and technology conferences and seminars containing !" themesand presentations. Increasingly, however, the term is being preceded with the letter e‟reflecting the impact of Internet technology on the discipline of !". The latest researchfrom housWright suggests that the on-line /uropean Travel mar%et will e0plode from1.) billion in 222 to 1(2.) billion in 22. !ecent findings of the Internet /uropeanTravel "onitor study reveal that /uropeans initiated 3.45 million international and

domestic trips on the Internet in ())), 6.357 million of which were boo%ed and paid for online. There are undoubtedly opportunities and threats on the Web. 8efore their parentcompany pulled the plug, uTravel.com, a 9:-based online agent, was enjoying customer ac;uisition costs of around (2 9: pounds as opposed to the industry average of (< 9: pounds. =n the other hand while the average industry customer churn rates were about 6 per cent, uTravel.com was running at around 42 per cent. This raises the issue of howloyal customers are to travel web sites and the challenge involved in developing asuccessful customer retention strategy > a primary !" objective.

8efore considering e!" it is useful to ta%e a concise view of !". #ccording to=nline?", a !" solutions provider, it is simply a ;uestion of following these steps@

1 I %now you2 We communicate3 Aou tell me what you want4 I provide it5 I remember for ne0t time


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What isCRM?

CRM is atrategic,ot aechnologyssue

The eppers and !ogers Broup, "ar%eting ( to(, Inc. ta%es a similarly concise view@

1 Identify your customers 2 Differentiate them 3 Interact with them 4

Customize your service

e!" is more than just another piece of Internet jargon. While the basic principles andobjectives of traditional !" hold true > customer retention versus ac;uisition, customer lifetime value, etc., the interactive nature of the World Wide Web and the personali+ationavailable through Internet technology is adding a new dimension to the discipline.

Technology, particularly relational databases, has always played a central role in !", asindicated in the following definition by ?r T+o%as from the !" Institute at the

9niversity of Ctrathclyde@ “D!" is anE IT enhanced value process, which identifies,develops, integrates and focuses the competencies of the firm to the voice of the‟customer to deliver long-term superior value, at a profit, to e0isting and potential

customer segments & www.crm-forum.com).”

#t a ())) Tourism Cociety seminar on !" & www.toursoc.org.u% *, !" in the Internetera was referred to as the strategy, which gels together a combination of technologies, processes and services. These might include a sales force automation system, customer support application, automated call centre, customer data warehouse and data mining,customi+ed content, targeted banner advertising and targeted email delivery. e!"therefore is not primarily a technology issue but a business one concerned with drivingcustomer ac;uisition, retention and development. Filton Fotels maintain the perspectivethat e!" should be part of the overall business strategy and be driven by it > not theother way around.

rofessor "erlin Ctone, I8" rofessor of !elationship "ar%eting at 8ristol 8usinessCchool in the 9:, echoes this strategic perspective of e!". #t a recent harteredInstitute of "ar%eting Travel Industry Broup &I"TIB* seminar & www.cimtig.org*rofessor Ctone underplayed the importance of technology, emphasi+ing that !"involves a combination of the following elements@

1 #nalysis and planning2 The proposition3 ustomer management activity4 eople $ organisation5 "easuring the effect6 ustomer e0perience7 Information and technology

rofessor Ctone s research in the 9: and /urope revealed people, customer management‟and detailed measurement to be the most critical elements in determining success. =nly if

http://www.crm-forum.com/http://www.crm-forum.com/http://www.toursoc.org.uk/http://www.toursoc.org.uk/http://www.cimtig.org/http://www.cimtig.org/http://www.toursoc.org.uk/http://www.cimtig.org/http://www.crm-forum.com/


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these elements are in place can IT act as an enabler of e!". This emphasi+es theimportance in e!" of loo%ing after internal customers > i.e. employees > as well asexternal customers. /0pedia echoes this view of technology in their rules for implementing !"@

1 !ule (@ ?o not start with technology first2 !ule @ Cenior management buy-in critical3 !ule 5@ Geed a whole of company approach‟4 !ule


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Cource@ Cervice "anagement Interest Broup - Farvard 8usiness Cchool


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oyal customers tend to buy more, are less sensitive to price increases and represent goodtargets for cross selling and up selling. This is supported by research at Filton, whichrevealed that a small increase in customer satisfaction resulted in a (6 per cent increase ine0penditure. It costs considerably less to retain a customer than to ac;uire a new one,with satisfied customers providing positive word of mouth referrals.

The concept of lifetime value has led a growing number of travel companies to tal% aboutcustomer retention as well as customer ac;uisition. Hor e0ample, Filton Fotels cite thefollowing figures to support their customer retention strategy@

1 It costs 3 times more to recruit a new customer than to retain an e0istingone

2 # 6 per cent increase in customer retention improves the bottom line by2-(6 per cent

?espite the cost of ac;uiring a customer "icrosoft s /0pedia claim that the average‟

company loses half its customers every five years. It is not surprising then that /0pediaemphasises the customer value concept in their definition of !"@

1 ustomers should be treated differently based on their worth to your organisation

2 The best ones should get the most attention

#n International Fotel and !estaurant #ssociation & www.ih-ra.com* thin% tan%, ineCRM preparation for a ())7 congress on one-to-one mar%eting in the hilippines, identified a andnew number of new mar%eting paradigms &table (* for the interactive age.marketing

Table 1: New Marketing Paraigms

!L" P#$#"%&M N'( P#$#"%&M

Hocus "ar%eting ?riven "ar%et ?rivingositioning 9ni;ue Celling roposition Jalue-#dded roposition

Message )enefits *olutions

$esearch Monologue "ialogue

Customer Transaction Value Lifetime Value

ompetition 8enchmar%ing eapfrogging

8randing "ar%et by "ar%et BlobalKInstantKJirtual

?evelopment Gew roducts Wor% In rogress*er+ice ,ours of !eration /-0

Promotions %nterrution Marketing Permission Marketing

#+ertising Prime Time*ace !n-eman

?istribution Travel #gents ?isintermediationCtructure Teamwor% Getwor%

ricing !evenue "anagement ?emand "anagement

Tracking Market *hare Min *hare

Measurement Customer *atisfaction Customer %ntimac2

http://www.ih-ra.com/http://www.ih-ra.com/http://www.ih-ra.com/


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Performance $e+P#$ ProfP#C

eCRMacrosschannels

&Cource@ ?r . ?ev, IF-!# ongress, hilippines ())7@ /mphasis added by author*

This author has highlighted those paradigms, which present particular challenges within

the conte0t of e!". Increasingly customers are loo%ing for solutions to their needs asopposed to specific product benefits. The significance of this was emphasised in a ()))World Tourism !eport “"ar%eting Tourism ?estinations =nline”, which criticised

?estination "ar%eting =rganisations &?"=s* for adopting a product-led as opposed tocustomer-led web site design. ?"=s should aim to conspire with the customer in the waythat some online travel sites allow users to create their own home page with contentspecific to their interests. The ;uestion is often as%ed, “Who owns the customerL” duringe!" debates. The new mind share paradigm suggests that the customer will most‟li%ely buy into relationships with a number of companies and the aim of e!" is tosecure a place on that list.

The Internet revolution means there are now many more channels for listening to the

voice of the customer and many more ways in which the firm and the customer caninteract with each other. Fowever the new era of e!" also brings its own challenges, asthe customer e0perience must now be managed over an increasing number of channels. Inaddition to the traditional ones such as the high street travel agent, the call centre, directmail and direct response advertising, there are the new e-channels, including the companyweb site, W# &Wireless #pplication rotocol* enabled phones and ersonal ?igital#ssistants &?#*, Interactive ?igital Television &i?TJ* and email.

The increasing upta%e of broadband services by consumers across /urope &table * will provide a number of channel opportunities for travel providers and intermediaries. Theupta%e of broadband is forecast to almost double by 225. This is twice the rate of upta%e

of -based Internet access. This will see the Internet coming into consumer homes viai?TJ, the provision of services such as video on demand and the opportunity to createstic%y web sites through broadband multimedia content.‟

Table : 'stimate utake of broaban 3&erman24 France4 Netherlans4 *weenan 567

222 ,22( ,22, ,225

opulation (37.7 (3).6 (72.5 (72.) 4).2 35.< 37.6 75.3

Internet


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Internet users as W# users and it is li%ely that W# services will still be of a premiumnature targeted at the business traveller.

Figure : (#P usage rates in (estern 'uroe 1888-99

Low#lthough travel is the largest category for people loo%ing on the web the conversion rateof loo%ers to boo%ers is still very low. # ())7 study of 5222 hotels worldwide conducted

conversion by Forwarth highlights the small role, which the Internet plays in hotel distribution &tableates 5*.


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Table : )ooking channels in the hotel inustr2

Forwath Worldwide Fotel CtudyWorldwide !esults, #dvance !eservation in N

#ll#frica #ustralia

Iatin Gorthand the #sia and Gew /urope

hotels #merica #merica". /ast Oealand

?irect In;uiry 56.( 5(.7 5(.2 57.) 57.) 5(.) ).6

Intermediates 4


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Figure : # framework for e+aluating web site stickiness

&Cource@ e?reams, 222*

In ())7 this e!" initiative incorporated its “Fot ?eals” campaign aimed at its (,222email subscribers, involving cross promotions with partners and the delivery of 422,222

emails per wee%. This was followed up in 'une ())7 with their “ E-scapes” campaign, thehotel industry s first-ever e-mail service offering notification of vacation pac%ages that‟match a customer s stated travel preferences. The result was an increase in on-line‟ boo%ings by (,222 to about 4,222 in 'uly ())7.

THE INTERNET AND CRM

#n e0amination of the underlying tenets of !" &table


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Fusionof data

Table /: Transaction Marketing +s. Customer $elationshi

Management

Transaction Marketing Customer $elationshi- Management

Hocus on single sale Hocus on customer retention

Cocio-economic groupsHusion of life-stage, lifestyle and socio-

demographic data

"edia placement Telemar%etingKTargeted messages

/mphasis on product features /mphasis on product benefits

Chort time-scale ong time-scale

Iow customer service emphasis Figh customer focus

Puality as a production issue Puality concerns all staff

=ne-way communication =ngoing dialogue with the customer

imited customer commitment Figh customer commitment

Hocus on new customers Hocus on cross-selling to e0isting customers

&Cource@ #uthor s research*‟

The interactive nature of a web site ma%es it an ideal forum for gatheringcustomer data. Heatures such as online registrations, chat rooms,newsletters and site feedbac% provide a rich source of life-stage, lifestyleand socio-demographic data. This is enhanced with behavioural datagenerated through analysing the site s log files. These files enable the web‟team to e0amine users clic% streams, providing a range of information on‟customer needs, interests and preferences.

CompetThestr ategy

guru "ichael orter set out threestrategies for achieving competitive

itive advantage > cost leadership, product differentiation and customer focus. While it can be advantageargued that e!" provides all three,it is in the area of customer focuswhere the battle through will bewon. # customer data mart or warehouse driving personalisedcommunication customer across

multiple channels represents a significant barrier to any competitor.

focusThe Internet however moves beyond general mar%et datato data, which can be lin%edto individual persons. TheWeb at its best can offer ahigh degree of personalisation withmessages and product


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benefitstargeted at

individual usersaccording to their

profile.

!ersonalisationat"homas Cook

#ma+on.com, the online boo% retailer, is recognised as being a leading proponent in this field, providing the user, through the use of coo%ietechnology, a highly customised offering. This includes greeting the user byname and recommending boo%s based on behaviour recorded by the site

during previous visits.

Thomascoo%.com the e-division of the established high street agent capturescustomer data through online registrations, sales and clic% streams. Thesedata are used to e0tend personalisation across a number of communicationchannels. =n the site users can register for email updates and are as%ed for arange of information including contact details, date of birth, preferredholiday activity and composition of travel party. In return for providingthese data they are entered in a pri+e draw. The user also has the option of entering a mobile phone number in order to receive te0t messages. It isdebateable how useful this is for the leisure customer given the limitedamount of information, which can sent in a te0t message. Fowever it could be used to drive traffic to the web site. With the customer s data held on a‟database the information captured online is used by

Thomascoo%.com to improve the level of service offered by the call centrestaff. 8y accessing the customer s profile the call centre is able to prioritise‟that customer and possibly e0plore up sell and cross sell opportunities.8ased on a registered customer s behaviour on their web site the call centre‟operator is armed with the detailed %nowledge to offer a highly personalisedservice. # customer who has e0pressed an interested on the web site in heli-s%iing, for e0ample, could be offered this as an add-on to the standard s%i pac%age. otentially this level of personalisation could be e0tended to thehigh street agent. This would help the agent evolve from being a boo%ing

shop to assuming a more proactive consultative role.

Customertouch

points

Thomas oo% is a clear e0ample of a bric%s and clic%s business modelinvolving significant mar%etingactivity online and offline, above theline and below. The result is anincreasing number of customer communication channels and touch points. In order for Thomas oo% tosuccessfully optimise relationshipswith their customers they will haveto adopt a customer-centric strategy.

Thisisabsolutelyfundament

alan

d mar%s the evolution from simpledatabase mar%eting to fully-fledgede!" &figure


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Figure /: eC$M ; #n '+olutionar2 Process

1 Cingle

channel

2 =utboundonly

3 Cimple

metrics

"atabase

Marketing

1 Q6campaigns ayear

2 Naverage responserates

3 2N ofcustomersdeliver (22N profit

1

2

)

1

2

1

gl


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enterpriseview ofcustomer

2 Integration ofcustomerchannels

3 everaging ofcustomer infofor personalisedvalue proposition

eC$M

1 Ctrongcustomermetrics

2 !educedcost perinteraction

3 =pt-in principles

increaseresponse ratesandeffectiveness


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& e.com*

eCR

MatRoyalCarri#eanCr uiseLin

es

The importance of the Internet and!" is evident from ! s‟strategic online vision@

“everage the Internet &www.royalcaribbean.comandwww.celebritycruises.com* for both brands to more broadly develop andenhance long term, lifeenhancing relationshipswith travel agents andconsumers to createcompetitive advantage,and business process

efficiencies, in cruisevacation distribution.”

! considers both its agents andconsumers to be customers ande!" is an integral part of thisbric%s and clic%s strategy. The‟major challenge, which ! face isthe duplication of data held indifferent systems. Hor e0ample, datamay be held about the same customer in the reservation system, customer

database, complaints database, loyalty programme and web site. !esolvingthis issue is not made any easier bythe e0istence of their legacy systemswhich ma%e integration of customer data hard to achieve. Fowever thecompany is going through a“customer transformation” phase withthe aim of collating this informationin a single data mart in order to obtaina holistic, 542 degrees view of the

customer. This transformation processhas three %ey elements > people and processes, profit and technology. Theemphasis is very much on the first of these with information technology being regarded as the least important.It is a long-term strategy, which willinvolve replacing the reservationsystem and sourcing a complete

http://www.xchange.com/http://www.royalcaribbean.com/http://www.royalcaribbean.com/http://www.celebritycruises.com/http://www.xchange.com/http://www.royalcaribbean.com/http://www.royalcaribbean.com/http://www.celebritycruises.com/http://www.celebritycruises.com/


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e! "solutionfromathir d par tyinanattemp

t to placethecustomer atthecentreof

theorganisation.

!stressthe

im por tan

ce of listening to the customer inorder to achieve this customer-centricvision. The cruise and resort sectorsare uni;ue in that the customer iseffectively a captive audience for theduration of their holiday. The

company is planning to use thisopportunity to capture transactionaldata, with the aim of building a behavioural profile of the customer.Hor e0ample, the customer may have purchased a scuba diving courseindicating a preference for adventurous activities. Fowever cruising is also uni;ue from the perspective of ensuring the flow of data from ship to shore.

The importance of activity is reflectedin the ! advertising campaign,which is activity- rather than ship- based in an attempt to overcome thestereotype image of cruising andreach a new mar%et. To supplementthis target mar%eting ! areconsidering buying in e0traneousinformation from third party lifestyledata providers. While this is a meansof augmenting e0isting customer datait is no substitute for information provided willingly by its owncustomers.

=ver


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$ff iliatemar keting

! is aware that there are differentsuppliers providing the total product > travel agent, cruise company, hoteland air. Hrom the consumer s‟ perspective he wants a seamlessservice and the Get is no respecter of organisational boundaries. Thisreflected in research carried out by?reamTic%et.com, which revealedthat online consumers want productsto meet all their needs. =n the Get thecustomer is in control and e0pects anintegrated and consistent service > itdoes not respect organisational cultureor product oriented silos. It may be a;uestion not of managing thecustomer but ma%ing it fle0ibleenough for the customer to managethe relationship himself. #iming for share of wallet as opposed to outrightcustomer ownership. This emphasisesthe relevance of the share of mind‟and solutions paradigms referred to‟in table (.

Filton Fotels are aware of thisownership issue and include‟/nterprise !elationship"anagement as part of the e!"‟

definition, emphasising theimportance of having a cohesivevision for managing theserelationships. Filton refers to itsnetwor% of alliances as the enterprise.The underlying rationale is that ta%inga longer-term view of the customer &i.e. lifetime value* will enable all partners in the alliance to enjoy ashare mind .‟

=n the away.com web site affiliate

mar%eting is presented as a win-win partnership, with top affiliates earningover 1


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!ef erralsdonothav

e to buyanything buttheymustregister in

order for

the affiliate to receive a commission.In this way away.com builds itscustomer database while the affiliatesite is able to offer e0tra features andcontent on its site.

In #ugust 222 Thomas oo% reacheda million site visits in a month andsold over R(m worth of holidays, becoming the top web travel agent.#ffiliate mar%eting is a cornerstone of their online customer ac;uisitionstrategy. =ver 52 affiliations have been developed with other web sitessuch as Aahoo and /0cite, and thecompany also uses a web bro%eringservice to gain access to many small but relevant sites.Thomascoo%.com

receives 2 per cent of all visits fromits affiliates, resulting in () million page impressions.

%ngoing dialogue th

rough emailE

#

rs in the 9C in())) &


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to the

r ightcustomer atthe r ight

time.Itcan al

so be use

d, via emailnewsletters,


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eCRMataway&com

ecommuniti

es

to test new products and promotionalmessages. TravelGow.com regularlyemails newsletters, which containtrac%able 9!s, enabling thecompany to measure response to promotions and other features. Travel

is an intangible product, which relieson imagery to sell it. FT" featuresembedded in email messages allowusers to see the product and clic% onthe pictures for further information.TravelGow.com enjoyed considerablyhigher clic% through rates by personalising the messages andincluding the newsletter s main‟feature in the email subject bo0.

Hurthermore email is fast andine0pensive. #ccording to =nline?",the benefits of email lie in responserates of (6N or more, which can riseto 62 per cent if combined with other mediaM immediate feedbac% fromcustomers and costs up to )2N lessthan traditional direct mar%eting./0perience at ?reamTic%et.com,underlines the speed of email. In atargeted email mar%eting campaignunderta%en with partner companies,?reamTic%et.com received ((,222responses within one hour.

away.com has a ?irector of Interactive roduct ?evelopment,whose team is responsible for offeringtailored holidays online toaway.com s million plus members.‟The company has opted for an e!"solutions provider to enable it togenerate personalised permission- based email campaigns. away.com isable to@

1 ersonali+e emailswith database-driven contentand conditional content

2 Cend emails in morethan 2 languages

3 Fave access to real-time, online reporting


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4

reate

and edit ca

m pa

ign content from within theapplication

5 /0pand their e-mar%eting solution toincorporate offline channels

The success of away.com &over onemillion registered users* is in large part down to its strategy of creatingand servicing a range of e-communities formed around commontravel interests. /-communities are aneffective means of controlling a spacein the mar%et as customers, throughtheir feedbac% and interaction withother community members, will letyou %now their specific needs. The

community site therefore becomes afluid space with the customer dictating the type of products andservices they need.

Custo

mer # recentsurvey byBenesysInformation &www.genesysinformation.com* of%ey

support #yinformants from acrossthe 9: travel industryreveals the importanceof email as a meansemail of providingcustomer support&figure 6*.

http://www.genesysinformation.com/http://www.genesysinformation.com/http://www.genesysinformation.com/http://www.genesysinformation.com/http://www.genesysinformation.com/


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Figure


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the importance of email indeveloping an onlinerelationship with consumers.Traditionally the travelindustry has focussed on thesale and the product to theneglect of the customer. #shift in mindset is neededwhereby the customer issupported before, during and

after the purchase.

C

USTOMER NEEDS ONLINE

onsumer behaviour online isdifferent from that offline andcarries with it a specific set ofneeds. ?reamtic%et.com theonline travel agent carried outresearch among its users, whichrevealed that online consumersare loo%ing for S


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1 clear unambiguous pricing - the price you see is the price you pay2 an integrated call centre3 for a product offering, which closely matches their stated preferences

4 the ability to save their search results, as they are unli%ely to boo% onthe first visit. dreamtic%et.com offer their users a travel file for this purpose

5 products to meet the full range of their needs

=nline conversion rates are around -6 per cent while in the high street the figure isaround 2-6 per cent. #t present the majority of consumers initiate their holiday boo%ingon the Internet but are closing the deal offline. Thomas oo% recognise this and now havea hundred staff in their call centre dedicated to handling thomascoo%.com calls, while theInternet group it self has grown from (6 to 32 people in eighteen months. 8oo%ings ataway.com ;uadrupled after the introduction of a call centre. ?espite this evidence,Horrester !esearch estimate only (6N of web sites have a call centre behind them andonly (


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#ddressingconsumers‟concernsregarding privacyandsecuritywill playa major role inac;uiringnon-Internetusers.Cimple

measuressuch as posting a privacy policy onthe siteandobtainingthird- partyverification of

compliance with privacy policieswouldreassureconsumers. 8oththesefactorsrated

higher than theappeal of lower prices ontheInternet.This

raises some interesting ;uestions with respect to customer loyalty online.oyalty is a %ey aim of any relationship programme and huge investment is poured into fre;uent buyer programmes by airlines, hotels, car rentalcompanies and others in order to foster loyalty. Fowever the rules online aredifferent and research by Horrester found that splitting online travelconsumers into three categories - loyal, disloyal and curious, some 4) per cent claimed to be disloyal. Got only is the disloyal group the largest, butalso it is the most lucrative, spending an average of 1(,2 problem with the product &(6 per cent*‟

and competition &) per cent*. The implications of this are that consumers‟

may be prepared to put up with a certain degree of service problems providing there is a good level of contact and support.

PERMISSION-ASED MAR!ETIN"

The low costs and convenience associated with email ma%e it vulnerable toabuse, either by unscrupulous operators or poorly managed campaigns andcustomer databases. 9nsolicited communication in the offline world issubject to legal penalties. Hor e0ample, in the 9:, if an individual registerswith the Telephone reference Cervice, and they subse;uently receive atelemar%eting call, the company that made the call could be fined R7,222.The law regarding email is less well established, not surprising given thenewness of the medium. Fowever over (6 states in the 9C have email lawsin place and it is inevitable that penalties will be introduced for email abuse.Fowever potentially much more damaging than legal penalties is thenegative impact it has on your customer relationships. The rules online arevery different than those offline > the customer is in control. #n alienatedcustomer angry at receiving unsolicited email can easily email his

http://www.kana.com/http://www.kana.com/http://www.kana.com/


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networ% of friends and post information on a web site highlighting the bad practice of theoffending organisation. Gegative word of mouth can spread very fast.

"essage"edia, an email solutions provider in the 9C, lists a number of rules on its website & www.messagemedia.com* for 8"@

1 Cend e-mail only to those who have opted-in to receive it. There is aclear distinction between “opt-in” and “opt-out”. The former is more stringent inobtaining the customer s permission to be contacted by email. #fter the customer ‟chec%s the bo0 to indicate he is prepared to received email, the company thenemails him to confirm that permission and only when the customer reaffirms his permission is the opt-in complete.

2 "a%e it easy for customers to opt-out if they so desire. This can beachieved by including a web address in every message where the consumer canopt-out of the service.

3 #llow users to specify their preferences. :nowing what type of

information a customer would be interested in and how often they want to becontacted is the %ey to a mutually beneficial relationship. =nline consumer research conducted by ?reamtic%et.com found that the customers were loo%ingfor products, which closely matched their preferences. Betting to %now thecustomer s preferences should be a gradual and iterative process. In other words‟nurturing the relationship will lead to the collection of meaningful and relevantdata.

4 ?o not sell or rent customer lists to third parties. ustomers should begiven the opportunity to opt-in to receiving promotions from partner companiesand could be given an e0clusive on the offer for a limited time period in order toadd value to the opt-in. Cimilarly a company should not use rented lists unlessstrict opt-in policies have been implemented.

5

?evelop and post a privacy policy on the web site and ensure that it isadhered to.

6 !espond to customer e-mail in;uiries promptly. The intangibility andinherent ris% of the online environment ma%es it particularly important thatcustomers are reassured with prompt email response.

Hollowing the rules of 8" will also prevent companies in /urope falling foul of legislation contained in the ())7 ?ata rotection #ct, which updated the ()7< #ct. Themost significant difference between the two #cts lies in the re-definition of “personaldata”@

“S. data consisting of information, which relates to a living individualwho can be identified from that information, or other information in the possession of the data user.”

This means that even if a company does not hold a contact name the data could still be personal data.

http://www.messagemedia.com/http://www.messagemedia.com/http://www.messagemedia.com/


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CONCLUSION

The interactivity of Internet technology brings with it a range of opportunities andchallenges for the mar%eter aiming to build customer relationships. The principalopportunity lies in the ability to offer highly personalised content on a one-to-one basis.

Fowever increasingly the customer is in control and will e0pect to receive a consistentand personal service across the range of communication channels he chooses to use.Technology can only act as an enabler in delivering this service successfully - a totalsolution must involve people and processes. In the rapidly changing e-environment travelcompanies cannot afford a wait and see approach and should ta%e comfort in the fact‟that e!" is an evolutionary process with the cue to each ne0t step often provided by thecustomer.

ecrm_in_the_travel_industry.rtf

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