Certified Travel Associate (CTA) Program

Skill Area: Service Core Course

Customer
Service
The Travel Institute is not responsible for the results of actions taken on the basis of opinions,
recommendations, or advice offered in this book. All rates are published for illustrative purposes only.The
Travel Institute is not responsible for the accuracy of rates or descriptions of the properties and services
of suppliers reproduced in this book.

© Board of Trustees of The Travel Institute, 1998; March, 2003

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or
by any means, electronic, mechanical photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written
permission of The Travel Institute.
Customer Service Table of Contents

Introduction 5
Overview 5

Table of Contents
Learning Outcomes 5
Reader’s Guide 6
Pre-Test 7
Unit 1: Why Is Service Important? 8
Customer Dissatisfaction 8
Maintaining Loyal Customers 9
The Sales and Service Connection 10
Unit 2: Who Are Your Customers? 12
Internal vs. External Customers 12
Unit 3: What Do Your Customers Want? 15
Core Service 15
Customer Service Expectations 16
Moments of Truth 17
Adding Value 18
Unit 4: Implementing a Customer Service Focus 21
Surveying Customers 21
Setting Standards 22
Monitoring Service 23
Tools for Learning from Customers 23
Putting the Plan into Action 25
Unit 5: Dealing with Customer Problems and Problem Customers 26
Why So Many Problems? 26
Working with Problems: A Method 27
What If the Answer Is No? 28
A Note About Stress 30

Summary 33
Application Activity 34
Post-Test 44
Test Preparation Hints 45
A Note to Facilitators 47
Glossary 51
Answer Key 52
For Further Study 56
Supplemental Reading 57

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Customer Service Introduction

Overview

Introduction
Customer service continues to be a hot topic in the travel industry. In
today’s competitive market, few subjects have received as much atten-
tion, both in time and money, as the need to have excellent service
personnel. Because gaining a competitive edge is the goal of most busi-
nesses, they struggle to analyze the marketplace, define their cus-
tomers, and position their products in ways that will give them an
advantage over their competitors. For many organizations, providing
excellent service has become that competitive edge; it is the strategy
that distinguishes one company or product from all the rest.

Who are your customers and what do they want? Why is service
important? How should you deal with customer problems and prob-
lem customers? This course will help you answer those questions and
provide you with a framework for integrating a customer-service focus
throughout your organization.

Learning Outcomes
After completing the readings and activities in Customer Service you will
be able to
• Explain why quality service is an important business and sales
strategy.
• Identify characteristics of internal and external customers.
• Describe customer service expectations for both internal and
external customers.
• Outline a program for developing a focus on customer service.
• Utilize a seven-step approach to problem resolution.

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Customer Service Reader’s Guide

Reader’s Guide
Scattered liberally throughout this course are activities and
exercises to help you understand how various concepts
relate to you and your workplace.Watch for these icons
as you read through the course:

These written exercises help you practice relevant skills;

answers are provided in the Answer Key.
TestYour
T Your
Underst
rst
standing

At Work activities let you examine how concepts covered

At Work in the course materials relate to your travel profession.

Time Out provides interesting, though not necessarily travel-related,

Time exercises that prompt you to further explore course concepts.
Out

Consider
This
These sideline, informational tidbits relating to course
concepts are provided for your speculation or reflection.

These self-assessment activities help you examine your current

How
w skill areas and identify areas for further development.
About
utYou?
Y

Key words are highlighted in color throughout

Key words
the text and are defined in the Glossary.

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Customer Service Pre-Test

This pre-test will help you assess your current understanding of cus-
tomer service, which is the subject of this course.Take a moment to

Pre-Test
answer the following questions to the best of your ability, then proceed
directly to Unit 1: Why Is Service Important? The correct answer to each
question will become evident as you work through the course readings
and activities. At the end of the course, you will have an opportunity to
take this test again. Comparing your pre- and post-test results will help
you measure your new understanding of customer service.

True or False?

❑ 1. Customers do not want you to admit when a mistake has been made.They
simply want the mistake corrected.

❑ 2. Providing quality service is one of the keys to attracting and retaining cus-
tomers.

❑ 3. Most of the customers who stop doing business with you do so because of
price.

❑ 4. Providing quality service for your internal customers is as important as pro-

viding it for your external customers.

❑ 5. Selling creates an opportunity to provide service.

Circle the best answer.

6. The first step in implementing a customer service orientation in an organization is to
a. establish service standards c. survey customers about service expectations
b handle problems efficiently d. monitor service delivery

7. When handling a customer complaint, the first thing to do is

a. explain the company policies c. get argumentative with the customer
b. offer an immediate solution d. listen and acknowledge the customer’s problem

8. Which of the following methods of obtaining customer feedback allows customers to meet and share their
concerns in an informal, unstructured way?
a. comment cards c. telephone surveys
b. focus groups d. mail surveys

9. Which of the following strategies is least effective when saying no to a customer?

a. citing company policy c. remaining calm
b. offering alternatives d. using the facts

10. Which of the following steps in a problem resolution process should occur after you select a strategy?
a. acknowledge the problem c. accept responsibility
b. collect the facts d. document and follow up

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Customer Service Unit 1: Why Is Service Important?

Unit 1: Why Is Service Important?

Customer service is important not only for attracting customers but
also for keeping them.Think for a moment about the last time you ate
dinner in a restaurant.Was the food of good quality? Was the service
Time
Out friendly? Was the restaurant clean? Was the check accurate? Did you
feel that the price you paid was a good value for what you received? In
other words, were your expectations met or exceeded? Did you tell
anyone about your experience with the restaurant? Will you go back?

A study prepared by the Technical Assistance Research Program found

that 96 percent of customers who have complaints never make those
complaints known to the business itself. And according to other stud-
ies, about 63 percent of dissatisfied customers who do not complain
end up taking their business elsewhere, often permanently.What does
that mean for the business? Quite simply that its potential market is
shrinking for reasons that the owner or manager may be unaware of.

Customer Dissatisfaction
Why do customers take their business elsewhere? Figure 1.1 shows
the results of a study done for the White House Office of Consumer
Affairs.The study found that 68 percent of dissatisfied customers left
because of a perceived feeling of indifference toward the customer by
the owner, manager, or some other employee.The customers per-
ceived that the employees just did not care about them.

Why do customers leave?

5% bought from a 1% died
friend or relative
3% moved
9% found lower
price elsewhere
14% had Leisure bookings
unresolved
Business bookings 68% perceived
49%
complaints
42% indifference

Figure 1.1 From Travel Sales and Customer Service by Roberta Schwartz, CTC, and Debra J. MacNeill, CTC.
Wellesley, MA:The Travel Institute, 1999. Reprinted by permission.

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Customer Service Unit 1: Why Is Service Important?

A more detailed study, compiled by pollster Peter Hart, asked

consumers what bothered them most about service people.The most
frequent complaints?
• Salespeople or delivery people who don’t show up when they say
they will (40 percent)
• Salespeople who are poorly informed (37 percent)
• Salespeople who say, “It is not my department” (25 percent)
• Salespeople who “talk down to you” (21 percent)

What is the message in all this research? If you want to keep your
present customers, service matters.

Most experts agree that delivering service that exceeds customer

expectations creates loyalty that keeps your customers coming back to
you. But is it worth the effort? Would your effort be better spent, say,
just advertising for different customers? Is loyalty cost-effective for the
travel agency?

Maintaining Loyal Customers

It is a generally accepted business axiom that present customers, the
people you already do business with, are almost always your best
prospects for additional business, and present customers are almost
always your most profitable customers. Advertising, direct mail, and
other forms of solicitation are very expensive. By the time you add up
all the costs of obtaining new clients, it is difficult to recoup those
expenses from new client business, at least at the beginning.The costs
involved in acquiring a new customer far exceed the costs of maintain-
ing an existing customer, as much as three to five times, by most
accounts. In fact, repeat business is often the difference between suc-
cess and failure in the travel industry.

In financial terms, then, it makes sense to devote a significant portion

of your time and money to maintaining your existing clients. In this
way, you maximize your investment in getting them as customers. And
the key to keeping them as customers, by developing long-lasting rela-
tionships that could be profitable for years, is customer service. In fact,
a satisfied customer not only returns to do business with you another
day, but may tell as many as three to five other people about your busi-
ness as well.This word-of-mouth advertising is very effective.

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Customer Service Unit 1: Why Is Service Important?

Dissatisfied customers, on the other hand, are far more likely to tell their
friends about bad service experiences than about good service experi-
ences. Customers whose expectations are not met or who perceive their
experience with a business as poor will tell at least eight other people
about that experience, and 20 percent will tell as many as 20 others.The
bottom line, then, is that one unhappy customer could bias as many as
eight to 20 other potential customers. Especially in a competitive business
like travel, a successful business is a service-focused business.

The Sales and Service Connection

Does any of what we have said about service sound somehow familiar?
It should, because many of the principles for delivering quality service
also apply to selling. For example, much as a typical sales cycle calls for
the salesperson to determine customer needs, a program for effective
customer service requires that you first find out what services are
important to the customer. For both service and sales, the customer’s
perception is the key.

Another very close link occurs in the last step of a typical sales
cycle—managing after-sale satisfaction. During this step, you keep in
touch with customers in case they have questions or problems, and
you seek feedback from them, among other things.Thus, when you
follow the sales cycle, you are also implementing aspects of a customer
service program.

Sales and service overlap, too, in the characteristics needed for

success.What qualities would make someone successful in delivering
high-quality service? To a great extent, they are the same as the
qualities of a successful salesperson.To succeed in either, you need to
be polite, informative, friendly, professional, enthusiastic, concerned
about customer needs, respectful, responsible, a good listener, positive,
and knowledgeable.

Service is an integral component of the selling process. Selling is a way

to satisfy customers’ needs and help customers.When you deliver
service and customers are satisfied, the result is repeat business,
customer loyalty, and referrals—in other words, more sales. And when
you sell, you create opportunities for providing additional service. In
short, sales and service are so linked that it is difficult to say where
one ends and the other begins.

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Customer Service Unit 1: Why Is Service Important?

Because service is one of the integral parts of the selling process, it

refers not just to what a customer is given with a sale but to how a
customer is treated. If you answer a phone call by saying in a surly
tone, “Hi.Who is this and what do you want?” you have given very
poor service. Chances are the person will be offended and motivated
to take his or her business elsewhere.

Over the last few years, all types of organizations have given renewed
emphasis to service.They have come to realize that keeping the
customers they have is often easier than finding new ones. And to
keep customers, they must give good service.

Salespeople are often the key contact between customers and an orga-
nization. As a result, the service they give is especially important. But
even if salespeople do their job well, bad service can occur because of
the organization.The phones might not work well. Company policies
might be too strict. Forms might be confusing. All of these characteris-
tics influence how customers perceive the service they receive.

Giving good service can be especially challenging during the last step of
the selling process—managing after-sale satisfaction. Many things can go
wrong after the sale.We outline the sources of problems in the travel
industry and a method for solving these problems in Unit 5 of this
course, Dealing with Customer Problems and Problem Customers.

Quick Check
This concludes Unit 1: Why Is Service Important? You should now be
able to
✔ Realize that customers with complaints don’t usually let your
company know; they just take their business elsewhere.
✔ Recognize that keeping loyal customers is far more important than
seeking new ones.
✔ Recognize that a successful travel agent is always involved in both
sales and service.

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Customer Service Unit 2: Who Are Your Customers?

Unit 2: Who Are Your Customers?

It seems an obvious question with an obvious answer. However, a
broader definition of who your customers are allows you an opportu-
nity to embrace the concept of service quality as one of the key busi-
ness strategies of your organization. If you approach each and every
customer encounter as an opportunity to provide quality service you
will increase your competitive edge in the industry.

Internal vs. External Customers

A customer is someone who buys something. Right? Not necessarily. It
is true that most of us consider the external customer—the person
from outside who comes to us to buy the products or services we
offer—to be the customer in the traditional sense. A customer can
also be anyone who depends on you for knowledge, information,
goods, or services in order to perform some function or responsibili-
ty—in essence an internal customer.That means that even your co-
workers are your customers, because more often than not they will
need something from you in order to do their own job. And you may
need the aid of someone else on staff in order to deliver the final
product to your external customer. In a sense we are all customers—
our bosses, colleagues, friends, family members, professional acquain-
tances, teachers, even the government.

Consider A new customer comes into the agency clutching last Sunday’s travel
This section from the local newspaper. She is interested in taking her family
of four to Hawaii over Christmas this year and wants to talk to some-
one about the tour packages advertised by your agency in the travel
section.The receptionist directs her to your desk. After consulting
with you for about 30 minutes, she makes a decision and hands you
her credit card. How many of your agency’s employees will be directly
or indirectly involved in that transaction? Why?

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Customer Service Unit 2: Who Are Your Customers?

At minimum, at least two people are directly involved for sure—you

and the receptionist. Behind the scenes, however, many people could
be involved depending on the size of your agency. Some possibilities
include: your advertising/marketing director (for placing the ad that
sparked the customer’s interest in the first place); the agency’s tour
manager (who negotiated with the tour operator for special pricing);
the agency’s courier (for document delivery); the back-office accoun-
tant (for credit card processing), and so on.

The point is that even though that customer dealt primarily with you
to book her tour, you were dependent on others in your office in
order to “deliver the goods.” So for every external customer you
serve, many others in your organization may have a hand in actually
getting the product or service to the ultimate customer. Many refer to
this as the “service chain.” Every link in the service chain is critical to
delivering the goods to the external customer, even if there has been
no direct contact with that customer.

Therefore, servicing your internal customers is just as important as ser-

vicing your external customers. Remember that the service chain goes
in two directions. Sometimes you will be the internal customer, requir-
ing assistance from another in your organization to get your job done;
and at other times you will be the provider of services to a co-worker.

Take a minute to list as many of your internal customers as you can.

What may they depend on you for? What do you depend on them for?

Ho
How
About
utYou?
Y

In the travel business there is one more key element to the service
chain: namely, the supplier or vendor of travel products, such as
airlines, hotels, car rental agencies, tour operators, and attractions
(Disney World, for example).These suppliers provide the products that
travel agents sell to their clients. Building good relationships with
suppliers is as important to travel agents as having loyal customers.
Inasmuch as you are a customer of the supplier, you also supply

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Customer Service Unit 2: Who Are Your Customers?

customers to the vendor, and providing quality service can go a long

way in helping to build good agent/supplier relations. Much more on
this topic will be covered in the CTC course, Supplier Relations.

Quick Check
This concludes Unit 2:Who Are Your Customers? You should now be able
to
✔ Recognize the two main categories of your customers.
✔ Recognize that you, too, are a customer at your company.
✔ Recognize the large number of people actually involved in each
transaction you close.

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Customer Service Unit 3: What Do Your Customers Want?

Unit 3: What Do Your Customers

Want?
Like Las Vegas without gambling or California without sunshine, selling
without service disappoints. Service, like travel itself, has an intangible
aspect that is difficult to define. In part it includes the services you
offer your clients, such as ticket delivery or complimentary cabin
upgrades. But it also includes how those services are provided, mean-
ing the treatment the customer receives while doing business with
you. It extends both to the people your client encounters, as well as
the policies and procedures of your agency. Serving the client then
takes on a meaning that includes not only what is provided but also
how it is provided. Customers care about both what services are
offered and how those services are delivered.

Core Service
In essence, what you offer your customers is your core service. For
travel agencies it could be cruise vacations, hotel accommodations, air-
line tickets, corporate travel services, group tours, and so forth.
Whatever the core service is, however, customers evaluate it using
three criteria—the quality of the product or service itself, its price, and
how it is delivered (reliability, effectiveness).

Customers expect quality in your core service, otherwise they

wouldn’t be doing business with you.Would you frequent a dry cleaner
who had lost or damaged your clothes in the past? Or stay in a hotel
whose rooms were dirty?

Take a moment to list the core service(s) of your business.

At Work

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Customer Service Unit 4: What Do Your Customers Want?

How does your agency demonstrate the quality of its core service to
its customers?

Customer Service Expectations

Customers also have some basic expectations about how they should
be treated when doing business with you. For example, most
customers expect:
• Caring, friendly service. Customers want to be treated fairly,
intelligently, and individually—in other words, with respect.To meet
this requirement, you should use the customer’s name whenever
possible though keep in mind that using names incorrectly or too
often can make your conversation sound insincere or stilted. Listen
to what the customer is saying and demonstrate concern for his or
her needs. Give customers your undivided attention, make them feel
special, and show them that their well-being is important to you and
your business.When handling a difficult situation, approach the prob-
lem with an open mind, demonstrate a willingness to find a prompt
and reasonable solution, and keep the lines of communication open.
Customers also prefer to deal with people who are positive and
happy, and appear to enjoy their work. Moreover, when the
encounter is over, customers want to walk away feeling good about
themselves. Showing enthusiasm is one way to make that happen.
• Prompt, efficient, and knowledgeable service. No one likes to
be kept waiting. Everyone has deadlines to meet, or appointments to
keep, or other responsibilities requiring attention. Customers appre-
ciate your acknowledgment of the fact that their time is valuable. If
you cannot wait on customers immediately, acknowledge their pres-
ence and indicate when you will be able to help them.Thank waiting
customers for their patience and make them as comfortable as pos-
sible.Take the time you need with each customer in order to deliver
reliable service. Customers will not mind waiting if they know that
things will be done right the first time, promises will be kept, and

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Customer Service Unit 3: What Do Your Customers Want?

things will be delivered on time. Customers expect to deal with

knowledgeable salespeople.You need to know enough about your
products to be helpful, and you need to take responsibility to find
the answers you do not have.
• Flexibility. Customers want to be treated as individuals.They want
to believe that their needs are important to you and your only pur-
pose is to meet those needs.They do not want to be told “no.” They
want you to make the system work for them, to get them what they
need, regardless of what policy or procedure mandates.
• Problem solving. When customers encounter a problem, they
want that problem solved, preferably by the first person they
encounter—you, not your supervisor or the store owner. If, in fact, a
mistake has been made, customers also expect an apology, restitu-
tion, and a bonus—something extra to make it right.

Customers also expect professionalism—a characteristic we look at in

more detail in the CTA elective course, Professionalism at Work. In gen-
eral, they expect the place of business to be clean and neatly orga-
nized, product displays to be attractive, printed material easy to read,
and telephone conversations pleasant.They want competent, busi-
nesslike performance from salespeople combined with an appearance
that projects an image of quality.They count on salespeople to be on
time, pleasant, patient, attentive, and neatly dressed.They want prom-
ises to be kept and things done right the first time.

Caring, friendly service; prompt, efficient, and knowledgeable service;

flexibility; and problem solving—these characteristics form the core of
customer service.

Moments of Truth
First impressions are lasting impressions.You may have heard this old
adage from your parents, teachers, or employers. Making a good first
impression is sage advice, especially when it comes to dealing with
your customers. Jan Carlzon, of SAS Airlines, first coined the phrase
moments of truth to describe the myriad opportunities you have to
leave a lasting impression with your customer during each and every
encounter. A moment of truth is a chance to connect with your
customer and create a foundation for customer loyalty. But moments
of truth happen very quickly, often in 20 seconds or less, leaving a

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Customer Service Unit 3: What Do Your Customers Want?

lingering perception with the customer of your service quality and that
of the organization you represent.That perception can be positive or
negative. Creating a positive experience for your customers can be as
simple as greeting them warmly or offering them a cup of coffee,
smiling, shaking their hand, or thanking them for their business.
Creating a negative experience can happen just as quickly and easily.

Take a few minutes to think about moments of truth with your cus-
tomers.What can you do to make those experiences positive for the
customer? Write your ideas in the space provided below.

Ho
How
About
utYou?
Y

Adding Value
Ultimately, your customers are interested in neither benefits nor
costs alone, but in value.Value reflects the customer’s perception of
the degree to which the benefits exceed the costs. A client may con-
sider the chance to go scuba diving to be an intriguing benefit but a
poor value if it requires staying at a hotel that costs an extra $50 a
night. To other clients, a 14-day tour of Australia for $2,100 may rep-
resent a better value than a 7-day tour at less than half that price,
because the shorter trip would rush them and force them to miss
some desired activities. Thus like benefits, value is subjective. It lies in
the eye of your customer.

Still, the successful salesperson helps the client determine value. Is a

9-day tour of national parks in the West that includes hotels, ground
transportation, and meals for $1,200 a good value? Finding the answer
takes some time and expertise.Travel, after all, is complicated, involving
many variables. Effective salespeople learn how to find and compare
the quantity and quality of features offered by suppliers and their
costs.With this information they help clients assess benefits, costs, and
ultimately value.

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Customer Service Unit 3: What Do Your Customers Want?

Also, many costs are not obvious, especially to nonprofessionals. A cus-

tomer might not realize, for example, that the price quoted in the
brochure for a cruise did not include the cost of port taxes, tips, and
shore excursions. Spotting hidden costs is a sure way to provide
exceptional customer service.

Finally, building customer loyalty through service often means providing

more than what your customers want or expect and ensuring that
your core service is up to par.To create the kind of relationship with
your customers that keeps them coming back to do business with you
means providing value-added services that exceed their expectations.
To exceed your customers’ expectations you must offer them some-
thing extra or unexpected in return for their loyal business; something
that makes them feel special. By enhancing their experience with you
and your business, you increase customers’ perceived value in doing
business with your company versus another one.These value-added
services can be very simple extras that the customer does not expect,
or more elaborate rewards. For example,
• sending a destination video or guidebook to your clients in advance
of their trip
• helping business clients keep track of their frequent-flyer miles
• setting up a TV and VCR in the agency waiting area to entertain
clients’ children while the parents meet with you
• offering weekend and evening hours for clients who work during
regular business hours

What other value-added extras can you think of to enhance your

clients’ experience with you and your agency? List them in the space
provided. At Work

The risk you run in offering value-added services is that they can
eventually become expected.This happens when other, competing

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Customer Service Unit 3: What Do Your Customers Want?

businesses begin matching your agency’s extras, so that there is no dif-

ferentiation of your service. For example, some high-end hotels put
plush terrycloth bathrobes in their rooms for clients to enjoy during
their stay. Eventually, many other hotels began providing the same ser-
vice. Now that little “extra” has become an expected service of all
high-end hotels. Rather than being the service that differentiated one
hotel from another, plush terrycloth robes in the room have become a
part of a high-end hotel’s core service.

What value-added extras offered by your agency run the risk of

becoming part of your core service because other agencies are offer-
At Work ing the same or similar services?

Quick Check
This concludes Unit 3: What Do Your Customers Want? You should now
be able to
✔ Specify the three criteria customers use to evaluate the core ser-
vices of your company.
✔ Recognize the brevity of moments of truth opportunities, and the
importance of using them to create positive impressions for your
customers.
✔ Understand the importance of seeing value through your
customers’ eyes, and of then helping them to assess value.
✔ Plan for value-added service to enhance your customers’ percep-
tions of your company.

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Customer Service Unit 4: Implementing a Customer Service Focus

Unit 4: Implementing a Customer

Service Focus
If a business is to be successful, service must not only be good; it must
be consistently good. If customers have one good experience followed
by one or two bad experiences, their perception of service suffers.
Consistent delivery of quality service is needed, and that requires a
deliberate program to focus on service throughout an organization.

To implement this focus on customer service, everyone in the organi-

zation must have a common vision. Each person, from the frontline to
the back office to the owner or manager, should have the same vision
of what quality service is, how it can be delivered, and how it can be
monitored.To take the first step, defining what quality service is, the
organization needs to look to its customers.

Surveying Customers
In essence, the key to providing quality service is to understand what it
is that your customers expect and then do everything within your
power to deliver it, and more. But what you think constitutes good
service and what your customers think may be quite different.
Furthermore, what you deliver and how your customer perceives what
you deliver can also be two dissimilar things. It is important to get in
step with the customer, to see things the way he or she does, because
the customer’s perception of the service you provide determines the
value of the experience. If what you do is not perceived as valuable by
the customer, then it is not valuable.

A good way to find out what your customers think is to ask them. For
example, when Marriott Hotels wanted to find out what hotel features
and services were most important to its budget-conscious guests, they
invited consumers to examine prototype rooms designed for a limited-
service hotel. Most of the rooms’ features were tagged with a price.
The participants were given $49 in “Monopoly money” and asked
which features they were willing to spend those dollars on. Marriott
quickly found out that the appeal of in-room coffee and security sys-
tems far outweighed the importance of an indoor pool or a second
restaurant. Hence the birth of Courtyard by Marriott.

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Customer Service Unit 4: Implementing a Customer Service Focus

In fact, asking for the customer’s viewpoint serves three purposes:

1. It can give you information about what customers want and expect.
2. It can tell you how customers perceive what you are doing.
3. It can make your customers feel that they are important to you.
Feeling valued as a customer is a powerful link in the chain of loyalty
to your business.

Setting Standards

Create a survey with 5-8 questions that would help you to more clear-
ly understand what your customers want from your agency.
At Work

Once you have a clear understanding of your customers’ expectations,

the real work begins.With this information on expectations, you can
define the standards for service.The standards can be as simple as
answering the telephone within three rings, or more complex, such as
following a model approach for resolving customer complaints.

These standards should have the commitment of everyone in the orga-

nization. Furthermore, whatever standards are set, they should be
clear, concise, and achievable.The more room for interpretation in the
standards, or the more difficult they are to achieve, the more opportu-
nity there is for conflict. Suppose that one proposed standard for ser-
vice in an agency is to answer the telephone within three rings. If in
practice that would require people to leap over their desks to answer
a colleague’s ringing phone or interrupt an in-person sales encounter
of their own, then the standard is not achievable and can only lead to
frustration. Every member of the team should be able to meet the
standard, and in many cases exceed it, without unduly disrupting or
impeding the business of others in the organization.

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Customer Service Unit 4: Implementing a Customer Service Focus

Monitoring Service
Suppose you have surveyed customers to determine their expectations
about service and have established standards in order to meet those
expectations.What next? You need to monitor services. Customer
feedback provides the information needed not only to set standards
for service but also to keep service on track. Soliciting feedback from
customers should be an on-going effort.

Once information about service has been collected, the results must
be tabulated and analyzed.The results may just tell you about individ-
ual complaints, or they may pinpoint recurring problems; for example,
perhaps travel documents are being delivered late or are incomplete.
Or the feedback may include suggested improvements that you can
readily implement.

Whatever the results of customer feedback, everyone in the organiza-

tion should be aware of the purpose, process, and results of the sur-
veys.This in turn should help ensure that everyone is committed to
implementing the plan to resolve any problems that are uncovered.

Tools for Learning from Customers

There are a number of ways to solicit customer feedback on service.
First of all, informal methods should not be overlooked.You can learn
a lot from informal chats. Call clients on the phone to inquire how a
trip went or ask how you could improve service. (“What can we do
to make booking your next trip more convenient?”) One of the key
elements of the sales process, following up after the sale, can provide
you with an opportunity to provide additional service and build cus-
tomer loyalty.

More formal approaches to obtaining customer feedback include:

• Focus groups. A focus group consists of about eight to ten partici-
pants and a trained moderator who meet to discuss a particular
issue. Like informal conversations, focus groups offer the advantage
of allowing people to talk about their concerns in an unstructured
way. But other methods offer easier ways of getting simple, quantifi-
able answers.
• Surveys, by mail or telephone. You might, for example, send a

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Customer Service Unit 4: Implementing a Customer Service Focus

trip evaluation form to all of your customers or do a quick telephone

survey with selected customers.These types of surveys are relatively
easy to design and administer, but have some inherent flaws, too.
Response rates to mailed surveys are generally lower than those by
telephone, simply because it is easier for the customer to choose not
to participate. However, it may take several phone calls to the same
customer before you successfully obtain his or her viewpoint.
• Comment cards. This is a tool used by many restaurants, travel
agencies, and other businesses in the travel and hospitality industries
to elicit customer feedback. Many travel agencies tuck postage-paid
comments cards in with travel documents sent to clients. Obviously,
not all customers are willing to go to the trouble of filling out the
cards.To increase the response rate, some companies offer gifts to
those who respond.

Whatever methods you use for obtaining feedback, make sure that you
are asking about services that are important to the customer. For most
customers this boils down to a few very specific areas: ease of use,
timeliness, consistency or accuracy, and results. Sometimes you might
want to measure the service provided with a specific product. For
example, to measure the quality of a cruise vacation to the Caribbean,
you might want feedback related to the cruise ship itself, such as the
cabin, food, entertainment, and so on.

Both open-ended and closed-ended questions are useful for gathering

information about customer service. For truly measurable results,
though, a survey should include very specific, closed questions that are
tied to service standards. For example, instead of “Was the salesperson
polite and friendly?” ask, “Were you greeted within 10-20 seconds of
your visit?” or “Did the receptionist ask your permission before placing
you on hold?”

What tools does your agency use to find out how their customers feel
about the services you provide?
At Work

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Customer Service Unit 4: Implementing a Customer Service Focus

What questions do you typically ask your clients after they have
returned from their trip?

Putting the Plan into Action

If the results of a customer service survey reveal that a problem exists,
the organization should implement a plan to reduce or eliminate that
problem.The results of the new strategy in turn should be monitored
to ensure that it is effective.

Customer surveys, of course, are not the only way you discover prob-
lems. All too often, problems will simply come to you. Perhaps a cus-
tomer is thrown out of a hotel, or the hotel loses a reservation. Even
in a top-notch agency with a superior customer service focus, there
will be times when salespeople are faced with difficult situations. Any
effective campaign to keep customers satisfied has to include a plan for
resolving problems like these. By developing your problem-solving
skills, you will take a large step toward improving your ability to give
quality service.We discuss this more in Unit 5, Dealing with Customer
Problems and Problem Customers.

Quick Check
This concludes Unit 4: Implementing a Customer Service Focus. You
should now be able to
✔ Understand the importance of learning directly from your cus-
tomers what they consider to be good service.
✔ Understand the importance of everyone at your company agreeing
to the same set of clear, concise, achievable standards.
✔ Be aware of the ways of soliciting customer feedback, and of the
importance of obtaining feedback.

© The Travel Institute 25

Customer Service Unit 5: Dealing with Customer Problems and Problem Customers

Unit 5: Dealing with Customer

Problems and Problem Customers
Why So Many Problems?
In the travel business, it is easy to have lots of problems.Why? For one
thing, the travel business is transaction oriented. During any one year a
salesperson will perform hundreds or even thousands of transac-
tions—counseling customers; making air, hotel, and car rental reserva-
tions; recommending cruise ships and destinations.

As an example, suppose you are an agent for an average commercial

travel agency, doing only corporate travel business.You will handle
about 3,000 transactions yearly. (An agent handling only leisure travel
might handle a third as many transactions.) Now let’s assume that you
are one of 20 full-time reservationists in the agency. And let’s say that
most of the time everything goes right but that about one-half of one
percent of the time, something does not work.That does not seem like
much. But with this error rate, the agency would have on average at
least one problem to deal with every working day of the year; almost
300 every year.Thus, even a low error rate can lead to lots of prob-
lems and create a reputation for bad service.

Problems are also frequent because several people may be involved in

the transaction. Each might have slightly different ideas about what is
happening. In the corporate marketplace, at least three entities are
involved in every transaction—the company, the travel arranger, and
the traveler. In the leisure market, one person might buy the trip, but
very often two or more people take the trip. Each person probably has
ideas about what the trip should be like, but the travel agent receives
these ideas only through the filter of the person who makes the con-
tact.Think about it. If your family goes on vacation to Disney World,
one person probably makes the arrangements—but all of you are likely
to have your own hopes and expectations for the trip.

Finally, as we have said before, travel involves tangibles as well as intan-

gibles. Suppose you send a couple a brochure for a hotel promising
luxurious accommodations.They like the rooms shown in the
brochure, are happy with the hotel when they check in, but ultimately
they are disappointed and want to change hotels.Why? The photo-
graph was an accurate picture of the room, but somehow the room

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Customer Service Unit 5: Dealing with Customer Problems and Problem Customers

did not “feel” the way they expected. An intangible aspect of the
arrangement has gone wrong.

If you are selling pencils, almost everything about your product is

tangible—it can be seen, touched, measured. As a result, there is little
room for disagreement about what was promised in the sale or what
was received.Travel products do involve some tangibles. A sale either
promises food on a plane trip or it doesn’t, for example; it might call
for a room with a single bed or a double bed, with breakfast included
or not. But every travel arrangement also involves feelings,
expectations, and ideas.These are intangibles, and they open the way
for ambiguities, miscommunications, and disappointments—in short, for
problems galore.

Working with Problems: A Method

In tough situations, the characteristics you need most are patience, a
soothing voice, a nondefensive attitude, and a willingness to go the extra
step to satisfy people’s needs.These qualities open the path to a
solution. But to reach the solution, you also need skills.

In particular, solving your customers’ problems requires the ability to

listen, to uncover their needs, and to develop a plan that meets those
needs. In fact, like selling, problem solving can be seen as a process.To
deal with a problem effectively, you can follow a seven-step problem
resolution process:

Step 1: Acknowledge the problem. You cannot work with a

problem until you acknowledge that one exists.The first step in
problem resolution is to say, “Yes, there is a problem.”

Step 2: Collect the facts. This is not always easy. Customers can be
difficult.They can say things you know are not true. For example, they
might say that you did not make a reservation when you know you
did.You need to unearth the facts as the customer and others see
them, not just as you see them.

Step 3: Accept responsibility. Whether you created the problem or

not, you must be willing to accept the problem and to become the
driving force behind its resolution.

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Customer Service Unit 5: Dealing with Customer Problems and Problem Customers

Step 4: Select a strategy. You need to decide what to do. In broad

terms, there are three basic strategies—simple solution, alternative
solution, or redefinition of goal. In simple solution, you are able to do
what the customer wants.When there is no simple solution, you look
for alternative ways to satisfy the customer’s goal. Sometimes a prob-
lem cannot be resolved because of actions taken by the customer or
the circumstances. For example, suppose clients are denied boarding
because they arrive late at the gate.They call you to get them on the
flight.You cannot change the situation, and no alternative will satisfy
their stated goal—to get on that flight. Instead, you need to find a way
to get around the problem, to redefine the clients’ goal and suggest a
way of achieving the new goal.

Step 5:Test. This means checking with the customer that the actions
you are about to take are acceptable. Often, when you say what you
are going to do, new problems arise. In this case, you need to go back
to collecting the facts and cycle through the process again.

Step 6: Resolution. This means taking the action you promised and
confirming that the desired result has taken place.

Step 7: Follow-up. Document and follow up. It is always wise to doc-

ument the nature of the problem and the strategies taken to resolve it,
in the event that the situation should later become the subject of a
legal issue.You should also make sure that the problem was fixed, that
the customer was satisfied, and that you have retained the customer.
Sending a follow-up letter of apology is often a worthwhile move.

What If the Answer Is No?

You have listened to the customer, demonstrated your concern, used
strategies to find the facts and analyze the situation, but you find that
you are unable to offer help.You have to say no—it is not possible to
correct the problem or give the customer what he or she wants.
Generally this happens because you are prevented from doing so
because of laws or regulations, or simply because you are physically
unable to help due to lack of time or resources. How do you say no
without losing the customer forever? The answer lies in how you
deliver the message.

Suppose that as you work with a customer to find possible solutions

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Customer Service Unit 5: Dealing with Customer Problems and Problem Customers

to the problem, you encounter stumbling blocks that prevent the plan
from meeting the customer’s needs, or you find that the customer’s
request is beyond what you or you company can deliver. If, for exam-
ple, the flight is not available, the tour is overbooked, or there are no
two-door red convertibles left on the lot, you can try one of several
approaches that should help.
• Use the facts. Tell the customer the truth—it is not possible.You
can temper the truth with a brief apology, such as “I’m sorry, but....”
It’s hard to argue with the truth.
• Be firm, but polite. Deliver the news to the customer matter-of-
factly, but with courtesy. Make sure that the customer does not feel
personally rejected. If handled well, you will let your customers
know that you appreciate them, but are unable to fulfill their
request.
• Remain calm. Some customers will not take no for an answer.
They may insist that you give them what they want, even though you
have already told them no. Remain calm and repeat the message, as
politely and firmly as possible. Eventually they will relent or move
on.
• Provide reasons, not excuses. Offering your customers a reason
you are unable to grant their request often goes a long way toward
keeping them satisfied. It is easy to hide behind a company policy,
but it may mean nothing to the customer.Turn the excuse into
something the customer can understand.
• Offer alternatives. Whenever possible, offer the customer an
alternative. Customers will hear yes if you offer them something you
can do for them, even though you are telling them no. By offering
alternatives, you have provided your customers with choices that
may not have occurred to them.This indicates your willingness to
help and that you value their business.
• End politely. If all your strategies for saying no to the customer
still leave the customer angry, frustrated, and dissatisfied, try to end
politely.Thank the customer for bringing the situation to your
attention. At the very least you have become aware of a problem
that may require additional attention in order to improve your
service quality.

© The Travel Institute 29

Customer Service Unit 5: Dealing with Customer Problems and Problem Customers

A Note About Stress

Are any of these experiences familiar to you?

• Your body tenses and tightens up.
Ho
How • You clench your jaw.
About
utYou?
Y
• Your pulse or blood pressure rises.
• Your eye twitches, or you suddenly realize that you’re tapping the
table, or swinging your leg, or making some other nervous gesture.
• Your breathing rate increases.
• You “see red.”
• Your voice gets louder.
• Your thoughts become less coherent.
• You’re queasy.

Chances are, you have experienced some if not all of these when you
start to feel “stressed out.” Different people respond to stress in different
ways, but this list indicates some of the most common reactions.

Stress is not only in your mind; it brings definite physiological changes. It

is inevitable and even beneficial that people experience some stress.
Stress can push people to work harder or to change how they work or
how they live. But stress also pushes people into making mistakes, into
losing their tempers, into worrying and wasting time, even into illness. It
can be a major obstacle to your efforts to provide quality customer ser-
vice.Thus, understanding both the causes of stress and ways to relieve it
can help you maintain a consistent level of service for your customers.

What Causes Stress?

Sometimes stress results from uncomfortable physical conditions, such
as poor working conditions. A crowded office, noise, smoke, poor ven-
tilation—all of these can lead to feelings of stress. Sitting in front of a
computer screen for seven or eight hours can strain the body and the
eyes. Cradling a telephone on your shoulder can create a pain in the
neck, literally. Add these up and at the end of the day you might be
ready to scream.

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Customer Service Unit 5: Dealing with Customer Problems and Problem Customers

In addition to physical conditions like these, conflicts or frustrations

may also bring on stress. Disputes with fellow workers or supervisors,
angry customers, and just daily hassles can all be stressful. Little frus-
trations—if the computer is down, or there is no room at the hotel
for your best customer, or reservations are lost—all add up.

Probably the most frequent cause of workplace stress is lack of time.

While you are talking to one customer, other customers walk in and you
must see to their needs; then the phone rings, or a colleague comes by
with a question. By the end of the day, you wonder where all the time
has gone as you look at your desk piled high with incomplete work.

Can You Eliminate Stress?

So how do you survive the “stress jungle”? To manage stress, you need
to take control of it, rather than letting stress control you. First, be
aware of early signs that you are becoming stressed. Analyze the
source of the stress. Is it something you can change, or should you
instead try to change your reaction to it?

Sometimes, you may be able to root out the source of stress. Perhaps
a frank conversation can smooth out a personality conflict. Perhaps
you can negotiate a change in your workload. If long hours on the
computer are creating tension in your body, try to have ergonomically
designed chairs and handrests and footrests, as well as glare reducers
on your computer screen. If you spend lots of time on the telephone,
try working with a headset rather than a handset; the headset will free
up your hands as well as straighten out your neck.

Often, you cannot eliminate the source of stress, but you can alter
your response to it, reducing the physical and psychological conse-
quences. One key method is relaxation. For example, if you usually
clench your jaw as you begin to feel stress, take a deep breath or yawn
whenever you feel yourself tighten up.Take short breaks while you are
working just to flex and stretch. Deep breathing, neck rolls, stretches,
and isometric exercises can all help you cope with daily stress.

Techniques for mental relaxation can help, too. It would be wonderful if

everyone could take off for a week whenever they start to feel over-
whelmed by stress. Since that is probably not possible, do the next
best thing and take a “mental vacation.” Close your eyes, relax your
body, picture your ideal vacation spot, and see yourself there. Placing

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Customer Service Unit 5: Dealing with Customer Problems and Problem Customers

pictures of favorite people or places on your desk or wall serves a

similar purpose. Also, make time in your life for regular exercise.
Whether it is a workout at a health club or a 20-minute walk several
times a week, a regular schedule of exercise can help you prevent or at
least allay feelings of stress.

Finally, one of the most important ways of reducing workplace stress is

by developing good techniques of time management. If you need help
managing your time, consider choosing Time Management as one of
your CTA elective courses.

Quick Check
This concludes Unit 5: Dealing with Customer Problems and Problem
Customers.You should now be able to
✔ Understand that problems are to be expected in a business han-
dling so many transactions.
✔ Understand that problems are to be expected when many people
are involved in each transaction.
✔ Use the seven-step problem solution process.
✔ Deal effectively with customers whose wishes cannot be met.
✔ Minimize the negative effects of stress caused by the nature of your
work or your workplace.

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Customer Service Summary

To the seller, delivering a high quality of service provides a strategy for

gaining an edge on competitors and attracting a solid base of cus-

Summary
tomers. Furthermore, service is essential for developing loyal cus-
tomers who will return for their continuing travel needs and will refer
the seller’s services to others.

Sales and service are difficult to distinguish. Successful selling provides

customer service, and service brings sales. Both the sales cycle and a
focus on customer service require attention to the customers’ percep-
tions and efforts to obtain customer feedback. Furthermore, many of
the qualities of successful salespeople are also the qualities of success-
ful service people.

Both the services provided by a business and the way they are pro-
vided shape the buyer’s perception of customer service. At the least,
both internal and external customers expect that they will be treated
with respect and enthusiasm and that the service will be knowledge-
able, prompt, efficient, and professional. If problems arise, they will be
resolved to the customer’s satisfaction. Customers also want to be
treated as individuals whose needs are important.

Finding out what is important to customers is the first step in creating

a focus on customer service. Based on the customers’ wants and
expectations, the organization can then develop standards of service.
These standards should be shared by every member of the organiza-
tion and should be clear, concise, and achievable.To monitor actual ser-
vice, customer feedback should be solicited and reviewed regularly. If
the feedback reveals problems, they should be handled quickly.

Finally, dealing with customer problems and problem customers can

create additional stress in your life. Using the seven-step process for
problem resolution outlined here, or some similar model, can reduce
your level of stress and increase the likelihood of retaining an unsatis-
fied customer.

© The Travel Institute 33

Customer Service Application Activity

Application Activity
The following exercises will help you put into practice what you have learned about customer ser-
vice so far. If you have any trouble completing the exercises, refer to the supplemental articles for
this course, located in the back of this booklet.

Part 1: Components of Service—The Mystery Shopper

Visit a leading retail establishment in your community. Interact with at least one member of the
sales or service staff and observe his or her customer service skills. Use the following checklist to
assess the service of the store after your visit.

Mystery Shopper Checklist

Name of store (optional) __________________________________________________________

Type of store __________________ Day/Date of visit ______________ Length of visit ______

Yes No N/A

1. I was greeted pleasantly. ❑ ❑ ❑

2. The store was clean and well organized. ❑ ❑ ❑
3. The products were displayed attractively. ❑ ❑ ❑
4. I did not have to wait an unreasonable length ❑ ❑ ❑
of time for assistance.
5. The salesperson apologized for any wait. ❑ ❑ ❑
6. The salesperson was neatly and professionally ❑ ❑ ❑
dressed.
7. The salesperson introduced her/himself. ❑ ❑ ❑
8. The salesperson asked for my name and used it. ❑ ❑ ❑
9. The salesperson gave me his/her full attention. ❑ ❑ ❑
10. The salesperson apologized for interruptions. ❑ ❑ ❑
11. The salesperson was friendly and helpful. ❑ ❑ ❑
12. The salesperson asked questions to clarify my needs. ❑ ❑ ❑
13. The salesperson listened carefully to what I said. ❑ ❑ ❑
14. The salesperson demonstrated knowledge of ❑ ❑ ❑
the products he or she sold.

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Customer Service Application Activity

Yes No N/A

15. The salesperson offered me informational ❑ ❑ ❑

literature on the store and/or product(s).
16. The salesperson used language that was easy ❑ ❑ ❑
to understand when explaining the product
features.
17. The salesperson pointed out how the product ❑ ❑ ❑
could benefit me.
18. The salesperson concluded the interaction politely. ❑ ❑ ❑
19. The salesperson thanked me for my business. ❑ ❑ ❑
20. The salesperson offered me his or her business ❑ ❑ ❑
card.

Total # of Yes ____________

Total # of No __________

Total # of N/A __________

Comments:

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Customer Service Application Activity

Part 2: Monitoring Service: An Exercise

Assume that you are a travel agent for a very small but busy agency specializing in leisure travel.
The agency has well-developed standards of service but no system for monitoring its delivery.The
owner/manager does not want to talk about, much less institute, any monitoring system for at
least the next few months. But you want to monitor your own clients’ reactions to service. How
would you do it? In particular,

1. What methods would you use for obtaining feedback?

2. What questions would you ask?

3. How would you record the results?

4. How would you measure the results?

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Customer Service Application Activity

Now assume that you are a regional sales manager for Exotique Cruise Line, a luxury cruise line
characterized by small, intimate ships, unique itineraries, and superior service.You have noticed a
drop in bookings in your region during the past 12 months and a significant increase in the num-
ber of complaint letters you have received from travel agents.You decide to run a focus group to
get to the bottom of this. In particular you want to find out what you can do to increase sales in
your region and make the job of selling an Exotique cruise easier for travel agents.
5. Whom will you invite?

6. What questions will you ask?

7. How will you use the results?

8. How would you follow up on the results?

© The Travel Institute 37

Customer Service Application Activity

Part 3: Implementing a Customer Service Focus—Case Study

Read the following case study and answer the case questions in the space provided.When you
have completed your answers, check the Answer Key in the back of this booklet for suggestions
you may or may not have considered.

Dialing for Data

“That’s what we have to do first,” declared Teresa Sores, owner and manager of Shearwater Travel,
a very small but well-established agency.Teresa had been worried for a couple of months. Business
had been slow.The reason, she concluded, was that old customers were no longer coming back.
But why? The time had come, she decided, to “walk the walk” and take customer service seriously.
Now Teresa was telling her employees that the first step was to survey customers.

A quick check of several books had told her how. According to William A. Band, author of Creating
Value for Customers, telephone surveys offer several advantages over other methods of surveying
customers, such as interviews or mailed surveys. For one thing, it is easier to reach people by
phone than to arrange interviews. It is also quicker to call than to use the mail. And the people
who respond to a phone survey are more likely than those responding to a mailed interview to
be representative of your customers as a whole.The people who take the trouble to fill out and
return a mailed survey are likely to be those who feel strongly about your questions.

Some people become experts at the craft and science of creating unbiased, informative question-
naires that yield scientifically valid results. But for purposes like Teresa’s, even relatively unsophisti-
cated questionnaires, if carefully done, can be useful.Trying to figure out how she should conduct
her telephone survey,Teresa found the following suggested sample:

“Hello, Mr. Smith? I’m Sally Thompson from Thunderbird Travel. As part of our commitment to customer
service, we would like to conduct a two-minute follow-up with select customers. Do you have two minutes
now for five short questions relating to your recent trip to New York? Thank you.

I’d like to ask you to rate the service Thunderbird Travel provided to you in the following areas as excellent,
good, fair, or poor.

1. How would you rate the courtesy of the agent who handled your travel arrangements? (Read options.)
2. How would you rate the efficiency or timeliness of the handling of your travel plans? (Read options.)
3. How would you rate the accuracy of your travel plans? (Read options.)
4. How would you rate the knowledge and professionalism of the agent who handled your travel arrange-
ments? (Read options.)

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Customer Service Application Activity

5. Finally, how would you rate your overall satisfaction with the service provided by Thunderbird Travel on
this particular trip? (Read options.)
Thank you, Mr. Smith, for taking the time to help us monitor our customer service.”

Using this model to create a brief and simple questionnaire,Teresa was able to complete her sur-
vey within a week.The results quickly showed a pattern: question 3, accuracy, was bringing very
negative responses. Apparently, someone was making a lot of mistakes in reservations.Were one
or two agents the source of the errors?

Hot on the trail of her problems,Teresa started tabulating the answers to specific questions.With
a survey like this one, if you do not need sophisticated measures, you might simply assign a value
to each response—for example, 10 for “excellent,” 7 for “good,” 3 for “fair,” and 0 for “poor”—
and then calculate the average response to each question. (Of course, more precise statistical
analysis is also possible, and very often desirable.)

The results of her tabulation disappointed Teresa in one way: they did not tell her why reserva-
tions were inaccurate.The average of the answers to both questions 1 and 4, rating her agents,
was 7, “good.” What is more, there was very little variability in the responses: all of her agents
were getting fairly good marks, despite the inaccuracies in reservations! If there was one person
behind most of the errors, the survey did not pinpoint the culprit.

What next? Teresa decided she would have to comb through her records, finding out which agents
handled the customers who gave low ratings for accuracy. But suppose Teresa finds that no partic-
ular agents were worse than others. How would you suggest that she then deal with the inaccura-
cies?

Case Questions
1. What additional questions, if any, could Teresa have included in her telephone survey to clarify
the problem with accuracy?

© The Travel Institute 39

Customer Service Application Activity

2. What additional questions, if any, could Teresa have used to find out why “old customers were
no longer coming back” to Shearwater Travel?

3. What should Teresa do if the results of her survey revealed that her agents were perceived as
having a lack of “knowledge and professionalism?”

4. What relationship, if any, does accuracy have to customer service?

From Travel Sales and Customer Service by Stevan K.Trooboff, CTC, Roberta Schwartz, CTC, and Debra J. MacNeill, CTC.Wellesley, Mass.:The Travel
Institute, 1995. Reprinted by permission.

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Customer Service Application Activity

Part 4: Dealing with Customer Problems and Problem

Customers—Case Study
Read the following case study and answer the case questions in the space provided.When you
have completed your answers, check the Answer Key in the back of this booklet for suggestions
you may or may not have considered.

Calling Collect…
It was a collect call from Hawaii. Susan had no idea what the caller could want. And in fact, for a
moment, she had no idea who was calling. But Norton is not a very common name, and she
quickly remembered a Norton family for whom she had done a trip to Hawaii a few weeks ago. It
was the first time she had worked with them. “I’ll accept the charges,” she said with some hesita-
tion, wondering why they were calling.

“Well, Susan,” Mrs. Norton began in a voice that was anything but pleasant. “The hotel is perfectly
fine, but we are unhappy with the view from our room.We specifically asked for a waterview
room. And we cannot see the water from our room unless we almost break our necks.We want
you to fix the problem.”

Susan quickly scrambled for her file on the Nortons. She had booked the trip through a well-
known tour operator.Then the conversation came back to her. Susan remembered that she had
offered the Nortons the choice between waterfront and waterview.They had selected the less
expensive alternative, “waterview,” without asking any questions or making any comments about
the choice.

Susan was frustrated. If she had only asked more questions, she might have learned that having a
good view was important to the Nortons. And if she had paraphrased the terms when discussing
her recommendations, perhaps they would have objected to getting only a “waterview” room.
Discussing obstacles often avoids later headaches.

Then, in a flash, Susan was irritated, not with herself, but with the Nortons. If the view mattered
so much, why hadn’t they said so? If they didn’t understand the choice, why hadn’t they asked?
Now what should she do? Should she tell the Nortons to call the tour operator? Should she call
the operator or the hotel? If you were Susan, what would you do?

© The Travel Institute 41

Customer Service Application Activity

Case Questions
1. What, if anything, could Susan have done during her sales interview with the Nortons to
reduce the possibility of receiving the collect call in the first place?

2. If you were Susan, what actions would you take now?

3. What could you say to the Nortons that would keep the lines of communication open so that
you might find a workable solution to this problem together?

4. What can Susan do to “manage after-sales satisfaction” in this case?

From Travel Sales and Customer Service by Stevan K.Trooboff, CTC, Roberta Schwartz, CTC, and Debra J. MacNeill, CTC.Wellesley, Mass.:The Travel
Institute, 1995. Reprinted by permission.

42 © The Travel Institute

Customer Service Application Activity

Part 5: Optional Skills Practice—Role-Play

Practice role-playing the following customer situation with a colleague, friend, or family member.
You will take the part of the travel counselor and your partner will act as the customer.

Use this situation to practice your skill at handling problems. Ask your partner not to “stop the
show” by being unreasonably difficult or vague, and to play the role as realistically as possible.
Don’t worry about making mistakes (mistakes are learning opportunities), and be sure to discuss
the role-play afterward.

Handling Problems: Dealing with Irma

Irma Grump is a perpetual complainer. She takes at least six extended trips a year and grumbles
about every one of them. However, she continues to travel and continues to book her tours with
Such a Deal Travel Agency. On a busy Monday morning she has just entered the office, which is full
of clients and short-staffed due to vacation schedules. She demands to see the manager immedi-
ately. She is already muttering to other clients about her terrible trip. How should she be handled?

Irma
Remember, you are a grumbler.You have ideas about how everything should be done, notice every
detail, and never fail to speak your mind.You have just declared, to no one in particular, that you
want to talk to the manager. It is up to you to determine your complaints about your latest expe-
rience with Such a Deal Travel Agency. Unpleasant though you are, remember that you like to travel
and you like dealing with this agency. Give the agent a chance.

Agent
Everyone else in the office is busy with clients, so it is your job to talk with Irma.You want to
keep her from disturbing the other clients and agents.The manager is not available, and you need
to persuade Irma to discuss her problem with you instead. Follow the first five steps of the prob-
lem-resolution process reviewed in this course.

© The Travel Institute 43

Customer Service Post-Test

Directions: Once you have completed the readings and activities for this
course, try answering the following questions without checking back
Post-Test
through the material.When you have finished, confirm the correct
answer to each question by consulting the Answer Key found in the back
of this booklet. Compare your answers to the post-test with those of
your pre-test for a realistic assessment of what you have learned.

True or False?

❑ 1. Customers do not want you to admit when a mistake has been made.They
simply want the mistake corrected.

❑ 2. Providing quality service is one of the keys to attracting and retaining cus-
tomers.

❑ 3. Most of the customers who stop doing business with you do so because of
price.

❑ 4. Providing quality service for your internal customers is as important as pro-

viding it for your external customers.

❑ 5. Selling creates an opportunity to provide service.

Circle the best answer.
6. The first step in implementing a customer service orientation in an organization is to
a. establish service standards c. survey customers about service expectations
b handle problems efficiently d. monitor service delivery

7. When handling a customer complaint, the first thing to do is

a. explain the company policies c. get argumentative with the customer
b. offer an immediate solution d. listen and acknowledge the customer’s problem

8. Which of the following methods of obtaining customer feedback allows customers to meet and share their
concerns in an informal, unstructured way?
a. comment cards c. telephone surveys
b. focus groups d. mail surveys

9. Which of the following strategies is least effective when saying no to a customer?

a. citing company policy c. remaining calm
b. offering alternatives d. using the facts

10. Which of the following steps in a problem resolution process should occur after you select a strategy?
a. acknowledge the problem c. accept responsibility
b. collect the facts d. document and follow up

44 © The Travel Institute

Customer Service Test Preparation Hints

Test Preparation Hints

If you are studying this material in preparation for the CTA test, here
are some suggestions to help you focus your review.
• Objective test questions will be used to measure your knowledge of
relevant information about the course.Therefore, a quick check of
the learning outcomes will indicate what you will be expected to
know once you have completed this course.Then you can prepare
several multiple-choice or true-false questions, based on the learning
outcomes, that will test your knowledge of those skills and
practices. Review the pre-test for sample questions.
• Review the key words highlighted throughout this course.Without
consulting the glossary, write down a definition for each term in
your own words.Then check the glossary to confirm your under-
standing of the term.
• Consult the Quick Checks at the end of each unit and the Key
Concepts reviewed in the Summary.You may wish to draw upon
these as the basis for some of your sample questions.

A Reminder…
The CTA test is designed to measure your ability to understand con-
cepts and skills that are fundamental to working in the travel industry.
The emphasis is not on memorization of obscure facts but on demon-
strating an understanding of the key concepts and an ability to apply
them to the travel industry.The testing process is not based on a
curve, in which some will pass and some will fail. Each candidate’s test
is evaluated on its own merit.

© The Travel Institute 45

Customer Service Test Preparation Hints

Notes

46 © The Travel Institute

Customer Service A Note to Facilitators

A Note to Facilitators
Customer Service is one of the eight core courses of the CTA process. If you are facilitating a
group of candidates pursuing their CTA certification, please consult the Tips for Facilitating a CTA
Study Group atwww.thetravelinstitute.com for a list of your responsibilities and helpful tips.The fol-
lowing lesson summary will help you plan your group meeting for Customer Service.

Customer Service
Overview Customer service is a hot topic in the travel industry. In today’s competitive
market, few subjects have received as much attention, both in time and money,
as the need to have excellent service personnel. Because gaining a competitive
edge is the goal of most businesses, they struggle to analyze the marketplace,
define their customers, and position their products in ways that will give them
an advantage over their competitors. For many organizations, providing excel-
lent service has become that competitive edge; it is the strategy that distin-
guishes one company or product from all the rest.

Learning Outcomes • Explain why quality service is an important business and sales strategy.
• Identify characteristics of internal and external customers.
• Describe customer service expectations for both internal and external cus-
tomers.
• Outline a program for developing a focus on customer service.
• Utilize a seven-step approach to problem resolution.

Key Words Core service Internal customer

External customer Moments of truth
Focus group Value-added service

Key Concepts • Both the services provided by a business and the way they are provided
shape the customer’s perception of customer service.
• Delivering high-quality service provides a competitive edge in the travel
industry.
• Creating a customer-focused business requires understanding what the
customer wants and doing everything possible to deliver that and more.
• Sales and service are intricately woven; sales drives service and service
creates sales.

Purpose of the Activity provides participants with an opportunity to observe customer service
Application Activity skills, create a customer service survey, analyze a customer service problem, and
use a problem-solving process.

© The Travel Institute 47

Customer Service A Note to Facilitators

Required Materials Customer Service booklet

Overhead projector (optional opener)
Flipchart (group discussion questions)

Supplemental “10 Tenets of Super Service” by Lorraine Russo.

Readings
“May I Help You?” by Maria Lenhart

Meeting Sequence (2- to 3-hour meeting)

Introduction/Review Objectives 10 –15 mins.

Review Answers to Pre-/Post-Test 10 –15 mins.

Brief Content Review 40 – 60 mins.

Complete and Discuss Application Activity 40 – 60 mins.

Review Key Concepts and Words 10 –15 mins.

Ask for Questions/Conclude 10 –15 mins.

Additional Activities/Enhancements
Opener (5 mins.)
To stimulate thinking about quality, and the impact of mindsets like “That’s good enough for me,”
or “The customer doesn’t expect any more than that,” ask the participants the following question:
“If you were in charge of an airline, cruise line, or hotel chain, what level of quality would be
acceptable to you?” Have them express their answer as a percentage. On a flipchart write the
following table:

48 © The Travel Institute

Customer Service A Note to Facilitators

Level Number of Responses

95 percent?

96 percent?

97 percent?

98 percent?

99 percent?

Ask for a show of hands as to the level acceptable to them. Next, indicate that some businesses
have sought to hold their “reject” rates down to just 1/10th of 1 percent (99.9 percent quality).
Ask them if they think 99.9 percent quality is adequate. Use the overhead on the following page to
show what 99.9 percent quality can mean. Reveal each item progressively, using a plain piece of
paper to cover the remaining statistics.

Discuss the implications of the overhead by asking the following questions:

1. Would you be satisfied with 99.9 percent quality in those areas?
2. Should your customers be satisfied at that level?
3. What are the major impediments to higher quality in the travel industry?
4. What can be done to increase the quality of the service we provide?

Group Discussion Starters (10 mins.)

Choose one or two of the following discussion starters to get the momentum going for your
group meeting. Record the results of your discussion on a flipchart.

1. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? “To the customer, perception is reality.” Why or
why not?
2. Ask participants to describe a recent positive customer service experience in which they were
either the customer or the sales/service person.What were the “moments of truth” that made
that experience memorable?
3. Ask participants to share an experience in which they were the receivers of poor service. How
did they feel about that experience? What did they do about it, if anything? Who did they tell
about it and why? Are they still doing business with that company? Why or why not?
4. Ask participants to share a time when they were moved to fill out a comment card.What was
the situation? What motivated them to complete the card? Was their response ever acknowl-
edged? How?

© The Travel Institute 49

Customer Service A Note to Facilitators

IF 99.9 PERCENT IS GOOD

ENOUGH,THEN…
12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents every day.

114,500 mismatched pairs of shoes will be shipped each year.

18,322 pieces of mail will be mishandled each hour.

2,000,000 documents will be lost by the IRS this year.

Two planes that land at Chicago’s O’Hare airport will be unsafe

every day.

315 entries in Webster’s Dictionary will be misspelled.

20,000 incorrect drug prescriptions will be written this year.

880,000 credit cards in circulation will turn out to have incorrect

cardholder information on their magnetic strips.

103,260 income tax returns will be processed incorrectly during

the year.

5.5 million cases of soft drinks produced will be flat.

291 pacemaker operations will be performed incorrectly.

3056 copies of tomorrow’s Wall Street Journal will be missing a

section.

From The Big Book of Business Games, by John Newstrom and Edward Scannel. New York: McGraw Hill, 1996. Reprinted by permission.

50 © The Travel Institute

Customer Service Glossary

Core service The products or services that you offer your cus-
tomers. Core service is your reason for being in business.

Glossary
External customer The person from outside the business who
comes to the business to buy the products or services offered.

Focus group A small group of customers gathered together with a

trained moderator to discuss a particular issue.

Internal customer Anyone inside the organization who depends on

you in order to get their job done.

Moments of truth Brief opportunities that occur during a customer

encounter when you have a chance to leave a lasting impression with
that customer.

Value-added service Service that exceeds the expectations of your

customer and enhances the perceived value of doing business with you
or the company you represent.

© The Travel Institute 51

Customer Service Answer Key

Answer Key Pre-/Post-Test

1. False 6. c
2. True 7. d
3. False 8. b
4. True 9. a
5. True 10. d

Application Activity

Part 1: Components of Service—

The Mystery Shopper
Answers will vary depending on the type of establishment and the
experience of the shopper.

Part 2: Monitoring Service: An Exercise

Answers will vary, but may include:
1. A brief telephone or written survey specifically targeting my clients.
2. a. How would you rate your overall satisfaction with the services I
provide you?
Great Good Okay Fair Poor
b. What is the most important service that I provide you? Why?
c. What additional services could I provide you to enhance your
travel experience?
d. How satisfied are you with how quickly the phone is answered
or your message is returned when you call?
Very Somewhat
Satisfied Satisfied Satisfied Neutral Dissatisfied
e. How satisfied are you with the overall service I gave you on
your last reservation?
Very Somewhat
Satisfied Satisfied Satisfied Neutral Dissatisfied

52 © The Travel Institute

 Customer Service Answer Key

f. Did I do anything you felt was special or extra for you? Please
comment.
3/ 4. Hand-tabulate the quantitative responses by assigning a point
value to each answer. For qualitative responses, categorize by
issue, e.g., additional services requested, important services, etc.
5. Travel agents with the greatest number of complaints documented
by letter; agents who sell a high number of Exotique cruises;
travel agents who sell very few or no Exotique cruises.
6. a. What features sell your clients on an Exotique cruise?
b. What reasons for not purchasing an Exotique cruise do your
clients give most frequently?
c. What kinds of complaints do you hear most frequently about
Exotique cruises?
d. How satisfied are you and your clients with the way in which we
(Exotique) handle your customer complaints?
e. How could we (Exotique) make selling an Exotique cruise easier
for you?
7/ 8. Written and audiotape notes from the focus group could be
summarized and typed for distribution to all regional sales managers
for Exotique. At the next regional sales meeting managers review
the report and make recommendations for improvements. Monitor
sales figures and complaint letters weekly, monthly, and annually.

Part 3: Implementing a Customer Service

Focus—Case Study
Answers will vary, but may include:

1. If customers respond with poor accuracy, survey could ask ques-

tions, such as:
“In what areas were your reservations inaccurate—dates, time, seat
assignment, hotel, etc.”
2. Teresa could target only those clients who have not booked a vaca-
tion through Shearwater Travel in the past 12 months. She should
ask questions to identify if those customers have booked a vacation
or other travel through another agency, and what reasons they have
for not choosing Shearwater—convenience, cost, service, etc.

© The Travel Institute 53

Customer Service Answer Key

3. Teresa should make efforts to increase her travel agents’ product

knowledge through destination training and/or familiarization trips.
4. If agents are inaccurate, this causes great problems for the traveler,
and a decline in the service offered to that traveler.

Part 4: Dealing with Customer Problems and

Problem Customers—Case Study
Answers will vary, but may include:
For one thing, she should put aside her irritation with the Nortons.
Think about the problem-solving steps that we outlined.The first three
are to acknowledge the problem, unearth the facts, and accept respon-
sibility. In order to select a strategy intelligently, Susan should consider
the benefits and drawbacks of each possible solution. Is it feasible? Is
the customer likely to agree? In this case, what are the gains and losses
of each possible solution for each of the parties involved?

1. Susan could have asked additional questions to determine needs

and establish product fit.
She could also have clarified the definition of “waterview” with the
customers.
2. Some possible actions include:
• Explaining the cost difference between a waterfront and a water-
view and pointing out the savings the Nortons are enjoying by
staying in the lower-priced room.
• Calling the hotel directly to find out if a waterfront room is avail-
able and moving the Nortons to it at the Nortons’ expense.
• Contacting the tour operator’s on-site customer service repre-
sentative for a possible upgrade for the Nortons at the tour
operator’s expense.
3. “Mr. and Mrs. Norton, I understand how disappointed you must be
with the view from your room. I would be disappointed as well if I
thought I was getting a better view. Here’s what I can do for you.”
(present solutions)
4. Susan can resolve the problem as swiftly as possible, perhaps send
the Nortons a gift at the hotel, and call them immediately upon
return to make sure everything went well.

54 © The Travel Institute

Customer Service Answer Key

Part 5: Optional Skills Practice

A Note About Role-Playing
A role-play is an activity in which you take on a role in a true-to-life,
problematic situation to build relevant work and interpersonal skills.
The role-plays in the CTA courses contain situations and roles com-
mon to the travel industry.You will get the most out of a role-play if
you:
• Identify with the role you are portraying. Reflect upon the situation
and how you would react in it. If the role is close to your real-life
circumstances, this may be easy. Other times it may be a little more
difficult. In either case, put yourself in the situation and act accord-
ingly.
• Don’t worry about making mistakes.The nice thing about role-plays
is that they allow you to make mistakes with no risk of real damage
being done. Mistakes often point out behavior to avoid on the job.
• Carefully consider the feedback observers give you after the role-
play.
• Notice how people react differently in the same situation and ana-
lyze which responses work best when you observe a role-play.

Remember that
• Role-plays inject a bit of the “real world” into the course and allow
you to develop practical, work-related skills in a safe environment.
• Role-plays supply you with insight about yourself and others and
demonstrate how to relate to co-workers and clients.
• Role-plays sometimes provide an opportunity to change behavior.
For example, a role-play may illustrate how you could be more
assertive in certain situations or a better listener in others.

© The Travel Institute 55

Customer Service For Further Study

For Further Study

Beckwith, Harry. What Clients Love: A Field Guide to Growing Your Business.
New York:Warner Books, 2003.

Blanchard, Kenneth and Sheldon Bowles. Raving Fans: A Revolutionary

Approach to Customer Service (1st ed.). New York: Morrow, 1993.

Ford, Lisa et al. Exceptional Customer Service: Going Beyond Your Good
Service to Exceed the Customer’s Expectation. Holbrook, MA: Adams
Media Corp., 2001.

Fox, Jeffrey. How to Become a Rainmaker:The People Who Get and Keep
Customers. New York: Hyperion, 2000.

Gitomer, Jeffrey. Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is

Priceless: How to Make Customers Love You, Keep Them Coming Back, and
Tell Everyone They Know. Austin,TX: Bard Press, 1998.

Leland, Karen, and Keith Bailey. Customer Service for Dummies. Foster
City, Calif.: IDG Books Worldwide, Inc., 1999.

Lundin, Stephen et al. FISH! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and

Improve Results. New York: Hyperion, 2000.

Morgan, Rebecca. Calming Upset Customers. Los Altos, CA: Crisp Pub.,
1989.

Schwartz, Roberta, CTC, and Debra J. MacNeill, CTC. Travel Sales and
Customer Service.Wellesley, Mass.:The Travel Institute, 1999.

Sewell, Carl and Paul Brown. Customers for Life: How to Turn that One-
Time Buyer into a Lifetime Customer. New York: Doubleday, 2002.

Sobel, Andrew. Making Rain:The Secrets of Building Lifelong Client Loyalty.

New York:Wiley, 2003.

Zemke, Ron and Kristin Anderson. Delivering Knock Your Socks Off
Service (3rd ed.). New York: American Management Association, 2003.

56 © The Travel Institute

Customer Service Supplemental Reading

10 Tenets of Super Service

Supplemental Reading
Turning an offbeat request into reality can
require the ultimate in customer service—but
really, shouldn’t that be standard procedure for
you anyway? Here are 10 principles of cater-
ing to customers that will help make sure you
keep your clients for the long haul:
by Lorraine Russo 3. Even if the customer isn’t always
right, treat him as if he is. After all,
1. Ask clients what level of service it’s your job to delight your clients,
they expect. Don’t settle for treating not debate them. Let them have their
others the way you want to be treat- say, then fix things after they’ve left
ed. “Good service is in the eye of the the office or hung up. If their
customer,” says Leonard Schlesinger requests are unreasonable or unethi-
of Harvard Business School. “And cal, politely suggest that they try
not every customer views it in the another agency.
same way.” One client may merely
want you to remember his seat pref- 4. Don’t rely solely on your smile.
erence; another might expect person- “It’s not so much the ‘pleases’ and
al ticket delivery. “The minute you ‘thank yous’ that are important,”
think you know what the customer says Paul B. Brown, coauthor of
wants, you’re dead,” Schlesinger Customers for Life (Pocket Books).
says. “You have to keep asking.” “It’s doing the job right the first
time, every time.”
2. Devise a way to quantify quality.
“Come up with standards of service 5. Be easy to reach. Your globetrotters
that are measurable so that you can often crave a reassuring, helpful
check how you’re doing,” says voice on the line. Return calls
William B. Martin, author of promptly, and make sure clients take
Managing Quality Customer Service along your agency’s 800-number.
(Crisp Publications Inc.). “Quality (One good idea: print it on every
service begins and ends with defining itinerary.)
it.” Keep a weekly logbook of your
clients’ complaints, for example, and 6. Never sell a supplier whose level of
every Friday calculate them as a per- service falls short of yours.
centage of your total booking. Otherwise, if the client has a bad

© The Travel Institute 57

Customer Service Supplemental Reading

vacation experience, he’ll forget to attend Career Day at their kids’

your good work and blame you for schools.
the hassles. “Always sell products
that in turn service you,” says Susan 9. If you make a mistake or don’t
Gibson Breda, a Bellevue, Washing- have an immediate answer to a
ton, travel-industry consultant. client’s question, admit it. You’re
much better off being honest and
7. Follow up clients’ special trips learning from the faux pas rather
with a phone call. In a fast-paced than blaming something else or cov-
industry, you need immediate feed- ering it up. Then promise to remedy
back—both good and bad. your error and to research the ques-
tion pronto—and do so.
8. Remember clients year-round, not
just during their vacation. Send 10. Always back words with action. If
them clippings from magazines and you make a statement, follow
postcards from fam trips. Offer to through,” says Gibson Breda.
help arrange in-town business meet- “Underpromise and over deliver.
ings and social functions. Volunteer Most people do the opposite.”

58 © The Travel Institute

Customer Service Supplemental Reading

May I Help You?

A Fresh Look at Improving Customer Service

by Maria Lenhart owner of Adventure Travel in

Over the past 15 years management Birmingham, Ala., who anticipates that
consultant Rebecca Morgan had come to his agency will garner over $100 million
rely on her travel agent to make the in sales during 2001.
arrangements for the up to half a dozen Hale attributes his agency’s ability
business trips she makes each month. to thrive during tough times to a com-
Morgan, a San Jose–based customer ser- mitment he and his employees made to
vice expert and the author of the book provide the kind of personal attention
“Calming Upset Customers,” appreciated clients won’t find on the Internet. And
the fact that her agent always returned he isn’t shy about broadcasting that
her phone calls promptly and worked commitment, either. In Hale’s contacts
hard to find her the best deals. with the public, from his local weekly
But now that her travel agent has radio show to his client newsletter, he
been replaced by someone less service- notes that his agency considers service
conscious, Morgan is starting to believe its top priority.
that she might be better off making her “What travel agents have failed to
own bookings over the Internet. “Three do in the past five years is let the public
days can go by before my phone calls know that we are there to help them and
are returned,” she says. “I’d rather work that we can do a much better job than
with a good travel agent, but if I can’t the Web,” he says. “Now we’re seeing a
get the service I want, then I’ll go on turn-around from people who have
the Web.” found that they can’t do everything
While providing good customer ser- themselves on the Internet. They’ve
vice has always been important in any made mistakes. People want a vacation
kind of business, Morgan and other to provide lifetime memories, so why
experts believe that it has now become wouldn’t they want an expert involved?
more crucial than ever. “The service fac-
tor is what makes all the difference,” Get in Training
says Morgan. “It’s what gives you repeat Because customer service is only as
business and referrals.” good as the people providing it, compa-
In fact, for travel agencies facing nies that pride themselves on this quality
both the erosion of airline commissions pay a lot of attention to employee train-
and competition from the Internet, pro- ing, recruitment and retention. And
viding good customer service could well going the extra mile with your clients
be the key to survival. One who firmly can also help in recruiting and retaining
believes this is Alan Hale, CTC, co- good employees. According to Keith

© The Travel Institute 59

Customer Service Supplemental Reading

Bailey, co-author of “Customer Service important role they play in the com-
for Dummies,” most employees actually pany’s success. “We don’t just put peo-
prefer to work in such a well-run office. ple to work,” says Schultze. “Our
“Your staff will be happier if they employees understand the strategic goals
are providing good service because they of the company and they are involved in
won’t have to constantly deal with upset the process of carrying them out.”
customers,” he says. “Bad service cre- Similarly, Adventure Travel makes
ates unhappy situations. good service employee training and retention a high
reduces staff stress and it promotes priority. The agency, which has ten
employee retention. People are happier offices in three states, holds two or three
if they know they’re doing a good job training sessions a month at its
and that is essentially what customer Birmingham headquarters and also
service means—doing a good job.” sponsors an annual meeting for all
Another proponent of this philoso- employees during a weekend in January
phy is the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co., a each year. Although attendance at the
multi-year winner of the prestigious meeting is not mandatory, Hale says that
Malcolm Baldridge award for excellence about 95% of the company’s 170
in service. The hotel company has an employees make the trip.
enviable record for retaining employees “We talk about new vendors,
in an industry where turnover has upcoming training, and we lay out goals
reached crisis proportions in recent for the year,” he says. “We want people
years. “Our turnover rate is about 25% a to feel actively involved. Our message
year, while the hotel industry as a whole to people on the front line is that they
experiences 100%,” says Ritz-Carlton are the reason for the company’s exis-
vice chairman Horst Schultze, exagger- tence.”
ating to make a point. To further ensure employee reten-
Schultze attributes his company’s tion and good service, Adventure Travel
low turnover rate to a combination of provides a financial incentive. “Our
intensive training and an atmosphere that employees get a basic salary plus a
encourages employees to be involved bonus based on performance,” says Hale.
with finding solutions to customer ser- “People understand that being friendly
vice problems. “For example, we may and professional makes customers want
have a complaint from a customer that to call you again. So it’s in their interest
room service is not being delivered fast to provide good customer service.”
enough,” he says. “In that case, we
would sit down and review this with the First Impressions
people who actually carry out room ser- With so much of its business conducted
vice. We would get the employees over the telephone, Adventure Travel
[themselves] to design and implement a focuses a lot of its training on how peo-
plan for improving this area of service.” ple answer and handle calls. For quality
Along with a very selective hiring control, the agency monitors some phone
process, Ritz-Carlton prides itself on calls—on average, about one per month
ensuring that employees understand the per employee. “We’ll use recorded calls

60 © The Travel Institute

Customer Service Supplemental Reading

in our training sessions to show people Co-workers should also be encour-

what’s right and what’s not,” says Hale. aged to help each other. “Try to make it
“People are often shocked to hear how a team effort,” says Morgan. “People
they sound.” To further ensure that cus- can listen to each other and step in if
tomers receive a pleasant phone experi- someone is overstressed.”
ence, Adventure Travel has installed a
relayed call system that enables callers to Get Feedback
be seamlessly transferred between Another way that successful companies
offices. “If one office is backed up, they improve service is to solicit customer
get transferred to an office that can take feedback. At Ritz-Carlton, this doesn’t
their call,” says Hale. “There is no wait- mean guest comment cards, which
ing or getting put on hold.” Schultze characterizes as “worthless,”
Bailey agrees that agencies should but a monthly scientific survey conduct-
pay close attention to telephone manner ed by an outside company on what
and responsiveness. “The way you guests like and dislike about service at
answer the phone is the customer’s first the hotels.
impression and it sets the tone for every- “The biggest mistake you can make
thing else,” he says. is to not listen to your customers,” he
Where walk-in business is con- notes. “Customers have higher expecta-
cerned, maintaining an inviting, orga- tions than ever, but many businesses are
nized office may be just as important as not geared to giving service the way
a friendly, helpful attitude on the part of their customers want it. They give ser-
staff. “If there are stacks of brochures vice the way they want to give it, the
lying around or the carpet isn’t swept, it way it has always been done.”
can make a bad impression,” says For those companies who do listen,
Morgan. “Walk-ins might not have a lot the rewards are great. “If customers are
of confidence in the competence of the pleased with what you provide, they will
agents and may assume that they won’t be willing to pay a premium to get it,”
get professional service.” says Schultze.
When counseling clients on the best Part of getting customer feedback
way to maintain a pleasing work envi- means recognizing that needs and tastes
ronment and friendly service, Morgan may change over time. According to
advises managers to circulate among Schultze, Ritz-Carlton discovered this
their employees and take note of what’s soon after it added voice mail service to
going on. “If you always go in through its guest room telephone systems several
the back, you might not be aware of years ago. “When we first added voice
how customers view the agency when mail, our customers were very unhappy
they first walk in,” she says. “It’s also about it and said they wanted human
important to listen to how people answer beings taking their messages,” he says.
the phone. If someone is obviously “We had just gone ahead and introduced
stressed out, pull them aside and gently voice mail without asking them. Two
suggest that they take a break. Listen years later, however, everything
and coach, but in a supportive way.” changed. Customers now want voice

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mail—you have to offer it. So what we an 800 number to call to rebook the next
learned from this is not only do you flight, let them know what their rights
have to listen to what your customers are. A tip sheet of alternatives is a great
want, you have to keep up with how service that people will appreciate.”
those wants may change.” When things do go wrong, Morgan
suggests that travel agents do what they
Damage Control can to help clients get satisfaction from
Not even the best customer service can the supplier who created the problem.
prevent disasters from happening, par- “A lot of people don’t even know that
ticularly in an industry where situations they can get compensation [for prob-
such as flight cancellations and delays lems], but they can. I recently got a
are routine. Morgan, who addresses $350 voucher from an airline that can-
these issues in “Calming Upset celled the commuter flight I needed to
Customers,” says that travel agents can take out of Chicago to reach a speaking
cement strong relationships by helping engagement,” she says. “If you can help
customers deal with problems in make people aware of what they can do
advance. “Often people don’t know in such a situation, it will reflect well
what to do, and will just panic at the air- on you.”
port if a flight is cancelled or their lug-
gage is lost,” she says. “It’s important to Maria Lenhart is a California-based
prepare them for problems. Give them travel writer.

Smart Tips for “Dummies”

Keith Bailey, co-author of “Customer Service for Dummies,” has some advice for
agents who want to sharpen their service skills:
• Follow through. If you tell a client that you will do something by a certain time,
do it.
• Go the extra mile. If you can throw in something extra, it will cement customer
loyalty.
• Treat client contact as the most important part of your job, instead of an
interruption. Never forget who is really responsible for your check. And always
keep in mind that customers don’t care that you’re busy.
• Tune out the negative. If you have a negative impression of a customer, try to focus
solely on what that person needs and how to provide it.
• Know how to say no. When you have to turn down a request, don’t give a hard
“no.” Suggest an alternative option.
• Be a role model. If you’re an agency owner who’s asking employees to be friendly
with customers you should be this way yourself.
• Treat co-workers with respect. If you have an abrasive conversation with a
co-worker, it is likely to spill over into a conversation with a customer.

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Making A Game of Customer Service

While customer service training may not sound like fun and games, that’s what it can
and should be. This is the premise offered by training consultants Peggy Carlaw and
Vasudha Kathleen Deming in “The Big Book of Customer Service Training Games.”
(McGraw-Hill, $17.95)
Each of the 50 games detailed in the book address ways that employees can
strengthen their customer relationships, tackling such issues as telephone manners,
dealing with difficult people and establishing rapport.
Requiring anywhere from ten to twenty minutes to complete, the games can be
used for stand-alone training activities or warm-ups for more intensive training ses-
sions, working well for staff meetings or discussions. Adding to their practicality,
many of the games include handouts, scripts and other materials that can be photo-
copied and distributed to the group.
If you want to let the games begin, here’s a sampling:

Tennis Show Alien

Participants learn how to give clear instructions on the phone by pretending that
they’re instructing an “alien” on the correct method of putting on tennis shoes and
socks.

Stop, Quirk!
In this exercise, designed to help people identify quirks that they unconsciously use
when speaking, participants are divided into pairs; each pair is given a tape recorder.
Each person talks for a few moments on a chosen topic such as describing a recent
vacation, while the other records it. The pairs then listen to the recordings and identify
any speech quirks that they hear, such as incorrect grammar or jargon. Participants
then repeat the process, this time trying to eliminate the quirks from their speech.

Are You Alive?

The exercise is designed to help participants avoid long periods of silence during tele-
phone transactions. Each person is given a worksheet and asked to come up with a
few transition statements to use whenever they have to take a break from the conver-
sation to handle a customer’s request. The statements are an alternative to “one
moment, please.” The group then gets into a circle and tosses a small ball around.
Whoever catches the ball must make a transition statement and then toss the ball to
someone else.

Oops Theater
Designed to boost telephone communication skills. With the use of scripts (two are
provided in the book), pairs of “actors” perform, one playing the customer and the
other the service provider. The “audience” watches and makes suggestions for
improvements.

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Let Me Tell What I Can Do

In this activity, participants learn the best way to say no or to deliver bad news to a
customer. Each participant gets a handout requiring answers to three potential situa-
tions in which a customer’s request would have to be denied. Each answer must
include three parts: an explanation of the reason why, an expression of empathy and
mention of what can be done as an alternative to satisfy the client.

64 © The Travel Institute