Travelex's Phenomenal Success with CRM

Company Profile

Travelex is currently the world's largest foreign exchange company. It has branches in 35 countries worldwide with 700 retail branches andcatering to 6,000 customers. Its customer database is constantly growing thanks to the implementation of a CRM solution. The company currently acquired Thomas Cook Global&Financial Services. It employs around 6,000 people. Its services can be availed of 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It is currently a global leader in technology and innovation.

Travelex services include Worldwide Air Ticketing, Business Itinerary Planning, Vacation Itinerary Planning, Free&Easy Tours, Coach Touring Holidays, Foreign Exchange/Travelers Cheques, Vacation Itinerary Planning, Local&International Cruises, Travel Account Management, Hotel Arrangements, and Limousine Transfer/Car Rentals etc. Its retail branches are found at all the important tourist and business centers globally and also at crucial centers near airports, seaports and railways. Travelex Insurance endeavors to provide for travel investment, emergency medical expenses etc. Travelex insurance protection packages provide financial security against accidents that are unforeseen.

Travelex is right now the largest non-bank provider of foreign exchange services. It manages to provide integrated solutions for businesses worldwide. It boasts of offering a plethora of high quality travel packages and offers innovative products at very affordable prices. Travelex stays true to its commitment to help companies to manage their travel through the provision of value-added services. Their knowledgeable travel consultants are able to give crucial advice to customers at low costs. Travelex offers various services for business customers and helps them manage global payments and receipts.

Travelex Implements CRM

The Problem

It was found that the absence of a consolidated customer database had become a major hassle that prevented the growth of the business. This affected the customer service offered by the company. It was clear that a solution was required. Travelex branches had already adopted CRM solutions like Siebel, salesforce.com, Goldmine etc. Since different regions of Travelex had adopted different CRM solutions Travelex did not have a consolidated view of its corporate customers. Although the different regions could have been dealing with the same customer it was difficult to identify this, collate the required data and ultimately develop the required global reports.

In addition to this there was time wastage for various personnel as forecasting was a tedious and time consuming task. Also the data that was collated in the various regions was often less than accurate. This affected the customer process significantly. Another problem was the fact that the CRM solution chosen were complex in nature and posed a lot of difficulty for the people using them. As a result of this it was not opted for by many individuals. Therefore Travelex sought a solution that would cater to all these problems adequately. The requirement was a solution that would be user friendly, require less implementation time, was cost effective and could be installed globally.

The Solution

After studying the various solutions being implemented in its branches worldwide and finding that the best response had come from North America who had implemented salesforce.com, Travelex went on to select salesforce.com's Enterprise Edition. This Enterprise Edition enables users to update contacts anywhere. An advantage of this Web-based solution is that it can be customized centrally, which provides a consistent picture across the globe. The solution was then implemented across almost 100 Countries. This was initially implemented for 305 users in three months in five different continents simultaneously. The result was a consolidated customer database achieved in a brief time span.

The reasons for choosing Sales force included the fact that it was easy to use and that the administration time was less. Salesforce.com was able to provide for enterprise-class CRM software per user. Therefore it cut down the need to install, maintain or buy the software and hardware that was required. This resulted in considerable cost reduction. Also because salesforce.com was Web based, it was infinitely easier to implement globally. The company found that there were no hidden costs involved. The other advantage was a reduction in maintenance, support etc. since all customers are able to avail of these services free of costs. Travelex has proved to be a real CRM success story.

CRM Results

The normal time that was needed to market new products was reduced. In addition to that the time spent in forecasting and reporting had also decreased. It helped the company acquire more knowledge about its major customers. Travelex, as a result of this CRM implementation acquired a more coordinated approach to its customers. This enabled the company to have a holistic picture across all continents. It also helped the sales executives in their dealings with their customers which increased the revenue potential of the company. In addition the customer experience was greatly improved. salesforce.com's CRM solution also managed to increase the response time and enabled the sales and service sector to share vital information which was fundamental to the growth of the organization.

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