COMMENT IN MY OPINION
What would you do if I arrived at the doors of your organisation and
announced that I had quarter of a million pounds or more to spend and I wanted to spend it with you? I suspect that you would pull out
your most comfortable chair, decant your finest vintage port or sherry and arrange for a private limousine to take me home once our meeting was finished. You might even call your chief
executive or managing director and ask them to pop by your desk to meet and greet a very important client with lots of money to spend. Now here is the interesting thing:
every day in the travel industry that scene is likely to be unfolding. Well, a part of it is – the bit where someone arrives at your desk with the potential to spend quarter of a million pounds or more with you. The thing is, most organisations don’t react in the way I’ve just outlined.
Lifetime loyalty While a customer will arrive at your door with the potential, and even the will, to spend quarter of a million pounds or more, they will rarely do it all in one go. Instead, they will spend it with your brand across the course of their lifetime. Marketers refer to it as “the lifetime
value” of a customer. The travel sector is littered with
brands that have positive straplines about customer focus and the value they place in customer relationships. But how many of them talk to their
staff not just about service but about lifetime value?
Sometimes, when a customer
complains, the gripe can, in the big scheme of things, appear trivial or pedantic. And it may well be that the issue in question is indeed trivial. But it won’t be to the customer. A friend of mine, who is a loyal
customer of a very famous travel brand, had been asked to pay an additional $99 for something that had previously been free. Apparently, there had been no warning
that a charge would be applied. They complained to the front desk.
The receptionist said they would let head office know but, beyond the polite smile and kind words, didn’t gauge just how disappointed my friend was. A form on the computer was filled out
and my friend walked out the door. Six months later the brand has made no effort to communicate with this
Serve that client
well: they might go on to spend £250k
A customer loyal for a lifetime could spend a fortune with you
STEVE DUNNE
EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN, BRIGHTER GROUP
disgruntled, previously loyal, customer. And the previously loyal customer,
worth easily a quarter of a million pounds in lifetime value, is booking summer 2016 with a rival brand. All over $99.
Spend wisely Brands spend a fortune every day trying to lure new customers to join them, and pay fortunes to advertising and marketing agencies for upbeat customer service straplines. But for me the lesson is clear. Train
your staff, not just your marketing department, about the lifetime value of customers, and repeat often the old adage: it is far easier to keep an existing customer and get them to spend more than to recruit a new one.
FOR MORE COLUMNS BY STEVE DUNNE, GO TO
TRAVELWEEKLY.CO.UK
36
travelweekly.co.uk 26 November 2015
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76