Passenger & Airport Solutions
Customer Loyalty Management
Contents Introducing Mercator
Introducing Mercator 1 At Mercator we are dedicated to making We have it all figured out so you no longer
airline profits soar. That is our one clear and have to worry. The formula that leads to
The Mercator Advantage 3
simple aim. We achieve this through the happy relationships is a complex one, yet
Customer Loyalty Management 4
development of customer loyalty systems we’re confident that we have found the
CRIS 7 geared specifically to the needs of today’s solution. Our tried and tested systems create
Contacts 12 aviation industry. an environment in which you can grow a
thriving base of satisfied customers and retain
We recognise that as the airline business
their long term loyalty.
becomes more competitive, you have to fight
harder than ever to retain your most valuable Your customers benefit from the increased
customers, putting a strain on your limited recognition and rewards that they deserve,
resources. That’s why airlines around the whilst you benefit from our innovative ideas
world are turning to Mercator for the answers. which help you to drive down costs,
And we have them. streamline processes and boost profits.
1
The Mercator Advantage
At Mercator we have the best of both worlds. Our customer loyalty systems are scrutinised,
As well as having a unique collective customer inspected and tested to the finest level, until
loyalty management and IT experience, we we know we’ve got it right.
are part of the Emirates Group – one of the
The end result is the most solid of foundations
world’s leaders in travel and aviation.
for our solutions and services. These are
As such, we have been intimately involved designed exclusively to help airlines grow
with powering the Group’s success every their businesses and their profits.
step of the way, through ground-breaking And you don’t just have to take our word for
solutions, informed business consultancy and it. Our ever-growing family of users from
implementation services – all backed up by around the world proves that our solutions
world-class technology. deliver what they promise. Whether working
with regional operators or with the largest
Soar. Our professionals pride themselves on finding
the answers to your problems and on
global carriers, Mercator transforms the way
airlines do business.
delivering proven solutions to future
challenges. Put simply, they know what needs
to be done, and they do it.
3
Customer Loyalty Management
Frequent flyers now have a bewildering It gives you complete flexibility to define
choice of options when making their winning strategies customised to exactly
travel arrangements. They are presented fit your needs, the needs of your customers
with an increasingly diverse choice and the market in which you operate.
from competitors who would be more
Your customers will get the recognition
than happy to lure away your most
that they deserve, and will thank you for
frequent travellers.
it with their long-term loyalty. What’s
This means that you have to work harder more, a continual stream of quality
than ever to keep hold of your most customer information will help you
valuable customers. Loyalty has
undoubtedly become the key weapon
better understand your customer and
create the services to match their needs
Faithful.
in the battle to secure the maximum possible well into the future.
revenue and competitive advantage.
On the following pages we describe
That’s why we have developed a our approach to customer loyalty
customer loyalty management solution management, and introduce our
which makes everyone a winner. Your system - CRIS.
customers will enjoy unparalleled levels
of service through a range of innovative,
appealing and user-friendly features.
You will boost your revenues and
profitability through long-term loyalty
and repeat business.
4
CRIS
Passenger & Airport Solutions
Customer Loyalty Management
Introduction Business Benefits
Technical Information
It is all too easy for airline passengers to feel as if they are very • Allows airlines to flexibly design and continually evolve their
small, unimportant pieces in a much larger puzzle. That’s why it is frequent flyer programmes
so important to recognise your passengers for who they are – • Empowers the marketing unit to deliver highly effective and
valued customers who deserve to be treated as individuals with their targeted campaigns at segments of the FFP or at partner groups,
own specific needs. through a powerful rules engine
• Provides a comprehensive database of PNR records, which are
CRIS gives you the power to do just this. It is the driving force
used for automatic updating of FFP data and service recovery
behind truly innovative and dynamic customer loyalty and frequent
• Delivers easy integration and Internet access to customers and
flyer programmes (FFPs) and assures your airline of a long-term
staff for enrolment, redemption and an integrated view of the
solid base of loyal, happy customers.
customer. APIs support call centres, reservations, check-in and
CRIS’ inherent flexibility and scalability means that it can be used personalised customer services – enabling CRM at all touchpoints.
by any carrier, from small regional players to the largest global • Provides the highest functional coverage for member and
carrier. Its powerful rules engine means that the system can be customer management, programme management, partner
tailored to meet the demands of any marketplace. management and fulfilment handling
• Tracks, monitors and processes complaints through an integrated
CRIS allows you to provide the best possible service to your
service recovery module
customers by providing a unique, unified view of the customer on
• Proactively helps to solve issues before they become problems
user-friendly screens. It delivers an unrivalled relationship
management tool, differentiating service and driving profitability
through repeat business.
7
CRIS
Passenger & Airport Solutions
Customer Loyalty Management
Key Features
Rules Engine Administration Tier Management Mileage Redemption
• CRIS has a powerful interface to define the rules for various • The CRIS administration module facilitates easy one-time set up • CRIS supports multiple user-defined tiers • Miles can be redeemed in real time for flights on the host carrier
promotions, member qualifications and tier changes. and maintenance of reference data such as customer types, • Tier change criteria are configured into the system. Changes through the reservation system interface, thereby streamlining
• Three types of rules can be defined in CRIS: activity types, enrolment methods, and tiers occur automatically when the necessary criteria are met and the processes and removing the need for manual intervention
- Promotional • CRIS uses Oracle's scheduling feature to execute off-line jobs appropriate fulfilment procedure is triggered • Members can redeem multiple activities in one transaction. For
Promotional rules are triggered by member earning activities, such as tier upgrades, card fulfilment mailing lists and welcome • Tier change criteria can be configured for individual markets example, a flight, hotel accommodation and car hire can be
useful for marketing promotion campaigns. The miles earned are letter mailing lists redeemed as a single reward
Mileage Accrual
recorded as bonus miles and a special "miles to dollar" rate can • CRIS maintains letter templates used for communications by the • Cancellations are also managed in CRIS with options to specify
Miles can be earned as tier miles, miles or bonus miles.
be associated. Special cases of "member get member" and call centre agents cancellation charges or percentage of miles returned to the
• Tier miles are used to transfer members across tiers
corporate bonus rules can be set • CRIS security can be maintained at group and user levels. Access member’s account
• Miles are earned to claim various member rewards
- Conditional to different modules can be restricted at both levels • The system supports flexible zonal mapping to compute
• Bonus miles can be awarded on marketing campaigns driven by
Conditional rules are used to indicate member qualification into • The CRIS rules engine is defined and controlled at the redemption miles required for rewards
member profile, activity attributes and historic trends
the programme. Multiple conditional rules can be set up in the system administration level • Administration charges are managed, such as rush delivery and
• Miles can be automatically credited to the member’s account:
- Tier change cancellation fees
Enrolments - Via the PNR repository
Tier change rules are used to upgrade or downgrade members
• CRIS acts as a single repository for the various types of defined - Through text file uploads for partner activities Family Programme
across tiers
customers together with their profile information across different channels • The expiry period for miles can be configured into the system as • CRIS supports the management of a family programme. One
• The prerequisites for the application of these rules can be set
• Customers can be enrolled in a number of ways: per your requirements, e.g. with oldest miles being burned first member is nominated as the head and any number of family
based upon the following criteria, thus enhancing the power of
- Over the web • Retrospective claims can also be handled in CRIS. For example: members can be supported
the rules engine:
- Online by a customer services agent while talking to the customer - A passenger fails to show his FFP membership card at check-in. • Each named person is a full FFP member in their own right,
- Member profile details such as tier, territory or country
- Batch enrolments through uploading data files On his return he calls the service centre to claim his miles. The earning miles with a percentage of those miles being posted to the
- History transactions (e.g. the completion of a number of
- Through the reservation system interface call centre agent is able to verify the flown travel by checking head's account
similar transactions)
• CRIS is flexible in defining the customer profile set up the customer data on the PNR repository. Once verified the
- Activity details such as flight number or sector
miles are immediately credited to the member's account.
8 9
CRIS
Passenger & Airport Solutions
Customer Loyalty Management
Corporate Programme PNR Database Interfacing Developments
• CRIS comprehensively manages corporate accounts where normal • CRIS provides a comprehensive database of PNR records, which CRIS is based on the Oracle platform, an open architecture which • CRIS will become fully web-enabled, through the development of
"earn" and "burn" policies apply can be used for: can easily interface with external systems on diverse platforms its front end in .NET
• Special bonus schemes can be configured to individual - Automated updating of FFP data using APIs. The multiple platforms include Microsoft and Java • A data warehousing facility will allow users to extract any
client specifications - Automatic accrual technologies and mainframe applications. information in the database and analyse it in any way to best suit
• Supports the creation and management of frequent flyer - Verification of retro claims
Examples of applications interfacing with CRIS include reservations
the needs of their business
programmes for children - Confirmation of actual travel
systems, websites, computer-telephony integration (CTI) solutions
• A bulletin board will allow the easy dissemination of information
• Personal preferences of FFP members can be automatically to users upon log in
Partner Programme and interactive voice response (IVR) systems.
included in the PNR e.g. meal requirements, preferred seating
• FFP members are able to accrue and redeem miles against various
• Reports can be generated on the travel patterns of each passenger Technical Architecture
organisations with whom the host airline has agreements
CRIS has been developed using state-of-the-art, open and
• Partner contracts are defined in the system and an exchange rate CRIS Messenger scalable technology:
set for each partner • CRIS can be parameterised to send valuable information to
• Oracle database 9i
• A comprehensive partner data exchange module supports partner members. For example, a member may want to know if there is
• Developer 2000 (Oracle Forms, Oracle Reports)
accrual and redemption activities any change in their flight schedule, or the airline may wish to
• Any Oracle-based reporting tool, such as Business Objects
• Member activities are uploaded to CRIS and validated prior to send promotional messages upon qualification to a higher tier.
• Runs on UNIX/Windows NT/Windows 2000
posting the miles in the member's account This can be achieved through automatically sending them an SMS
• Oracle Web Server (Optional)
• Billing reports are automatically generated message or e-mail, either on an ad-hoc basis or as a broadcast
• CITRIX (Optional)
• Double dipping check feature attempts to prevent miles accrual
• MQ Series (Optional)
on multiple programmes for the same travel
CRIS uses stored procedures to support real time access by an
Customer Affairs and Service Audit (CASA) Internet application. Some examples are enrolment, change of
• CASA, an optional module of CRIS, monitors and logs all incoming personal details, viewing of future bookings, registering for
and outgoing customer communication. Should a customer campaigns, mini-statements and detailed statements. CRIS also
complain or compliment, CASA manages the process. It
contains procedures that can be used by an airline reservation
categorises the complaint and then generates a customised or
system to provide real time data exchange. These procedures
standard template letter. The CASA module also facilitates
support the upload of customer profiles to the reservations system
workflow management for investigation and service audit.
and interactive entries for real time redemption.
Compensation profiles can be defined against the complaint categories.
10 11
Contact us.
Mercator
Al Fattan Plaza
PO Box 686
Dubai
UAE
Tel: +971 4 213 3133
Fax: +971 4 213 3170
E-mail: mercator@emirates.com
Web: www.mercator.aero