Customer loyalty, the deciding factor in the survival of the CRS business, is also the most unpredictable component says Raadia Mukadam.

There is a close link between satisfaction and loyalty than what ordinarily meets the eye. Despite being satisfied with their servicing CRS provider, travel agents may not be loyal to that provider. Which brings us to the question, is service the only criteria that is driving customer loyalty today, or has incentivisation taken over? How then should these service providers build loyal customers culminating into fruitful and sustainable commerce for them.

How Crucial Is Customer Loyalty
The needs of a customer undergo constant change, and the one who can cater to these changing needs will definitely retain his loyalty. There are different factors which we need to look at to gain customer loyalty. Some definitely are to meet the customers needs, the values he is looking for and what he is willing to trade off. `Customer Focus’ is the simple system of pampering those most loyal to you. This is quite visisble in a CRS providers attitude to an agent, which is dictated by the amount of business provided by him. It is now a buyer’s market. The agents loyalty to a CRS is under scrutiny, as the former plays the market for the best deal (incentives), the providers play along.

According to Nasrulla Tejani, managing director, Travelpost Pvt Ltd, "From the marketing perspective, the customer’s needs are constantly changing and CRS providers need to recognise them, the one who can cater to these changing needs will definitely retain his agents loyalty." There are different factors which we need to look at with relation to gaining customer loyalty. Customer needs have definitely to be met, but what are the values an agent is looking for and what he is willing to trade off assume priority.

Reflecting on the flip side of the coin, Arvind Tandon, managing director, Ark Travels Pvt Ltd says, "The first step towards customer loyalty is formulating a customer service strategy. CRS providers need to create a vision coupled with serious commitment. To identify profitable customers, they have to use the approach of segmentation and get interactive by asking their customers what they value most. While incentives are rampant, they are not the soul criteria determining customer loyalty." Going by this, the CRS providers should arrive at a final plan, which can be practically implemented and later amended using appropriate methods of control.

Seema Luthra, general manager, Galileo India Pvt Ltd says, "Given the business model of the CRS Industry, where we have to make significant upfront investments on connecting to our customers, customer loyalty is of prime importance to us, and forms an integral part of our business strategy. Galileo’s strategy is to create and reinforce customer loyalty by ensuring that we add value to our customer’s business by constant innovations for which we make significant investments and marketing initiatives. Galileo Wireless and Remote ticket Printing (with Jet Airways) are some such examples." There is an often used cliche, ‘Customer is King’, and at Amadeus this is the thumb rule. Says Karun Budhraja, senior manager, marketing and corporate communications, Indian subcontinent, Amadeus India, "In today’s day and age, loyalty is one differentiating factor, which helps make or break commercial relationships. The CRS business is primarily B2B rather than B2C, loyalty matters at every stage." According to Budhraja, Amadeus believes in customer loyalty with every segment of the travel trade. From thematic customer events, to promotional items and giveaways to marketing programmes and exercises all have one thing in common: to keep the customer happy and always feel pampered. "The key to any customer loyalty action is the level of personalised interest taken by the company. Superficiality will and has never worked, what works is pure relationship marketing. Customers are ever evolving. Their needs and desires keep changing with time and so does technology advancements. By giving agents, a user friendly and futuristic product line will help the agent to give seamless service to his clients, which in turn will help improve customer loyalty, the final link in this chain reaction. In today’s day and age technology will change the look of the travel industry and the carriers of this technology (the travel agent) will play an integral role. Therefore, one of the ways which I feel to improve customer loyalty is provide them with something which will help them serve more professionally, and in turn improve our customer loyalty with them."

Catching The Elusive Customer
What has radically changed in the customer of today, is, the dynamism of independence. The rules of the games have changed and with it a CRS providers outlook needs to change too. So, today when we talk about the travel agent, he is present with greater knowledge and awareness. Which brings us to the question that has the agent become more elusive today? Using the word customer and elusive effectively means that the CRS players have to be able to measure up to this change of dynamism in an agents behaviour and values. When questioned on the subject a leading travel agent from Delhi says, "Today it is the customer who decides what he wants and hence will decide what he chooses to do. Will any one CRS provider have the travel agent all the time? No not likely, It is his needs and preferences at a given time, which determine his choice, and whoever delivers it at that point, the agent will do business for that supplier."

Incentivisation Vs Service
The paradigm of doing business has undergone a major change in the last couple of years. In today’s increasingly competitive world, retaining the customer has become the prime objective of every industry, most importantly the travel industry, which is totally a people dependent trade. But dissapointingly so, the Indian market is completely dominated by incentives floated out by the different CRS players, which makes one wonder if service counts at all and if it does to what extent. What baits todays customer? service, incentives or both?

Says Emmanuel Philips, manager, South Asia, Sabre, "What customer loyalty? lets not live in a fools paradise and assume that it even exists. It pains me to see that there is little or no loyalty in the travel industry that is growing fickle by the day. An agents’ loyalty is purely based on who serves him the best deal." While attention is being focussed on the customer, how much of that is directed toward his need, and relationship management is questionable.

On the other hand Luthra believes that, it is the combined effect of the confidence in the company, the services it provides and the commerce of the deal that decide an agents choice of CRS. "The key to customer loyalty lies in not just meeting an agents needs of today, but predicting what he will require in the future, and proactively coming up with solutions and initiatives, that meet them successfully, which is an an ongoing process" revelas Luthra.

Endorsing the same Budhraja remarks, "Both the above are an inherent part of the CRS industry. It is extremelydifficult and unfair to differentiate between the two. The thin line between an incentive and service has to be treaded very carefully, in the CRS industry, often the trade associates incentives to service, which is a myth. The service levels are taken care of by our sales, helpdesk, customer support and training departments. That is why Amadeus invests greatly in qualified personnel in these fields."

Providing service, as well as incentives to the travel agent have squeezed the CRS providers’ revenue, and each today is looking at ways to trim their marketing costs. "The question here is not to put the marketing cost out. There is an existing relationship, which cannot be changed, we always try and see how we can add tangible value to the customer. It is important not to generalise the word ‘customer’ who cannot all be put in the same basket. The needs of a corporate house are very different form that of a non-corporate. Values differ from customer to customer. To be able to retain or catch the elusive customer, we have to be able to do a proper research of what he wants" says Luthra.

Who is the customer? Is he elusive or not? What is needed to retain him? are the most critical factors determining customer loyalty. While it is acknowledged that the customer of today is far more aware, and enjoys more choices available to him, CRS providers need to be continuously innovative, find ways and means to add value and must remember that the techniques, ways and means, which have been incorporated in the past may not be the ideal way to retain the customer of today.