Sponsor

Interviews with Speakers from 2008 conference

Brian Murphy

"CRM is too often just contact management for prospects and past guests"

CRM in Travel USA 2008 Special If CRM has promised the integrated management of all marketing channels, management of customer segments, and management of offer, then Aramark Harrison Lodging's (AHL) National Director of Marketing Brian Murphy says his company has seen the promise land and it is changing their business.

"Not only do we purchase and analyse demographics and psychographics, but we have a comprehensive CRM system provided by Intrasight that integrates explores booking patterns, customer survey data, and customer value. We have so much insight, we have yet to fully capitalise on what we can do," Murphy told EyeforTravel.com's Ritesh Gupta.

"At AHL CRM means putting the customer at the center of the decision-making process, but that can't be done without knowing the customer first. We have to know who are customer is before making decisions on their behalf to improve their experience. We start with what we know. Our past customers, especially repeaters, are the best insight we can gain into who we need to target to grow our customer base and what we need to do to affect meaningful change in our operations and marketing to increase loyalty and grow our customer base. Almost as important are the prospects, who showed interest but never converted into revenue generating customers. What are their needs and wants and what messages will trigger them to convert. Finally we analyze customers who do not return and why," said Murphy, one of the speakers during EyeforTravel's CRM in Travel USA 2008 conference in New Orleans.

" We have made significant investments in the latest technology and data experts to understand the demographics, psychographics and, when available, direct feedback from those constituents to drive effective products and marketing messages."

On what is critical in optimising a CRM strategy in hotels and the major challenges, he said CRM is too often just contact management for prospects and past guests.

"The voice of the customer is rarely reflected. To truly optimize a B2C CRM platform, we have to know our customers interests, travel patterns, income, age, and geography. We measure their likelihood to return or defect, or their likelihood to book and cancel. With all of this combined with the different segments described above, we can craft customized marketing that is relevant to them and results in the highest conversion attainable, which remains our goal as we optimise or processes," he said.

Back To TopDiane DeWindt

Allowing guests to customise their experiences with the brands

CRM in Travel USA 2008 Special

Hotels have to continuously focus on whether they're providing line level team members with the right tools, and also to rigorously measure the customer experience.

Commenting on the best way to train and also measure the success, Diane DeWindt, Director of Customer Insight, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide told EyeforTravel.com's Ritesh Gupta that an ideal way to train property users to adopt a new system is to train champions that are property users themselves and take them on the road with you. She also referred to getting property users deeply involved in application development.

On key to developing true one-to-one relationships and customer experiences across a varied customer base, for formal programmes, she referred to focusing on the priorities of what you want to deliver, and to whom, and to do so over time consistently.

On an informal basis, hiring the right people and training them to care about the guest is really the best way - the biggest impressions that are made are by customer-facing employees providing great service, said Diane, one of the speakers during EyeforTravel's CRM in Travel USA 2008 conference being held in New Orleans.

During her presentation `Knowing Your Customer', Diane acknowledged that in the hotel industry, the greatest focus for CRM initiatives is and will continue to be on allowing guests to customise their experiences with the brands.

She referred to:

  • Customising stays prior to arrival
  • Guest controls information and content desired
  • Giving the guest more options
  • Guests share their content/opinions with the company and other guests

On customising stays, she spoke about collecting guest preference data for a specific, near-term use. Starwood solicits guest requests in pre arrival communications:

  • Sheraton CityTips: guest requests information on their destination, tailored to their interests
  • Starwood "Love Your Family": Guests drive delivery of activities and amenities during their stay
  • Prestay messages linking to forms to request upgrades, amenities, and appointments
  • Guests can also customise content delivery on SPG.com, or on their desktop with SPG Check In and RSS feeds.

"Money can't buy" experiences that build loyalty, create aspiration, and differentiate Starwood Preferred Guest, said Diane. She recommend following:

  • Increase loyalty by building an emotional connection with members
  • Increase member engagement in SPG
  • Provide members with insider access unattainable on their own
  • Provide members with a unique alternative for redemption

Back To TopKen Bott

"Don't be afraid to have a bigger relationship with your customer, beyond your product"

CRM in Travel USA 2008 Special

In the recent years, frequent flyer programmes seem to have drifted from their original purpose of promoting loyalty.

From a hoteliers' perspective, Ken Bott, Director of Global Consumer Marketing, InterContinental Hotels Group, too, acknowledges that that there is a trend in the marketplace that the perceived value of an airline mile is diminishing, thereby causing consumers to consider other reward programmes.

"So many more consumers arrive by car (than by airplane) at their destination such that it makes sense hotel programmes would be the next focal point for frequent travelers," Bott told EyeforTravel.com's Ritesh Gupta.

It is being felt that airline programmes are a victim of their own success; they became so adapt at selling miles through their credit card and retail partners that they flooded the marketplace with currency. On learnings for hoteliers even as hotel programmes are said to be becoming the equal of frequent-flyer programmes in the marketplace, he said across the marketplace reward currencies are gaining more utility.

"The breadth of customers that could potentially stay with us, over 570,000 in nearly 100 countries in just one night, forces us to design programme attributes that are flexible and appeal to customers all over the world. That multi-cultural aspect, coupled with the seven strong brands we represent (InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites) enables to offer more diversity than any of our competitors," said Bott, one of the speakers during EyeforTravel's CRM in Travel USA 2008 conference in New Orleans.

According to Bott, seven key loyalty trends are shaping the landscape:

  • There has been a proliferation of loyalty programmes across multiple industries and all compete for customer mindshare;
  • The value of an airline mile has been dropping and consumers are considering other reward programmes;
  • The overall utility of reward currencies is expanding;
  • Coalitions are gaining ground and successful ones drive very high penetration;
  • Companies are redefining their "best customer" strategies to develop relationships emphasising differential treatment for their high value customers;
  • Companies are investing heavily in customer analytics to maximise the value from their customer data;
  • Companies are considering loyalty programme spin-offs as a means to create shareholder value.

As marketers refer to different customer groups warranting a different level of investment via marketing communication programmes, via offers and incentives, Bott said clear objectives, tracking metrics (to get your ROI) and a tremendously smart staff of marketers are critical in managing a loyalty programme when different segments of customers deliver value at different rates over the short and long term.

On how loyalty marketers are leveraging the Internet's ability to build virtual communities to create niche networks of customers who interact with each other through a platform facilitated by the brand, Bott said loyalty marketers are inherently successful at utilising the social media/marketing environment because they've been doing it in the real world for years.

Successfully extending your brand presence into virtual communities depends entirely on how good your relationship skills are as a company. Using the internet as an awareness/acquisition tool will continue to be a focus for everyone in the future, so we're making sure we're where our customers are. So you'll find our brands (Holiday Inn/ Holiday Inn Express, Crowne Plaza) represented in a genuine fashion on YouTube, Second Life, and Facebook," said Bott.

Regarding approach towards loyalty programmes, Bott recommended and said, Beware of "fake loyalty"; Follow your customer's overall mindset trends, not just his/her trends with your product; Don't be afraid to have a bigger relationship with your customer, beyond your product.

Back To TopNamrata Patel

The 'what's in it for me' consumer culture is fully in place

CRM in Travel USA 2008 Special

Different customer groups warrant a different level of investment via marketing communication programmes, in the form of offers and incentives.

In this context what is critical in managing a loyalty programme when different segments of customers deliver value at different rates over the short- and long-term?

Providing an insight, Namrata A Patel, Director of Marketing, Red Lion Hotels told EyeforTravel.com's Ritesh Gupta, "The criticality is in knowing the difference. Knowing and understanding how your customers are interacting with your brand and at what levels. It is not enough to understand their stays and spend but their experiences and connection with you."

She added, It is important to expand the definition of high value to advocates and brand friends (not just the $$s they spend with you), especially considering the pervasiveness of the various social media that allow instantaneous advocates or detractors. Once you've identified them then you can find out what makes each segment tick and message accordingly.

It is widely believed that consumers recognise that the value equation has tilted toward hotel programmes when it comes to loyalty programmes.

On this Namrata said, The 'what's in it for me' consumer culture is fully in place. Consumers are smarter in every facet of their buying behaviour and marketers have done a lot to ensure that this culture is thriving by offering something for everything; from getting your 11th manicure for free to points for having the oil changed on your car. Loyalty programme schemes are prolific and the hotel programmes are beneficiaries of that. However, the value equation still leans towards airline miles vs. hotel points for merchandise or stays. As with everything else in travel, it depends on the segment; frequent stayers/prolific stayers lean towards points within the hotel programmes and infrequent stayers are happy just getting their 500 miles and being done with it.

It is being felt that airline programmes are a victim of their own success; they became so adapt at selling miles through their credit card and retail partners that they flooded the marketplace with currency.

What are the learnings for hoteliers even as hotel programmes?

On this, Namrata said, Points and miles translate in to real currency at the time of redemption. 110K of Continental OnePass miles translates into a $10K business class ticket on Qantas from the US to Australia. That's a ridiculously low conversion rate but it's the position the airlines placed themselves in when frequency programs were first established. To mitigate the financial impact of this wacky conversion rate, award seats are incredibly limited. So, the airlines have flooded the market with miles that can't be redeemed resulting in consumer backlash and frustration. The earn vs. burn financial metric in the hospitality industry is far more rational so we're much more liberal in accommodation consumers who want to cash in points they've earned by staying/pending with us. This also applies to redemptions made with our third party partners.

Namrata is scheduled to speak during EyeforTravel's two-day CRM in Travel USA 2008 conference in New Orleans (on 29-30 January).

Back To TopRon Kuhlman

"The current measures of points or miles are woefully inadequate to indicate value"

CRM in Travel USA 2008 Special

The current measures of points or miles give some indication of the frequency of use but are woefully inadequate to indicate value, according to Ron Kuhlmann, Vice President, Unisys Transportation. "Two travelers might have the same number of miles and yet one has made 30 trips at the lowest fare and the other has made five trips in first class. At present, no airline system differentiates these users according to value and yet they represent very different customer categories," Kuhlmann told EyeforTravel.com's Ritesh Gupta.

Kuhlmann, one of the speakers during EyeforTravel's CRM in Travel USA 2008 conference being held in New Orleans, spoke about servicing high value customers and much more in an interview. Excerpts:

If loyalty strategy should grow out of a company's brand strategy, what do you think is critical in doing so, especially in the context of delivering brand promise to the consumer?

I would submit that a brand promise in travel, or any service industry, is quite different than it is in a goods market. Looking at airlines, there are only a very few that have a clear brand expectation. Some like Singapore, have set the bar very high and a bad experience there is likely to be highly unusual. Conversely, an airline like Southwest has achieved a market image by reproducing an expected experience time after time. They have consistently rated high in customer satisfaction, not because they offer lots of goodies, but rather because they generally exceed low customer expectations.

Unlike a car or refrigerator, which can be seen and touched, service products are the end result of advertising, word of mouth, and expectations. Air travelers are buying transport but few actually rate a flight on that basis; choosing to comment on the staff or bumpiness even when the transport commitment is satisfactorily completed. Consequently, even as a frequent traveler myself, I would be hard pressed to differentiate between the brands of say, United and American because each experience differs depending on the particulars of that journey.

Companies are leveraging customer communities that allow for interaction between customers as well as between the customer and the brand. Loyalty marketers are leveraging the Internet's ability to build virtual communities to create niche networks of customers who interact with each other through a platform facilitated by the brand. What's your viewpoint on the same?

The more prominent and important interface is on social computing networks that are independent of the companies. Looking at comments on Skytrax, one can find comments like "though I am a premier member, I was treated like dirt" (or some such comment). If I were that company, I would rush to find that person and correct the situation since others, reading the comment, will think "if that's how they treat their best customers, how will I fare?" These independent forums are the points where companies should be looking. A company sponsore spot is often viewed as an infomercial.

Which is the best way to service high-value customers in terms of preferential pricing, preferential seat availability, upgrade, downgrade etc? What kind of feedback do airlines or suppliers get when it comes to satisfaction level of their customers through such service?

No IT system currently in use provides that kind of value assessment. Consequently the ability to specifically tailor offers based on past performance is impossible. As long as each PNR is a sealed unit, staff can only service the customer according to the limits of the fare and conditions applicable to that transaction.

How can one measure the impact of providing an "experience" compared to simply providing a service? Does an experiential service really drive loyalty?

Service providers often get into trouble by trying to provide an experience, mainly because the components and definitions differ from person to person based on pre-conceived expectations. One lesson that has been very slowly learned by the legacy airlines is that while air travel is still an experience, it is often not a good one and differs markedly from the days when air travel was a unique experience available to relatively few folks. When I stay in upscale hotels, I find that I often wonder where the value is as I generally just sleep in the room. Paying a high price for a name (and then having to pay for internet access) often leaves me pondering where the "magic" was.

From service perspective, how do you know if you are delivering the brand promise? How can you measure it?

If customers do not complain, you are probably meeting expectations and the brand promise has been kept. However, again, the perception of the promise may vary considerably among customers. Repeat business is another marker though in the case of corporate business, those repeats may be more due to policy than to loyalty.

What do you recommend when it comes to training employees to provide a distinct service, in keeping with your brand promise?

Be nice. Reading comment from users, the most common complaints usually concern staff and staff attitudes. Especially in the aviation sector, employees have taken a beating in terms of salary and benefits but I, as a customer, am not responsible for that. Sulking in the galley is not going generate any positive energy on my part and will affect my choice next time. If faced with a low fare with a smile or a low fare with a frown, I'll buy the smile.

Back To TopTravelocity

"Balancing speed with a rich user experience is a challenge that many OTAs face"

CRM in Travel USA 2008 Special

According to a recent study about key factors that are driving consumers' selection of online travel sites, one-third of travel consumers abandoned their online search after waiting for more than four seconds for their results to load.

Under such circumstances, how are online travel agents (OTAs) ensuring that their site is user-friendly and at the same reflects the best online rich experience being offered today?

From Travelocity's perspective, its Senior Manager of CRM and E-mail Marketing, Jeff Rosenzweig, says balancing speed with a rich user experience is a challenge that many OTAs face.

People's time is an increasingly precious commodity and it's important to respect that given competitors are usually just a click away. So in order to keep visitors in your online store, response times for both regular and rich applications should be on par with the competition as well as industry standards. However, in order to turn these visitors into engaged customers, it's imperative to provide them with personalised and compelling content, tools, and functionality in a clean and intuitive format," Rosenzweig told EyeforTravel.com's Ritesh Gupta ahead of CRM in Travel USA 2008 conference to be held in New Orleans.

In the past, Travelocity has focused on site personalisation and increased the number of campaigns executed via email (along with increasingly relevant and targeted content, and overall smaller email drops and each execution becomes more targeted).

So how are all these initiatives shaping up and improving the customer experience?

In 2007, we invested time and resources enhancing the back-end foundation and platform in an effort to reach our goal of increasing relevance on the front-end. While some of these initiatives will continue into 2008, we have made some enhancements with our ability to target members and deliver relevant content across multiple channels and have seen positive results when tested," said Rosenzweig.

On personalisation and customer segmentation, he said, "In the current environment it's increasingly important for OTAs to develop programmes and strategies that recognise, reward, and retain their best customers. The first step for OTAs is to personalise messaging on the site, in emails, via the phone, across as many touch-points as possible to recognise their preferred customers. The next step is to reward them with discounts, value-adds, special deals, services and more. If the rewards can be personalised to the customer's trip lifecycle stage (dreaming, planning, shopping…) or interests/lifestyles, then that will increase the likelihood of a successful retention programme.