Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Know how travel and tourism
organisations adapt customer se
r
vice to
meet the individual needs o
f
customers
SECTION 2
No two people are the same and organisations have
to tailor their customer service to meet the needs of
different customers. Before we begin to consider
the many types of customers found in the travel and
tourism sector, it is important to spend a little tim
e
defi ning exactly what is meant by the term 'custom
e
r'.
People sometimes confuse the terms 'customer' and
'consumer'; the consumer is the end-user of a product
or service, but not necessarily the pe
r
son who bought
it in the fi rst place (the custome
r
). For example, a
mother may treat her son to
a
p
ackage holiday after
fi nishing his exams - the so
n
w
i
ll be the consumer and
the mother the customer.
and who provi
d
e you with services and support. Good
custom
e
r service requires a team approach and a
re
c
ognition that it is not just the customers 'on the other
s
ide of the counter' who need respect and consideration,
but that colleagues within the organisation need to be
dealt with in the same supportive manner.
FOCUS ON INDUSTRY
THE TOWER BRIDGE EXHIBITION
Managers at The Tower Bridge Exhibition, one of
London's best-known tourist attractions, believe that
each section of the attraction plays a unique part
in ensuring customer satisfaction. The exhibition,
ticketing, retail and guiding staff who, together with
security, are in daily face-to-face contact with the
public, as well as the technical, fi nance, marketing,
education and offi ce staff, are all part of the same
team behind the attraction, dedicated to providing
the highest standards of service to customers.
Many organisations that are working hard to improve
their customer service use statements similar to the
following to
f
ocus their staff:
Custom
e
rs
are:
•
The most important people to our organisation;
•
Not dependent on us - we are dependent on
them;
•
Not an interruption of our work - they are the
purpose of it;
Weblink
Check out this website for further details
of the Tower Bridge Exhibition.
www.towerbridge.org.uk
•
Not people to argue with or match wits against;
•
Not statistics but human beings with feelings and
emotions;
•
The people who bring us their needs - it is our job to
Dif erent types of customer
handle these profi tably for them and for ourselves;
•
Always right!
The sort of people we normally think of as customers
are sometimes referred to as 'external' customers, to
distinguish them from work colleagues. If we begin
from the point of view that everybody is unique, then
the number of 'external' customers for any travel
and tourism enterprise is likely to be immense, each
with different needs and expectations. If we take the
Everybody working in a travel and tourism organisation
has 'customers', whether or not they deal face-to-face
with the general public. 'Internal customers' are people
working in the same organisation as you, for example
clerical staff, maintenance staff, receptionists, etc., who
you come across in the normal daily course of events
