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Economic uncertainty caused by Brexit means travel agencies may have to up their game to secure a sale. Leadership experts at Reality Training believe that excellent customer service holds the answer. Abra Dunsby finds out more.
For many travel companies, the jury’s still out on Brexit and whether it has had an impact on their sales figures.
With Theresa May’s EU negotiations only just beginning, the only thing that’s guaranteed for businesses and consumers is a prolonged period of “predictable uncertainty”, said Bob Morrell and Jeremy Blake of Reality Training at a recent seminar.
The firm specialises in sales, customer service, and leadership and management training. It has worked with the likes of Kuoni, Saga, Tui, Thomas Cook and Travelport to help improve customer communication, boost sales conversions and improve relationships.
At the seminar, the pair presented to delegates from various service industries, including travel, offering guidance about how improving customer service can minimise the inevitable bumps in the road caused by Brexit’s economic uncertainty.
“For Britain, the economic weather is arguably worse than it was before the credit crunch,” said former business secretary Sir Vince Cable in April, adding that the plummeting pound has driven up prices and trapped consumers in a Brexit squeeze.
PWC predicts UK growth to slow to around 1.6% in 2017 and 1.4% in 2018 owing to slower consumer spending growth and the drag on business investment from Brexit-related uncertainty.
Once they’d set the frosty economic climate, Morrell and Blake then introduced Ben and Stacey, an average couple who live and work in the UK, to see how Brexit had impacted on their lives, and consequently on the lives of travel businesses.
This couple might be fictional, but they represent the UK average; they work in services, own a home, have one child and earn a salary of £27,195 a year. They’ve also both been affected by rising inflation, which is running at 2.9% while their pay rises are only increasing by 1.7%.
Like 8.8 million others in the UK, they sometimes pay household bills with their credit cards and carry a certain amount of debt with them.
Luckily, it’s not all doom and gloom. Though purse strings will inevitably be tighter for many people after Brexit, Ben and Stacey won’t want to sacrifice their annual holiday, said Morrell.
They will, however, have less money to spend when they’re abroad, as the pound is currently 15% weaker than the dollar and 10% weaker than the euro.
While their jobs are probably safe, Ben and Stacey’s companies are currently much less likely to be recruiting new staff to reduce their overheads. “Ben and Stacey will have to be more productive in their employers’ eyes as increased prices and reduced demand mean that the market will become more competitive,” said Morrell.
When consumers are squeezed, their buying habits alter, said Blake, so it becomes even more important for those working in the service industry to meet and exceed their customers’ needs, as a failure to do so could mean lost future business.
For those working in travel, it means customers are more likely than ever to shop around for their holiday, looking online and visiting other travel agents to understand the market and secure the best price.
“It’s OK to acknowledge your competitors,” advised Blake. “Ask your customers where else they have looked – that way you’re boosting your awareness, and can also shout about your company’s USPs.”
While any job that involves working with customers means complaints are inevitable, Morrell and Blake said the most harmful were “integrity-based complaints,” which in an agent context often revolve around a customer feeling they are paying too much for a holiday, without being given adequate explanation as to why.
For travel agents working in call centres, these sorts of complaints would also keep members of staff on the phone for the longest amount of time – lasting between 19-29 minutes, according to research by Morrell and Blake. The pair blamed poor marketing, strategy, conversational skills and pricing for integrity-based complaints.
For those working on the high street, the duo said the problems arose when agents didn’t follow up with customers, when there was little strategy for ensuring customer retention and poor sales management where agents were pushing a holiday sale regardless of the customers’ real needs.
In contrast, the best agencies were those that planned to retain customers from the start, with all members of staff taking a similar and proactive approach.
“The goal in sales is about forming relationships and contact management, which will increase repeat business and can even result in clients becoming your brand advocate,” says Morrell.
They also highlighted the pitfalls of web chat for consumers. “This has the potential to be very convenient for the customer, but is often poorly executed,” said Blake.
He explained that it was most ineffective when there was little training in place, with agents using canned responses for example, or not finding out enough about the customer’s initial web search.
Blake added that some companies were unwilling to encourage web chat agents to seal the deal over the phone because of issues such as cost and departmental limitations.
From high street agents to homeworkers, keeping the customer happy often starts with excellent management, Morrell and Blake suggested.
As uncertainty is on the up, it’s paramount that agents focus on improving levels of service.
Managers should therefore be motivational and inspirational leaders who are respected by their peers. They should also reward the right behaviours in their staff, encouraging them to focus on retaining customers and improving brand loyalty.
The best managers will also train their staff on how to cope with unhappy customers, recognising the difficult conversations they might be required to have, and offering valuable advice about how to improve their customer service.
“True leaders come out in adversity,” added Blake, who said that harder times for a company could result in some great new creative ideas and sales tactics taking shape.
It’s also vital that managers set a good example to frontline staff by selling themselves, and that they are real brand ambassadors.
The duo also highlighted the importance of monitoring the sales performances of both managers and staff, encouraging them to log missed sales to understand conversion rates and how to improve their business.
The seminar proved that Brexit doesn’t have to signal shaky times for travel agencies – by offering stellar customer service, focusing on strong management and using the right sales tools, weathering the storm will be that bit easier.
For more info visit realitytraining.com
1. Exert authority and deliver expertise to your staff.
2. Likeability will help you sell, so employ the right staff. Agents can use their CRM to be likeable – by making notes about customers’ birthdays, anniversaries or the names of their kids.
3. Sell the company. There’s often a lot of value in the company and its history, which brings integrity.
4. Sell yourself. Tell customers you’re an expert. If you’ve won awards, talk about them. Even if you’re new to the job, focus on your keenness and enthusiasm.
5. Empower and upskill your staff. Not everyone needs to speak to a manager, so free up your time by giving your staff the skills they need to help customers.
6. Managing is not about watching scores – it’s about playing the game. You should work as your team does from time to time, to understand their needs.
