Virgin Holidays claims huge uplift in member numbers

Virgin Holidays has the rest of the group knocking on its door following its latest successes in its customer loyalty strategy. The tour operator has reported a 96% increase in loyalty club household members, a 22% increase in loyalty bookings and an uplift of 25% in loyalty revenue since implementing a business-wide customer focus in…

Virgin Holidays has the rest of the group knocking on its door following its latest successes in its customer loyalty strategy.

The tour operator has reported a 96% increase in loyalty club household members, a 22% increase in loyalty bookings and an uplift of 25% in loyalty revenue since implementing a business-wide customer focus in recent months.

Speaking at the TTI conference in London last week, Virgin Holidays CRM general manager Helen Litvak said the business was never going to be 100% customer centric but was seen as best practise by the rest of the group.

“It has not happened over night but we can hold our heads up high that what we have invested is beginning to pay off.”

Litvak advised delegates to be prepared to spend 18 months to two years and decide whether they wanted their companies to be customer centric or product centric.

“You really have to get the board and the managing director on side and you really have to believe in it.”

She also admitted there had been resistance to change which was overcome by targeting each different department separately.

“You have to target their needs and appreciate every department has their own target.”

The next steps for Virgin Holidays include ways to use mobile to communicate with different sets of customers.