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Born in Oviedo and deeply attached to her home city, Samantha Hartmann has spent 25 years growing professionally alongside Baleària.
She began as a Call Centre agent, where she gained first-hand insight into customers' needs. Over time, she became a team supervisor and took part in the company's first online sales projects.
She later continued her career in areas such as Marketing, Revenue, web content and SEO before joining the Ecommerce team. She is now Baleària's Head of Loyalty and leads the growth and development of Baleària Club, the ferry company's loyalty programme.
We spoke to her about her early days, the changing relationship with customers and the next challenges for Baleària Club.
Q. Samantha, you have been with Baleària for 25 years. What do you remember about your early days at the company?
A. Very fondly. I started as a Call Centre agent, speaking directly with customers and helping them with bookings, questions and travel-related needs.
I then became a supervisor, a role that also introduced me to team management and allowed me to play a more active part in improving customer service processes.
Working so closely with people travelling with Baleària helped me understand that behind every booking there is a story: a holiday, a family visit or a business trip. That perspective has stayed with me throughout my career and remains very important in my current role.
Q. How have you experienced Baleària's evolution over all these years?
A. The change has been enormous, both for the company and for those of us who have grown within it.
Baleària has successfully adapted to technological change, new ways of booking and customers' needs. We have moved from handling many processes by telephone to offering an increasingly digital, fast and personalised experience.
Personally, I have had the opportunity to learn, take on new challenges and work with very different teams. It is rewarding to look back and see that my professional growth has gone hand in hand with Baleària's growth.
Q. How did you move from the Call Centre into Ecommerce?
A. It was a fairly natural progression. While working in the Call Centre, I helped launch online sales, which sparked my interest in everything related to the digital customer experience.
I then moved into Marketing, where I worked on projects involving the website, Revenue, content and SEO. That journey gave me a better understanding of the entire process: from the moment someone starts looking for a trip to when they book, board and choose Baleària again.
I eventually found my place in Ecommerce, an area that brings together online sales, technology, content, email marketing and customer insight.
Q. What does Baleària's Head of Loyalty do?
A. Our aim is to ensure that the relationship with the customer does not end when their journey does.
In Loyalty, we work on the development of Baleària Club, its benefits, promotions, communications and digital features. We also analyse how members use the programme and listen to their feedback to identify what works and what we can continue to improve.
Loyalty is about understanding our customers better and giving them reasons to keep choosing Baleària for future journeys.
Q. For anyone who does not know it yet, what is Baleària Club?
A. Baleària Club is Baleària's loyalty programme. Members can earn points on their journeys, access exclusive discounts and promotions, complete challenges and enjoy benefits tailored to their level within the programme.
We want Club membership to be useful from the outset and to support customers before, during and after every journey.
Members can also access services such as Easy Pass, a feature designed to make boarding easier and faster for residents of the Balearic and Canary Islands through the Baleària app on routes where it is available.
Q. How do you assess the development of Baleària Club?
A. Very positively. Over the past five years, Baleària Club has grown by 272%, showing that more and more customers want to join the programme and enjoy its benefits.
However, our aim is not simply to increase membership. We also want existing Club members to use it, understand its benefits and find advantages that genuinely suit the way they travel.
The challenge is to keep growing without losing that sense of closeness and to ensure that every member finds real value in the programme.
Q. Which Baleària Club benefits do members value most?
A. Every member has different preferences. Some particularly value the ability to earn and redeem points, while others prefer discounts, promotions, challenges or travel-related benefits.
Convenience is also very important. Being able to view a membership card on a mobile phone, find promotions easily or receive personalised communications makes the experience much simpler.
That is why we try to combine rewards with digital tools that make it easier for members to engage with Baleària.
Q. How important is personalisation in loyalty?
A. It is essential, because not all members travel with the same frequency, on the same routes or for the same reasons.
Our goal is to understand each profile better so that we can offer content, promotions and benefits that are genuinely relevant. It is not about sending more communications, but about making them more meaningful.
The better we understand each member, the more useful Baleària Club can be to them.
Q. Baleària operates in very different territories. How does the Club adapt to each market?
A. It is one of our main challenges. Travel patterns, digital habits and customer needs can vary greatly across the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, mainland Spain, Morocco and Algeria.
That is why we work to ensure that Baleària Club maintains a shared identity while offering propositions tailored to each territory and its customers' needs.
We also want the programme to support Baleària's international expansion and continue growing in markets such as the United States and the Caribbean.
Q. How has the relationship between companies and their customers changed?
A. Customers now expect a much more immediate, straightforward and personalised relationship.
They want to find information quickly, manage their journeys independently and receive benefits aligned with their interests. They also share their opinions more often, allowing us to listen and learn continuously.
Loyalty no longer depends solely on offering a discount. It is built across the entire experience: search, booking, communications, boarding, the journey itself and after-sales support.
Q. What are the next challenges for Baleària Club?
A. We want to keep growing the Club, but above all, make it increasingly useful for members.
We are working to improve personalisation, make benefits easier to access and adapt the programme to different customer profiles and territories.
We also want to continue developing new digital features and be there when members need us, without being intrusive and always offering something of value.
Q. After 25 years, what motivates you most about your work?
A. The fact that new challenges are always emerging. Ecommerce and loyalty are constantly changing, so we never stop learning.
I am also motivated by seeing an idea become a genuine improvement for members. Knowing that our work can make a journey easier, provide a benefit or improve a customer's experience is very rewarding.
After so many years, I still feel there is a great deal left to do.
About Samantha Hartmann
Samantha Hartmann is Baleària's Head of Loyalty within the Ecommerce team.
She began her career at the company as a Call Centre agent and later became a team supervisor. During her 25 years at Baleària, she has also worked on projects involving customer service, online sales, Marketing, Revenue, web content, SEO and email marketing.
She currently leads the growth and development of Baleària Club, the ferry company's loyalty programme, with the aim of delivering an increasingly useful, personalised experience built around its members.
