CUSTOMER service across the industry has been slammed
after a mystery shop poll revealed a “shocking” standard of service.
The preliminary results of a five-week poll – carried
out by independent consultant Tony Evans for London-based retailer The
Exceptional Travel Company – included 120 stores nationwide. Staff at
multiples, independents and Co-ops were approached.
Agency staff were measured on five points: the initial
greeting; listening and questioning skills; the response to the customers’
enquiry; the manner of the travel adviser; and potential customer retention.
Counter staff were rated from 0 to 10, with 0 being
poor and 10 exceptional. The average score was less than 16 out of a total of
50 points.
Lunn Poly agents scored highest with 20 points,
followed by Thomas Cook staff with 17 and Travel Choice on 16. Independent
agents and Co-op staff both scored 13.
MyTravel fared the worst with 12 points, failing to
listen to and retain customers, according to the report. Evans, who was also
former director of Milton Keynes-based Café de Voyage, described the results of
the poll as shocking, claiming some agents really were nothing more than
‘brochure warehouses’.
“It wasn’t product knowledge we were after, it was the
basics of dealing with the customer and how agents respond to people. Customer
service is really lacking at the basic level.
“There seems to have been a real drive to get into new
channels of distribution, such as e-media, but there’s still so much that needs
to be done on retail operations,” he said.
Despite the fact that independents had an advantage in
being able to offer a wider range of operators, in most cases the consultants
“failed to really engage with the customer”, Evans added.
An ABTA spokesman said: “Without seeing the report,
it’s difficult to comment, but customer service is very important. These days
you can’t always compete on price.”
Christchurch-based Lunn Poly and Thomas Cook in Granby
Street, Leicester, were praised as the highest scoring multiples to date, with
St Andrews Travel in Bolton the top independent agent surveyed.