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This article is excerpted from:
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THE HOME-BASED TRAVEL AGENT
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A Newsletter for Those on the Cutting Edge
of the Travel Distribution System
http://www.hometravelagency.com
SOME CUSTOMER
SERVICE LESSONS
As you may know, I was offering a fairly nice discount on the fabulously
expensive book "Group Travel" during February and March.
(Sorry, the offer's ended.) As you may have guessed, I make a modest
profit on the sale of books through the hometravelagency.com web site.
(Are you shocked?) Not enough to get rich, but enough to defray the
expenses of preparing and distributing this free newsletter, expenses
that rise right along with circulation.
I purchase
"Group Travel" from its publisher and, to speed delivery,
I have them drop ship the book directly to the customer. They are
not supposed to include an invoice, but on at least one occasion they
did. The invoice listed my cost for the book, but did not show the
full retail price. When the customer called the publisher directly,
an inexperienced customer service rep compounded the error by telling
my customer - incorrectly -- that, had she called the publisher directly,
she could have purchased the book at the discounted price I had paid.
Needless to
say, my customer went mildly ballistic and we got an angry phone call.
I re-learned some valuable lessons from this experience, which I pass
along for the benefit of those who may just be getting started in
business.
LESSON
1: YOUR CUSTOMER DOESN'T CARE IF YOU MAKE A LIVING
I believe,
as I am sure you do, that a business deserves to make a fair profit.
This is not a belief shared by the customer. This is not to say that
your customers are evil, rapacious bandits - far from it. It's simply
human nature to look out for Number One and when Number One feels
ripped off (even when no rip off has occurred) Number One gets mad.
In the past
decade or so, we have seen relentless pressure on margins. The whole
Internet experience, with its emphasis on "disintermediation"
(or cutting out the middle man), has conditioned people to believe
that they are paying too much for everything. Even businesspeople,
who theoretically should understand the concept of "markup,"
are not immune to this kind of thinking.
Travel Tips
columns in the media suggest to people that they can't trust their
travel agent and travel shoppers are continually pressing for discounts
and rebates. This can be an especially thorny problem when you are
selling to friends, who will often feel there's something morally
wrong with you charging them full price.
This kind
of thing may not be "fair," but it exists and you must deal
with it from time to time.
That's why
it's so important to stress the "value" of whatever you
are selling. Remember, value does not equal price. The price of a
book is one thing, the value is something else altogether. By offering
a discount on "Group Travel" I created value. By sending
a confusing invoice to the customer, my supplier destroyed that perception
of value.
My advice
is to stand your ground when it comes to pressure on your margins.
Set a fair margin on travel products (like consolidator tickets) you
mark up and stick to it. Then, sell value. Don't be tempted to shave
your margins, thinking that someone else may offer the customer a
lower price. Fine. If your competitor wants to scrimp by on an insufficient
margin, terrific. If you lose the occasional sale, that's okay. In
fact, as I've said repeatedly, price-shoppers are not your best customers
anyway.
Of course,
that's not to say that the occasional discount or frequent-traveler
offer is not out of place. Used carefully they can build your customer
base and add to your bottom line.
LESSON
2: YOUR SUPPLIERS WILL SCREW UP
My supplier
screwed up in this case. It happens. If it hasn't happened to you
yet, it will. Be prepared.
For travel
agents, supplier screw ups can be simple errors or they can be downright
nasty. Like trying to steal your customer. In which case, it stops
being a screw up and becomes theft.
My belief
is that, just as I take responsibility for my screw-ups, so should
the supplier.
LESSON
3: YOU MUST TAKE PROMPT REMEDIAL ACTION
When you have
a problem like this, there are some important things NOT to do. Don't
get angry. There may be a temptation to fire off a nasty response
to the customer just to blow off steam, but resist it. Or you may
think it's not worth the hassle to try to explain what happened and
just accept the fact that you've lost an angry customer. That's a
no-win solution, too. The conventional wisdom is that a satisfied
customer tells no one and an angry customer tells EVERYONE.
In a case
like the one I describe, in which there has been a supplier screw
up resulting in a major misunderstanding, you can and should take
corrective action immediately.
In this case,
my office wrote a polite letter to the customer stating what had happened
and also making the point (politely) that, yes, we marked things up
as every honest business does. We also leaned on the supplier to write
a letter of explanation to the customer, which they did. In the end,
the customer understood what had happened and was satisfied.
Of course,
not all suppliers will be as cooperative. We have all heard horror
stories (or perhaps experienced them first hand) of travel suppliers
who showed no interest in providing even minimal customer service.
Still, you must make the effort. Even if the supplier doesn't hold
up its end, your customer will (hopefully) appreciate your professionalism.
_________________________________________________________
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