TRAVEL WEEKLY BUSINESS
f Travolution, reports from the UK’s biggest dedicated show for travel technology at Olympia
GREENSTED PROMOTES ‘CONTEXT ENGINE’ AT HEART OF HIS NEW FIRM SENTIENT ONE
Former Zolv business development director Jonathan Greensted has launched a business that he claims will help travel firms build better relationships with their customers. Self-funded by Greensted, Sentient One is seeking travel partners to agree to place its tracking technology on their websites, as it looks to build up a bank of data. Towergate Insurance, with whom the core
technology was developed, will be the first customer to go live with Sentient One, at Easter. Greensted said the firm offered a non-
traditional commercial model “based on outcomes”, with no scoping, set-up, support costs or consultancy fees. Instead, it will charge a flat fee per customer based on what firms are currently paying to convert prospects. “The more complicated IT companies
make technology, the more they earn,” he said. “We do not get paid unless this stuff works. We are putting our money where our mouth is.” Greensted pledged 25% of revenues
would be placed in an “innovation pot” to fund future developments. Sentient One will offer a basic content- management system that will facilitate what Greensted described as the firm’s USP – a “conversational context engine”. He said this “will join up the fragmented interactions brands have with customers”
“Software should be able to do context and understand you”
when researching and buying holidays. “Software should be able to do context and should understand you,” he added. The software will build a detailed profile of the customer, so brands know at the next point of contact what they are interested in and where they are in the purchase funnel. Greensted added: “We are not a start-up
funded only for six months and if we do not make it we will disappear. “We are sufficiently well funded that we
can stick around for several years getting people interested. We just know this is the right thing to be doing.”
Jonathan Greensted: ‘We know this is the right thing to be doing’
DIGITAL TRIP CREATES GUIDES TO MAKE ITS SYSTEM EASIER TO USE
Digital Trip has made its technology simpler to use and boosted the protection from fraud it offers. The travel technology specialist has created
step-by-step walkthrough guides for 90 modules, with plans to have all 200 covered by the summer. Managing director Andy Speight (pictured) said it was important for Digital Trip to make sure clients get value from their investment. The firm endeavours to ensure that its technology is affordable to smaller travel companies. “We have built a lot of functionality on the front end, and made it affordable,” he said. “But that does not mean you have to be a genius to use it. “We have asked ourselves whether it is for the
average user. They are not technology companies and don’t have tech divisions. “No training is involved and with the
walkthroughs in place, assistance is available 24/7.” Digital Trip is also offering Trustev free to all customers. Owned by Telefonica, Trustev checks credit card payments, analysing up to 800 data points to combat fraud. Speight said Trustev claimed to detect 99.5% of fraud.
As it is global and community-based, Trustev can blacklist perpetrators so that they can’t reoffend.
5 March 2015 —
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