MAXIMISING GROUP SALES AND BOOKING MANAGEMENT WITH GROUPS NEXT GEN

Transcription

1 MAXIMISING GROUP SALES AND BOOKING MANAGEMENT WITH GROUPS NEXT GEN Published 2017 By Calrom

2 A problematic landscape Industry overview; What issues are facing airlines Groups departments... Managing group bookings is a challenge, any airline can tell you this. Booking a flight for a typical leisure holiday is simple, but when you re flying 200 people for a conference from multiple locations on varying dates, it becomes markedly harder. Factor in the multiple splits of PNR s, date and route changes, upgrades, chasing deposits and passenger information, issuing tickets, selling ancillaries, and ensuring compliance against the terms and conditions; the list is never ending and the complexity is substantial. Many airlines are managing these processes manually, administering forms or fielding calls to take travel agent requests, and then processing them through the PSS and GDS chain - with manual intervention between. The overheads are considerable and meanwhile, the agent has become frustrated at the time taken, and risks losing the sale.

3 Although an essential, and growing part of the revenue mix, for many airlines the Groups handling function continues to be difficult to manage, labour intensive, and yield dilutive. Warren Daws Commercial Director, Calrom

4 Industry overview;...and what are airlines striving to achieve? OBTAIN CONTROL & INCREASE YIELD Airlines want full control of the Groups process from initial registration and availability request through to ticketing and remittance, ensuring compliance revenue is identified and collected. Improve productivity and reduce distribution costs, and improve customer satisfaction by providing self-servicing tools, which enabled Travel Agents to manage their own bookings based on the terms and conditions applied. INCREASE SALES & REDUCE DISTRIBUTION COSTS Airlines are looking to grow groups sales and maximise additional revenue opportunities such as ancillaries, whilst also reducing their distribution costs. IMPROVED PRODUCTIVITY & EXPANDED REACH Airlines seek to release skilled staff from carrying out unnecessary tasks in the Groups booking process by offering a self-servicing element to customers. They are also targeting wider market penetration, be that globally, or into markets outside of the travel industry.

5 Like many Airlines, Qantas was able to price group bookings. However, this could be a lengthy drawn-out process which could run into a number of days. Groups Next Gen provided an automated, real-time solution. The management thereafter remained a complex manual process, which became a barrier to growth in this market. Once again, Groups Next Gen provided an instantaneous solution for the effective management of group bookings throughout their life cycle. Gerard Dignan Head of Revenue Management Systems, Qantas

6 The solution Introducing Groups Next Gen from Calrom UK based software development company, Calrom, provides software services to world-renowned airlines from their unique position as the technical division supporting Lime Management, a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) company, and Aviate World, a Travel Service company. This unique perspective means the company fully understands the complexities of Groups and was best placed to develop a system where technology, sales and operations are fully in-tune. Technically innovative yet simple to use Globally adaptable PSS and pricing system agnostic for easy integration

7 Groups Next Gen has evolved to its present form over the last 10 years, its design and functionality drawn from multiple generations of products designed specifically for the Groups market. Jon Fisher Technical Director, Calrom

8 Exploring the benefits What has Groups Next Gen enabled for airlines? EMPOWERMENT ATTAINED Groups Next Gen provides full control over all processes beyond pricing which is monitored and managed using multiple terms and conditions based on market, agency, itinerary, and dates. This administers automated fail-safe enforcement and revenue optimisation PLUS REVENUE FROM COMPLIANCE GAINED SALES INCREASED & GLOBAL REACH EXPANDED Airlines have significantly grown their Groups sales from their traditional customer base and have been able to open up sales in untapped sectors PLUS LESS TRADITIONAL MARKETS PENETRATED PRODUCTIVITY IMPROVED IMPROVED PRODUCTIVITY & COSTS & EXPANDED LOWERED REACH Intuitive Airlines booking seek self-servicing to release skiled and staff workflow from carrying functionality out unnecessary ensure tasks the agent in the receives group booking the best process service, by offering while helping a self-servicing the airline element to customers. They to maximise also need their support efficiencies. for market penetration, be that globally, or into markets outside of the travel industry - according to PLUS SYSTEM IS their FULLY wider AUTOMATED strategy.

9 This platform provided a high definition picture of the groups market place which was previously indeterminable. We can now see distinct patterns in customer behaviour and sales cycles which have fed directly into the business strategy. The Groups Next Gen project has been a huge success for Qantas. We have met or exceeded all of our key objectives, and have realised additional benefits and revenues too, thus we re positioned to utilize the groups market much more strategically. Nathan Smeulders Manager: Agency Sales, Qantas

10 Day-to-day enhancement for all users Creating measurable impact at user-level Groups Next Gen (GNG) has not only proven to increase group sales, revenue opportunities and network availability - but it s improved customer service for the airline and their customer s with improved user experience, helping to reduce operating and distribution costs. GNG allows airlines to automate and manage the entire group booking process from end to end. This enables a faster registration process, and enables customers to immediately benefit from 24/7 real-time pricing, booking, ticketing, and management. Automating a large proportion of our manual processes, and providing our trade customers with intelligent self-servicing tools has had a hugely positive impact on our groups operations. The system s workflow functions enable us to provide the highest standards of service and control the Groups process from end-to-end, whilst also allowing us more time to support our customers with the group sales process. As testament to our success, in May 2016 we won the Best Technology Innovation category with GNG at the AFTA National Travel Industry Awards. Nathan Smeulders Manager: Agency Sales, Qantas

11 In addition, airlines can manage and apply market and/or customer specific terms and conditions, and integrate to their own revenue management pricing system or elect to utilise GNG s integrated fares engine for weighted average pricing. Meanwhile, travel agents are able to access their group account at their convenience through an airline branded marketing portal, and have full control over their bookings from availability and pricing through to ticketing via GNG (reducing costs to the airline) or in their own GDS.

12 A true end-to-end service between all parties Beyond an intuative Groups system Calrom don t believe one size fits all; our partnership is as dynamic as our Groups platform. We provide a whole solution with support beyond handing over a system. Complete project Complete planning project planning Ongoing website & system support White-label system with bespoke features Training & on-site operators floor-walking to assist launch Front-end website design, build and hosting and on budget. time

13 Global usability GNG currently operates in North American, European, Asian and Australian markets, where the system is configured to issue confirmations, reminders, terms and conditions, and notifications in the relevant language, as well as price in the required currency. Approaching our modernisation project; we found nothing which appeared to complement our objectives, nor meet the standard to which Groups Next Gen appeared to have set the bar. The system demonstrations and project plan that Calrom provided from our initial discussions and throughout gave the level of detail we needed to show how Groups Next Gen could work specifically for us. The reality of working with the system certainly didn t fall short of the promise. Calrom have proven to be a collaborative partner with additional market roll-outs and system enhancements being managed well, delivered on timee Brett Anders Business Technology Manager, Qantas

14 Groups Next Gen provides airlines with a unique Groups sales opportunity; empowering the Groups & Revenue Management functions to drive yield and load optimisation, whilst also reducing distribution costs. We ve successfully improved the productivity of the Groups function for global airlines, enabling sales growth as well as the collection of compliance revenue, incorporated customisation to monetise ancillaries, and most significantly, enhanced satisfaction and engagement from traditional customers such as their travel agencies, as well provided the airline with the facilities to open up sales in new sectors. Warren Daws Commercial Director, Calrom

15 Visit calrom.com/gng CALROM Follow linkedin.com/companies/groups-next-gen Enquire aviateworld.com/gng