Mystery Shopper

Mystery Shopper was considering a holiday in Bermuda and called on agents in Beckenham, Kent for advice.

The consultant at Lunn Poly was the most impressive with her thorough approach and enthusiastic attitude.

*****

Each week, Mystery Shopper will be calling on agents in different areas. Stars are awarded to agents which score for:

* Agency appearance

* Product knowledge

* Staff attitude

* Brochure racking

* Sales technique

The top-scoring agency each week receives a Travel Weekly certificate of commendation

Please note that no additional information will be given about Mystery Shopper’s visits

The agency was neat and tidy with a good stock of brochures on the shelves.

There were three consultants on duty, one was busy with a customer and the other was hovering around the back office. I was told by the free consultant to hold on for a short while until she finished something. On hearing my enquiry the consultant commented that there was not a huge selection of brochures featuring Bermuda, but she picked out Kuoni, Hayes and Jarvis and British Airways Holidays. She flicked through them all and pointed out the selection of different hotels.

She offered to phone the operators to check on flight availability. The consultant also checked that the flights were direct from the UK to Bermuda and gave me the phone number of the Bermuda Tourist Board. She also gave me her card and suggested to call her back when I wanted to check availability.

* Agency appearance

* Staff attitude

* Brochure racking

* Sales technique

The medium-sized agency had a large selection of brochures arranged on racks behind the counters.

There were three consultants on duty and I was served immediately be a cheerful consultant who had to get a step ladder to reach the Bermuda brochures on the highest shelf.

She gave me the Prestige Holidays dedicated Bermuda brochure and also suggested Cadogan’s dedicated brochure but could not find a copy in the back office.

She commented that most people thought Bermuda was in the Caribbean, and when I admitted that I had made that mistake, she pointed it out on a map. She said it was convenient to do two-centres with Boston or New York.

* Agency appearance

* Staff attitude

* Brochure racking

The small agency looked somewhat spartan in its furnishing. The appearance was not helped by bare boards which needed to be sanded, mostly covered by rugs.

There was a reasonable selection of brochures on the carousel racks.

There was one consultant on duty and I was served immediately. She commented that there were not many operators featuring Bermuda.

She then checked Cosmos Distant Dreams but found nothing. She mentioned that the more expensive operators would offer it and gave me the British Airways Holidays brochure. She suggested Kuoni but she did not have a copy of the brochure and suggested I try another agency.

* Staff attitude

The agency was medium sized and seemed a bit chaotic because there were so many chairs laid out. It was like an obstacle course to get to the counter. The brochure racks were well stocked.

There were four consultants on duty and I was served immediately by a consultant who promptly picked out Tradewinds, British Airways Holidays and Kuoni from the racks. She handed them over without looking through them. She then suggested I also look at a tailor-made option. I asked if she knew about places to stay and she said she didn’t.

However, she did say it was better to travel at the end of September rather than the beginning in order to miss the hurricane season.

* Brochure racking

Tip 1: It is a good idea to show the client the location of the destination on a map if you think she may not be clear about it.

Tip 2: Recommending that a client pick up a particular brochure from another agency is not a good idea. Why send a potential customer to a rival?

Tip 3: Checking out the weather in Travel Weekly is a nice touch and it shows the customer you are interested in the detail of their enquiry.