Experts in tailormade holidays and trips, Trailfinders was founded in 1970 by former SAS officer Mike Gooley with a staff of four. Today, it has more than 1,100 employees and 28 travel centres throughout the UK, Ireland and Australia. It relies on Royal Mail in every sphere of its business from marketing to customer service.

Timing is everything
In an increasingly competitve industry, where customers have more choice and flexibility than ever in how they book their holidays, tour operators have to go that extra mile to win new customers and make sure they keep coming back. Louise Breton is the administrative director at Trailfinders and it’s her role to choose which mail company can be trusted to deliver a great service to customers.

‘If a customer calls us they expect their travel details to be on their doormat the next day, or the next working day. We’ve been using Royal Mail First Class, Packetsort™ for five years now and we’ve had no problems at all. We’re very happy with it. It’s a really efficient service.’

Sensitive documents delivered safely
Of course, some travel documents do need to be handled very carefully. With the increasing use of emailed e-tickets Trailfinders rarely needs secure delivery of customer tickets these days, but there are Visas and Passports that require extra safe handling. For this Louise also relies on Royal Mail.

‘We use Special Delivery™ Next Day and we know it’s fast and secure,’ she says. ‘The beauty is that customers know what they are getting with it. It’s a trusted system and it’s nationwide. It is extremely difficult to find an alternative courier that provides a genuinely nationwide next-day delivery service.’

Read all about it
‘Trailfinders’ main marketing tool,’ says Louise, ‘is its glossy, 40-page Trailfinder magazine, which is mailed three times a year – at Christmas, shortly before Easter and during the second week of July.’ The magazine effectively gives people a summary of what Trailfinders is all about, with regular features, articles, ideas for trips and special offers plus a letter that introduces the magazine and flags up a range of travel brochures that are also available. The magazine is mailed to existing customers from the past three years (currently one million people, up from 800,000 in August 2006).

The most recent mailing in July was sent to 1.3 million people (the one million existing customers plus an extra cold data mailing). The mailout was done via Royal Mail Presstream® for 340,000 of the contacts, the remainder being sent via Mailsort® 1400.

What about response rates?
They’re very good we’re pleased to report. Louise reckons that after Trailfinder magazine drops, enquiries to the company leap up. For example, Trailfinders regularly sends out around 2,000 of its brochures each week (via Royal Mail First Class, Packetsort™), but after the Easter and July mailings this increases to 6,000 a week for about three weeks, and up to 8,000 after the Christmas mailings.

Trailfinders needs the most reliable delivery service on offer and one that has solutions to the company’s many postal requirements. Says Louise: ‘I’ve been with Trailfinders for 17 years and we’ve used Royal Mail during that time. It’s been an excellent service.’

1. Expect the unexpected
   When your company promises tailormade holidays then expect some unusual requests. People come to us because we promise something individual so if your company promises a tailormade solution then make sure you can deliver on that promise.
2. Complaints are a learning opportunity
   Working in the travel business is like any other consumer-facing business. We are delivering our customers their dreams and, if for any reason they are unhappy, it’s our job to listen and sort out their problems or queries. Our job doesn’t end when we’ve sold the tickets.
3. Politeness is free
   Never fail to be polite and treat customers with respect. A courteous approach can go far.
4. Let customers know you care
   Once you’ve got a customer keep hold of them by letting them know how you can help them again.
5. Use technology wisely
   The world is changing and your business has to keep up with technology, as it offers huge cost saving and sales-generating opportunities.

• Pre-sort your bulk packets with Packetsort™ and save up to 4%
• Enjoy guaranteed delivery before 1pm or your money back with Special Delivery™ Next Day
• Take advantage of free collections and returns, as well as great savings by using Presstream® for the bulk mailing of magazines, newsletters and journals
• Enjoy a discount of up to 30% when you sort your large mailings with Mailsort® 1400