What Does Good Customer Service Look Like?
expert insights from Julie Hamstead-Wallis, Operations ManagerWe Spoke to Julie Hamstead-Wallis, Operations Manager at Gray Dawes, to tell us all about what makes customer service great.
In the world of business travel, where seamless travel experiences and efficiency are key, customer service plays a defining role. Travel Management Companies (TMCs) serve as the backbone of these experiences and, as such, how travellers and travel arrangers are serviced can be the difference between a successful trip and a nightmare to forget.
But what does good customer service look like? For Gray Dawes, travel management isn’t just about our award-winning technology or access to comprehensive travel content – even if these are vitally important to a travel programme. It’s also defined by our High Touch approach to client care and support, and making sure we build close and personal relationships with those who need us most.
In this article, we spoke to our very own Julie Hamstead-Wallis, an experienced Operations Manager, about what makes good customer service, the importance of building rapport, and how Gray Dawes goes the extra mile to help our clients get the most out of their travel.
Julie Hampstead-Wallis, Operations Manager
What Does Good Customer Service Look Like to You and Gray Dawes?
When it comes to customer service, we live by the “We Travel With You” ethos. We aim to build personal relationships with our clients and approach each trip as if it were for a friend, an auntie, a mum, dad, or sister. It sounds cheesy, I know, but that’s the genuine level of love and care we put into each booking – even if it is for just a single flight.
We ask as many questions as possible to ensure each client gets the absolute most out of their travel experience. We might ask someone travelling to New York, for example, whether they have booked any accommodation. If they haven’t, we’ll joke that we don’t want them sleeping on a park bench in Central Park and look into some of the best hotel or apartment options for them.
It’s all about building rapport and understanding what’s important to both the travel arranger and the traveller.
When we meet new clients, we emphasise the importance of building a comprehensive traveller profile and giving us as much information as possible. Who are your travellers? How do they prefer to travel? What are your must haves and have nots? It’s the foundation on which a great relationship between us and the client is built.
Customer Service Insights
%
percentage of customers who point to customer service as an important factor in making purchase decisions
customers would leave a brand after just one negative customer service experience
times more revenue a business can earn by investing in good customer service when compared to those that don’t
*Stats from EduMe
Tell us More About the “We Travel With You” Ethos.
The “We Travel With You” story is key to the way we do things. At its heart, it’s about putting yourself in the shoes of the traveller. We know it can be stressful sometimes travelling for work. There are so many variables and elements to constantly monitor, so if something goes wrong it’s great to know there’s a team who’ve got your back.
It might be something as simple as: “There’s going to be snow when you arrive in London, and it’s going to be really tricky to get around, so maybe give yourself a little bit more time.” Or it could be something far more complex, such as navigating the ash cloud situation in Iceland years ago, or what to do around strike action at an airport.
Reacting to Developing Events
As I say, we truly do travel with every client. Take the tragic air accidents in Washington and Toronto recently. I’m based in Canada, and when I saw the news that morning and I immediately thought “Have we got anyone on that flight?”. I immediately ran up the stairs and started investigating. Thankfully, none of our travellers were affected.
However, I knew we had someone due to depart from Washington to the UK the next day, so I was straight on the phone to him to say: “You’re on a flight tomorrow, and it’s currently operating as scheduled. But the situation is rapidly changing so I’ve built a contingency plan. We’ve got Ops guys in the UK who will be working when you wake up. Whatever you need, they’ll be able to deal with it for you.”
We identified another 15 or so people who were due to fly in over the next few days and sent them an email to tell them what’s happened, reassure them despite social media and news reports, and let them know that we’ve got eyes on the situation. Sometimes, letting them know you’re there is all it takes.
Personally, I think the “We Travel With You” mentality is what is missing from other TMCs. For Gray Dawes, the traveller experience is central to everything.
How does your team go the extra mile to help Gray Dawes travellers and clients?
First and foremost, we take so much time and care in understanding the culture of both a client’s organisation and the location in which they’re based. For example, we have a new client who has major bases in the UK, Canada, and the USA. The employees in these locations all work for the same company and all speak English, but there’s such a vast difference in their travel behaviours, sense of humour, and professional approaches – even the date format spelling is back to front!
Then we have our VIP service. Take the new client I mentioned as an example – they have around 10 people across all three of their locations who have VIP status. What we always stress is that “VIP” doesn’t just mean full bells and whistles for every individual – it is a bespoke package that can incorporate as much or as little as is preferred.
We can offer a full concierge service which can consist of booking flights and ground transport, securing restaurant reservations, or organising a hairdressing appointment – I’ve even booked a gondola ride in Venice before!
For example, around four years ago, we booked travel for a client travelling to Madrid for a big football match. We booked all of the flights, made sure they had a minibus for the entire four days of their trip and drew up a comprehensive schedule for them to follow. On another occasion, a lady left her shoes in her car, so I arranged for them to be dropped off at her hotel.
But a VIP service can also be as simple as making sure flights are monitored or letting travellers know that their baggage carousel is changing from number two to number three.
However, most people don’t need that level of communication, nor do they want it either. Sometimes the small gestures matter the most, such as securing them a complimentary upgrade on their flight seat. I have one traveller who loves to have a bottle of still and sparkling water in his hotel room. If I ever book any accommodation for him, I make sure there’s a selection of bottles in the room that are refilled every day – he doesn’t even have to ask.
All of this also makes the travel arranger at the client organisation look amazing, and that’s something else we try to do. They can go to their boss and say: “Just so you know, you’ve got your favourite drink in the car on the way to the airport, your flight is currently on-time, the weather is clear and sunny in Melbourne so you shouldn’t have any delays, etcetera”. It helps our relationship so much.
What sets Gray Dawes apart from other TMCs when it comes to customer service?
Most other TMCs worth their salt have services such as flight tracking and duty of care processes. For Gray Dawes, the difference is the level of personal service. We’ve got the technology, we have the data, but how we reach out to clients about their travel is second to none.
A recent example is the tragic fires in Los Angeles. By the end of the first week, the fire was only 5 miles away from LAX airport. The news was all over the TV and on social media, but the airport was still open, and flights were still operating as scheduled. So what our Operations team did was run a report on which of our clients were in LA. We sent out an email to them to say that we were actively monitoring the situation. We told them that going outside of downtown LA would be difficult due to the fire and smoke, that their flights were still operating, and to be mindful of travelling too far.
We had one VIP who I phoned directly and said: “You’re due on a flight tomorrow that will get you in at 7pm UK time. I just wanted to know if you had any concerns or had any questions.” As it happened, they didn’t, but they were so grateful that I’d taken the time to get in touch.
I think it’s that caring touch which sets Gray Dawes apart. We put so much time and effort into building each trip. For example, I booked a trip to Australia and had a meeting two days prior to go through the checklist with the traveller. I wanted to know if they had their ETA. I wanted to make sure they knew how they were getting around on the ground. You get so close to the traveller and every single point of their journey that you become genuinely invested in it.
The first thing I tell any new staff at Gray Dawes is that relationships are the key to our success. Not just between us and the client, but between everyone within the company too.
Navigating the Icelandic Ash Cloud
Back in 2010, a volcanic eruption led to a huge ash cloud in Iceland, disrupting flights and other modes of travel. All of the airports just closed. It was unprecedented. I was speaking with a client who was in the queue, trying to rebook flights. He wouldn’t have got anywhere with it, but there were also no available hotels, no car rentals, nothing.
So, we set about coming up with as many creative ideas as possible. We talked about buying a car and then getting it resold in France. We looked into ferry crossings. We even considered a motorcycle at one point! The client I was dealing with had been at the airport for such a long time that he had started to make friends with the people in front and behind him in the queue. He asked if I could help them, too. I said, “Yes, put me on speaker phone, no problem. Let me help these strangers, too!”
He didn’t even know them, much less me. But I recommended all these different options to them and managed to get them out of a sticky situation. That’s all because of the relationship I had with this one client. Not only did he feel comfortable enough to trust me with his travel programme, but he also felt free enough to ask whether I could help others, too. At Gray Dawes, we will never leave a client abandoned. It showed that “We travel with you” even if you don’t travel with us. It was absolutely amazing.
Have you noticed any differences in the way Gen Z travel compared to other generations?
The differences in travel preferences and opinions across generations, especially comparisons drawn between Gen Z – who are starting to enter the business travel market in higher numbers – and the more established Millennial and Gen X cohort, is becoming an increasingly big topic of interest in the industry.
Honestly, I don’t see too much difference between Gen Z and other generations. I think differences are more influenced by the location and environment a traveller lives in. For example, travellers in Europe travel quite differently to those in the US. I travel down to Miami and Fort Lauderdale airport a lot. I usually carry a small bag and I observe other travellers with tons of carry-on luggage. When it’s time to board, there’s usually a small stampede of people trying to get on the flight as quickly as possible with all the extra luggage they don’t want to check-in.
This inevitably ends in a fight for space in the overhead lockers. What’s interesting is that these behaviours are not confined to one age group, gender, or race – everyone is doing it!
It’s interesting to compare booking behaviour in the US and Europe too. In the US, flights are so frequent that travellers, as a rule, usually only book a day or two in advance. In Europe, travellers tend to book 7-10 days before, with Account Managers urging their clients to try and book at least 21 days beforehand to get the best possible price.
From looking at our data, these booking behaviours are not dependent on age or generation. However, there are some reports to suggest that there might be some generational differences in a traveller’s preferred airlines. I saw one article recently which said that the leading age range of those who booked British Airways was the 35-55 year olds.
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