Caroline Mort said that the customer called her shop in Merthyr Tydfil because he needed to cancel an online booking after his wife was diagnosed with a brain tumour.
“He was very distressed and didn’t know what to do, but I was able to find his booking using Connect really quickly,” she explained. “I went through all the exemption policies with him and I was able to get him a refund in seven days. He was really grateful and he came into the shop when his wife was well with a card and a bunch of flowers.”
She added that this process would have taken “a lot longer” before the Connect system was introduced. Connect stores information on all customers’ Tui bookings regardless of how they were booked. Hayley Dawson, from Tui’s Ipswich branch, added that Connect allowed them to produce “more personalised recommendations”.
“We can make it more relevant for the customer as we don’t have to get to know them from scratch,” she said. “We can spark up a conversation based on their previous holidays.”
Charlotte Leaney, from Chelmsford in Essex, said: “Talking about their previous holidays puts them in a happy place straightaway. “[The] Pass the Baton [initiative] really helps as well, as you can get the crew to wish your client a happy birthday or anniversary on the aircraft – it’s a small thing but it makes a massive difference.”
