The independent, the UK’s largest travel agency, has achieved a score of more than 95% on the institute customer service index, six months after signing up with the ICS in April 2023, which counts customer service leaders like Octopus Energy and John Lewis among its members

The score, based on a survey of 4,000 Hays Travel customers, is well above the 76.6% average across all sectors, and tops the 80% average seen across the leisure sector, in which Hays Travel is categorised.

Revealing the results at Hays’ retail conference in Portugal this week, senior learning and development manager Leanne Cox highlighted some of the most common consumer sentiments associated with Hays, which included being “happy”, “relaxed" and “confident”.

“These are emotionally connected words," said Cox. "We’ve got such a responsibility to care for our customers who come into contact with us. We know our customers’ needs are evolving and their expectations are being raised all of the time.”

The survey explored experience, complaint handling, customer ethos, emotional connection and ethics. Hays Travel outperformed the leisure sector – and wider industry – on most measures with score of 95.2% for experience and 95.5% for ethics, but fell down on complaints handling for which it achieved 64.8% against a leisure sector average of 68.3%.

Cox reiterated to agent delegates the importance of “getting it right first time”, for which it hit a score of 89.9% – outperforming ICS affiliates in the leisure sector (85.2%). “Those first few seconds where we’re interacting with our customers – that’s where we’ve got to get it right,” she said.

To address more specific feedback from the survey, including a need for more staff in branch, better product knowledge and refreshments while in branch, Cox detailed some of the measures being taken, including the company’s continuous recruitment drive, including for “new-to-travel” staff, as well as taking on cabin crew grounded over winter until volumes pick up again the following summer.

Improvements to training content are being rolled out, including a focus on making a great first impression, creating “amazing moments” and developing relationships that “will last a lifetime”, Cox said, adding all staff will be invited to attend sessions by the end of the year.

A trial of in-branch drinks machines, meanwhile, will be in place from January 2024. “We can change what’s about to happen next, we have the power to get attention to detail right first time,” Cox continued. She also highlighted the areas where Hays Travel performed strongly, including helpfulness of staff, their competence and the ease of dealing with the agency.

Cox’s conference address saw her announce the agency’s new “service promise” – to be genuine, to make every experience for customers personal, to be friendly and passionate, to take pride in Hays’ independence, and to be trustworthy.

“It’s our benchmark, it’s going to be our measure of success, because customer service is more than that transaction, it’s that feeling, it’s that behaviour and promise,” she stressed.