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Can travel companies boost their business using both customer relationship marketing techniques and customer magazines?
There’s more to CRM than selling. Chris Whitson, planning partner of direct marketing agency Stephens Francis Whitson, feels it’s not just about the relevance and timing of offers – a good CRM strategy must also achieve a balance between sales and service. “A daily email containing the latest special offers is not CRM”, he says. “It’s hard selling.”
Service is particularly important in the travel industry, as there are many things that can go wrong with holidays and the consequences of ignoring customer complaints or misgivings are huge.
TOP TIPS FOR CRM
Chris Whitson, Planning Partner, Stephens Francis Whitson
Start Simple – The most well intentioned customer marketing strategies can go wrong when you try to do too much too soon.
Sort Your Data – If a customer has supplied you with a piece of information and you fail to act on it, you will harm the relationship more than if you’d done nothing at all.
Balance Selling and Serving – Customers will accept being ‘sold to’ if it feels part of a more balanced relationship.
Avoid Routine – Only communicate when you have something to say. Don’t burden yourself with a weekly newsletter if you struggle to fill it.
Think Online and Offline – Naturally, the online medium is key for cost-effective offer promotion, but other more engagement-led pieces may be better offline.