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