Or so it is an inno ation o the new grid 2

A real outcry. or se eral weeks, the SNC is copiously name calling on di erent websites-y on one o his own (A length o emails, customers him criticize changed its policy o loyalty... without really is putting orms.) These ery angry tra elers pestent against the hardening o the scales o allocation and expenditure o the Miles, points earned or the purchase o the train ticket, that you can then con ert to ree tra el.

The more angry Undoubtedly, the customers, who buy their tickets at the price ery because they want them exchangeable and re undable until the last moment. and then there are also customers ' requency', to which the purchase o a card subscription gi es right to a reduction o 50 on the Pro tari . These two categories o tra ellers are now penalized se eral securities. They irst su ered price increases in recent years ery much higher in lation, and more important than those applied to the leisure rates. On some trains o the line Paris-Libourne, or example, the ticket price jumped more than 20 between January 2007 and may 2010, in subscription requency second class, and the annual subscription, 10 coupon. But, in addition, these customers ha e disco ered in ebruary on the ace o their transcripts to Miles, without ha ing been pre iously in ormed, that the number o points may be accumulated on their Grand tra eller loyalty card had been brutally re iewed to decline. "1.25 point to purchase 1 euro, 2 pre iously" requency second, orce ully and Aurélien, ebruary 9, the site o the SNC , adding: "there just o er a year, it was 4 to Miles or 1 euro to purchase requency second.

Points less, more promotions

A mis ortune ne er arri ing only, the customer also disco ered that at the same time, should acquire more i Miles to obtain a ree ticket: 4,900 Miles i or example a Mini-Prime round-trip irst ticket against 3,700, not so long ago. Or so, it is an inno ation o the new grid, 2.900 i Miles only, but i add 15 euros in his pocket, i.e. to accept to pay or a ticket... o ered! At this rate, some 2,500 ree tickets awarded each day by the SNC - about 1 o its o er - should be seriously chipped in the near uture.

Commercial Director, marketing and SNC tra el in ormation systems, the branch in charge o the train lines, Pascal Delorme assumes. "In iew o the a erage basket o a passenger rail, signi icantly lower than that o an air tra eller, we had gone too ar in generosity", he says, putting the problem in a broader commercial context. Thus, " requency subscribers ha e bene ited rom three promotions last year". Pascal Delorme also e okes the SNC e orts to expand the number o trains a ailable at promotional prices Prem's, "a most interesting policy or our customers that distribute points".

In act, the railway undertaking is not only to rethink its policy o loyalty. Crisis orces, airlines, they also ha e hardened the terms and conditions o the miles to get ree tickets. But in a more low-key manner. Thus in Air rance-KLM, the number o marks is to li e (by comparison, they are alid or three years at the SNC ), e en i this requires tra el more o ten than in the past: at least once e ery 20 months now, against a light paying all thirty-six months two years ago. The number o ree tickets issued (they cost to the passenger because he has to pay airport taxes and uel surcharges), it has not been seen down: "They represent 4 o seats, roughly 7,000 places, what ill 13 Airbus A380 or 40 A320 per day," said Patrick Roux, the Director o marketing or Air rance-KLM, indicating that this percentage "is a little the airline industry standard." or him, "it is necessary to ensure greater stability in the scale o miles", at the risk, otherwise, alienating customers. It is true that Air rance-KLM can a ord. The SkyTeam Alliance, the Group has to a ery extensi e network o 108 air and non-air partners, ensuring the sel - inancing o its program o loyalty. The spending generated by the issue o a ree ticket or the bene it o a passenger Air rance or KLM are indeed o set by re enue rom a partner, or example, Delta Air Lines or Kenya Airways, when it purchased the rench company a ticket or one o its loyal passengers.

In ormation on the client

iolent, SNC , or more smooth, as in Air- rance-KLM, the taken turn suggests the disappearance o the inancial bene its granted to the best customers Some dream. Especially in the inancial directions, because the uture issuance o ree tickets

must be recorded according to ery precise rules, and o ten signi icant amounts. But also in some marketing specialists, noting or example that low-cost airlines ha e ne er de eloped loyalty programs, which does not preclude pruning e ery day was the traditional companies with unbeatable prices. Moreo er, purchase beha iors induced by Internet ha e turned the: "When a person SUR s on a comparator o price be ore you buy a ticket, it is better or the business be less expensi e than the competition, rather that distribute points that will be used later", said Pascal Delorme to SNC .

Senior Partner at Roland Berger Consultants, Delphine Mathez asks or his part i a loyalty program members purchase really more than others. The answer is not ob ious. According to her, the generalization o such programmes contributes to reeze the market share in some areas, while de eloping a mentality o "bonus hunters" among clients that much was already acquired the brand. In short, more and more players are con inced that a loyalty program based on the distribution o inancial bene its or the client is expensi e, and reported little. It is not surprising, under these conditions, the Directorates-General decide to tighten the bolts.

Not question to throw the baby with the bath water. As a loyalty program well managed pro ides access to an in aluable resource: personal data o the client, and consumption habits. It is or this reason, than the airlines, the irst rank o which the pioneer American Airlines, is were launched in the early 1980s ad enture. At the time, the majority o their transactions passed through a tra el agent. It was he who held the passenger data, and not the carrier. Howe er, once with this aluable in ormation, it can do a lot o things: create new ser ices to better treat the client ( or example, report by SMS and in real time to the air tra eller that his light will be late, or that his lost luggage was ound), and e en in ent new products. "Our lying Blue program, we ha e a panel o more 10,000 members agreeing to respond to questionnaires online, explains Patrick Roux, in Air rance-KLM." "It has greatly helped us to design our new Premium oyageur class", an intermediate product between classes business and economic, to o set the collapse o the illing o the business class in long-range o er-water, consequential to the economic crisis.

Non-monétisables bene its

But how access data o loyal customers and make them grow, while containing in lation o miles, i Miles and other discounts o any kind To sol e this equation, businesses are more and more emphasis on non-monétisables as bene its, in the air, access to a reser ed waiting room or a priority scheme or police in airport ormalities. In any other ield, the distributor o ideo games Micromania explores new a enues, by in iting or example, each all, its best customers to disco er in pre iew the games will go on sale at Christmas. Each part is his account: the in ited client is lattered the IP treatment. In the light o its responses, the Publisher o the game can pro ide ultimate touchups to its product be ore the launch. On the sign itsel , deri ing rom this con rontation between the player and the Publisher o aluable lessons to anticipate the success o such and such, and thus optimize its catch o command.

So ar, Micromania has not abandoned the purely monetary aspect o its loyalty program. "When we redesigned our system, we ha e not a ected to the"social learning", such as 5 de erred on accessories and games", re lects Matthias Boudier, marketing director o the group, who "cannot make the economy o the purely transactional part o a program o loyalty", taking into account competition rom other distributors.

In this pursuit o a more cle er reward o the aith ul client, the SNC is not le t: "In consideration o our schedules declines, we will de elop ser ices", promises Pascal Delorme, re using howe er to say that much to not to gi e in ormation to its uture competitors, the day where the company loses its monopoly on passenger lines in rance. A "big bang" ine itable, but the date is yet scheduled. Still largely capti e clientele Grand tra eller must there ore, in the meantime, to ent about the Internet orums and mourn its lost to Miles. Noting in passing that the ser ices part is, or the time being, reduced to its simplest. On the whole o the territory, there are in any and all ten shows Grand oyageur SNC stations. Open e ery day. Except Saturdays, Sundays and holidays...