Looking around at the attendees at our latest Travel Weekly Business Breakfast on the subject of customer service was like looking at a who’s who of travel.
What struck me about the gathering – apart from how established these events have become for senior decision- makers in our industry – was how important the topic of the morning’s discussion remains for every travel company.
Having the customer services director of Ryanair on the panel certainly helped. But there was a genuine sense in the room of companies keen to learn more and refine how they treat – and thereby retain – the clients they have fought so hard to acquire.
While there were differences of opinion among the panel about how customers define good service, there was clear agreement that the best companies train and empower their frontline staff to deal with enquiries and resolve issues.
Of course, there will always be times when an issue needs to be escalated, but the panellists agreed that the key was to ensure that customers felt the person they had approached really cared about them.
With a holiday still a relatively rare purchase for most, and any form of travel having the potential for mishaps, the opportunity for good agents to show their customers how much they care is boundless.
And as some attendees pointed out, the next step is working out how to transform your customer service from being reactive to proactive, so rather than just dealing effectively with problems, you are wowing your clients by pre-empting and resolving issues as or before they are aware of them.