the bar set high and the expectations from our customers raised . We must keep on improving and moving with the times , keeping a pulse on the market and responding to the changing customer demands . Disappointing any customer at any time is not an option especially in the times we are living in when the duty of care for customers has never been greater .
So what measures do you put in place to ensure that you keep on top of the game , which can provide useful lessons for our readers ?
We must be in touch with the market as I earlier alluded to , for customer service excellence relies on responding to their needs and also anticipating what the future may look like . So listening is critical more when a customer complains of an issue or problem they are facing . Identifying gaps and taking remedial action quickly and keeping the customer informed are very important and the only way to remain top of our game .
Also identifying any unmet needs is one key to identifying business opportunities . For example , convenience for customers has given rise to concierge service . So , we try and understand the reason the customer is travelling ; what they looking to achieve , and how we can make it as ‘ painless as possible ’?
Another lesson I have learnt is that as a leader I must not only listen to our customers and partners but also to our staff . By listening I realized the younger generations have many good ideas and they like exploring , being less risk averse . It ’ s important to accord them the space to come up with ideas and let them run with them . For the ones that don ’ t work we take the lessons home . This is the way we move
forward . Also train them by exposing them to ideas , keeping them in the loop about the plan we have and where we are at . Withholding information only keeps staff second guessing and restricts their contribution . We have regular discussions about what challenges they face and what ’ s working or not working and areas we need to improve .
In addition , one of the philosophies we have is letting our staff experience what we offer our customers , like giving them tickets to different destinations so when they are booking say a hotel or airline for our customers and giving recommendations , they can give suggestions based on their real-life experience not guess work or asking around . For example , why do customers request for an aisle seat or prefer the window seat ? If the booking staff has not flown on a plane , they might just assume that the customer is being fussy .
We also have town hall meetings where we have candid discussions without fear as we embrace the philosophy of providing a safe working environment . We encourage our staff to be solution oriented for customers don ’ t want stories . By the nature of our sector problems such as cancellation of flights or overbookings will always happen and we face this more times than we would like . This is out of our control but in the end the customers are looking to us to provide solutions not blame the airline for we come highly rated in a very dynamic and unpredictable sector .
In striving for service excellence , we have set up systems and procedures which ensure that we have a systematic work flow and to this end we have been ISO certified since 2010 . We call this ‘ one
To the youth especially those about to embark on their careers in whichever field for the fundamentals are the same , nothing happens fast like instant coffee or a microwave . There is a process and a journey to success however one defines it . Patience , resilience and hard work are necessary pillars . Even instant coffee had to be planted , tended , harvested and processed to get to the cup . best way ’ and will use it until we come up with a better way , which by the way we are constantly searching . Let me give you an example of why being systematic is important . If one of our staff is on leave our customers need not worry that the service they get is below par or will not meet their expectations .
I want to emphasize the importance of working well with our business partnerships . We are very cognizant we don ’ t own the airlines or the hotels we book or recommend for our customers . So we rely on what they have to offer . We have to work very hard to ensure a cordial relationship based on mutual trust and respect . We spend a lot of time and effort to maintain such relationships . We have constant engagements to come up with ways to improve our working relationships . We wear their shoes and vice versa to get a feel of where the shoe pinches as it were . If things go wrong the customer comes back to us and we cannot pass the buck . Just as we do with our staff , we must take care of them so they in turn can take care of our customers . One example is taking the drivers of the cars we hire to transport our customers to say the airport or to the hotel for defensive driving . This ensures the customers are always in safe hands .
Let ’ s us now turn to Covid-19 given that your industry was one of the hardest hit and moreover Corporate Travel is 90 % of your business . How did you navigate around it and what lessons can you share ?
Covid-19 could not have come at worse time if I may say so . We had just moved to this office and had big plans , all our ducks were in a row and most things were moving in the right trajectory . When it begun , we like most people assumed it was a short bump in the ride , say two months and things would get back to normal . As you know this was not the case and for us everything came to a screeching halt literally when the skies were shut and with it the very reason we existed .
Let me take you one step back . If you remember countries begun shutting one by one and with each one closing their borders , we held crisis meetings to try and understand what was happening and how to respond as a business . We were concerned about two things ; our customers and staff . How do we ensure continuity to our customers and safety for our staff ?
Fortunately for us given that our service is 24 / 7 we were already invested in working remotely to be able to satisfy our customers from different points as
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