Helping a leading cruise operator deliver a better customer experience

Making a splash with Zoho CRM

When you’re taking guests on luxury cruises around the globe, you need instant access to data insights to ensure the best customer experience.

Yet Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines data systems were not providing the 360° view the business needed. We caught up with Nicki Gordon, Head of CRM Implementation, to learn how A2Z Cloud has transformed their cruise operations – with Zoho CRM.

The customer

With a 175-year heritage and 4500 staff, Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines takes guests on many incredible journeys around the globe, sailing from five ports across the UK. The firm has won Cruise Critic’s award for best itineraries for five years in a row.

“Delivering the best customer experience is our priority,” explains Nicki Gordon, Head of CRM Transformation. “Back in 2019, the business had a customer database that served a purpose but it didn’t go further in capturing guest data or insights. It was clear that the business needed to invest in a CRM.”

After researching various options, the team decided that Zoho would best meet their needs. Having appointed an initial development partner, the CRM implementation was completed in 2020.

“This period coincided with COVID when none of our ships were sailing, so it proved difficult testing the new CRM,” says Nicki.

There were other challenges, too. During the project, it was decided that the incredibly complex booking data should be housed separately from the CRM. Booking data included everything from dining bookings to guest medical details and cruise history. But this meant that Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines staff were still using two separate systems to find guest information – which was slow and cumbersome.

Rethinking the project

So, when Nicki joined Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines as Head of the CRM project in 2022, she started looking at how the CRM could work more effectively for them.

We had an incredibly smart piece of kit but it just wasn’t structured in the best way possible for us,” explains Nicki.

“From our feasibility studies, we knew that Zoho was the right product for us. However, we needed to strip it back and look at how the data could be restructured to give a 360° view of our guests and make it more accessible for our users.”

That same year, Nicki attended Zoholics (Zoho’s flagship annual conference) where she was introduced to A2Z Cloud, alongside some of their clients and other Zoho users.

“I wanted to understand more about how we could get the most out of Zoho,” says Nicki.

“We subsequently reached out to A2Z Cloud to talk about how they could restructure the CRM for us,” she adds. “They took on board our requirements and understood exactly what needed to be done.”

Streamlining processes, reducing costs

A2Z Cloud’s first challenge was to look at how guest and booking data could be knitted together – which was no easy task. The developers went back to the drawing board, working with Nicki and her team to understand their business needs and find the right solution. As a result, they were able to bring the data together in the CRM.

“The benefit to the guest is that we’re able to access all their data in one place – helping us deliver the best service possible,” says Nicki. “From an operational perspective, this has also saved us a significant amount of money as we’re only using Zoho CRM.”

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines guest services log, which records incidents like cabin repairs and lost property, was also brought into the new CRM. Previously, these details were circulated by email on a spreadsheet – a time-consuming and laborious process. Now, staff can readily access this information within the CRM, enabling them to track any incidents from start to completion in real time.

Minimising the risk of data duplication

A2Z Cloud has also worked with the Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines team to address the problem of data duplication. Guests book cruises in many different ways – via the website, travel agents and through the company’s call centre. This increases the risk of data duplication for repeat customers. So, a two-pronged approach was needed.

A2Z Cloud teamed up with data migration experts Migrate Data to standardise and move more than 30 million rows of data effectively into the new CRM environment. And then they implemented further measures to prevent duplicates being created.

Improved guest insights and feedback

Alongside the task of restructuring the data, Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines also wanted the new CRM to deliver deeper guest insights.

A2Z Cloud’s developers created a simple but effective way to capture guest feedback on their return from a cruise using a one-click email. As a result, each ship now has instant access to guest ‘sentiment’ data to help them understand what’s worked well on each cruise and what they could do differently next time.

“This means we’re able to make better operational decisions and also keep our marketing on track,” says Nicki.

Making these changes has enabled Fred. Olsen to deliver a 2% year-on-year increase in their NPS (guest sentiment) score.

The new CRM is now playing a critical role in the company’s marketing activities. For example, the team has recently automated its Welcome Home email marketing campaign using Zoho CRM and Zoho Surveys, which delivers a significant ROI for the firm. The campaign gives customers an exclusive discount if they book another cruise within 30 days. This automation would not have been possible without the CRM enhancements.

Looking ahead

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines is now working with A2Z Cloud to make even greater use of the Zoho suite of products within the business. This month, Zoho Desk is being introduced shore side to support the guest services team. In the longer term, Fred. Olsen may look to extend its use on board their ships.

Nicki and the team are thrilled with the results of the Zoho CRM project – and the support provided by A2Z Cloud.

“I’d absolutely recommend Zoho CRM as a flexible and adaptable product,” says Nicki. “I’ve yet to find something that it can’t do.

“Equally, A2Z Cloud have provided a fantastic service to help us deliver this successfully. Their support has been really comprehensive. They’ve felt like an extension of the team – just like colleagues,” she adds.

“They’ve also been really responsive on the few occasions where we’ve needed support out of hours. I can’t thank them enough.”