This Week's Herman Trend Alert Green Banks Thrive

The Herman Trend Alert May 1, 2002 Airlines in a Quandary The airlines in the United States have traditionally paid a commission to travel agents for selling their services and providing the ticketing for customers to fly on their planes. Professional travel agents have provided the important services of itinerary design, explanations, consideration of alternative routes, and other time-consuming tasks for their customers. Valuable relationships have been built over many years. The commissions paid by airlines neutralized the need for travel agents to charge for these services. Now the airlines have changed their policy. No more commissions will be paid to the thousands of independent travel agents who have served their customers so well. The airlines want to keep the profit, through their reservation centers (telephone) and web sites (electronic). This shift is controversial, and airlines around the world are watching to see if they should follow this new design. How is it working? Travel agents report an increase in business! And customers seem willing to pay a fee for assistance from these professionals they trust. Customers tell tales of long waits to talk with reservations agents who seem more interested in closing the deal and moving on to the next customer. The same relationship isn't there, and the airline employees usually can't answer the extra questions for concerned travelers. All they know is the flight information. Travel agents report that their business travelers have not switched over to the Internet reservation systems. Unlike our upcoming Millennial generation that loves technology, many business customers don't want to take time to navigate through the airline websites and they are concerned that they may not be getting the best schedule. Random calls to airline employees working in the reservation centers revealed a sense of overload. There's just too much call volume to handle well. Customers are upset and workers are pushed toward burn-out. What's the answer? Hire more airline employees to answer the calls? Heavy costs have already caused massive airline layoffs. Longer waits antagonize customers even more. We forecast that airlines will realize they've bitten off more than they can chew. Commissions to travel agents are a cheaper and more effective alternative. © Copyright 1998- by The Herman Group, Inc. -- reproduction for publication is encouraged, with the following attribution: From "The Herman Trend Alert," by Roger Herman and Joyce Gioia, Strategic Business Futurists. (800) 227-3566 or http://www.hermangroup.com. The Herman Trend Alert is a trademark of The Herman Group, Inc." ANNOUNCING: EMPLOYER OF CHOICE® WORKSHOPS Have you wanted to be recognized as an Employer of Choice®? The first step is to send your champion to The Employer of Choice® Workshop. In Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam (17 and 18 March), Singapore (23 and 24 March), and Accra, Ghana (Week of 29 March), we will hold these two-day learning experiences. We will also hold a workshop in the United States in April. For more information, contact Joyce at 336-210-3548 or email, her: joyce@hermangroup.com. She will refer you to the local sponsor. LOOKING FOR A DYNAMIC KEYNOTE SPEAKER WITH A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE? You need look no farther. Joyce Gioia (joy-yah) is a sought-after speaker in Asia as well as Europe, and of course the United States. Joyce shares her knowledge and expertise about talent engagement and retention with business executives around the globe. Her understandings and insights will inform and fascinate you. For more information on Joyce's topics, call Carol McKinney at 336-282-9370 or visit the web site at http://www.hermangroup.com/joyce.html. GOOD SELECTION = BETTER RETENTION If you are not using pre-employment assessments, you are flying without radar---not very smart in today's highly competitive environment. Let us help you better understand your candidates and your employees. In less than 30 minutes, you will know if they can do the job (abilities); their work behaviors, even their personality and attitudes (like integrity & ethics), and those can't be trained. It's very cost effective, too! For more information, contact Joyce at 336-210-3548 or e-mail assessments@hermangroup.com. Validated for many countries and cultures. We offer in-depth help with job descriptions, too! http://www.hermangroup.com/assessments.html Herman Trend Alerts are produced by the Herman Group, strategic business futurists, Certified Management Consultants, authors, and professional speakers. New subscribers are welcome. There is no charge for this public service. The Herman Trend Alert is received by over 30,000 subscribers in 78 countries, in addition to other websites and printed magazines. Do you enjoy receiving this weekly e-mail update? Contact us about our co-branded Trend Alert service. Click here to sign up for the Herman Trend Alert. 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