Thomson makes agent pledge as it embarks on wave of direct mailings

Thomson makes agent pledge as it embarks on wave of direct mailings

THOMSON has pledged not to encourage customers to book direct as it embarks
on a new wave of direct mailings with Preferred Agents.

It is sending pre and post-departure monthly mailings to thousands of
customers across the country after agents supplied the operator with names and
addresses of clients.

Retailers had long resisted Thomson’s requests for customer details amid
fears it would abuse the information and use it to encourage people to bypass
agents and book direct.

However, sales director Manuel Mascarenhas insisted that the joint mailings
will contain no direct-booking information and would encourage customers to
return to the agency where they booked their holiday.

“I have assured agents that direct numbers will not appear on the
mailings,” he said. “This is about a mutual, partnership approach.

“The mailings will be jointly branded with the objective of directing
customers back to the agency where they booked their holiday.”

The fresh wave of mailings follows a year and a half of exhaustive research
and test runs by Thomson.

Mascarenhas said Preferred Agents had now come to terms with handing over
client details.

“Agents and customers have reacted extremely positively to the
mailings,” he said. “We carried out 250,000 test mailings and had no
complaints.”

During the test runs, the booking patterns and habits of thousands of
clients were analysed in order to time the mailings to customers.

Preferred agent scheme