Tips From Travelocity Business For Providing Effective Customer Service
Achieving customer satisfaction one step at a time
Effective customer service is key to achieving company goals. Whether a company is an online travel outfit like Travelocity Business or a more traditional company in another industry, customers are looking for hassle-free, convenient shopping experiences.
Good customer service allows businesses to succeed. Companies can offer promotions and cut prices to entice new customers, but unless customers come back, businesses won't be profitable. Essentially, good customer service is about forming relationships with customers – one that customers want to preserve.
Kathleen Petrovic, vice president of Global Operations for Travelocity Business, offers her tips on successful customer service. Petrovic drives operations and continued worldwide expansion of service centers across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe and Asia. She is committed to finding new ways to enhance the travel reservation experience for corporate customers by focusing on a combination of ongoing agent training and education, and the use of new technology applications to constantly improve service center processes.Petrovic's Tips for Best Practices in Customer Service:
- Automation is key
- Automated technology allows employees to focus on customers – taking routine tasks out of the hands of a customer service representative
- Saving customer information for ongoing use allows for quicker and more efficient service
- Pre-populating program fields save time and are more accurate
- Make automation customizable
- If online, allow customers to personalize and configure automated settings – toggle switches, pull-down menus, custom screens and windows
- Provide customer service that distinguishes your business from the competition
- Know your customer – What is the customer's name? What does your customer do? What are their brand preferences?
- Conduct research and do something to please the customer that competitors are not doing, such as calling to follow up with the customer after they receive a product or service, send a thank you card or invite customers to a special event
- Concentrate on individual expertise – pair specific agents with certain expertise to high-demand clients or clients in related industries
- Good customer service not only makes customers want to come back and do more business with a company; it also encourages customers to recommend a company to friends
- Seek feedback
- Be sure to list and take into account what customers are asking for and then, most importantly, deliver it
About Travelocity Business
Travelocity Business is a full-service corporate travel management company that helps companies easily manage travel and reduce costs, while providing more choices to travelers. Travelocity Business leverages its own innovative technology to streamline travel processes, and complements this with experienced corporate travel agents, strategic account managers and in-depth consulting services.
Travelocity Business combines the expertise, service and travel choices of Travelocity® with corporate experience gained from serving more than half of the Fortune 200 companies. For more information, companies can visit www.travelocitybusiness.com.