Group builds up a consumer database of 1.3 million names
LEFT: David Castle, Red
Sea Holidays; Darren Khan
and Naushad Khan, both
Super Escapes Travel
RIGHT: Claire Loscombe, Debbie
Watson, Adele McGough,
Lynn Smith, all Broadway
Broadway ‘is determined to improve customer service’
Broadway Travel Services is intent on improving the ‘customer journey’ and offering more exclusive deals.
Managing director Adam
Pardini said the group aimed to offer a more personal and efficient service to its database of 1.3 million customers and improve the content on its websites. Broadway is installing software
to allow staff across the business to answer calls to its brands. Pardini said: “It means we can
answer more calls; at the moment we see some business being lost [in unanswered calls].” When lines are busy, calls will
be routed to another available member of staff elsewhere in the business who has been trained to take bookings for that brand. “We are focused on the customer
journey and how to offer a more personalised service,” he said. “This is where skills-based
routeing will come in; calls will only route to staff trained to sell that product. This will make us more efficient.”
“We are focused on the customer journey and offering a more personalised service”
The group is also increasing
the amount of exclusive product – such as best-rate guarantees or room upgrades that clients can’t get elsewhere – on websites including Broadway Travel and Directlineholidays. Pardini added that the direction
of the business had changed dramatically since it stopped working with Teletext two years ago, which at the time provided 30% of its business. “We made a decision not to
work with Teletext,” he said. “We wanted to be more in control of our customers and our own destiny and have less reliance on the cheap and cheerful market. To say you are not interested in 30% of your business helps you focus on driving business elsewhere.”
‘IN CONTROL’: Adam Pardini ‘Client experience is the only difference’
The customer experience is the only differentiator for travel companies as price becomes less important in the purchasing process, according to data analyst Teradata. Account director Ameet Shah said it was not unusual for consumers to consider 10 travel brands when looking to book a holiday. He added that consumer research by Deloitte
this year found that only 59% pick a holiday based on price. “We think the customer
experience is the only differentiator,” said Shah. “Our job is to make sure we
give good-quality calls so that you can make bookings.” He added: “People now choose how you talk to them, so delivering the right message at the right time is crucial.”
Broadway Travel Services should consider itself a “major player” in the travel market, having built up a database of 1.3 million fully signed-up customers, according to data specialist Teradata. Josh Beale, travel account manager at Teradata, which works with Broadway on its database, said the growth of the group’s customer database, from 60,000 six years ago, was “phenomenal” adding: “That change is growth we rarely see.” One of the major ways
Broadway has expanded its database is by encouraging consumers to sign up to its emails, with 1,200 to 1,700 sign-ups per week, he added. The registration process has been updated to ask consumers more than just their email address and postcode details; it now requests details such as holiday preferences, ages, and budgets, to create targeted, automated marketing campaigns. More recently, the company has also begun to allow customers to unsubscribe for up to six months. “It’s about giving the customer what they want,” said Beale.
29 October 2015
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