Who owns the customer in this new online environment?

CRM in Travel USA 2008 SpecialWith the web playing an ever increasing role in people's daily lives, travel service providers should be looking for as many ways as they can to influence, interact and communicate with consumers on the web, according to Ken Leeder, Founder and CEO, RealTravel.

Published: 05 Feb 2008

CRM in Travel USA 2008 Special
With the web playing an ever increasing role in people's daily lives, travel service providers should be looking for as many ways as they can to influence, interact and communicate with consumers on the web, according to Ken Leeder, Founder and CEO, RealTravel.

In an interview with EyeforTravel.com's Ritesh Gupta, Leeder shared his viewpoint about engaging customers before, during and after a trip and much more. Excerpts:

Firstly, talking of CRM or loyalty, I would like to ask you who owns the customer in this new online environment? The online intermediary, which made the booking, or the hotel where the guest stayed or the airline that provided the service or even the CGC/ Review site, where consumer got influenced?

In today's multi-channel world the relationship with the client exists across multiple channels at the same time. The key for the travel service provider is to look for those points in the decision process that provide an opportunity to influence consumers and reinforce their brand message irrespective of purchase channel. With broad adoption of the web as a travel research and planning tool sites such as RealTravel represent an excellent opportunity to do just this.

One of the web 2.0 travel sites stated that the majority of the more than half a million people that come to the site each month to plan a trip are 40+ year old family's with a household income of more than $100,000. The Internet is no longer for young males and early adopters. What kind of implication do you think it has on travel companies CRM initiatives? How can they capitalise on the trend of broader demographic adoption?

Yes, our audience is older, female, affluent and well educated. Furthermore, after researching their trips on RealTravel people book their trips across a variety of channels, including Online Travel Agencies, traditional travel agencies and directly with the travel service providers. This has very important implications for a travel companies CRM initiative. Companies should seek to influence people while they are in the research phase on the internet (recognizing that their older customers may ultimately use an offline channel to book a trip), as well as seek out ways to reinforce brand messages during the post booking communication that is increasingly taking place on the internet

Research has shown that consumers trust other travelers opinions more than television, magazine, newspaper and radio marketing. In this context, should monitoring sites with reviews be included in CRM?

Absolutely. People have always shared travel experiences and used this information to make their travel decisions. With the internet it has become easier for people to do this with a larger number of other travelers. It has also enabled travel service providers with far better visibility into these conversations than ever before, as well as an opportunity to participate if they chose to do so.

People are taking more control of their travel planning online and any trip planning tool must provide the flexibility for people to do what they want. So what impact Web 2.0 can have on CRM process?

It provides travel companies with an opportunity to engage customers before, during and after a trip. In addition, since the internet has emerged as the primary means of research and planning for travelers, whether they ultimately book online or offline, it provides an ideal opportunity to influence a potential customers decision or reinforce a brand message.

How can hoteliers and CGC/ Review sites establish mutually beneficial interactive relationships with their customers in order to increase repeat business, boost revenues, and retain loyalty?

We are working directly with OTAs and hoteliers to provide people on RealTravel with a better experience while also providing our partners with a positive ROI. We treat these relationships as partnerships and are doing it through information, technology and brand integration.

Related Reads

comments powered by Disqus