GetThere, a Sabre company, the
leading provider of Internet-based business-to-business travel systems, today
announced a new corporate customer service organization and an adoption
consulting program targeted at helping corporate customers make online booking
the majority, by surpassing 50 percent online adoption.
GetThere`s new
customer service organization is headed by Beverly Heinritz, an executive from
Sabre BTS.
With the merging of Sabre BTS into GetThere, the company is the online
corporate travel industry`s clear leader in market share and adoption, with
more than 500 major corporate customers, including many examples that have
achieved online adoption between 50 and 80 percent.  GetThere`s new service
organization and adoption consulting group are targeted at leveraging best
practices across the entire customer base.
“GetThere has a significant customer base, and many of them are reaching
outstanding adoption levels very quickly.  The key is to help companies
surpass the 50 percent adoption level, making online the norm instead of the
exception,” said Jeff Palmer, chief operating officer at GetThere.  “Bev
Heinritz has proven results in organizing and running a very successful
service group within Sabre BTS, and we believe she will create a world-class
service organization in GetThere.  And, our adoption consulting services
represent a specific effort to provide additional tools to break the adoption
barrier.”
The corporate service and support organization has nearly 100 employees,
and is one of the areas benefiting from the merger of GetThere and Sabre BTS.
The organization includes Professional Services for product implementation,
Technical Support to manage ongoing management of customer`s systems and,
Client Services to provide special customer care and dedicated account
management.
“We have always taken service very seriously, and with the size and
quality of our customer base, we now need to further elevate our service
offering above the rest of the industry,” said Beverly Heinritz, vice
president of services in GetThere` corporate business.  “We have grown the
services organization significantly, and put many new processes in place.  I
am making it a personal goal to ensure that GetThere customers receive a
quality of service that sets the standard for the online travel industry.”
Because corporations gain the greatest cost benefits by increasing
adoption, GetThere is creating a dedicated group purely for this purpose.  The
group is focused on two key areas—best practices and adoption consulting.
The best practices program is intended to help customers leverage the
experiences of the world`s largest customer base in online corporate travel.
It includes documenting and sharing details of how other corporations have
achieved success.  It also sets up new lines of communication between
customers, such as facilitating user groups and conferences, and an expanded
customer extranet that allows customers to collect information and share
experience directly with each other.
Adoption Consulting includes a base of designated consultants that
customers can retain to drive highly aggressive programs tailored specifically
to a corporation`s culture and adoption goals.  Consulting also includes a
Fulfillment Service Option (FSO) in which GetThere is teaming with major
travel agency partners that will provide fulfillment services.  FSO is
designed for aggressive customers that want greater control over how bookings
are ticketed and fulfilled.
This group is led by Peter Harrison, who previously managed GetThere`s
customer education and adoption programs.  Steve Chomik, who led the dedicated
account managers for Sabre BTS is running the adoption consulting programs.
Tom Wilkinson, one of the corporate travel industry`s most respected
consultants, who recently joined GetThere, is leading the FSO program.
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