Customer service is a core skill you need to have as a travel advisor. It is a skill requiring time, experience, knowledge, and practice.
The Customer Service module, part of our Certified Travel Associate (CTA) course, is written to help you gain tips, ideas, and tools to deliver top customer service and set you apart. In fact, 85% of certified travel advisor alumni say the CTA course provided them with the knowledge and tools they consistently use in their business.
As a travel advisor, you manage a high volume of interactions—from client meetings and consultations and researching and providing recommendations based on needs to planning and designing amazing experiences while relying on industry supplier partners. This means there are literally hundreds of opportunities for customer service.
So, when you are faced with a challenge, it is your opportunity to shine! But how can you do that? The following excerpt is from the Customer Service module of The Travel Institute’s Certified Travel Associate course.
For practical tools and an action plan to create a strategy to improve client interactions, sign up for our PEP Talk, Dealing with Difficult Clients, presented June 19 at 12:00 pm (ET) by Paul Pelletier PMP CAPS, founder of Paul Pelletier Consulting.
Working with Problems: A Method
In tough situations, the characteristics you need most are patience, a soothing voice, a nondefensive attitude, and a willingness to go the extra step to satisfy people’s needs. These qualities open the path to a solution. But to reach the solution, you also need skills.
Solving your customers’ problems requires the ability to listen, to uncover their needs and to develop a plan that meets those needs. In fact, like selling, problem solving can be seen as a process. To deal with a problem effectively, you can follow a seven-step problem resolution process:
Step 1: Acknowledge the problem. You cannot work with a problem until you acknowledge that one exists. The first step in problem resolution is to say, “Yes, there is a problem.”
Step 2: Collect the facts. This is not always easy. Customers can be difficult. They can say things you know are not true. For example, they might say you did not make a reservation when you know you did. You need to unearth the facts as the customer and others see them, not just as you see them.
Step 3: Accept responsibility. Whether you created the problem or not, you must be willing to accept the problem and to become the driving force behind its resolution.
Step 4: Select a strategy. You need to decide what to do. In broad terms, there are three basic strategies—simple solution, alternative solution, or redefinition of goal. In simple solution, you are able to do what the customer wants. When there is no simple solution, you look for alternative ways to satisfy the customer’s goal. Sometimes a problem cannot be resolved because of actions taken by the customer or the circumstances. For example, suppose clients are denied boarding because they arrive late at the gate. They call you to get them on the flight. You cannot change the situation, and no alternative will satisfy their stated goal: to get on that flight. Instead, you need to find a way to get around the problem, redefine the clients’ goal and suggest a way of achieving the new goal.
Step 5: Test. This means checking with the customer that the actions you are about to take are acceptable. Often, when you say what you are going to do, new problems arise. In this case, you need to go back to collecting the facts and cycle through the process again.
Step 6: Resolution. This means taking the action you promised and confirming that the desired result has taken place.
Step 7: Follow-up. Document and follow up. It always is wise to document the nature of the problem and the strategies taken to resolve it, in case the situation should later become the subject of a legal issue. You also should make sure the problem was fixed, the customer was satisfied, and you have retained the customer. If applicable, sending a follow-up letter of apology often is worthwhile.
Conflicts are inevitable in a business as fast-paced and detail-packed as travel planning. How you respond can make all the difference. By staying calm, listening actively and focusing on solutions rather than blame, you can turn a rocky situation into a chance to build loyalty.
Remember, every unhappy client is an opportunity—not just to fix a problem, but to show what kind of professional you truly are. With the right approach, even the bumpiest trips can end on a high note. Want to sharpen your customer service and sales skills even further? Enroll in the CTA program and gain the tools and confidence to handle challenges like a pro—and turn every client interaction into a success story.
