A man is working late in the office when he remembers it is his mother’s birthday the following day. It is too late to send a birthday card so he surfs the Internet and finds an Interflora florist.
He orders a large bouquet of flowers to be delivered to his mother’s home hundreds of miles away. Eleven and a half months later he receives an e-mail from the same florist reminding him it is his mother’s birthday soon and asking whether he would like to send her flowers again, but perhaps not carnations this time because she got those last year.
The story was set in the USand recounted by Worldspan’s Neil Beck during World Travel Market. It demonstrates impressive relationship marketing. The florist now ‘owns’ that customer and can start marketing other products to him as well.
The story also shows just what high street agents are up against in the millennium. They are competing with new distribution channels which are cheaper and smarter than ever before.
But new technology is not the only way to develop a closer relationship with customers. Thomson’s Shaun Powell enraged agents when he demanded clients’ names and addresses to develop a joint-marketing initiative. While the scheme has had its problems it should not be dismissed. Only the agents which adapt to the increasingly competitive marketplace will survive.
Liz Bird – deputy editor