Modern travelers prioritize comfort and seamless communication throughout their journeys, which is why travel agencies must offer transparency and accessibility. In fact, 63% of travelers prefer calling during their booking journey, highlighting the need for dedicated travel call centers to handle inquiries and resolve issues efficiently. Outsourcing such services can help multiple agencies handle peak-season demand without the overhead of expanding in-house teams, ensuring timely responses and enhanced customer satisfaction.
An external call center can make a great platform for adjusting efficient communication between tour operators and their clients. Particularly, a call center for the travel industry can help you handle the following:
Organization of the ASAP client call responding;
Keeping & expanding the client database;
Maintaining constant feedback;
Reinforcing company reputation in the market.
Wondering what are other reasons to outsource your customer service?
When implementing any project, initially, you’d need a plan that will help you set everything into motion fast and cost-efficiently.
Stage-by-stage, the whole process of establishing a call center may include:
Analysis of the target audience - its size, major & secondary needs, as well as the volume of its market niche;
Registration of business activity - you’ll need to settle with the taxing system for your call center & pay some fees if it’s planned to be a separate establishment;
Workspace rental & purchase of hardware;
Internet connection & installation of a separate phone line;
Staff recruiting & operator training;
Introduction to clients & promotion of the call center among them;
A thorough analysis of the initial period of activity to define the weak points and employ proper methods for expanding the target audience.
Initial Steps in Creating a Call Center
The creation of a call center for the tourism industry starts with the analysis of a potential customer audience, level of demand, and further development strategy. Everything must be governed by a thorough business plan all along. You continue by registering your new establishment with tax authorities and getting a certificate that grants you are fit to lead this new organization. Make sure you decide whether you want to employ a team of remote operators or organize a whole new office based on your budget and managing capabilities.
If your business has a pretty integral status, then the office would be much preferable. The remote way is more cost-saving, yes, but there may be difficulties with remote staff management, which spawns the risks of undermining one’s reputation. When it comes to a tourism and travel call center an office is a preferable option again, allowing to assess the efficiency of the employee performance and manage the workflow thoroughly.
What’s Needed to Create a Call Centre for Travel Agents & Agencies?
Staff
It’s all about the people that will be performing in your newly-created call center. Premium hardware and software are secondary points here. In such client-oriented types of establishments, everything starts with people.
Recruiting staff for a call center is a significant responsibility, especially for operators who need to be communicative, attentive, and capable of handling stress. These employees must multitask efficiently, quickly switch between clients, and retain a large amount of information.
As call centers expand with the increase in calls, hiring should align with the demand to prevent long wait times. Employees must meet service requirements, pass stress-resistance tests, and handle complex tasks. Additionally, they should be well-versed in the specific niche, such as travel and tourism in this case.
To establish efficient performance, you’ll need:
A manager - one who would organize the proper level of tourism customer service in your center;
An IT technology expert;
A coach or mentoring expert to work with your operators;
Operators themselves;
A supervisor who would handle many workflow questions & manage employees;
An HR manager assesses the employee performance, organizes their training, and decides who to hire;
Based on our 11+ years of experience working with various industries, including tourism, we understand what it takes to build a team of professionals who excel in customer service. At Simply Contact, we’ve crafted a workforce that knows how to deliver top-notch support in niche markets.
To ensure high-quality tourism customer service, reliable infrastructure is essential. While earlier call centers relied on complex hardware setups, modern CRM platforms now streamline operations, making workflow management faster and more efficient for handling large volumes of customer inquiries seamlessly.
All in all, to make things moving, you’ll need:
A package of standardized software to be used in your company;
IT experts that would maintain all the related technical aspects;
A server, PCs, & all the devices connected;
All the necessary software installed & configured;
Learn more about optimizing call center performance with First Call Resolution best practices.
Last but not least, in terms of providing the employees of your call center with optimal working conditions, make sure also to provide:
Quality, comfortable desks & chairs. You are about to offer a sitting job, basically, so try to take care of your specialists’ comfort & health;
No-break power supplies will help your call center maintain its operation even during blackouts;
Hardware & software for the implementation of a duplicated Internet channel;
Proper headsets are crucial for any call center. They make a major working tool for operators. You shouldn’t save in this aspect and make sure that the headsets you provide can offer:
Sturdiness & guarantee to work for a long time to help minimize downtime.
Providing excellent customer service is crucial for travel agencies to ensure comfort and clear communication with clients throughout their journey. By setting up a dedicated call center, agencies can efficiently handle client inquiries, especially during peak seasons, without overwhelming in-house staff. Outsourcing these services can further optimize operations, improve client satisfaction, and reduce costs.
At Simply Contact, we have 11+ years of experience helping businesses streamline customer support services. Contact us today to learn how we can support your travel call center needs.
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