Thomas Cook has chosen Group 1 Software`s DOC1 Series 5 in order to further develop its customer communications strategy…
Thomas Cook has chosen Group 1 Software`s DOC1 Series 5 in order to further develop its customer communications strategy. The company was seeking a solution that could offer co-ordinated Customer Communications Management (CCM) with four objectives: taking in customer data from many sources, making it available through different systems, creating and standardising documentation for more efficient and effective production and distribution, and finally storing an archive of customer communications that can be automatically updated and retrieved to help answer customer service queries.
Over the last few years, Thomas Cook has grown by acquisition, now encompassing seven major travel brands, such as Thomas Cook, JMC, Club 18-30 and Neilson. Each brand has its own distinct appeal and has been retained. Furthermore, Thomas Cook brands sell through several channels – high street outlets, call centres website and Thomas Cook TV. Add to this the fact that Thomas Cook also belongs to `T4`, a co-operative association of the country`s largest travel agents, which processes orders for each other`s products. In systems terms, the Thomas Cook group of companies found itself running a legacy of many order processing systems, billing formats, and so on.
The company recognised the need to consolidate this system disparity in order to deliver consistent and efficient customer service. On the other hand, the company did not wish to go through the major expense, disruption and risk of replacing tried and tested operational systems. The solution would have to be an application that could draw data out Thomas Cook group companies` legacy system in order to present customers with a consistent and unified front end, albeit branded to each individual company. It would also have to achieve this consolidating effect not only across company systems but also across sales channels.
Marian Manson, Programme Manager, IT and Projects Thomas Cook comments;
Group 1 Software`s DOC1 Series 5 was selected as the most suitable solution to meet Thomas Cook`s objectives. DOC1 provides a fully integrated solution, which enabled the implementation of our customer strategy. It was then complemented with software and hardware from customer communications company Pitney Bowes, in order to provide end-to-end delivery of customer communications, invoices, tickets and targeted offers for additional products.
DOC1 Series 5 is the cornerstone of Group 1`s Customer Communications Management (CCM) solution, which simplifies the gathering and manipulation of data, streamlines document creation and distribution, and ensures that information is accessible and secure. It is designed to achieve additional return on investment from existing legacy systems, taking multiple data sources, processing those inflows into a consistent format, and then applying that data to billing, marketing communications, analysis or management information applications.
She further comments, Major savings on paper stock and batch management have been achieved using the centralised generate, print and mail system, while providing a consistent interface with the customer across all brands and channels. Archive and retrieval is now available online in high street outlets and in the call centre for customer query handling. Cross-selling offers can be variably inserted depending on customer purchases, which makes marketing more targeted.
In short, Thomas Cook has been able to retain its tried and tested legacy systems, while using the Group 1/Pitney Bowes solution to manage multiple data streams, improve efficiencies, enhance management information, and deliver a consistent face to the customer.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
