Keep the faith, follow the processes and seize every opportunity that comes along, says Hays Travel’s Colin Burns
“So, what’s in my packed lunch today, Mrs B?” “Turkey soup and a bun, Col.” “But I had turkey soup and a bun yesterday, love.” “No, that was turkey curry and a homemade naan, you cheeky so-and-so!” Cue the lunch box flying through the air in my direction.
Oops, that’s me in the doghouse and probably making my own packed lunch for the foreseeable future. Seriously though, although the Christmas and New Year break is a great opportunity to spend time with loved ones, it can also be one of the most stressful times for families who are reaching breaking point.
This was evident in late December and early January, when we received lots of calls from customers asking to cancel their trips or remove individuals from their booking due to a breakdown in relationships, or wanting to amend their booking to something cheaper because of financial pressures.
We talk every customer through their options and try to encourage them not to make a snap decision, but ultimately the hurt we feel at losing the business is nothing compared with the upset and possible upheaval these families are going through, so we must ensure we empathise with them.
Then of course there are those who booked early and are now seeing ads offering hundreds of pounds off and are feeling a bit miffed. In the vast majority of these cases, you can show the value they got from their early booking to appease them.
It’s a bit like when you see your cable television provider offering discounts to new customers. Their package might be loads cheaper than what you are paying, but when you ring to complain, they remind you that when you signed up, you got a good deal too.
Having said all of this, we have had some great bookings coming through and continue to trade ahead of last year, if a little behind target, in my shop. And it’s great to see that our newest apprentice, Alicia, and our new-to-travel cabin crew recruit Kimberly are both off the mark with good bookings.
The first few days of the year are always a “I wonder what’s coming” kind of time. Some shops come out of the blocks flying, while others take a bit longer to get going. It’s important to make sure that no one in the team gets down about it; we are just a week into peaks and if it hasn’t happened for you yet, it will. Keep the faith, follow the processes and seize every opportunity that comes along.
And I know I bang on about it, but I keep on reminding the team that every customer is important and, no matter how small their booking, they must get the same level of service. On the last day of December, I needed £20 to hit my own individual target and did a small booking that made £20.75!
Anyway, I’m off to change my clothes and wash the turkey soup out of what little hair I have left. Then I suppose I best make myself a new packed lunch before I set off for work – or will I just get a Greggs? Decisions, decisions…
Anyone for soup?
On the subject of food, every January I keep a “survival kit” in the shop, which always includes things like soup sachets to keep me going when it gets really busy. This year, I’ve included a jar of Bovril, and the other day I asked Harvie if she would like to try some. “Is that like soup?” she asked. I explained that it’s a hot, beefy drink you usually get at the football, but she still looked confused. “I’m sure it’s a kind of soup,” she said, before thinking a little longer and adding, “Ah no, man, I’m thinking of brothel!” I didn’t push this one any further because I really didn’t want to start explaining.