p10-11 news Apr17 15/4/09 18:05 Page 10
news special report
ttglive.com
Tui gives its staff
special treatment
Tui Travel has placed huge emphasis on the customer service
its staff provide since the merger of Thomson and First Choice.
Lee Hayhurst reports from the travel giant’s Luton base
I
t’s not a strategy you would expect to customers second after staff but ahead of prof-
hear: put profits and customers second. its might seem counter-intuitive commercially
But that is what Tui Travel has been but was actually the logical priority.
doing in recent months as it has focused
instead on its employees and, in particular, the Staff before customers Tim Williamson, Tui customer director, by one of
customer service its agents, airline and resort “Customers must come second in a service the new panels on the walls at Wigmore House
staff provide. industry because the most important thing
Changing a working culture is never easy, are our assets, our people who look after the year, service scores did not suffer.
and bosses at the travel giant admit that customers,” he said. “Actually they went up for Thomson,
some difficult decisions, including the recent “Sell customers the right things at the right but it was seat-of-the-pants stuff,” he
scrapping of its annual inflationary pay rise for time and they come back to you. added.
staff, have had to be made. “Not only do you make more money on All staff have undergone retraining
But work to transform Wigmore House, its returning customers but they cannot then be ahead of this summer, with Tui claiming it
Luton head office, into a light, airy and modern Cook’s customers or Kuoni’s.” wants to move the emphasis away from sell-
place of work is just one visible sign of the new Dermot Blastland, Tui managing director, ing and more to service.
employee focus. Inspired by similar strategies said the approach was important in integrating First Choice and Thomson reps will work
employed by the likes of Disney and US no-frills Thomson and First Choice’s retail arms. independently, only merging operations
pioneer Southwest Airlines, it comes under the “In some ways we are not a big company, we where it is sensible to do so or unavoidable.
internal branding “be special”. are 880 small shops,” he said. Williamson said 40% of Tui’s hotel stock was
This slogan is emblazoned on the lanyards of “At Southwest Airlines they are all in it differentiated to competitors’ and in properties
security passes, and the walls of Wigmore House together, they all understand what success where the operator does not have exclusivity
display similarly inspirational mantras such as looks like and they absolutely make sure they customers will get additional services.
“be a friend”, “be creative” and “be inspiring”. recruit people with the right attitude.
To outsiders and to the cynical, it might smack “Over and above the basics, what’s going to Family pizzazz
of corporate brainwashing, but Tui customer make the difference? It’s about saying you First Choice aims to revamp its 40 hypermarkets
director Tim Williamson said there was a sound are us, and you are special.” to put a greater emphasis on families.
business logic to it. Overseas recruitment The brand has been specifically aimed at
“We talk about sales for this summer has been families since the merger with Thomson, with
through service. We are a “amazing”, Tui has turn of year advertising focusing on the
service business,” he said. claimed, saying the popularity of its swimming pools with families.
“Clearly we are a recession had boosted As part of the merger of operations,
profit-driven organisation the quality of applicants Thomson’s five out of town stores will now be
and we serve shareholders looking for summer work. managed under the hypermarkets division.
as well as customers, but “The calibre of Nick Longman, Tui distribution director, said:
we better serve sharehold- applicants has been so “We would like to reintroduce a little bit of
ers by looking after our good we have been able excitement, a bit of pizzazz.”
customers, building loyalty to be very fussy,” said Longman said the hypermarkets needed to
and selling them things Williamson. be transformed from being just “large shops”,
they want.” He said although there and initiatives such as children’s games area
Williamson said the was enough time following and coffee shop concessions were being
strategy had buy-in from the merger only to put considered.
the very top of the firm. The reception at the new joint-branded together management Due to their size, hypermarkets are consid-
He said putting Thomson/First Choice shop at Wigmore House and support teams last ered to be equivalent to four normal stores,
10 17.04.2009
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