CRM in Traffic Business

Customer
Relationship
Management in
the traffic
business
Daniel Leitner 5BT
Subject: Verkehr und Reisebüro
Teacher: Prof. Sonja Schusteritsch
Date: May 2009
Customer Relationship Management in the traffic business 2009
I. Preface
In our Century the tourism business is facing a high market competition. Now, in the
aftermath of the financial crisis in the year 2008 our whole economy has to struggle with
severe economical problems and we don’t know what is coming in the future. However, the
tourism business and the traffic business are less affected at the moment but in future the
branch has to cope with the impacts of the economical development. In addition, in the
traffic business there are fewer innovations which underlie the high market competition. In
future, only these companies will survive which offer the best customer service and
customer friendliness.
Due to my opinion, the solution for the market problems in the tourism and traffic business
will be to reorganize the company customer-oriented. Tourism companies, which cultivate
sustainable customer relationships, process collected customer data and use the data at the
right place to the right time, will gain immense advantages against competitors.
For me personally, the reason why I’ve chosen this topic for my skilled work is that the CRM
combines marketing, IT-knowledge, and even psychology together. CRM is for me a very
interesting and thrilling topic and I think the ideas and background knowledge behind the
CRM will be very helpful for me in my further lifetime.
I pursued to provide a general overview about the topic and with the aid of the
Verkehrsbüro Group case study I want to give an example how CRM is implemented into a
traffic and tourism company.
Declaration of independence
With these words I am declaring that I have written this skilled work on my own, that I have
just used the stated records and that I have nowhere submitted this skilled work for
examination purposes.
Glanegg, 02 March 2009 Daniel Leitner
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Index
I. Preface............................................................................................................................................. 2
II. General Overview of the CRM ......................................................................................................... 4
a. History and the development of Customer Management .......................................................... 4
i. Chronological perspective of the Customer management ..................................................... 4
b. What is CRM? .............................................................................................................................. 8
c. Goals of CRM ............................................................................................................................... 8
d. Tasks of CRM ............................................................................................................................. 11
e. Core competences of the CRM: ................................................................................................ 12
f. Functional Chain of CRM ........................................................................................................... 14
III. CRM in a travel agency .............................................................................................................. 16
a. Why is CRM so important? ........................................................................................................ 16
b. The travel agency as a customer oriented company ................................................................ 16
c. Implementation of CRM in a travel agency ............................................................................... 17
IV. Case study: Österreichisches Verkehrsbüro AG ........................................................................ 23
a. Verkehrsbüro-Ruefa Reisen Gmbh ............................................................................................ 23
i. Mission statement:................................................................................................................ 23
ii. History: .................................................................................................................................. 23
iii. Concern Structure: ................................................................................................................ 24
iv. Core Business ........................................................................................................................ 25
v. Guiding principles: ................................................................................................................. 26
vi. Business strategy: .................................................................................................................. 27
b. Strategy and Implementation of CRM in the Verkehrsbüro Group .......................................... 28
c. Technical CRM-component: ...................................................................................................... 31
i. Software “Jack” ..................................................................................................................... 31
V. Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 34
VI. Appendix.................................................................................................................................... 35
VII. List of literature ......................................................................................................................... 37
VIII. Table of Figures ......................................................................................................................... 39
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II. General Overview of the CRM

a. History and the development of Customer Management1
For decades companies all over the world were focused on selling products as much as
possible without making a difference who buys the product. In the last 30 years the markets
have been get saturated, capacities of economical growth were reached and new seller
markets have established in the world economy. The enormous pressure on global markets
leads to a reorientation onto the customer needs and to a creation of new strategies and
types of marketing.
However, companies have to cope with many new economical and social challenges:
• The amount of consumer customers and business clients is decreasing due to

economical and demographical developments. The consumer demand is getting
saturated; there is a need for more customer liaison and support – customers getting
more and more abundant.
• New target groups (like the youth segment in Asia) are less explored and there is less
information about these new available target groups.
• The conscious of the customer for quality and prices is increasing rapidly because
they can compare products over the internet – customers are getting cleverer!
• New distribution channels (online distribution...) are opening up a faster and a more
direct contact with the customer – new competitors getting a faster contact with the
customer.
• The customer behaviour is getting less predictable. Processing the knowledge about
the customer is getting a major factor in the process of customer orientation2
In addition, due to these factors, all activities in the company have to be focused onto the
customer. On the long term scale, only these companies which cultivate their customer
relationship and learn from their clients will obtain a sustainable advantage against their
competitors.
i. Chronological perspective of the Customer management3

In the early 70s revolutionary marketing campaigns “The customer is the king” or the famous
Burger King commercial slogan “Have it your way” were the first some kind of customer
oriented activities of bigger companies. This era is the hour of birth of the Customer
Relationship management.
1
ref. (Brasch, Köder, & Rapp, 2007, p. 13)
2
ref. (Hoffmann & Pfeiffe, 2002, pp. 4-6)
3
ref. (Lancaster & Reynolds, 2002, pp. 424-426)
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Over the next years the idea of customer orientation braced deep into the management of
companies. As a result, we can divide the following epoch into four phases:
The 70s: The Orientation Phase
At first, Business-to-Business providers started with Key account management to point out
target clients and to improve the contact with them. The direct marketing was established
and internationalized.
For consumer customers companies have had to fit their supply on new customer demands.
On the one hand the demand was split into high-class products and concepts (“Business
class”) and on the other hand there were low-cost, mass oriented products (“Economy
class”).
Some new trends like standardisation of the products, automation and self-service have
evolved in this decade. Self-service business concepts like IKEA, restaurant chains like
McDonalds and self-service discounters like Aldi have established
The 80s: The Contact Phase
After the orientation phase companies tried to find out how they can make a good first
contact with the customer and how they can maintain that contact.
A milestone therefore was the book “Der Moment der Warheit”, which describes that the
contact between the employee and the customer is more important than the product itself.
Afterwards, the customer value was even more defined through the interaction than
through the product itself. In this Phase the focus was on the perfection of the customer
satisfaction.
The first Call-Centres were established. In the B-to-B business large companies set up sales
offices near to clients for a better customer service. These innovations created new markets
for invisibles.
The 90s: The Relationship Phase
At the beginning of the 90s the target was the improvement of the present customer
relationships. Nevertheless the customers feel satisfied companies tried to win them as
loyal and engaged customers.
Contact management systems, target group specialized communication and direct marketing
activities were implemented. Customer clubs like the Dr. Oetker Back-Club or the adoption
of loyalty card and bonus programs like Lufthansa Miles & More Card were efforts to satisfy
customers. In the B-t-B business related programs like incentive travels and exhibitions were
set up.
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Since the middle of the 90s the theories of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) were
realised. Segmentation of present customers, target group campaigns and the
implementation of new Software programs like SAP for a better marketing controlling were
established.
The 00s: The Value Phase
In this stage companies tried to achieve higher revenue due to their efforts for the customer.
The strategic controlling of customer relationships is the most important factor to reach a
higher profit. They have to create a win-win situation for the customer and also for the
company. The high pressure of competition forces companies to improve their customer
relationship management in order to derive an advantage against the competitors.4
Orientation Contacts Relationships Value
Marketing
Distribution
CRM
Strategy Customer Customer - Finances

Satisfaction Intimacy
Customer Customer Customer value
Customer
Orientation Loyalty management
Contact
1970 1980 1990 2000

Figure 1: Chronological development of the Relationship Management
4
ref. (Brasch, Köder, & Rapp, 2007, pp. 19-22)
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The following table shows the development of CRM in the Lufthansa Company:
Deutsche Lufthansa:
Installation of Customer Management5
Phase Period Department Activities/ Further

Developments
Orientation
Customer 1975-94 Distribution 75: Installation Key Account
Orientation Management
85: Own Travel agencies
90: Intensification direct
marketing
94: Implementation Online
marketing
Contact
Customer contact 1980- Service 80: Installation Call-Centres
management 1995 90: Call-Centre Integration
90: Global Call-Centre System
Customer 1980- Quality management 90: Satisfaction measuring

satisfaction 2000 Service 92: Service Index
Marketing 96: Service Initiative
Relationship
Customer loyalty 1990- Marketing 93: Installation Miles & More
today 95: Partnership concepts
98: Expansion status concept
99: M & M International
Customer strategy 1995- Business 99: Lufthansa Passage/ Team

(Intimacy) today Development/Business Lufthansa advertising
Leadership 00: Own Stores/Munich/New
York
CRM 1995- Customer Contact/ IT 98: Data Warehouse System

today 99: CRM-Communication
00: New CRM – Systems
02: Intensification direct
marketing
03: HON6 Circle installation,
own buildings in Frankfurt
5
(Brasch, Köder, & Rapp, 2007, p. 23)
6
first class terminal and lounge of Lufthansa’s frequent flyer program, access permitted with 600.000 flown
miles per year
7|Page
b. What is CRM?
In many books CRM is very often reduced to its technical components. Frequently CRM is
defined just as an IT-tool for Customer Relationships. These definitions are very unilateral,
because CRM used in a company has not to be simply on IT Software, it has to be integrated
in the whole business cycle. On the other hand CRM is often practiced as a theoretical
marketing solution without its IT components.
As you can see, CRM can only be practiced by using the theological and the technical
component together. There is a definition for CRM which includes both components:
“CRM is a customer-oriented business strategy, with the aim to build up and to strengthen
profitable customer contacts on long term with the help of modern IT solutions and holistic
Marketing- Distribution- and Service concepts.” (Hippner & Wilde, 2007)
In a great measure there is no exact distinction between “Relationship Marketing” and

“Customer Relationship Management” in practice, but it has to be distinguished between
these terms:
The so called “Relationship Marketing” is principally concerned with attracting, maintaining

and enhancing customer rapport, and includes all marketing types like CRM. You can use the
term “Relationship Management” as a hypernym for the Relationship Marketing, but the
Relationship Management concerns with all external relationships like with suppliers
(vertical), business partners (horizontal), public authorities (lateral) or with internal
relationships (for instance employees).7
As a component of the Relationship Marketing the CRM has developed from the
Relationship Marketing. It is very similar to the Relationship Marketing, but the CRM is only
concerned in the formation of customer contacts.8
Figure 2: Distinction between the terms
Relationship Management
Relationship Marketing
External Customer
Relationships Retention
Vertical
Relationships Potential Management Lost
Internal customers customers
Relationships Current Customers
Customer Relationship Management
c. Goals of CRM
7
ref. (Homburg & Bruhn, 2005, S. 8)
8
ref. (Hippner & Wilde, 2007, pp. 17-19)
8|Page
The main aim of CRM is to reach a long-term economic success due to profitable customer
relationships. Every single effort, which helps to built up profitable customer relationships,
could be a task of CRM. That customer relationship is affected by the customer life cycle:9
Customer optimization
Customer
value
identification
Customer Value
Customer
Customer value saving
Life Cycle
Prospect Existing customer Time
New customer Lost customer
Figure 3: CRM in the Customer life cycle
Therefore there are 4 central goals of CRM10:
1. Identification and winning of profitable customers (Customer value identification)

2. Realisation of higher customer revenues (Customer value optimization)
3. Increasing of customer processing efficiency (Customer value optimization)
4. Set-up of customer loyalty (Customer value saving)
The next illustration shows that the customer value has two main aspects for the company
which are divided into their potential for the customer value11:
9
ref. (Weiber & Weber, 2000)
10
ref. (Fried, 2004, p. 3)
11
ref. (Elsennweger, 2004)
9|Page
Customer
Value
1.
2. Relations
Transaction
potential
potential
c) Cost-
a) Base b) Growth a) Reference b) Information c) Cooperation
reduction
potential potential potential potential Potential
potential
Potential due
Intensification Cross-selling Up-selling
to sinking price
potential potential potential
elasticity
Figure 4: Potentials of the Customer value
1. Transaction potential:12
The transaction potential represents the sales success as a result of the current or future
customer activities. The transaction potential consists of the base potential, the growth
reduction potential.13
potential and the cost-reduction
a) Base potential:
The base potential stands for the previous intensity of the customer relationship. The central
meaning of this indicator is that the customer is immune against competitive products and
so that the company can count with stable revenues in future. For instance customers,
which have a binding contract with a company can’t choose from competitive products.
b) Growth potential:
This indicator
icator represents the expected positive or negative changes in the purchasing
behaviour of the customer.
• The intensification
ntensification potential
potentia stands
tands for the future reduction or extension of the base
potential
• The Cross-selling
selling potential represents
epresents the expected utilization of additional products
or services. For instance, a customer has booked a package tour and bought as an
additional service a guided desert tour.
12
ref. (Helm & Günter, 2001, pp. 3-35)
35)
13
26
10 | P a g e
• The Up-selling potential shows if current customers could afford high-class products
in future. For instance, a current customer has always booked just a simple package
tour, but now he has more money and so he bought a cruise ship tour.
• The last determinant shows that the longer the duration of a customer relationship,
the more customers abandon discounts or bargains.
c) Cost-reduction potential:
This potential is very influenced by the duration of the customer relationship. A long-term
customer orientation is reducing cost, because specific needs of customers can be treated
more efficient. For instance, collected customer data can be used for specific ad actions.
2. Relation potential:14
The behaviour of a customer during a business relationship could be helpful for the
company. Thus the relation potential consists of:
a) Reference potential:
The Customers influence their friends or other customers to use services of a company.
b) Information potential:
The customer transmits valuable information (for example: positive or negative feedback)
and this data can be used to optimize business activities.
c) Cooperation potential:
This potential includes all success increasing factors due to cooperation with the customer,
especially in the b-t-b business.
d. Tasks of CRM
As a result of the goals of CRM in connection with the Customer life cycle and the customer
value, there are a few main tasks or main activities of the CRM. Every single task comprises a
phase in the customer life cycle and a certain goal. You have to notice, in order that CRM
works efficient, all of these tasks have to be fulfilled.
14
ref. (Diller, 2002, pp. 297-302)
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The next illustration shows the connection between the phases of the customer lifetime
cycle, the goals of CRM and the tasks of the management:
Time
Initiation Socialization Growth and Revitalization

Phase matureness
Goal Customer Customer Customer

Value Identi- Value Value
fication Optimization Saving
Task
Prospect New Satisfaction- and Customer Recovery
management Customer Retention Management Management
Management
Figure 5: Tasks of CRM in the Phases of the Customer Relationship Cycle
The main tasks of CRM can only be fulfilled when the management has developed a specific
CRM concept. This concept should contain concrete aims and facts for the future. This
concept should be aiming to build up new customer relationships (Prospect management),
to strengthen and to preserve present customer relationships (New Customer Management,
Satisfaction Management), to stabilise inharmonious customer relationships (Complaint
management), to hamper customer moving to competitors (Dismissal prevention
management) or to win back lost customers (Customer Recovery Management).15
e. Core competences of the CRM16:
In order to realize CRM in a company and to gain advantages three core competences have
to be implemented into the whole CRM-process:
The present business processes have to be altered across all departments and they have to
be reorganized. Eventually new business processes have to be implemented.
Information and communication technology:

Modern ICT solutions are “CRM-Enabler” and providing tools for the support and
optimization of customer-oriented business processes. They are increasing the efficiency on
15
ref. (Hippner & Wilde, 2007, p. 37)
16
12 | P a g e
the long term scale. These solutions are divided into operational and analytical CRM
Systems.
The Operational Systems help to get in contact with the customer on the contact points. It is
very important that the operational system includes the results of the Business process
optimization. The analytical Systems processing the collected data of the business process in
order to optimize the business processes.
Change management:
The change management accompanies the whole CRM project from the beginning onwards.
It helps to motivate and to qualify all employees in the company for the project and it aims
to minimize resistances.
CRM-Project management:
The central objective of the project management is to control all CRM processes. As we can
see, CRM implementation is a complex process with long-term goals, and in order to reach
these goals, the project management has to investigate very early indicators for success or
defeat of the project.
CRM-Project Management
Optimization Implemen-
of Business tation of CRM
CRM processes
Strategy
Change Management
Figure 6: Core competences in the CRM process
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f. Functional Chain of CRM17

The implementation of a CRM strategy in a company is often not very unsuccessful because
CRM can only work if a five phase program has been evolved by the company. Very often
companies don’t care about these very important steps to a successful future with CRM. But
all these steps are positively or negatively influenced by external and internal factors.
General external influences of the phases by the market and the competition:
• Market position and –dynamic

• Line of business
• Competition structure
• Competition behaviour and other
I will list subsequently the five phases and the external and internal influences of each:
Phase 1:
Conception of a Customer Relationship Strategy

• Verbalisation of core strategies
• Customer oriented management concepts
• Multi channel management
There is no direct internal influence for the conception phase.
Phase 2:
Customer Oriented Reorganisation

• Business process optimisation
• CRM-Systems
• Change Management
• CRM-Project management
Internal Influences:
Acceptance of the employees
Support of the management
Present IT- and Organisation structure
Capital commitments
Phase 3:
Alteration of the Customer Behaviour and the Customer attitude
• Customer satisfaction
• Customer loyalty
• Customer retention
17
ref. (Hippner & Wilde, 2007, p. 22)
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External Influences:
Customer expectations
Variety seeking
Price sensitiveness
Brand feeling
Internal Influences:
Quality of the CRM process
Quality of the products and services
Degree of individualization
Employee motivation
Phase 4:
Economical success due to

• Quality of customer relationships
• Quantity of customer relationships
• Duration of customer relationships
External factors:
Customer fluctuation
Revenue potential of customers
Internal factors:
Setting up of customer fluctuation barriers
Wide program variety
Economical
sucess
Alteration of
customer
behaviour and
attidude
Customer oriented
reorganisation
Conception of
strategies
Figure 7: Functional Chain of CRM
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III. CRM in a travel agency

a. Why is CRM so important?
In the last few decades there was a change in the behaviour of the customers. More and
more tourism providers (for instance tour operators, hotels, traffic companies) started to
offer their products and services directly to the customer via new distribution partners like
the Internet, Call centres and others. At the same time customers grasp more opportunities
to use these information channels to make direct bookings.
As a result a few very important strategic advantages for the travel agency have evolved: the
personal contact, the interaction with the customer and the personal consulting service.
Most of the travel agencies are improving their personal services in order to insure their
existence.
Therewith the improved services and consultation services enhance the revenue, they have
to be targeted and to be customer individualized. CRM provides useful tools to offer the
right customer to the right time the right service.
b. The travel agency as a customer oriented company

The direct contact with the customer offers perfect opportunities for the travel agency to
implement customer orientated programs. As mentioned before, in order to get a profit out
of these advantages, the whole organisation has to be customer oriented. Therefore one of
the tasks of a customer oriented company is to know the customer expectations for quality,
costs and time and to focus the company on these expectations (Fried, 2004).
Management of a travel
Customer expectations agency Customer oriented
• Personal and demand organization
oriented Service • Customer oriented
• Capable processes
communication
Quality Processes
• Clear rules and
partner responsibilities
• Continual service
quality • Advanced Education
People • Personnel progress
•
Costs
Appropriate price- • Staff planning
service relation
• Process supporting
• Accessibility
Techno- Technologies
• Fast and Time
logy • Comprehensive
uncomplicated
Information/Data
problem solutions
management
16 | P a g e
That means for the company:
The processes in the Front Office and also

also in the Back office have to be altered
a that
the customer can book trouble-free
trouble and with a good feeling. For that it’s necessary to
set up clear rules and responsibilities for the customer processes.
One of the majorajor success factors for CRM are the people in charge. In the past the
focuss of advanced education programs was just on the product knowledge, but
nowadays employees should be trained on the dealing with the customer. Also the
staff planning (opening hours, availabilities) should be matching with the customer
expectations.
The application
plication of modern technologies, like the use of professional customer
databases, the installation of modern telephone systems or the setup of an internet
platform is a permanent content of CRM concepts. As mentioned before, the
importance of the technology
technology should not be overrated, because often if too much
technology is involved in the customer relationship, the customer gets out of the
focus.
It is very important that the management and also the employees are committed and don’t
lose fun by the implementation
tation of CRM in the company.
c. Implementation of CRM in a travel agency18

The implementation of a CRM concept is a long-term,
long term, never completed process. The aim is
to expand and establish present and new customer relationships systematically. The
following example
xample shows how the intensity of relationships with valuable customers can be
increased and at the same time the long term profitability of these customers maintains or
even increases. The concept is divided into four phases:
2. Identify 4. Retain
1. Understand 3. Strengthen 4. Benefit
18
ref. (Fried, 2004, p. 4)
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Understand
The base of every relationship is the understanding of the situation of the other. The aim for
the travel agency is to understand the present environment of the potential customer and to
know his expectation and requirements for a good relationship.
Information for the travel agency19:
The company has to analyse internal and external information sources. The internal
customer knowledge should be collected in a good structured customer database, for
instance:
Contact data (address, telephone number, e-mail)
Personal data (birthday, marital status, hobbies, personal preferences)
Preferred destinations, last bookings
The sustainable benefit of external information is often underestimated:
Newspapers and magazines (like “bulletin”)
Associations (Statistic Austria, ÖW)
Free accessible sources like Behaviour- and trend studies
This information should be analysed and should help to predict expectations and
requirements of the customer in future. It is very helpful to create customer profiles. These
following attributes can be attached
to the customer database:
Type of holiday (Requirement

and expectations)
Holiday interests (for
instance sun/beach/sea,
sport, country & people)
Preferred mean of transport
(plane, train, car)
Planned holiday destination
Travel participants (Family,
single, couple)
Number of travels per anno
Holiday budget per anno (not
exact)
Figure 8: Motivations for Travelling 2007
Information sources
(Internet...)
Therefore this information could be used for customer specific direct marketing campaigns
(e.g. mailings, telephone marketing).
19
ref. (Fried, 2004, pp. 4-5)
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Identify:
Resulting to the CRM-approach

approach companies have to concentrate on long-term
long term profitable
customer segments and to handle them effectively.
effective . Most of the companies generate 80 % of
their revenue from 20 % of the customers but they look after all the customers likelik the
same. The segmentation of the customers due to long-term
long term profitability is one of the most
important analyticall tasks of the management. A foretime related
related and a future related
analysis is the base for the recognition of valuable customers
Foretime related:
Past value of the customer

Criteria for segmentation: customer revenue and gross margin
Future Related:
The assessment of the customer life value is future related and considers the whole duration
of the relationship.
Quantitative (expected revenues

revenue and costs)
Qualitative (word-of-mouth
mouth distribution...)
The management should

d analyse the data and reckon in the customer lifetime value.
At the beginning of the CRM project a foretime related segmentation is enough, but new or
young travel agency customers
mers (present value is less, but maybe high potential) should be
fairly mentioned. The result lt of the customer value analysis could be represented in a
customer portfolio: Figure 9:: Customer Portfolio
high
Star customers: high present

value, high
igh potential
low Customer Potenzial
Question marks: high potential

but low present value
”Poor dogs”: low present value

and low potential
“Cash-cows”:
cows”: high presentvalue
but no potential
low Present customer value high
19 | P a g e
Strengthen
The results of the “Understand” (Customer profile) and “Identify” (Customer value) forming
the base for the development of specific customer care strategies. As a first step these
fundamental customer care components can be set up:20
Stars Question marks Cash-cows Poor dogs

Delivery of
X X
new prospects
Information,
that new
X X
prospects are
available
Birthday
X
present
Birthday card X X X
Invitation to
X X
events
Target group
specific direct- X X
marketing
Discount
X X
programs
Table 1: Services of the Travel agency
Additionally to the fundamental services offers the customer life cycle and the buy-service-
cycle ideal opportunities for more individual services. Therefore it is very important to be
creative and active, so that the customer has many little moments of surprise.
Multichannel management in the travel agency21:
In addition, the travel agency communicates with the customer over many channels. The
decision, which channel the travel agency in which phase of the customer interaction offers,
depends on the media, which the customer prefers to use. Moreover, the company has to
deside, which media it can use, which medium is affortable and which fits to the company.
20
ref. (Grönroos, 2000)
21
ref. (Fried, 2004, p. 7)
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Customer
Information Decicion Buy Pre-trip On-trip
trip Post-trip
process
Media
Conversation Phone call Mail Telefax E-mail

mail Internet
Channel
Travel agency Mobile travel agent Telefone contact Homepage
Travel
agency Information Offer Booking
Alterations/
cancellation
Fullfillment/
accounting
Travel
realization
Complaints/
Services
process
Figure 10:: Customer Related Service in the
t Phases of the Customer Process
Most of the customers change the kind of media

media during the relationship with the travel
agency. Additionally the travel agency needs a multichannel management so that the media
efficient . This should meet these requirements22:
overreaching customer process can work efficiently.
Every channel has to have the same

sam quality
The customer has to be identified in every channel
The employees in charge have to be qualified to perform with a certain channel (for
instance not every front desk employee is suitable for the telephone sell)
Retain23
Recently published studies have proven that there is a decrease of the customer loyalty to
companies.. The studies have also pointed out that the winning of new customers
custom is five
times more expensive than to retain present customers. Nevertheless customer retention
management has gained
ined more and more importance for a travel agency.
The company, who aims to retain a profitable customer to the travel agency in the view,
view has
to invest more time and even much more money (mostly the small things making the
difference).
It is very important
ant that every employee in the travel agency gets involved with the
customer and knows their requirements. The basis for that is that the customer trusts
22
ref. (Fried, 2004, p. 8)
23
ref. (Bliemel & Eggert, 1998, pp. 37-45)
37
21 | P a g e
necessary information frequently to the company. Such an information exchange between

both parties needs that the customer is involved in additional contact occasions.
Examples for contact occasions24:

Events for special target groups (for instance meeting of long-haul destination
travellers)
Idea competition for the design of the travel agency or shop window
Winning of customer as “Target destination experts”
Frequent message of a Newsletter (“What is new at the travel agency”)
Customer satisfaction surveys
Frequent support call
Employees’ accompany well book travels
In these examples the emotional contact with the customer and is the most important
aspect. The customer feels the difference to competitors because of the unique contact.
Benefit25
To give customers some kind of benefits is very time and cost intensive. Hence only these
customers; so called “star customers”; with a high potential of recommendation should
deserve these services.
Requirements for the travel agency:

The contact person should know the travel needs of the star customers
The contact person should look very frequently for suitable travel offers
Individual presents in relation to future holidays
Invitations to new and exclusive holiday tours
In return these star customers advertise indirectly but very actively for the travel agency.
The most successful advertising method is via word-to-mouth advertising in their close
environment (family, friends, and workplace).
24
interview with Andrea Sussitz, Verkehrsbüro Group, February 2009
25
ref. (Fried, 2004, p. 10)
22 | P a g e
IV. Case study: Österreichisches Verkehrsbüro AG

In the third chapter I want to show how CRM could be implemented
implemented into a tourism
company. I have chosen the Verkehrsbüro GroupGroup as an example for my case study because
the Verkehrsbüro Group is one of the largest tourism companies in Austria and expands
sharply.. The Verkehrsbüro Group offers also a wide range of examples for a perfect
customer oriented business strategy and a “one face to the customer” orientation for a
company in the traffic business. Visible in this case study are the differences between theory
and practice.
a. Verkehrsbüro-
Verkehrsbüro-Ruefa Reisen Gmbh
i. Mission statement:
“The Verkehrsbüro Group is Austria’s leading Service
ice enterprise in the tourism and hotel
business. We want to increase our success in Austria and that implies the international
growth.. We delight our customers with the highest quality standards.”
(Verkehrsbüro Group, 2009)
ii. History:
The Verkehrsbüro Group is the largest and oldest tourism enterprise in Austria. It was
founded in 1917, during the First World War.
At the very beginning there was the ticket sale
In the early 20s, the task of the Verkehrsbüro was to organize the ticket sale system of the
Austrian State Railroads. In the year 1921 three million tickets were sold. The firs baggage
insurances were sold. As additional services the Verkehrsbüro offered money exchange,
travel cheques and travel books.
The Verkehrsbüro expanded
Very soon the company had agreements with all larger cruise ship companies in Europe and
the first air ticket was sold. In quick succession the Verkehrsbüro was the first company
which had layovers in Vienna and published the first travel newspaper.
newspape
23 | P a g e
With support of the Austrian

an Mail organisation
the company installed the first scheduled bus
network in the Salzkammergut. Although the
economy plunged down in the year 1923, the
Verkehrsbüro completed its central building in
front of the "Sezession", bought
ught hotels and the liner shipping on the Lake Wolfgang.
Financial Crisis and the World War:
With the financial crisis in the 30s the good years have ended. The “Deutsches Reich”
implemented the “Tausend-Mark Mark-Sperre” which led to a plunge in the tourism economy.
ec
Within the Anschluss on the German Empire 1938 the Verkehrsbüro was incorporated into
the “Mitteleuropäischen
Mitteleuropäischen Reisebüro”.
Reisebüro
New Start:
After the Second World War the Verkehrsbüro was re-established.

re established. The company offered at
the first travel agency travels
ls to China, Japan and India.
In the early 80s the Verkehrsbüro

kehrsbüro had to face again a huge crisis and enormous losses. After
a few years the company was refurbished and well-established
well established on the market.
The Company today:
In the second half of the 90s the Verkehrsbüro

Verkehrsbüro Group evolved to the largest tourism full-
full
service-provider
provider in Austria. Many important tourism companies like the Incoming-
Incoming
organisation Eurotours, many hotels and even camping grounds were integrated into the
concern. Because of strategically reasons the concern broke up per 1.1.2008 with the
culinary-branch
branch and concentrates just on the core business tourism and hotel business. Since
the 1.1.2009 the Verkehrsbüro Company has implemented a one-brandbrand strategy for their
travel agencies along with Ruefa.
iii. Concern Structure:

The Österreichische Verkehrsbüro AG is quoted on the stock exchange:
Owners:
AVZ Holding GmbH 60, 98%

Wiener Städtische Allgemeine Versicherung AG 31, 58%
Toth Privatstiftung 7, 44%
Managing Board:
General Manager Mag. Harald Nograsek
Nogra
Board President Mag. Norbert Draskovits
Board President Martin Bachlechner
24 | P a g e
iv. Core Business26

Hotel Business:
Austria Trend Hotels & Resorts – leading domestic Hotel chain

• 29 Hotels and about 8600 beds in the year 2007
• Main area 4-star
star hotel business and city tourism
• Focus on meetings, incentives, conventions and events
• dynamic expansion in Austria and CEE area
Motel One – Low-budget-design

design hotels
• Joint venture with the German Motel one AG
• unique concept of design hotels in the low-budget
low segment
• first motel
otel one in Vienna
Tourism Business:
Travel agency – largest store network in Austria

• number 1 in retail segment with 20 % market share
• 145 stores of the brands
brand “Verkehrsbüro Reisen”, „Ruefa
Reisen“ und „Billige Reisen“
• Multi-channel
channel distribution via Internet
I and Call centres
Tour operator – successful special-

special and niche positioning
• one-brand
brand strategy of “Verkehrsbüro Reisen” and “Ruefa Reisen”
• positioning as a quality provider for individual travels
• focus on studies travel, adventure travel, culture-
culture and bathing travel, city travel,
cruise travel and sport-
sport and active travel
• first provider of Fair-trade
trade travels
Eurotours International – largest Incoming agency in Middle Europe

• Specialist for ski holidays
• over 900.000 passengers per year
• number 2 of thee tour operators in Austria
• successful direct distribution of “Hofer Reisen”
Business travels – market leader in Austria

• eight business travel centres for the
th best customer proximity
• 24-hours service line
• VIP-lounges
lounges as an exclusive travel service
26
ref. (Österreichisches Verkehrsbüro AG, 2008, pp. 2-4)
2
25 | P a g e
Conference management – one of the leading providers

• successful brand “Austria Interconvention”
• about 50 national and international conferences per year
• pioneer in IT-solutions
Figure 11: Core business of the Verkehrsbüro Group
v. Guiding principles27:
Customer The customer is the centre of all business activities

proximity
Highest quality With friendliness, outgoingness and high amount of competence we
exceeding the expectations of our customers
Team spirit We communicate with respect and honesty. Hence we can fulfil our
tasks with joy and enthusiasm.
Paragons Our executives are our paragons in team play, customer orientation
and in business actions
Target orientation We reaching our targets with clear standards, open communication
and support of all employees
27
ref. (Österreichisches Verkehrsbüro AG, 2008, p. 11)
26 | P a g e
Innovation and The success of our company based on innovations, flexibility and
Service surpassing commitment of all employees
Growth We’re aiming to increase our national and international growth and we
want to be proud of our company
As you can see, all company principles are customer-oriented and targeted onto the
customer.
vi. Business strategy28:

Business travel:
• continued growth through the expansion of the market leadership

• full service provider/consulting and outsourcing
• access into the CEE-market
Leisure:
• implementation of alternative distribution channels – Online distribution, direct

distribution via trade partners (Multi-Channel distribution)
• Flagship-stores in centres
• concentration on niches in the operator segment
Eurotours International:
• new markets – especially CEE

• increase of online-activities
Hotel business:
• leading position at the MICE-segment (Meetings, incentives, conventions, events)

• concentration on city hotels
• focus on 4-star category
• continued growth of the hotel portfolio and number of beds
• expansion to the CEE market
• Motel One as a position in the low-budget segment
28
ref. (Österreichisches Verkehrsbüro AG, 2008, pp. 20-30)
27 | P a g e
b. Strategy and Implementation of CRM in the Verkehrsbüro Group29
The slogan “Your smile is our job” and the business principles are indicators, that the CRM
philosophy is well integrated in the business strategy of the Verkehrsbüro Group. However,
these simple slogans are not just marketing slogans, the CRM philosophy is well
implemented in the business processes of the Verkehrsbüro Group. In the next chapter I am
going to explain how the CRM-tasks are implemented in the Verkehrsbüro group and I will
give an overview of the CRM-Software “Jack”.
Prospect and new customer Management
Targeted multi-channel distribution at the travel agencies:
In order to attract prospects, the Verkehrsbüro group has optimized their access to their
products in the “Ruefa Reisen” and “Verkehrsbüro Reisen” travel agencies:
Stores are the most important distribution-channel for the Verkehrsbüro. Last year
all stores were modernised and reorganised to Travel – Service – Centres. One of the
new stores at the “Wiener Opernring” attracts new customers on the streets via flat
screens by showing the latest holiday offers. In summer 2008 a new flagship-store
has opened its doors in Graz with an integrated library and innovative flat screens.
To strengthen the online distribution the Verkehrsbüro has updated their Websites
with new booking tools in order to be more customers friendly. The online services
are additional to the store service very important as an information channel for
prospects.
“Bistro Portal”: This IT-solution in all stores of the group helps the customer to find
the right offer according to his needs with the highest quality of service. Video clips
supporting the customer to find the right decision.
Another distribution channel for the Verkehrsbüro are discounters. Last year, the
company have won about 44.000 new customers at the SPAR discounters. There is
also a successful cooperation with “Hofer Reisen”.
The company is also specialised on the sale of ÖBB-train tickets and ferry tickets for
private- and business clients with a special centre at the Kärntner Ring.
Tour operator “Verkehrsbüro-Ruefa Reisen”: Packages in cooperation with Fair-trade
With the help of “Fairtrade” the Verkehrsbüro is now able to offer sustainable
travels. Customers with the desire of environmental- and society friendly holidays are
won as new customers.
29
ref. (Sussitz, 2009)
28 | P a g e
Major Customer Event: Verkehrsbüro Reisemesse at the Casineum in Velden
All tour operators, which are included in the program of the Verkehrsbüro Reisen
(Gulet, Neckermann, Dertur...) participating on this event. They present new
innovations and the customer gets information first hand.
Aviators, travel insurance companies and rental car companies like the AUA, Uniqua
and AVIS also presenting their services at the “Verkehrsbüro Reisemesse”.
Parts of the program are presentations, lotteries, dance and music shows from
foreign countries and much information for prospects or present customers.
Advertising in the media:
TV and Radio spots of the Ruefa – “Wo Träume war werden”

advertisements in Newspapers
Satisfaction- and Retention management
The Verkehrsbüro provides a wide range of services for the customer in order to treat him as
well as possible:
Events at the stores:
Presentations about different holiday destinations for present customers

Customer events like a Christmas punch, New Years Eve Champagne, at Easter the
customer get eggs in the stores
all customers are invited personally via E-mail
Customer Retention due to the service:
Every travel agency in Austria sells the same product to the same price. The quality,
service, competence, flexibility, outgoingness and friendliness of the employees
make the difference!
the customer retains if the service quality is very high
every employee is high skilled and trained
the company provides advanced education for every sales person: dealing with
customers, analysis of requirements, dealing with complains and other important
social skills
Education for special requirements: destinations, products, catalogues of the tour
operators
“Agenttouren”: Tour operators inviting employees of travel agencies to participate
on a travel to a new destination
29 | P a g e
Information about news:
Registered Customers getting

ge information via Newsletter, E-mail
mail or posting about
new packages and offers
The company aims to retain customers even when he just wants to pick up a
catalogue: the sales person tries to find out information about the customer like E-
E
mail address and to make a good impression in order that the customer comes back
to make a booking.
Special services:
Customers, which picking up their travel documents, receiving a small “travel bag”
(little box with the shape of a travel bag with different types of goodies
goodi like chewing
gums, beverages, maps...)
some so called “star Customers” with a high present value and a high potential are
sometimes so called “Testing travels”: The customer can participate to a travel to a
new destination for free and after that he makes
makes a verdict about the travel
Customer Satisfaction:
24-hours
hours Call centre service for business customers before the booking and during
the travel
Call- back service on the website
The Verkehrsbüro invites the customer after his trip to a personal conversation
convers
where
ere he can rate the hotel quality, his satisfaction with the trip, name
na lacks and
defects, he can talk about his interests and improvements for the next trip.
Figure 12: Call-back-Service

Service of the Verkehrsbüro Group
30 | P a g e
c. Technical CRM-
CRM-component:
component:
The Customer Relationship Management can only work efficient,

efficient, if the management uses
and receives the right customer information from the technical component of o the CRM.
When a company has to choose the right CRM computer Software,
Software, the company has to keep
in mind that the software has to fit the requirementss of the company. It is very helpful, to be
clear what services the software has to provide and what expectations have to be fulfilled.
However, a wide range of CRM software is available on the market, suitable for every kind of
branch. The most frequently used CRM software is mySAP, provided by the SAP concern.
This software is very often used in the bank and insurance business.
i. Software “Jack”30
The Verkehrsbüro Group usess in the whole company the same software solution, Jack provided by
the Bewotec Gmbh.. The software is a solution for the Front-,
Front mid- and back office of the company
and combines all necessary tools for the company:
• CRS tasks
• Customer data
• Analysis, statistics and lists
• Financial accountancy
• Marketing campaigns
Overview of the basic functions

ions of Jack:
Client booking and search:

Customer data is collected in the software and you can search after a few types of criteria:
• Name
• Street
• Post code
• City
• Pre-defined
defined Type of Clients
• Phone or Fax Number
• Email Address
• Client Number
In addition, to the customer‘s

personal data, you can search after
other criteria like:
• Booking number
• Ticket number
• Invoice number
• Booking Date Figure 13: Client and booking search
• Service Provider reference number
• Departure Date
30
ref. (Bewotec GmbH, 2009)
31 | P a g e
Statistics and analysis:
The collected customer data can be analysed by the program and the software provides you
information about the customer status:
• Frequent flyers
• Customer history
• Backlogged orders
The analysis can also show

how customer attributes like:
• Types
ypes of holiday: city, bathing, wellness, cruises, diving, golf and so on
• Preferred booking tool: internet platform, travel agency...
• Types of transport: plane, train,
t cruise...
• Preferred
referred destinations
• Preferred
referred tour operator
By using this data, a customer portfolio for every client can be produced and used for future
marketing campaigns.
The advantage for the Verkehrsbüro is that every employee has access to the collected
customer data and so not every customer has to explain his personal data and needs. In fact,
that is very convenient for the
customer!
Rectification of rejects:31
The software is also very important to

rework a travel.. Within this software
there is the possibility to remember the
travel agent when the client returns.
Now, the travel agent has the possibility
to invite the customer to a
conversation. The customer has the
possibility to give a feedback and to
speak about several points like:
• Hotel rating
• Satisfaction Figure 14: Chart of service providers
• Lacks
• Interests
• Recommendations
ecommendations for the next holiday
The results of the conversations can be collected in the software.
31
ref. (Sussitz, 2009)
32 | P a g e
Marketing campaigns:
With this software direct marketing is possible for your target group. It is possible to set up
criteria for a marketing campaign fitted on your target group.
For instance:
• All customers which haven’t booked this year

• Golfer or active persons
• want to spend more than 2000 € for a travel
A text processing tool is also integrated in the software.
Additional services:
SMS-Service:
The Software provides a text messaging tool and for instance it is possible to wish your
customers a pleasant journey. The SMS will be sent on a defined date with the suitable
context.
Bonus points and vouchers:
Another service of the software is the automatically allocation of bonus points. The
customer receives bonus points if he booked several times or paid over a certain amount of
money. The Software counts automatically the bonus points and sends vouchers to the
customers.
33 | P a g e
V. Conclusion
As you can see, CRM is a very complex and thrilling topic. However, the Verkehrsbüro Group
case study shows a few examples how the CRM philosophy can be perfectly implemented in
a traffic and tourism company. In future, we will see if the CRM philosophy really leads to
market advantages in times of economical decline.
Nevertheless, after I’ve done research for my skilled work, I found out that there is much
literature about CRM in general, but nearly nothing specified for the traffic and tourism
business. The topic is also very complex and requires advanced business knowledge, so the
work wasn’t always very easy for me. After all, I think I gained a good knowledge about CRM
and the topic is still very interesting for me.
In addition, I have to say thank you to Mrs. Andrea Sussitz from the Verkehrsbüro Group for
her information about the company, to my teacher Mag. Sonja Schusteritsch for her support
and to Mathias Berger.
34 | P a g e
VI. Appendix
35 | P a g e
36 | P a g e
VII. List of literature

Bliemel, F., & Eggert, A. (1998). Kundenbindung: Die neue Sollstrategie? Marketing-ZFP , 1, pp. 37-
45.
Brasch, C.-M., Köder, K., & Rapp, R. (2007). Praxishandbuch Kundenmanagement. Weinheim: WILEY-
VCH.
Diller, H. (2002). Probleme des Kundenwertes als Steuerungsgröße im Kundenmanagement. In H.

Böhler, Marketing-Management und Unternehmensführung (pp. 297-
326). Stuttgart: Gabler.
Elsennweger, T. (2004, Oktober). Ziele von CRM - Strategisches CRM zur Steigerung des
Kundenwertes. Retrieved Februar 11, 2009, from Loyaltix Consulting:
www.loyaltix.at/users/loyaltix/monitor10_04.pdf
Fried, D. (2004). Dr. Fried & Partner. Retrieved Jänner 8, 2009, from Fernstudie CRM:
http://www.fried-partner.de/media/04_CRM.pdf
Gerstl, S. (2008). Special Innovation - Jeder Kundenkontakt zählt. Retrieved November 18, 2008, from
economy Austria: http://economyaustria.at/zeitung
Grönroos, C. (2000). Service Management and Marketing - A Customer Relationship Management

Approach (2 ed.). Chichester: Wiley.
Gruber, A. (2009, Januar). Geschenke für die Treue. bulletin , pp. 12-15.
Helm, S., & Günter, B. (2001). Kundenwert - eine Einführung in die theoretischen und praktischen
Herausforderungen der Bewertung von Kundenbeziehungen. In B.
Günter, & S. Helm, Kundenwert (pp. 3-35). Wiesbaden: Gabler.
Hippner, H., & Wilde, H. D. (2007). Grundlagen des CRM - Konzepte und Gestaltung. Wiesbaden:
Gabler.
Hippner, H., & Wilde, K. (2003). Customer Relationship Management - Strategie und Realisierung. In
R. Teichmann, Customer und Relationship Management (pp. 3-52).
Berlin.
Hoffmann, A., & Pfeiffe, M. (2002, Juni). Kundenbeziehungsmanagement (CRM) in der

Reiseindustrie. Retrieved Februar 11, 2009, from Trends und
Studienergebnisse:
www.05.ibm.com/de/distribution/IBM_UBG_CRM_Studie_Reisebranche
.pdf
Homburg, C., & Bruhn, M. (2005). Kundenbindungsmanagement - Eine Einführung in die

theoretischen und praktischen Problemstellungen. In M. Bruhn, & C.
Homburg, Handbuch Kundenbindungsmanagement (pp. 3-37).
Wiesbaden: Gabler.
37 | P a g e
Lancaster, G., & Reynolds, P. (2002). Marketing - The one semester Introduction. Bodmin:
Butterworth & Heinemann.
Österreichisches Verkehrsbüro AG. (2008, Mai). Geschäftsbericht 07. Retrieved Februar 12, 2009,
from www.verkehrsbuero.at
Pressey, A., & Mathews, B. (2000). Barriers to relationship marketing in consumer retailing. Journal
of Services Marketing , 14 (3), pp. 272-286.
Statistik Austria. (2008). Urlaubs und Geschäftsreisen.
Sussitz, A. (2009). CRM in the Verkehrsbüro Group. (D. Leitner, Interviewer)
Verkehrsbüro Group. (2009). Retrieved Februar 12, 2009, from

http://www.verkehrsbuero.com/index.asp?b=T
Weiber, R., & Weber, M. (2000). Customer Lifetime Value als Entscheidungsgröße im Customer
Relationship Marketing. In R. Weiber, & M. Weber, Handbuch Electronic
Business. Wiesbaden.
38 | P a g e
VIII. Table of Figures

Figure 1: Chronological development of the Relationship Management................................................................ 6
Figure 2: Distinction between the terms ................................................................................................................. 8
Figure 3: CRM in the Customer life cycle ................................................................................................................. 9
Figure 4: Potentials of the Customer value ........................................................................................................... 10
Figure 5: Tasks of CRM in the Phases of the Customer Relationship Cycle ........................................................... 12
Figure 6: Core competences in the CRM process................................................................................................... 13
Figure 7: Functional Chain of CRM ........................................................................................................................ 15
Figure 8: Motivations for Travelling 2007 ............................................................................................................. 18
Figure 9: Customer Portfolio ................................................................................................................................. 19
Figure 10: Customer Related Service in the Phases of the Customer Process ....................................................... 21
Figure 11: Core business of the Verkehrsbüro Group ............................................................................................ 26
Figure 12: Call-back-Service of the Verkehrsbüro Group....................................................................................... 30
Figure 13: Client and booking search .................................................................................................................... 31
Figure 14: Chart of service providers ..................................................................................................................... 32
39 | P a g e

CRM in Traffic Business

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Customer

Glanegg, 02 March 2009 Daniel Leitner

II. General Overview of the CRM

• The amount of consumer customers and business clients is decreasing due to

i. Chronological perspective of the Customer management3

The 70s: The Orientation Phase

The 80s: The Contact Phase

The 90s: The Relationship Phase

The 00s: The Value Phase

Orientation Contacts Relationships Value

Strategy Customer Customer - Finances

1970 1980 1990 2000

Phase Period Department Activities/ Further

Customer 1980- Quality management 90: Satisfaction measuring

Customer strategy 1995- Business 99: Lufthansa Passage/ Team

CRM 1995- Customer Contact/ IT 98: Data Warehouse System

In a great measure there is no exact distinction between “Relationship Marketing” and

The so called “Relationship Marketing” is principally concerned with attracting, maintaining

Customer Relationship Management

Prospect Existing customer Time

New customer Lost customer

Figure 3: CRM in the Customer life cycle

Therefore there are 4 central goals of CRM10:

1. Identification and winning of profitable customers (Customer value identification)

Figure 4: Potentials of the Customer value

Initiation Socialization Growth and Revitalization

Goal Customer Customer Customer

Figure 5: Tasks of CRM in the Phases of the Customer Relationship Cycle

e. Core competences of the CRM16:

Information and communication technology:

Figure 6: Core competences in the CRM process

f. Functional Chain of CRM17

• Market position and –dynamic

Conception of a Customer Relationship Strategy

Customer Oriented Reorganisation

Economical success due to

Figure 7: Functional Chain of CRM

III. CRM in a travel agency

b. The travel agency as a customer oriented company

That means for the company:

The processes in the Front Office and also

c. Implementation of CRM in a travel agency18

1. Understand 3. Strengthen 4. Benefit

Information for the travel agency19:

Type of holiday (Requirement

Resulting to the CRM-approach

Past value of the customer

Quantitative (expected revenues

The management should

Star customers: high present

Question marks: high potential

”Poor dogs”: low present value

low Present customer value high

Stars Question marks Cash-cows Poor dogs

Multichannel management in the travel agency21:

Conversation Phone call Mail Telefax E-mail

Travel agency Mobile travel agent Telefone contact Homepage

Most of the customers change the kind of media

Every channel has to have the same

necessary information frequently to the company. Such an information exchange between

Examples for contact occasions24:

Requirements for the travel agency:

IV. Case study: Österreichisches Verkehrsbüro AG

(Verkehrsbüro Group, 2009)