A luxury travel advisor has revealed how a near-disastrous cancellation resulted in two extra large bookings, after he made a simple £500 investment to fix the problem.
Josh Cotton has been on a roll since launching Cotton Travel in Cottingham, East Yorkshire last January, reaching £1 million in revenue in his first three months of business. So much so, he is now looking to expand the company to a second location in the north, adding the past year and a half has been “a whirlwind” but continues to be “going really well”.
Cotton’s venture has allowed him to hone his skillset as a cruise specialist, as well as building his knowledge of the potential of trends such as intergenerational travel and hot topics such the new EU border rules. Perhaps the most valuable thing he’s learned, however, is the importance of having a personal relationship with his customers, which does not follow a 9-to-5 schedule.
“You can’t just cut off halfway through with clients,” he tells TTG Luxury. “You have to have constant communication, take accountability, and step up when needed.”
Cotton’s mantra was put to test earlier this year, when one of his larger bookings was almost ruined by a flight cancellation. The travel expert had two clients travelling to Japan for a six-week-long luxury cruise, only for their journey to Asia to be disrupted before it had even begun.
The couple had originally been booked to connect from Schiphol Airport to Japan, but their first flight from Humberside Airport to Amsterdam was cancelled at the last minute.
The next available seats on that same flight wasn’t until Monday, and with the cruise departing on Sunday, it looked likely they would miss their trip.
Rather than tell his clients to claim the loss on travel insurance, Cotton immediately swung into action to try to resolve the issue. After escalating the case to a senior manager at the airline of the cancelled flight, he had the couple transferred onto a Korean Air flight heading to Japan from Heathrow airport instead that same evening.
However, this change presented yet another problem; Cotton’s clients were in Lincolnshire, and would have to make a four-hour journey to London to catch their new flight. Again, he stepped up to the plate, swallowing the cost of a £500 taxi to ensure they made it to the flight in time.
“They assumed they would need to pay for the cab, but we assured them it was covered,” Cotton says. “It’s an investment. You have to ask yourself, ‘Is this client worth an immediate fix?’.”
Cotton adds that following up with clients after they’ve departed is essential, especially if there’s been any hiccups in their journey. He phoned them when they arrived at Heathrow and even left a gig in Manchester so he could look at Flight Radar to make sure they’d departed.
When they returned from the cruise, not only were they singing Cotton Travel’s praises, but they also booked two more holidays with the agency to Bali and Kenya.
While this was an extreme situation, Cotton says his view is that challenges can be seen as opportunities to build stronger relationships with clients.
“You have to put yourself in the customer’s shoes and make them aware you’re going to do your best to make the situation better,” he explains. “The demands are also greater in the luxury market; when the budget goes up, expectation goes up.”
He adds that offering clients a wider range of communication methods, including Zoom and WhatsApp, is part of this VIP service: “You need to be available and on demand, and meet their needs in a different way.”
Taking care of administrative tasks, however simple, is also important. “Often, clients don’t want to be bogged down with visa applications or check-ins,” Cotton explains. “You’re often dealing with busy people – managers and directors who want their hand held throughout the process.”
As for what’s next for Cotton Travel, it looks like another branch could soon be on the horizon.
“I’d like to open elsewhere in the North, and I’m considering all different parts of Yorkshire,” he said. “But it has to be the right place at the right time with the right team. You need to invest in your team to make sure the core values you operate with are in line with the business’s.”
